Franklin Bowditch Dexter was born on September 11, 1842, in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, to Rudolphus and Mary Dexter. His father was a carpenter who owned $6,000 of real estate and $3,000 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Fairhaven, and he graduated from Yale College in 1861. He remained at Yale after graduation, and he spent the ensuing decades working as an assistant librarian, a registrar, and a history professor. He married Theodosia Wheeler around 1880, and their daughter Dorothea was born around 1888. By 1900, they employed at least three Irish servants. He died in New Haven on August 13, 1920.

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