Early Life
Holcomb grew up in Southwick, Massachusetts. There were no schools in his district, so he didn't have formal schooling, but gave himself an education. He studied books on geometry, navigation, optics and astronomy that were previously owned by his uncle Abijah, who was lost at sea. At fifteen years of age Holcomb became a tutor at a private school in Suffield, Connecticut, teaching college preparatory courses to students older than himself.
Read more about this topic: Amasa Holcomb
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“For with this desire of physical beauty mingled itself early the fear of death—the fear of death intensified by the desire of beauty.”
—Walter Pater 1839–1894, British writer, educator. originally published in Macmillan’s Magazine (Aug. 1878)
“There is in him, hidden deep-down, a great instinctive artist, and hence the makings of an aristocrat. In his muddled way, held back by the manacles of his race and time, and his steps made uncertain by a guiding theory which too often eludes his own comprehension, he yet manages to produce works of unquestionable beauty and authority, and to interpret life in a manner that is poignant and illuminating.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)