There was a time when Benjamin Franklin was proud of his son William, and was glad to have his name coupled with that of the young man. The first year of the father's service in the Pennsylvania Assembly William was appointed clerk of that body; this fact is mentioned with pride in the Autobiography. When General Braddock was sent from England to America to oppose the union of the Colonies for defence, "lest they should thereby grow too military and feel their own strength," Franklin was sent by the Assembly to Fredericktown, Maryland, to confer with the General. "My son accompanied me on the journey," the Autobiography says. At Braddock's request Franklin advertised at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for one hundred and fifty wagons for the proposed expedition into the interior, and at the close of the advertisement was the note, "My son, William Franklin, is empowered to enter into like contracts with any person in Cumberland County." Later, when the father was asked to secure financial assistance for certain subalterns in Braddock's company, he wrote to the Assembly, recommending that a present of necessaries and refreshments be sent to those officers. "My son, who had some experience of camp life and of its wants, drew up a list for me which I enclos'd in my letter," the father wrote. When, during the French and Indian War, the Governor of Pennsylvania asked Franklin to take charge of "our Northwestern frontier which was infested by the enemy, and provide for the defence of the inhabitants by raising troops and building a line of forts," he went to the front with five hundred and sixty men. In the Autobiography he wrote, "My son, who had in the preceding war, been an officer in the army rais'd against Canada, was my aid-de-camp, and of great use to me." And in 1771, when beginning his Autobiography, Franklin addressed it "Dear Son," and spoke of the trip the two had taken together to England, to make "enquiries among the remains of my relations." Then he added: "Imagining it may be equally agreeable to you to know the circumstances of my life, many of which you are yet unacquainted with, and expecting the enjoyment of a week's uninterrupted leisure in my present country retirement, I sit down to write them for you." Six years before the beginning of the Autobiography, Franklin, in company with six other Philadelphians, entered on a land speculation in Nova Scotia. Together they bought two hundred thousand acres of land. There they intended to found a colony. Two shiploads of emigrants were taken to Monkton, the site of the proposed colony, but most of the men settled on other land, finding that this could be had practically for nothing. Franklin's will later provided that William be given an interest in the Nova Scotia property, and he explained the gift by saying that this was "the only part of his estate remaining under the sovereignty of the king of Great Britain."