His father died when he was a young boy. His mother, Wambui, was inherited by her younger brother-in-law, Ngegi. However, the re-marriage was short lived. Wambui returned to her parents and died soon afterwards. The young Kamau left Ng'enda for Muthiga near Dagoretti to live with his maternal Grandfather, Kung'u wa Magana who was a mediceneman and fortune-teller. There, he learnt Agikuyu customs, rituals, cultural practices and traditions from his grandfather. Kenyatta encountered the influence of Christianity and formal western education from the Church of Scotland Missionaries at Thogoto near Muthiga. He joined Thogoto mission school in 1909 and obtained elementary education in reading, writing, agriculture, arithmetic, carpentry and Christianity. At the mission station he met influential young men like Musa Gitau. He completed his elementary education in 1912. As per the Agikuyu tradition, Kenyatta was circumcised in 1913 at Nyongara stream near the mission and became a member of kihiu mwiri Mabegi age group. In 1914, he was baptized Johnstone by Reverend Spiter of the Church of Scotland Mission Kikuyu.
Thereafter, he left for Nairobi being a fairly educated man by the standards of that time. He worked in various places and in 1916, he worked in Thika sisal estates. However, fearing that he would be forcefully recruited into World War One, Kenyatta escaped to Narok to seek refuge among his Maasai relatives. In Narok, he worked for an Asian who was supplying the British with meat. After the war, Kenyatta returned to Nairobi and worked as a storekeeper in a European firm. By this time, he had acquired a bicycle. It added to his fame and prestige. He also wore a fashionable Maasai ornamental belt, Kinyata. This was to determine the name he was to adopt, Kenyatta. Kenyatta married Grace Wahu in 1919 according to the Agikuyu tradition. He was summoned by the Kirk Session of the Church Missionary Society in Thogoto in 1920 to answer to charges of marrying without a church ceremony and drinking liquor.
