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In 1718, at age 12, Ben was apprenticed to his brother James, a printer. By 1723 he not only mastered the printing trade, but had also became widely read. Just as importantly, Franklin realized that at the time only a few could write competently, and those who did immediately attracted attention.
As Franklin stated in his "Autobiography," writing became “of great Use to me in the Course of my Life, and was a principal Means of my Advancement.”
In 1721, at the ripe old age of 15, Ben founded the New-England Courant, a weekly newspaper. In 1722, at the age of 16, he wrote a series of 14 essays he published in his paper and signed “Silence Dogood” - who he portrayed as a middle-aged woman - and lampooned everything from funeral eulogies to Harvard students. Ms. Dogood became a hit and Ben took “exquisite Pleasure” in the fact that his brother and others became convinced that only a learned person with an ingenious wit could have written those essays. Quiet the accomplishment for a 16 year old.
The Silence Dogood letters.