by Jay Raskin
Author of The Evolution of Christs and Christianities
November 2006
We are often told when we compare Jesus Christ to Superman or Spiderman that nobody takes Superman or Spiderman for a real person. The retort is that ancient peoples did take fictional characters like Hercules and Achilles to be real people.
A better and more modern case that may be used in response is the case of Polly Baker. Max Hall describes her case in a book published in 1960 called "Benjamin Franklin & Polly Baker: The History of a Literary Deception."
The London paper "The General Advertiser," on April 15, 1747, published an article about a woman tried and punished in Connecticut for having five "natural children" from sexual relations out of wedlock. Most of the article is a reprint of a strong defense that the woman, Polly Baker, made, attacking the law from a "deist" prospective.
The article was reprinted that month in about a dozen British papers and magazines. After these papers arrived in America, the article was reprinted in July and August in four American periodicals. There was a minor debate at the time over the reality of Polly Baker, with some proclaiming it a hoax.
In 1749, English Deist Peter Annet reprinted the speech in a book called "Social Bliss Considered: In Marriage and Divorce; Cohabiting unmarried, and Public Whoring."
The article was frequently reprinted often with slight but significant changes for the next half century. In some reprints, Polly was given an additional 15 children.
In 1770, French Philosopher/historian, Guillaume-Thomas Raynal reprinted it in his history "Historie Philosophique et Politique, Des Etablissements & du Commerce des Europeens dans les Deux Indes." He evidently believed it to be a true historical trial and Polly Baker to be a true historical figure.
By the 1780's it had been discovered that Benjamin Franklin was the author of the article and Polly Baker was simply a fictional character created by him. John Adams, the second president of the United States, Voltaire and others attributed it to him, and a study of the language of the article and Franklin's other satirical hoaxes makes it virtually certain that Franklin was indeed responsible.
This did not stop a biography of Polly Baker being written and published in The Edinburgh Magazine of April 1794. The biography was entitled "Interesting Reflections on the Life of Miss Polly Baker." It embellished and added to the facts of her life that one could get out of her speech within the original article.
In 1803, part of the biography was included in a book called, "Eccentric Biography; or, Memoirs of Remarkable Female Characters, Ancient and Modern."
In 1813, the case of Polly Baker, including her defense, was included in "The American Law Journal," a book dealing with historical law cases.
In 1857, the case was reported in "The New England History" published in two volumes by Charles W. Elliott.
In 1917, Arthur W. Calhoun published "A Social History of the American Family." For over 30 years this was a standard textbook used in sociology classes at American Universities. It included the case of Polly Baker, including nine sentences from her original speech. Thus 200 years after Benjamin Franklin created the fictional character of Polly Baker, tens of thousands of the brightest people in American believed that she was a real historical woman and could even back up their belief by citing a leading college textbook of the time.
It is important also to note that there was a woman in 1845, two years before Franklin wrote, named Eleonor Kellog. She was a real woman who, like the fictitious Polly Baker, had given birth to five illegitimate children and had been tried and whipped for it in Worcester, Massachusetts. There is no evidence that she ever gave a speech at her trial. It is not proven, but it is highly probable that Franklin knew of the case and based his character on that case.
This is an excellent case of a fictional character becoming an historical character, not in ancient times, but in modern times.
See also:
The Evolution of Christs and Christianities
How the Church Changed Water Into Wine
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