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Davey Crockett

DAVY CROCKETT
Childhood
David was the fifth of nine children. He was born to cash-poor homesteaders on August 17, 1786. John and Rebecca were his dad and mom. He lived on a hardscrabble farm. The Crockett's came to America from Ireland in the 1700s. The family moved several times and ran an inn on the road between Abingdon, Virginia, and Knoxville Tennessee, for two decades. With only a rudimentary education given to him by his parents, Crockett, at the age of 12 worked as a cattle driver.   Young Davy Crockett lived in Morristown after his Father opened its doors in 1796. By 1798 John and Rebecca had six sons and three daughters.   Money was scarce.   Davy helped feed the family with the game he bagged in the woods.   When the boy was eleven, John hired him out to work for Jacob Siler.   Siler paid Davy $5.for tending his cattle during the long journey to his farm in Virginia.   When they arrived, Siler persuaded Davy to stay with him.   Unsure of his rights, the home sick boy agreed.   Five weeks later, a friendly teamster helped Davy escape.   In the evening, chores finished, Davy sat spellbound as travelers told stories about life on the frontier. The boy soon acquired a lifelong habit of own tales. In   1799 John sent thirteen year old Davy to school.   Before the week was out, Davy fought with the class bully. The next year he left home for three years when his father threatened to beat him for not going to school. Davy put of the beating by hiding in the woods each day. A week later the teacher sent a note home, asking about David. John " David's dad" picked up a hickory stick and ordered his son to go back to school, David took off running. He out ran his father and kept on going. He worked as a teamster, bonded himself out to a farmer, did odd jobs, and after returning home he helped pay off some of his father's debts. Davy went to work to pay John's debts. Six months of plowing fields and chopping wood paid off a $36 debt. A second six months retired a $40...