Benjamin Franklin was born on 6 January 1706 (17 January “new style”) in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the tenth son of the seventeen children of Josiah Franklin. Josiah had emigrated from England and earned his living in America as a soap and candle maker. Franklin's mother, Abiah, Josiah's second wife, was the daughter of Peter Folger from Nantucket. Benjamin Franklin was largely an autodidact. At the age of eight he was sent to Boston Grammar School where he remained for less than a year. After spending a year under a private teacher, he started to work with his father at the age of ten and, from 1718 to 1723, become an apprentice to his brother James, who in August 1721 was the publisher of the New-England Courant. Benjamin Fr

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First published 27 June 2002

Citation: Lena, Alberto. "Benjamin Franklin". The Literary Encyclopedia. 27 June 2002.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4994, accessed 9 February 2010.]