Little Known Facts About America History For All Readers
The year was 1723. The teenage boy was a little anxious as he stood onboard the large sailing ship. He was running away from home to seek his way in the world. It was his first time to be alone among so many strangers. It would take several days to sail from New York to Philadelphia, and the weather was not good. It was cold, icy and windy. As he stood by the ship’s railing, he noticed the waters churning in the high wind. Rain had begun to fall so he decided to go inside for shelter. At that very moment a fellow passenger, a Dutch gentleman, slipped on the icy deck and was thrown overboard. As the young man watched, the fallen man went beneath the surface of the water. There were no life preservers on board. No on else was going to the man’s rescue. Without further thought, the boy jumped into the churning waters. He could not see the drowning man so he had to grope with his hands until he found him. Several times they went beneath the water’s surface. The winds and waves were taking them away from the ship and into the open harbor. Even though he was frightened, the young hero held fast to the Dutchman. Then – at that very moment – a miracle happened! A mighty wave lifted both the Dutchman and the boy up out of the water and cast them upon the ship’s deck. The other passengers stood by, looking on in amazement. Before their eyes both man and boy had been saved from a watery grave. The boy did go on to Philadelphia and lived until he was eighty-four years old. The same courage that he showed that day by plunging into the stormy sea to rescue a drowning man became part of his every day life. He went on to become an inventor, a newspaperman, a statesman, and one of America’s Founding Fathers. The runaway teenager’s name was Benjamin Franklin. **This begins a series of stories about American History edited for new readers. The Daughters of the American Revolution has many projects; two of these are fostering family literacy and promoting patriotism through study of American history. Historical research for this story was conducted by John A. Hurst with editing by Beth Koostra, chairman of Literacy and American History for the Phillip Hamman Chapter, NSDAR. These articles will be published periodically, exclusively in Mountain Valley News and the North Jackson Press, both entities of Caney Creek Publications LLC.
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