at regular
intervals for the purpose of training him along religious lines of
thought. He attended a small school in his neighborhood where a few
white and colored children were taught by the same white schoolmaster.
Until the cotton gin and other mechanical appliances made Negroes too
valuable as tools of exploitation to be allowed anything so dangerous
as education, there were to be found here and there in the South
pioneer educators at the feet of whom even Negroes might sit and
learn.[153]

As a boy at school young Banneker is said to have spent very little,
if any, of his time in the games and frolics that constitute so large
a part of the school life of the average youth. He was unusually fond
of study, devoting by far the larger part of his time to reading, so
that it was said of him that "all his delight was to dive into his
books." His reading, however, did not take a wide range. His limited
resources did not permit him to purchase the many works he desired.
What Banneker lost through the lack of a variety of books, however, he
tried to make up for in being a close observer of everything around
him. He turned everything that he could into a channel of information
and drew upon all possible sources to keep himself posted on the
general activities of his community and beyond. In this way, "he
became gradually possessed of a fund of general knowledge which it was
difficult to find even among those who were far more favored by
opportunity than he was."[154]

Although Banneker had by this time begun to ingratiate himself into
the favor of the very best element in his community solely through his
demonstration of mental superiority, he did not permit his unusual
popularity and his love of study to render him any less helpful to his
father in the cultivation of the farm. He proved himself to be just as
industrious in farming as he was diligent in studying. When his father
died in 1759, leaving to Benjamin and his mother, as joint heirs, the
dwelling in which they lived, together with 72 acres of land,[155]
Benjamin was fully prepared to assume control of affairs on the
estate, and make it yield a comfortable living for him and his mother.
His father had divided the remaining 28 acres of the original farm
among the three daughters who also survived him. His farm was said to
be one of the best kept farms in his neighborhood. It was well
stocked, containing a select assortment of fruit trees, a fine lot of
cattle, and