Story by: Zachary Crockett at priceonomics.com

Timothy Dexter was born in Malden, Mass., Jan. 22, 1747. From his birth, he fancied himself a legend -- he later wrote “I was to be one grat [sic] man,”

He came from a family of farm laborers who, in the times of British colonialism, saw little financial stability. Nonetheless, by the age of 16, Dexter secured himself an apprenticeship with a Boston leather dresser and began working toward a career as a craftsman. Though the profession was generally considered “lower class,” the money was good: by the 1760s, Dexter’s Boston teachers had monopolized the art of crafting “Moroccan leather,” a material that was in high demand by colonial fashionistas. (More on the podcast)