At age 13 Abraham went to the Kweekschool voor de Zeevaart in Amsterdam in 1814. This was a boarding school for naval education. It's remarkable that Abraham was sent to the navy so young instead of going to university like his brothers. Early on he would succeed in making everybody refer to him by the double name De Smit van den Broecke, using his third given name as part of a new family name. This instead of simply being named Van den Broecke like his more successful brothers.
