Sixth Grade
Worksheets
Peter Francisco: The Virginia Giant
It's 1765. Imagine yourself as a child, far from your home in the Portuguese Azores. You are alone and afraid on the docks of a country you have never before seen. That is how Peter Francisco entered American history.
The five-year-old boy was well-dressed, obviously from a wealthy family. His speech sounded like a mixture of Portuguese, Spanish, and possibly French. Though he called himself Pedro, his name was changed to the English version, Peter. It was a mystery of how he came to be in America.
Judge Anthony Winston took Peter in. (The judge was an uncle of famed lawyer and orator Patrick Henry.) When Peter was old enough to be apprenticed to learn a trade, he had grown to a massive size: six feet six inches tall and 260 pounds. It was decided that he should be a blacksmith.
