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 Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was born in Philadelphia on the th of December . His ancestors were Huguenots from France. When he was thirteen years old his parents moved to Hartford , Connecticut. Mr. Gallaudet was never very strong in body. When he was a boy, he loved to study. He was very bright and industrious . He learned very fast. He entered Yale College in . He was a deep thinker and talked like a person much older than he was. In his youth he wrote verses for his own pleasure. Some of his poems have been printed. After he left College, Mr. Gallaudet studied law one year. His health was not good so he had to stop studying law. Soon after this, he became a tutor in Yale College where he remained two years. He next tried traveling for a mercantile house. He was thus making his experience varied. About this time he united with the Congregational Church and began to study for the ministry. He studied theology about three years at Andover College. Mr. Gallaudet was very earnest and sincere. He desired to serve his Master acceptably. He studied hard and wrote many letters for the newspapers. His name became well-known in New England. After he left Andover he was offered several churches in which to preach, but he did not accept any of them because his health was so poor. He did not seem to know just what to do. His opportunity had not yet come. He preached occasionally and traveled as much as he could for his health. Until  there were no schools for the deaf and dumb in America. Only a few deaf persons had been taught to read and write. There were schools for the deaf in Germany, France, and England, but the people in America did not know anything about them. They were many deaf boys and girls in America. They were all very ignorant. They had no teachers to help them. Mr. Gallaudet had several small brothers and sisters. Among their playmates were the children of Dr. Mason F. Cogswell. Dr. Cogswell  was an eminent surgeon. He was a very popular man. He had a child named Alice, who was deaf. She was very bright, but she could not learn as fast as her sisters on account of her deafness. She often played with the Gallaudet children, for they were near neighbors. One day Mr. Gallaudet noticed Alice. He pitied her because she could not hear. He wished to teach her, so he tried to see what he could do. He first taught her the word “hat” then many other words and some sentences. When Mr. Gallaudet went back to college, Alice’s parents, brothers and sisters kept on teaching her. She learned a great deal but not very fast, because they did not know how to teach deaf people very well then. Dr. Cogswell was a kind-hearted man. He thought very much about his daughter, Alice. He made inquiries and found there were many other deaf children in Connecticut. He thought it was a pity they should grow up in ignorance. He talked with other people about it and they decided to start a school for the deaf and dumb. Some kind men gave money to help them. They had heard about the schools for the deaf in England and France. They determined to send someone to England to learn about the schools there. They chose Mr. Gallaudet to go there and learn how to teach the deaf and dumb. The English schools for the deaf were in the hands of a family named Braidwood. Mr. Gallaudet went to the Braidwoods and asked them to show him how to teach the deaf. The Braidwoods would not do it unless Mr. Gallaudet would give them much money. Mr. Gallaudet had no money to give them. He was very much disappointed . He spent several months trying to find out something about the Braidwood methods of teaching. He feared he would be unsuccessful. About this time Mr. Gallaudet heard that the Abbé Sicard was in London with two of his brightest pupils. He went to see them. He was delighted to see that the deaf could learn so much. The Abbé Sicard invited him to visit his school in Paris and promised to help him all he could. Mr. Gallaudet was very glad and went to Paris. The Abbé Sicard was very kind and showed him how to teach the deaf and...

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