Michael Warnick Thomas Paine was born on January 29, 1737 in England. He attended Thetford Grammar School from 1744 to 1749 and was apprenticed to his stay-maker father at age 13. In 1759 he married Mary Lambert but his business soon collapsed and his wife and first child died in childbirth. Paine left France in 1802 for the United States, taking along three sons he was godfather to. He returned to America during the Second Great Awakening but was attacked by Federalists for his political views. Paine died on June 8, 1809, leaving most of his estate to the mother of the three boys he brought with him.