Adventure Idea- the Skeletons in Benjamin Franklin’s Closet Are The Bodies In His Basement.

Recently it was brought to my attention that in 1998, 10 skeletons were found in the basement of a house in London. All of the bodies had tool markings on the bones. The skeletons dated to the mid 1700s when American statesman Benjamin Franklin rented the house. 
After wondering why I hadn’t heard of this already, my second thought was that this discovery would be great for a Victoriana scenario.

A Bit of Background

Between 1757 to 1762, and from 1764 to 1775, Franklin lived in a London home rented from a woman named Mary Stevenson.  His mission in England began with the politics of Pennsylvania and expanded, with the threat of Rebellion, into his becoming the colonies’ spokesman to the British Government. 

During his years in the Stevenson home, Franklin grew close to Mrs. Stevenson’s son-in-law, William Hewson.  The bodies found in the basement were probably the remains of dissections performed by Hewson, who was an anatomist. Hewson later died because of an infected cut suffered during a later dissection in 1774. 

Franklin’s house would have been the perfect spot for Hewson’s illegal scientific exploration. His mother-in-law owned the property, the current tenant was a friend of his known for scientific curiosity, and a gallows on one end of the street and a wharf on the other provided easy access for the deliver off specimens.

As creepy and morbid as that is, in Victoriana we can nudge that in a number of directions. Here’s an explanation for the skeletons, and an adventure

Skulls and Shovels

Benjamin Franklin, William Hewson and a team of anatomists and resurrection men (criminals who stole bodies to sell to dissectors) waged a secret war against necromancers across the graveyards of London. The bodies buried in the basement are captured zombies that were dissected in an attempt to find clues pointing to the identity of the necromancers. After bringing the chief necromancer to justice, the macabre cadre split up. 

One Hundred years later, the player characters find evidence of new zombies being made with a familiar technique. The necromancer is back with a sickly plot of revenge if he can get his hands on the remains of his old enemies, or their ancestors. 

Investigators can look into old newspaper reports with chilling similarities to the day’s headlines, find the group’s abandoned headquarters under Franklin’s house, fight body snatching minions in London’s cemeteries, and recover equipment to handle mobs of the undead.

Alternatively, the concept of a secret society of criminal medical practices hunting zombies would make for a great association. Perhaps the group did not disband and the players are the next generation of the grave digging conspiracy.  Depending on Benjamin Franklin’s race, he could be alive to recruit the investigators into the adventure or serve as the villain. An eldren Franklin is in his later years, a dwarven or gnome Franklin is very long lived.