About Me
On January 22, 1915, sharecropper Rachel Franklin and her husband welcomed a beautiful baby boy into the world, and they named him Clarence LaVaughn. Little did Clarence's mother and father Henry know that the boy they were raising would grow up to be one of the greatest orators of the 20th Century.
It was when his family moved from Sunflower County, Mississippi to Cleveland, Mississippi that Rev. Franklin found his calling. He was converted and baptized at age 10 at St. Peter's Rock Baptist Church, the church his family attended. From that point on, Rev. Franklin became an active member of the church community. One day, after hearing the passionate orator Rev. Benjamin J. Perkins preaching, Rev. Franklin was filled with the desire to become a pastor and preacher himself. At age sixteen, he was nominated for ordination by the Baptist Council, and accepted as an associate pastor at St. Peter's Rock Baptist Church.
He married Barbara Vernice Siggers, a church pianist, and had five children: Vaughn, Erma, Cecil, Aretha and Carolyn. While his family was growing, so was word of his outstanding talent as a preacher, and demand grew rapidly for him to preach at churches all over the country. Before settling at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan Rev. Franklin served as pastor at New Salem Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee and Friendship Baptist Church in Buffalo, New York, and was often invited to other churches as a guest speaker.
Rev. Franklin's accomplishments while serving 38 years as pastor at New Bethel had not only a profound impact on his congregation, but the United States as a whole. In his parish alone, he started a food ministry for those who could not afford sustenance for themselves or their families, offered financial and legal help for the homeless, and conducted a prison ministry.
On a larger scale, Rev. Franklin became involved in politics by urging voters to go out to the poles and vote for the qualified candidates he was endorsing. He became an active member in the civil rights movement. One of his greatest accomplishments was co-organizing the 1963 "Walk Toward Freedom March" with his close friend, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Rev. Franklin was also actively involved in such organizations as the Urban League, NAACP, and on the Executive Board of the Southern Christian Leadership Council.
Perhaps most of all, Rev. C.L. Franklin was known as "the man with the million dollar voice." His sermons and music evoked waves of emotion from anyone listening. Unlike most faith-based orators of his time, C.L.'s sermons were broadcast on radio nationwide under the Chess Recording Company banner. In his 38 years at New Bethel, Rev. Franklin also released 76 live recordings of his sermons and music. He preached at churches all over the country and often brought his daughter, Aretha, though all the children joined C.L. in his road entourage at one time or another.
For a man who accomplished so much in his lifetime, his time on earth was cut short when, on June 10 1979, he was shot during a robbery attempt on his house in Detroit. He remained in a coma for 5 years and died on July 27, 1984. 10,000 people attended his funeral at New Bethel Baptist Church. A short time later, Detroit's mayor, Coleman A. Young, renamed Linwood Street as C. L. Franklin Boulevard, and renamed the park, (located 2 blocks from C.L. Franklin's house,) C.L. Franklin Park. It is at New Bethel Baptist Church where the legacy of the preacher with the million dollar voice will continue to live on.
