Benjamin Franklin: Lightning, Liberty, and Contradiction

On October 6, 1723, a seventeen-year-old Benjamin Franklin arrived in Philadelphia. He was a runaway, having fled an apprenticeship with his brother in Boston. He landed at the Market Street Wharf with almost no money, just one Dutch dollar and a shilling in copper. Famously, he walked to a bakery on Second Street and spent three pennies on 'three great puffy rolls.' A young woman named Deborah Read saw him walking down the street, a roll under each arm while eating the third. She later recalled that he looked 'awkward' and 'ridiculous.' Franklin, unaware of his future wife's first impression, gave his two extra rolls to a woman and child who had shared his boat journey. From these humble beginnings, his new life began.