Benjamin Franklin, American Genius: His Life and Ideas with 21 Activities
A flock of people headed up Market Street and he joined them shuffling into the hushed Quaker Meet ing House Sitting down the lad looked around the plain building No minister rose to speak as in the Sunday church services in Boston In the silence he promptly fell asleep How do you start a new life in a new place with nothing to call your own The runaway teenager pos sessed a brightly sharp and curious brain He worked hard planned hard and saved hard His natural charm and ease with people from common folk to great gentlemen sped his climb of success in colonial America The lad's name was Benjamin Franklin and on this October morning he started from scratch to earn his place in the
III AS A YOUNG GENIUS N OCTOBER 1683 Josiah Franklin his wife Anne and their three small children gazed hungrily for their first sight of land They'd left England nine long weeks before on a cramped ship packed tight with 100 other passengers and crew Twenty five year old Josiah hoped not only to find religious freedom in New England but also to better support his growing family In Massachusetts a man could live more cheaply and earn more for his hard work In Boston the Franklins would build a new life Josiah labored as a silk and fabric dyer in
But the Puritans of Boston fined people for wearing fancy clothes or for dressing above their place in soci ety To make a go of things in the New World Josiah tackled a new trade he became a tallow chandler a maker of candles and soap On the corner of Milk Street and High Street Josiah and Anne rented a two and a half story clap board house that also served as Josiah’s shop The ground floor had one long room To protect the main house from fire the kitchen was out back in a sepa rate building Across the street stood South Church the newest of Boston's three church congregations More children filled the Franklin house but like many homes in colonial America death stalked the family too A baby son died Then Anne Franklin died leaving behind a week old son who soon fol lowed his mother to the grave Left with five children to care for a trade to work and a shop and home to run Josiah needed a new wife and helpmate People remarried quickly in colonial America Five months after Anne's death Josiah married Abiah Folger Her father Peter Folger had been an early settler of New
Benjamin Franklin's birthplace on Milk Street in Boston Over the next 12 years Abiah and Josiah's family grew though tragedy always waited on the doorstep Two more little sons died including 16 month old Ebenezer who drowned in the tallow shop's boiling vat On January 17 1706 Abiah gave birth to a new baby boy They named him Benjamin after Josiah's brother Josiah bundled the new baby into blankets and carried him across the street to South Church Puri
