Jesse Franklin was born in Orange County in the Colony of Virginia on March 24, 1760. He was the son of Bernard and Mary Franklin, the third of seven sons. Franklin moved to North Carolina with his father in 1774 and served as a major during the Revolutionary War. During the war he was captured by Tories, but escaped. Franklin was in the Battle of Kings Mountain and served as Adjutant of Colonel Benjamin Cleveland's battalion. He was also at the Battle of Guilford Court House. He performed further service in partisan warfare against Tories in North Carolina, service that continued to the end of the war. In Greensboro there is a monument to Revolutionary War soldiers Joseph Winston, Jesse Franklin and Richard Taliaferro, the gift of Governor Thomas M. Holt.
Early political career and service in Congress
Franklin was a member of the state legislature in 1793–1794 and 1797–1798. He was elected to the Fourth Congress and served from March 4, 1795 to March 4, 1797. Franklin was then elected as a Democratic Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1799 to March 4, 1805. Franklin was put up by the Legislature for re-election in December 1804, but Republicans at the time were divided in their support of him and Federalists did not think highly of him, and he was defeated. Franklin served as President pro tempore of the Senate during the Eighth Congress. Franklin then served as a state senator in 1805–1806. In 1806, he was again elected as a Democratic Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1807 until March 4, 1813. During his second period as a senator, Franklin was known as an advocate of Madison's war measures, and as an opponent of monopolies and central banks. Franklin was appointed a commissioner to negotiate with the Chickasaw Indians near the site of present-day Memphis in 1817, an appointment he accepted at the request of General Andrew Jackson.
Governor of North Carolina
Franklin was Governor of North Carolina from 1820 to 1821. During his term as governor, the Canova statue of George Washington was placed at the state Capitol in a new addition containing a rotunda that was considered an appropriate area for displaying it. As governor, Franklin was considered to be conscientious and practical. He advocated reform in the treatment of criminals, including abolition of ear cropping.
