Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1875-07-29
The Late Lady Jane Franklin.

LADY JANE FRANKLIN, whose illness
caused sincere regret among her many
friends in this country, died last evening,
in the seventy first year of her age. 1t had
been reported that she had partly recov-
cred her health, and correspondents re-
marked that the hope of receiving fresh
tidings of the i'll fated Arctic expedition
in which her husband, Sir John Franklin,
was concerned seemed to give her new
life. Lady Franklin's maiden name was
Griffin, and she was born in London She
was married to Sir j ohm Franklin in 1896.
Sir John had served in the British navy
under Lord Nelson, and had led two expe
ditions to the Arctic regions before this
(his second) marriage. In 1884 he was
appointed Governor of Van Dieman's
Land, and during the six years of his adj
ministration his wife aided him in secur-
ing the favor of the colonists and natives
A dangerous kind of reptile infested Van
Dieman's Land at this time, and Lady
Franklin paid a sum of money for each
one that was killed. Consequently the
species was soon exterminated. In May,
1916, Sir John Franklin sailed from En-
gland for the Arctic seas, in command of
the ships Erebus and Terror, hoping to
dis cover the northwest passage. The ex-
petition was expected to return in 1S47.
In that year Lady Franklin, feeling great
anxiety for her husband, began her men,
orable series of efforts to ascertain his
fate. She offered large rewards to any
persons who would attempt to discover the
missing party. She made an appeal to the
American people in 1S49 for their Coop
GRAFTON in the search, to which the late
Henry Grinnell responded She did not
give up her hope of rescuing Sir j John
Franklin and his party until years after
the world felt assured Of his death
Finally she sent out the steamer Fox,
under the command of Capt. McCln-
took, who returned in 1859, two
years after his departure, having discov-
cred in May of that year at Point Victory,
on King Williams Island, the record Of
Franklin's death and the bodies of the last
survivors of his party. The record had
UccH ItIG Ill CdlGu anu Inc paper Was
dated April %, 1S4S 1t stated that Sir
John died June II, 1S47; and that the two
ships were abandoned April %, 194S,
when the survivors, 105 in number, started
for the Great Fish River. McClintock
was afterward knighted. Lady Franklin
now offered rewards to persons who would
bring her further tidings of her husband
and his associates. She journeyed to this
country in 1870, and visited the late Capt
Hall in San Francisco, who had examined
the spot where the Franklin party came
to grief. While the latest Arctic expedi-
ton was fitting out she gave it substantial
encouragement To the last she enter
tanned hopes of receiving farewell mes
sage, which she firmly believed her hus-
band had written her. Of late years Lady
Franklin had been living at Franklin
House, in Lincolnshire, and had collected
there large number of relics of her hus-
bands expeditions. Her last message to
the American people, conveyed by tele-
graph about two weeks ago, was request
that she should be remembered in their
prayers at church on the following Sun
day.-N. 7. EUen61eg Post.