The first Romanian known to have been to what is now the United States was Samuel Damian (also spelled Domien), a former priest. Samuel Damian's name appears as far back as 1748, when he placed an advertisement in the "South Carolina Gazette" announcing the electrical demonstrations he planned to give and inviting the public to attend. Letters written in 1753 and 1755 by Benjamin Franklin attest to the fact that the two had met and had carried on discussions concerning electricity. Damian remained in the States some years living in South Carolina, then travelled on to Jamaica.