Ethan was the youngest child, born in 1745, two years later than his brother. He had little love for either the work or the talk of the shoemaker’s shop. He was interested in tools, machines, and how things worked, but was even more fascinated with plants and how to grow them. Even as a small child, Ethan had felt closed in and restricted, and wanted mostly to be alone. He had always been quiet and aloof, disappointing his older sisters when he rejected their efforts to cuddle and care for him. Ethan was now tall, thin, blond, and handsome in a rough way. There had been a time when Henry was dominant, but Ethan was larger even before they became teenagers, and after their first bodily contest they had learned to respect each other as physical equals. As soon as he could obtain his mother’s permission, Ethan had begun moving his bedroll downstairs to a corner of the shop, but only for privacy during the night and not because he was attracted to the place during the working day.

He watched Henry with interest and sometimes embarrassment during busy hours in the shop. The conversations were often lively, and Henry would make loud, confrontational statements about political affairs, and was sometimes personally critical of prominent people in the city, including Benjamin Franklin and some of the more influential Quakers. The age or substantiality of other men in the shop never dampened his provocative opinions. Ethan soon realized that his brother would take diametrically opposite positions in subsequent discussions, obviously just to engender lively exchanges. Their father rarely commented except on matters that involved his own profession, and seemed to realize that part of his business was due to Henry’s helping to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas.

Ethan realized that when his brother left home, he would be expected to become his father’s apprentice, customarily a commitment of six or seven years. He was always uncomfortable around other people and, taking advantage of Henry’s presence, he escaped whenever possible to visit a nearby blacksmith or a cabinetmaker, where he volunteered to help them and carefully observed them at their craft. Without explaining or really expecting to have a place to use them, he asked Henry to help him acquire tools of his own with which he could work with wood. Henry found a small collection for sale at a low price in the estate of an older friend of their father. For years, Ethan had enjoyed working behind their shop in a small garden plot, only about twice the size of their kitchen table. He had experimented with various kinds of seeds and cultivation practices, and was proud when his vegetables helped supplement the family’s diet. During the growing season he had tended the garden while the shop was closed or without customers, and considered it a source of pride to be called “farmer” by the other children.