HISTORY OF THE OHIO INSTITUTION

FOR THE

EDUCATION OF THE DEAF AND DUMB,

LOCATED AT COLUMBUS.

The first movement made in the State of Ohio to establish an Institution of its own, for the education of the Deaf and Dumb, was at Cincinnati in the year 1821. To what extent deaf mutes in the State had availed themselves of the educational advantages offered from 1817, by Eastern institutions, is not definitely known. Freeman Burt, from Cincinnati, had entered the Hartford school in the spring of 1818, and had remained there three years and a half at his own expense. Josiah Price, of Stark County, applied for legislative aid during the session of 1819-20, in sending his son to Hartford, and a bill was introduced to that effect by the appropriate committee, but it was never enacted. A pupil from Ohio was a member of the Philadelphia school in 1821.

It was in the spring of this year, 1821, that an association of gentlemen was formed in Cincinnati "for establishing a school for the instruction of the Deaf and Dumb in this part of the Western country." Rev. James Chute was selected as Principal of the Institution, and sent to the American Asylum at Hartford to acquire the art essential to qualify him for the successful discharge of his duties. Mr. Chute, upon his arrival in July, was cordially received, and was offered every facility available. He spent but four months, however, in these preliminary studiesa period much too short for the acquisition of even tolerable skill. In December of the same year, the association

applied to the Legislature for an act of incorporation, under the name of "The Western Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb," and for pecuniary aid. The application was unsuccessful, on the ground that an Institution of this character, designed to meet the wants of the deaf and dumb of the State, should be centrally located.

The interest thus awakened was fostered by a letter, under date of January 3, 1822, received by the Governor of the State from the Directors of the Philadelphia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, then recently organized.

It states that "returns of the deaf and dumb have been made from the different counties of the State (Pennsylvania), in accordance with a recent legal enactment, and what was apprehended by some is now reduced to a painful certainty— their number being found much greater than had been generally supposed. This, we presume, will prove to be the case in our sister States, considering how much neglect such unfortunate persons too often suffer, and the motive to concealment which their friends and parents find in their personal feelings, when there is no prospect of giving them relief." The Directors describe at length the facilities which they have provided for the education of deaf mutes, and invite the attendance of pupils from Ohio upon the same terms as from their own State. They also invite the Legislature to make an annual appropriation, to be applied under the direction of the Governor, for the education of the deaf and dumb, "in some suitable and convenient Institution." The invitation was not accepted.

In the session of 1822-3, an act was passed requiring “the listers of the several townships in each county of the State, at the time of taking the enumeration of white persons, to ascertain the number of deaf and dumb, of all ages, and to return said lists to the Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of said county." This enumeration, carefully taken, resulted in the return of four hundred and twenty-eight deaf mutes, not including Athens and Hamilton Counties, the latter being also the most populous county in the State. Two hundred and eighty-eight were returned as under twenty

years of age. Of the whole number, 279 were returned as "poor," 66 as in "middling circumstances," 72 as in "good circumstances," and of 11 no report is given. It was plain that in the State at that time, possessing a population of about 600,000, at least 200 mute children of school age stood in need of education, and, furthermore, that without pecuniary assistance, education, in the case of most, would be impossible.

The way was thus prepared for a successful effort to establish an Institution at the legislative session of 1826-7. The Rev. James Hoge, D. D., of Columbus, a gentleman to whom, excepting those within the Institution itself, the deaf mutes of the State are more indebted than to any other individual, was the immediate agent in attaining this much desired object. Through the influence of Dr. Hoge, the benighted condition of the deaf and dumb was brought to the attention of Governor Morrow, and the result was a strong recommendation, in his message to the Legislature in the autumn of this year, to establish an Institution for their benefit. The subject was referred in the House to a select committee of three. An elaborate memorial, prepared by Dr. Hoge, and signed by a large number of prominent citizens, was presented to this committee, detailing, at length, the destitute condition of the deaf and dumb-the efforts that had been made in foreign countries, and recently in our own, for their relief-and the entire success that might be attained in their education. Some statements of the memorial, with regard to the state of deaf mutes previous to instruction, and their ignorance of spiritual and moral truths, were, at the time, received even by intelligent persons with much credulity, although observation and experience have abundantly proved their correctness. A bill for incorporating the Institution was reported by the committee, which passed both Houses, without serious opposition. The bill appointed a Board of Trustees, with the usual corporate powers-allowed them to hold property for the object specified-the annual income of which should not exceed $30,000; and provided for the support of one pupil from

each judicial circuit in the State, at an annual expense not exceeding $100 (to be paid out of the Literary Fund), and for a period not exceeding three years, the time generally fixed upon at the outset by the several States as the proper period for the education of the deaf and dumb.

Before an actual organization was effected under this act of incorporation, there was a movement in a different part of the State that deserves mention. It was the opening of a school for deaf mutes in the town of Tallmadge, in Summit County. The object seems to have been to supply an immediate want, rather than to establish a permanent Institution.

In the family of Mr. Justus Bradley, of this town, were three daughters who were deaf mutes. The sympathy of the citizens being excited in their behalf, it was found that there were in the neighboring townships a number of other individuals laboring under the same misfortune; and it was determined to commence a school for their instruction. For this purpose a Board of Trustees was organized, consisting of Rev. John Keys, Elizur Wright, Garry Treat, A. C. Wright, Philo Wright and Alpha Wright. The school was opened in May, 1827, under the instruction of Mr. Colonel Smith. a deaf mute, who had been for six years a pupil in the Asylum at Hartford, and was continued two years. It contained in all eleven pupils, most of whom were afterward members of the school at Columbus. It was sustained by private charity, with the exception of $100 given it by the Legislature, in 1828, toward paying the salary of the teacher. The same bill also granted $100 for the next year, provided the school at Columbus did not previously go into operation. This last sum does not appear to have been drawn from the treasury.

The first Board of Trustees of the Institution at Columbus, under the act of incorporation, consisted of the following gentlemen: Rev. James Hoge, D. D., and Gustavus Swan, Esq., of Franklin County; Thomas Ewing, Esq., of Fairfield County; Rev. William Graham, of Ross County: Rev. Wm. Burton, of Pickaway County: John H. James,

Esq., of Champaign County; Thomas D. Webb, Esq., of Trumbull County, and Samuel Clark, Esq., of Clarke County. The Governor of the State was ex-officio President of the Board, and Dr. Hoge was chosen Secretary. They met and organized on the 9th of July, and their first report to the Legislature was made in December, 1827. In this report they estimate that, should an institution be opened, there is a reasonable prospect, in the course of the year, of from fifty to seventy-five pupils.

As the revenues of the State were, at this time, principally engrossed in a great work of internal improvementuniting the waters of Lake Erie with the Ohio River-the sources of income to meet the necessary expenses of the Institution were a matter of no small interest. Of these, three were proposed by the Trustees: 1st, a share in the Literary Fund; 2d, an application to Congress for a township of land; 3d, opening a paper at the office of the County Clerk of each County for private subscriptions. The trustees close their report by recommending that, from a due regard for the welfare of the Institution and to public sentiment, as far as they can ascertain, it be located at Columbus, alleging that "Here it will be under the eye, and subject to the inspection, of the Legislature at all times; and, also, that the facilities of intercourse and conveyance which are collected at this point, render it more convenient to any point in this State than any other place "―reasons which have lost none of their force by the lapse of time. By an act of the Legislature, passed January, 1829, the Institution was located at Columbus.

The gentleman selected as Principal of the Institution was Mr. Horatio N. Hubbell, who went to Hartford in March, 1828, to qualify himself for his new duties, and who remained there in the prosecution of his object about a year and a half. The school was opened October 16, 1829, in a small building, rented for the purpose, standing on the north west corner of Broad and High streets. The building has since been removed. A lady was employed to board the pupils at a fixed rate. The prospect at the opening was