Edmund Booth Deaf Pioneer Essay - 1064 Words

Edmund Booth: Deaf Pioneer Edmund Booth was born on a farm near Springfield, Massachusetts in 1810. Some of the hats he wore during his lifetime were farmer, teacher, activist for the deaf, pioneer settler, 49er, journalist, and politician. The consistent theme in Booths life, one to which he always returned, was his commitment to the deaf: working for the rights of all deaf people in this country, including education of deaf children. Booths interest in deaf issues was very personal since he himself had lost all of his hearing by the time he was eight years old, he was struck down during an outbreak of spotted fever (cerebrospinal meningitis). After he recovered, he discovered he was partially deaf†¦show more content†¦At age 29, he wanted a more active life and to earn more money. To reach Iowa, it was necessary to travel by railroad, stagecoach, canal, and lake steamer. He reached eastern Iowa and settled at Anamosa, a wilderness with a few widely scattered log cabins ... Outnumbering the small population were Indians, deer, wolves, rattlesnakes, etc. It was truly the frontier. Booth worked at whatever came his way and seemed to make a fair living. He built mills, dams, and houses. He also tried farming with apparent success. The rest of the Booth family soon joined him, and Edmund helped build the first comfortable house, frame-style in Jones County. Booth married Mary Ann Walworth in 1840. She had been his student at Hartford and was already living in Iowa with her family when Booth arrived. It seems that his desire to see her again was one of the reasons for his immigration. Booths career as politician included three terms as Recorder of Deeds in Jones County and a year as Enrollment Clerk to the Iowa House of Representatives. Iowa became a state in 1848. Booth convinced the state legislature to send its deaf children to the Illinois School for the Deaf. He was a driving force behind the founding of the Iowa School for the Deaf at Council Bluffs (1855). Gold was discovered in California in 1848. The next year Booth left Mary Ann and their three children to travel to the gold fields.Show MoreRelatedEdmund Booth 1168 Words   |  5 PagesEdmund Booth was an extraordinary man, especially considering the difficult pioneer era he lived in. He was born in Chicopee, Massachusetts on August 24, 1810. On March 8th, 1815, at the age of four, Edmund contracted meningitis, and was not expected to survive this horrible disease. After being very ill for three months, to the surprise of many, Edmund survived. Unfortunately, the meningitis cost him his hearing (slight hearing left in one ear), and the sight in one eye. By age eight, his remainingRead MoreHistory of Social Work18530 Words   |  75 Pages..............................23 4 ..............................................................................................................................................................................24 Celebrating Social Welfare / Work Pioneers ................................................................................ ..............................25 Elizabeth Gurney Fry ...............................................................................................................