Lifestyle / Ben Franklin One for the Books: Ben Franklin Weds Betsy Ross A history-based love is consecrated in Philadelphia By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff Posted Jul 4, 2008 1:23 PM CDT Copied Historic re-enactors Linda Wilde, as Betsy Ross, left, and Ralph Archbold, as Benjamin Franklin, sit in a horse-drawn carriage following their real-life wedding yesterday in Philadelphia. (AP Photo) Betsy Ross married Benjamin Franklin last night at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, in what probably seemed to many onlookers as a bit of historical fantasy in honor of July 4th, the Inquirer reports. But this was not acting: The couple was Linda Wilde and Ralph Archbold, two of Philadelphia’s most popular historical impersonators, who just happened to get married in character. (Read more Ben Franklin stories.) Report an error