De Costa
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, American clergyman and writer; born in Charlestown, Mass., July 10, 1831. Included in his many publications are: "The Pre-Columbian Discovery of America by the Northmen" (1869); "The Moabite Stone" (1870); and "The Rector of Roxburgh," a novel under the pen-name of "William Hickling" (1873).
He became president (1884) of the first branch of the "White Cross Society," of which he was the organizer. He died in 1904.