Who was Silence Dogood?

Silence Dogood was a pen name adopted by Benjamin Franklin when writing his contributing letters to the New England Courant. The character of Silence Dogood was written from the viewpoint of a country minister's widow with clear biases towards virtuous action and stood against arbitrary government.

Under the name Silence Dogood, Benjamin Franklin penned 14 letters between April and October 1722, which he left under the door of the New England Courant's print shop. At the time of the character's creation, Benjamin Franklin was 16 years old. After the submission of the last Silence Dogood letter, Benjamin Franklin revealed that he was the actual author.