# Samuel Keimer — The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin character guide

> Samuel Keimer in The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Keimer, S. Keimer

**First appearance:** 0006-iii-arrival-in-philadelphia

## Snapshot

Franklin's first Philadelphia employer, a shabby, eccentric printer whose failing shop becomes the young apprentice's unwitting classroom in business and self-reliance.

## Who they are

Keimer runs a ragged print shop where Franklin works while secretly measuring his own prospects against his master's disorder. Odd in dress and doctrine, he embodies the precarious tradesman Franklin vows not to become, and his decline sharpens Franklin's resolve to master the craft and the market. Their uneasy partnership marks the first rung of Franklin's climb from journeyman to proprietor.

## Relationships

### [Andrew Bradford](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/andrew_bradford)

_rivalry_

Competing printers in Philadelphia, with Bradford undermining Keimer's business.

### [David Harry](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/david_harry)

_professional_

Harry was Keimer's apprentice and later rival printer, eventually leaving Keimer's shop.

### [Sir William Keith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/sir_william_keith)

_professional_

Keith patronized Keimer's printing business, but their relationship was transactional and strained.

### [George Whitefield](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/george_whitefield)

_professional_

Whitefield employed Keimer to print his sermons and journals during his evangelical tours.

### [Benjamin Franklin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/benjamin_franklin)

_professional_

Franklin worked as a journeyman printer in Keimer's shop before leaving to start his own business.

## In the story

### [Arrival in Philadelphia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/chapters/iii-arrival-in-philadelphia)

A printer in Philadelphia who employs Franklin to print an elegy on Aquilla Rose; described as a poor workman and a knave.

### [Early Friends in Philadelphia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/chapters/v-early-friends-in-philadelphia)

Franklin's employer and roommate; they engage in Socratic disputations and a three-month vegetarian experiment.

### [First Visit to London](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/chapters/vi-first-visit-to-london)

Not directly mentioned in this chapter.

### [VII: Beginning Business in Philadelphia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/chapters/vii-beginning-business-in-philadelphia)

Former employer, now has a better shop and offers Franklin high wages to manage his printing house.

### [Business Success and First Public Service](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/chapters/viii-business-success-and-first-public-service)

His business declines and he is forced to sell his printing-house and move to Barbados.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters/samuel_keimer
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/franklin_autobiography_se/characters