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He Joins A Mule Team and Goes West

After a year George mastered all that the school teacher at the one-room school could teach him. He then obtained permission to join a mule-team enroute to Fort Scott, Kansas, where he could receive a more formal education.

Again he worked at odd jobs to support himself. He eventually opened a small laundry and washed the clothes of others so that he might continue his education. He found the school, its facilities, and the teachers to be superior to what he had been exposed to at Neosho. He made the best of this opportunity by working hard, thus completing his High School education in seven years.

During that time George learned that self-pity is a destructive force. He developed a strong sense of pride which forbade him to accept charity or favors of any kind which he could not repay. At times, his stubbornness about this would annoy people who wanted to help him and who did not expect anything in return. However, it also enabled him to earn everyone's respect.

He Witnesses A Lynching

When he was eighteen George became disenchanted with Fort Scott. After witnessing the lynching of a black man, George left the town and wandered in search of work and further education. He found a home in Alathe, Kansas, where he was taken in by the Christopher Seymores, a childless couple who came to regard him as a son.

Christopher Seymore was a devoutly religious man who would do much to influence George's life. Under his guidance George joined the Presbyterian Church, and remained affiliated with the denomination throughout his life. He also was to carry the little Bible which was given to him by the Seymores with him through all the years of his glorious career at Tuskeegee. When the Seymores decided to move to Minneapolis, Kansas, George accompanied them.

He resumed going to school; and, at the same time, opened a laundry in a one-room house which he negotiated to buy. An unhappy experience resulted from this, his first business venture, which caused George to relegate money to a rather low position in regards to his attitude concerning success.

He Grows Two Feet In Two Years

Exposed to the wraths of the weather during his kidnapping, the infant George contracted Whooping Cough, and barely survived. The illness affected his vocal cords, and impeded his growth until his late teens. During his nineteenth year, the always frail George began to grow; and in less than two years shot from four to six feet in height: however, he would remain rail-thin for the rest of his life.

His new height added to his happiness in making him feel more like the man he knew himself to be. This happiness was greatly enhanced when he received a letter from Highland University in Iowa, which stated that he had been accepted as a student: a dream come true.

[[image - black & white photograph of a laboratory]]

[[image - black & white photograph of George Washington Carver working in a laboratory]]

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