He made big money, spent it lavishly, and lived grandly. And in doing so he gained admirers and detractors all over the world and became, quite simply, one of the best known men of the early twentieth century.
Johnson's autobiography, Jack Johnson, In the Ring and Out, remains the key source for information about his early life. In it he writes, "I am astounded when I realize that there are few men in any period of the world's history, who have led a more varied or intense existence than I." Like Muhammad Ali after him, Johnson was not shy about promoting himself or his exploits. Little is known of his early family life; Johnson writes that his three sisters and one brother had little effect on his life. His father was a janitor who was also known to have preached in local churches. He appears to have been closest to his mother, Tiny Johnson, and talks with pride of buying her a house with some of the purses he collected in his long boxing career.
When he was only 12 years old Johnson determined to leave his hometown of Galveston, Texas, and see the world, especially New York City.
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