His father was Josiah Franklin, a soap maker, and his mother was Abiah Folger. Benjamin was the tenth child out of seventeen children. Josiah sent Benjamin to clergy school, but could only afford it for one year. Benjamin went on to apprentice under his brother James as a printer. Benjamin wanted to write for James's paper, but he knew James would never allow it.
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Benjamin Franklin was born on Milk Street in Boston on January 17th, 1706. His father was Josiah Franklin, a candle and soap maker. His mother was Abiah Folger and she was Josiah's second wife. Benjamin Franklin was the youngest son of 17 children. Benjamin attended Boston Latin School for two years but did not graduate because of lack of money; however he continued his education by reading great quantities.
He would be at the grammar school for less than a year before his father would come to terms with not being able to support a college education for Benjamin and supporting the rest of the large family. Benjamin would then be sent to another school which would teach him basic math and English skills. There, he would surpass the rest of class in English while eventually failing arithmetic yet again causing his father to pull him from school all together. At the age of 10 Benjamin would be taken home to learn the family business. While learning to make soap and candles from his father, Benjamin became restless; he yearned to go to sea much like his brother Josiah.
Benjamin Franklin "If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing." Having followed his own words of wisdom, Benjamin Franklin made an everlasting mark on America since his early days as a printing apprentice. Born to Josiah and Abiah Franklin on January 17, 1706 in Boston, New England (now known as Massachusetts), Benjamin Franklin was the youngest son of seventeen children. Early on, Franklin excelled in grammar school and was good when it came to writing, so his father sent him to a writing and arithmetic school. While there he continued to do well in writing but failed arithmetic.
His invents are still used today and everyone loves them. Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1706. He was the 10th son of Josiah Franklin and Abiah (Folger). Franklin’s father was a soap and candle maker. Benjamin’s father had hoped that Benjamin would enter into the clergy but he could not afford for his son to go to school for many years.
In fact, James “harassed his younger brother and administered beatings from time to time” (The First American, 18). Ben could not take this harsh treatment from his former mentor so he decided to flee to in 1723 to New York. Ben traveled by boat hoping to find work as a printer in New York but there was none, he continued his journey for work through New Jersey and ended up in Philadelphia where he found work as an apprentice printer for Samuel Keimer. Franklin’s skill as a writer put him at good terms with the Governor William Keith of Pennsylvania. After Bens brother-in-law showed the governor one of Bens letters the governor was stunned by his mastery of wordplay and sent out to meet this great writer.
He didn’t like the work very much, however, and so he began to work for a cutler. When he was just thirteen, he became an apprentice to his brother James, who had just returned from England with a new printing press. Benjamin learned the printing trade, but in his spare time he tried to improve his education. In 1721 his brother James Franklin started the New England Courant, and Benjamin, who was fifteen at the time, kept busy in delivering the newspaper during the day and writing articles for it at night. These articles, published anonymously, were widely noticed and even acclaimed for their observations of the current events.