At first thought it would be fair to presume that this township was named after the great statesman, philosopher, scientist and printer, Benjamin Franklin. No so, however, but rather after a family by that name who were among the earliest settlers in the county the parents of F. M. Franklin, a long-time business man of this city, and J. B. Franklin, who spent nearly his entire life in the township that bore his name. In the early settlement of the county, and, in fact, up to within the past few years, there was a considerable extent of low, wet land in the township, most of which has been reclaimed by drainage, so it now boasts of having some of the choicest farms in the corn belt. The "Milwaukee" railway runs pretty nearly through the center of the town from north to south, and the southern border of the township is within three miles of the main east and west line of the "Milwaukee" railway. It contains a small village, Cooper, of which mentions is elsewhere made. Only one rural church within its borders, St. Mary's Catholic, southeast of Cooper.