four children born to Isaac Wayne, who had immigrated to Easttown, Pennsylvania, from Ireland, and Elizabeth Iddings Wayne. He was part of a Protestant Anglo-Irish family; his grandfather was a veteran of the Battle of the Boyne, where he fought for the Williamite side. Wayne was born on January 1, 1745, on his family's 500 acre Waynesborough estate. During his upbringing, Wayne would clash with his father's desires that he become a farmer. As a child, his father served as a captain during the French and Indian War, leaving an impression on Wayne who would mimic stories of battles at the time. He was educated as a surveyor at his uncle's private academy in Philadelphia and at the College of Philadelphia for two years. In 1765, Benjamin Franklin sent him and some associates to work for a year surveying land granted in Nova Scotia, and he assisted with starting a settlement the following year at The Township of Monckton. He married Mary Penrose in 1766, and they had two children. Their daughter, Margretta, was born in 1770, and their son, Isaac Wayne, was born in 1772. Wayne would go on to have romantic relationships with other women throughout his life, including Mary Vining, a wealthy woman in Delaware, eventually leading to he and his wife becoming estranged.He would later become a U.S. representative from Pennsylvania. Wayne was an avid reader and often quoted Caesar and Shakespeare at length while serving in the military. In 1767, he returned to work in his father's tannery while continuing work as a surveyor. At the time, Wayne owned a 40-year-old male slave named Toby, who was registered in Chester County as a "slave for life." In 1774 after receiving the family farm in Chester County, Pennsylvania, he stepped into the political limelight as the elected chairman of the Chester County Committee of Safety before then being elected into the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. American Revolution In 1775, Wayne was nominated to the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety beside John Dickinson, Benjamin Franklin, and Robert Morris. Following Great Britain's enactment of the Intolerable Acts, Wayne began to oppose the British and by October 1775, his chairman position for the Chester County Committee of Safety was replaced by a Quaker as citizens described him as a "radical" against the British, an accusation Wayne denied. On January 3, 1776, Wayne was nominated as colonel of the 4th Pennsylvania Regiment