Harland Sanders was born in 1890 and raised on a farm outside Henryville, Indiana (near Louisville, Kentucky).[4] When Harland was five years old, his father died, forcing his mother to work at a canning plant.[5] This left Harland, as the eldest son, to care for his two younger siblings.[5] After he reached seven years of age, his mother taught him how to cook.[4] After leaving the family home at the age of 13, Sanders passed through several professions, with mixed success.[6] In 1930, he took over a Shell filling station on US Route 25 just outside North Corbin, Kentucky, a small town on the edge of the Appalachian Mountains.[7] It was here that he first served to travelers the recipes that he had learned as a child: fried chicken and other dishes such as steaks and country ham.[7] After four years of serving from his own dining room table, Sanders purchased the larger filling station on the other side of the road and expanded to six tables.[8] By 1936, this had proven successful enough for Sanders to be given the honorary title of Kentucky colonel by Governor Ruby Laffoon.[9] In 1937 he expanded his restaurant to 142 seats, and added a motel he purchased across the street, naming it Sanders Court & Café.[10]