Early Life
Bell received very little formal education during his childhood but served a three-year apprenticeship to a leather tanner. He was later instructed in hatmaking by an older brother and apparently practiced this trade with some success during his teen years. Just before turning 20 he left Pennsylvania for Lexington, Kentucky, where an older sister had recently been widowed. He established himself as a hatmaker in the area, paying for the education of his sister's children and at times employing as many as 20 other people before deciding to move further south.
Read more about this topic: Montgomery Bell
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