Early in his Autobiography, Franklin describes his family history, noting that he was "the youngest Son of the youngest Son for 5 Generations back. My Grandfather Thomas, who was born in 1598, lived at Ecton till he grew too old to follow Business longer, when he went to live with his Son John, a Dyer at Banbury in Oxfordshire, with whom my Father serv'd an Apprenticeship. There my Grandfather died and lies buried. We saw his Gravestone in 1758. His eldest Son Thomas liv'd in the House at Ecton, and left it with the Land to his only Child, a Daughter, who with her Husband, one Fisher of Wellingborough, sold it to Mr. Isted, now Lord of the Manor there". How does the failure of cousins who inherited the family estate in England contrast with Franklin's success despite the disadvantages of his birth? What does this anecdote demonstrate about the opportunities for economic and social growth in colonial America?