Ben Franklin Visits Borough Hall

By Richard D. Smith for The Montgomery News | July 30, 2026

Answering a call across two and a half centuries, Benjamin Franklin was guest of honor at a well-attended reading of the Declaration of Independence in Rocky Hill Borough Hall on July 8, just prior to the monthly borough council meeting.

Rocky Hill Mayor Bob Uhrik with Benjamin Franklin, portrayed by actor Donald Crouthamel.

Dr. Franklin (portrayed by reenactor Donald Crouthamel of Sellersville, PA, a family friend of borough resident Gina Sciaraffo), smilingly acknowledged the cheers and shouts of “Huzzah!” as he entered the room.

The event was organized by Council Member Sharlene Laud as part of the national “Sharing the Spirit of America,” a nationwide civic initiative commemorating the 250th anniversary of the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.

Although the declaration was famously signed on July 4th, 1776, by Continental Congress members meeting in Philadelphia, it was first publicly read four days later to citizens gathered in front of the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall).

Laud reported that Americans in all 50 states, five territories, the District of Columbia, and numerous minor islands across the Caribbean and Pacific were participating.

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“Even though the United States is spread across thousands of miles and ten different time zones,” she said, “all of us can read the Declaration of Independence together at the same time.”

New Jersey can take special pride that five signers represented the Garden State:

Abraham Clark—a lawyer and surveyor of Elizabethtown;

John Hart —a major landowner from Hopewell;

Francis Hopkinson—a judge, author, and music composer of Bordentown;

Richard Stockton—a lawyer and owner of the Morven estate in Princeton; and

John Witherspoon—a Scottish-born minister and president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).

Merchant Joseph Hewes of Kingston also signed but as a representative of North Carolina.

Six borough residents plus Dr. Franklin took turns reading, led by Mayor Bob Uhrik who said, “This is so meaningful to me, that someone 250 years ago was reading these words.

‘When in the course of human events’ …”

Franklin returned to stand in front of the audience, exuding great modesty for such an historic figure: staunch patriot, founder of the U.S. postal service and America’s first public library, and the experimenter who demonstrated that lightning is a form of electricity.

Not to mention his image today on the U.S. $100 bill, probably the most widely circulated denomination of the world’s recognized reserve currency.

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Franklin spoke with admiration of how fellow patriot Thomas Jefferson, “tasked with this momentous undertaking” of drafting the declaration, succeeded so well:

“It was not realized at the time what a tremendous document this was going to be. And it was a courageous act. Certainly not everyone in the colonies was thrilled with this idea,” Franklin told the assemblage.

“Many were fearful. They could not see that a new system had been born.”

As Council Member Laud observed, “The American spirit, principles and values memorialized in the Declaration of Independence 250 years ago are still valid today.”