Growing up Puritan

Abstract

Chapter 1 chronicles the family background of Benjamin Franklin, whose English Protestant father, Josiah, emigrated from Northampton in England to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1683. The chapter describes Franklin’s childhood, including the Boston background of his maternal grandfather, Peter Folger, also an English emigré, and the influence of his uncle, Benjamin Franklin the elder. The chapter indicates the family’s religious affiliations, including their close associations with pastors Samuel Willard and Ebenezer Pemberton. Family friends included the parents of Charles Chauncey, whose adult convictions differed from those of Benjamin. The chapter explains how Josiah originally intended his youngest son to take up a career in the ministry, but came to understand that he lacked some of the requisite convictions. It relates how the search for alternative work in various trades led to an onerous apprenticeship in printing under his brother James. Ben learned about both the trade and himself—by his late teens, he realized that he needed other outlets for his independence of mind.