He was largely self-taught, gaining much of his education from reading and rereading such books as the King James Bible, John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, Aesop's Fables, and Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography.

He was largely self-taught, gaining much of his education from reading and rereading such books as the King James Bible, John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, Aesop's Fables, and Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography.