Early Life In his many careers as a printer, moralist, essayist, civic leader, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, and philosopher, for later generations of Americans he became both a spokesman and a model for the national character. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts on Jan. 17, 1706, into a religious Puritan household. His father, Josiah, was a candlemaker and a skillful mechanic. His mother, Abiah Ben’s parents raised thirteen children--the survivors of Josiah’s seventeen children by …showed first 75 words of 1595 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1595 total…of Franklin’s life. It terminates approximately in his fifty-third year, before he became America’s greatest diplomat. Poor Richard was an uneducated but experienced homespun philosopher, created and edited by Ben Franklin from 1732-1757. Although Poor Richard of the early almanacs was a dim-witted and foolish astronomer, a round character soon replaced him who was a rich source of prudent and clever aphorisms on the value of economy, hard work, and the simple life.