Dr. Ben Harris was a terrific neurologist at Memorial for a long time. He (IMO) was also president of the F'cked-over club for men. First there was this girl named Chamille who was super sweet and beautiful, a nurse and a model who got breast cancer. She ended up leaving him and Oakdale. Then there was this other chick whose name I can't remember (I think it was Denise) who came to Oakdale with a secret: She'd given birth to a baby and sold it. She and Ben hooked up and the secret came out. The baby that she'd given birth to was being raised by Holden and Lily who thought that it was the little girl that Lily gave birth to when she was kidnapped by David Stenbeck, son of James. David (with the help of Julia Lindsay- Jack's girlfriend (or wife?) at the time) helped Lily with the delivery. Julia was going to do it as she was a nurse, but Lily was too tired to push so Julia demanded that David be there to catch the child and Julia pushed externally on Lily's belly to help the kid come out. When David caught her, he fell in love, walked off with her and called her Melinda. When Lily was found, a baby was also found and said to be hers, but she denied that the child was hers. They convinced her otherwise and Holden and Lily named the kid Hope. Dr. Ben helped Denise realize that Hope was the daughter that she sold to David. Then they found Melinda who they renamed Faith. Lily wanted to keep both girls, but Ben helped them to see that Denise wasn't in the right state of mind immediately after giving birth in some obscure place to realize what she was doing when she sold her child. Denise got Hope back, and left town with her leaving Dr. Ben in her dust. Then the good ole doc hooked up with Jessica. He also met his half brother Isaac (who married Jessica's daughter Bonnie) and adopted a kid named Curtis. Jessica was raped by this guy named Marshall Travers and Ben stood by her through the rape trial where her story was raked across the coals. I think she was DA at the time, too. Then Jessica got pregnant and she and Ben were happy, except that she knew it might not be his because she'd had an affair with Travers. She miscarried, and he had the fetus autopsied, discovering that it couldn't be his since the bloodtypes didn't match up, and also learning that he couldn't impregnate a woman because he was shooting blanks. So he left Jessica to be with Marshall, but Bonnie pushed Marshall out of a window and he died. Ben and Curtis moved to Philly.
The Ben Frankiln guy was ridiculous. Why they chose to have him dress up like that is anyone's guess, but he did somewhat serve a purpose. He made Jack confront his demons and stare at life vs death in the face. He is forcing Jack to question himself and his worth. Jack is approaching the man as an equal rather than as an authority and it is humbling Jack because he sees that he is exactly the same as this crackpot.
Lily is useless. Marry Damian and go back to Malta with him. I am tired of the whining and at least Damian is hotter than Holden.
As for Ben Franklin, I guess 'cause it's Philadelphia, there are all sorts of folks running around dressed up like him? (I've visited Philly, and I don't recall seeing any.) I dunno...it was weird to me. But then again, so much of ATWT IS these days! 
Hey, JB, if they had stayed in Chicago, who was Jack gonna save from jumping??? An Oprah Winfrey impersonator???? Ye gads, how bad can things get??? Don't bother to answer - I think we already know!
