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Show • • • BENJAMIN FRANKLIN S:.MITH Written by his daughter Mina Smith Ovard Benjamin ~as ?om on F~bruary 22, 1846 at Thomastown Pennsylvania. He was the eleventh child.m ~e family .. He was given the name of George Washington because h was born on his birthday. His mother died when he was two weeks old O . e to his uncle's home to be cared for. They had a boy by the sam 's ~e was taken him Benjamin Franklin He was known by this name for the res~!~; 1:~e~ ey called When he was a boy he had his leg broken and as it grew crooked, it had to be reset. As anesthesia was not known at that time, it was very painful to have a limb set. The Doctor called him a booby for crying, so he decided that when he grew to be a man, he would give the doctor a good thrashing for being to cruel to him. He moved to Morgan City with his family in 1864. In the year of 1869 he went to Laramie Wyoming for freight. He brought back the first telegraph wire in the state of Utah. In early days, they used to take vegetables or any thing they raised to pay for their dance tickets. At one time, Father took an extra large squash to pay for his ticket. As he left the ticket stand, they called to him to come get his change and they rolled out several small squash to him. He and some of his friends would sometimes walk the distance of32 miles to Farmington to attend a special dance held there. It would take them four days to go there and get back. Ten children were born to he and his wife, Mary Ann Simmons, seven boys and.three girls. He was well versed on the scriptures and quite often, he would quote a passage of scripture from the Bible incorrectly, just to get the boys into a religious discussion. He was always prompt at having family prayer and asking the blessing on the food He was always anxious to pay his share in the erection of Church buildings and freely contributed to the different organizations. He was always ready to help those in need, and once he gave the only coat he had to a tramp. At the age of 77 years, he visited Yellowstone National Park and with his wife, walked down a flight of five hundred steps at the Grand Canyon. His hobby was fishing and hunting. At one timl he killed two deer with one bullet. He loved good books and would sit up late at night reading. Despite his years, he never had to wear glasses . |
