Benjamin Franklin

By: Addison C. Peter

Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts. His
father, Josiah Franklin, was a candle and soap maker. Ben’s mother, Josiah’s second
wife, was Abiah Folger. He was the sixteenth of seventeen children.
As a child, Ben loved to learn. Once a week, Josiah would invite a person to
come talk his children. Ben enjoyed listening to their stories. The other children were
quite bored. Ben’s father owned popular a soap and candle shop. When he was old
enough, Ben started working for his father. He delivered items and helped customers.
The customers liked Ben. They thought he was very kind and helpful. His father
enjoyed having Ben around to help, but Ben did not enjoy this. He wanted a more
important job.
In 1718 Ben became an apprentice to his brother James, a printer. He enjoyed
working for his brother. Ben was also good at what he did. He was a very good writer.
Nights when he wasn’t reading, he would write comics. Ben decided that he should put
his comics in a newspaper. But how? He started to sign the comics as “Silence
Dogood”, a middle-aged widow, and put them in front of the door to the print shop.
Dogood would write things about the city she didn’t like. Neither James nor the readers
knew Dogood’s real identity. Eventually Ben confessed. James was very angry with
Ben. James’s friends were amazed. James became very jealous. Never again did Ben
trick him.
In 1723 Ben left Boston after a falling out with James and settled in Philadelphia,
where he met his future wife, Deborah Read. Ben loved Philadelphia and enjoyed living
there. In 1724 Ben made his first trip to London, where he planned to buy a printing
press. He ended up staying for two years. In 1728 Ben established a printing press. Four
years later he published the first edition of Poor Richard’s Almanack, which was a
success for the next 25 years.
1741 was the year that he invented the Franklin Stove. In 1748 Ben retired from
the business with enough money to live comfortably. Ben loved science. In 1752 he
conducted his electricity experiment with a kite. Ben returned to Philadelphia in 1762.
In 1775, as a member of the Continental Congress, he advocated separation from
England. A year later, Ben helped draft the Declaration of Independence. Ben signed the
Treaty of Paris and invented the bifocals in 1783. He signed the Constitution of the
United States in 1787. Benjamin Franklin died on April 17, 1790.