A Mighty Change: An Anthology of Deaf American Writing, 1816-1864

5. Edmund Booth

5 EDMUND BOOTH (1810–1905)
Unlike the other authors in this volume, Edmund Booth spent most of his adult life on the American frontier. A tall, imposing man, he moved out west to Iowa when he was twenty-nine. Like many settlers, he did a variety of jobs. He helped construct buildings , worked on a farm, held several minor government positions, and even sought gold in California. In 1856 he began a long career in journalism, editing the Anamosa Eureka, a weekly Iowa newspaper . Despite his somewhat isolated location, he also actively participated in the deaf community, writing on deaf issues and working for the advancement of deaf people. Booth was born on August 24, 1810, in Chickopee, Massachusetts . His family had a farm. When he was four, his father caught ‘‘spotted fever’’ (most likely meningitis) and died suddenly. Booth contracted the same disease, which left him blind in one eye and partially deaf. At age eight, he lost the remainder of his hearing. His mother taught him to read and write, skills he cherished throughout his life. When he was sixteen, Booth learned about the school for deaf students in Connecticut. He applied, was 107 108 EDMUND BOOTH accepted, and—over the protests of his uncle, who wanted him to stay and do farmwork—went by stagecoach to Hartford. Later, he recalled how it felt to encounter signing deaf people for the first time. ‘‘It was all new to me . . . the innumerable motions of arms and hands,’’ he wrote. ‘‘I was among strangers but knew I was at home.’’1 His teachers included Laurent Clerc and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. He excelled at his schoolwork; before he graduated, he was invited to become an instructor. He taught for seven years. One of his pupils was fourteen-year-old Mary Ann Walworth, his future wife. In 1839, he resigned because of pneumonia, a dispute over pay, and a desire to see the world. Booth traveled 1,300 miles to Iowa, where Walworth lived with her family. He worked building a sawmill, a dam, and houses. The following year, he and Walworth were married. They would eventually have four children, three of whom survived infancy (the youngest, Frank, later became the superintendent of the Nebraska School for the Deaf. Ironically, he was a rigid oralist, banning sign language from the school although both of his parents used sign to communicate). To support his family, Booth worked at different times as county recorder, postmaster, and as a clerk for the Iowa House of Representatives. He also had a small farm. In 1848, Booth decided to join the California gold rush. He left his family with his brother and departed with another deaf man, identified only as Clough. The trip took six months. Booth stayed in California five long years, during which time he and Mary Ann maintained a remarkable correspondence. One of these letters is excerpted here. The letters demonstrate again the important role writing played in connecting deaf people who were separated from each other. Booth did not find enough gold to become wealthy, but he did earn a significant sum. At his wife’s plea, he 1. Quoted in Harlan Lane, When the Mind Hears: A History of the Deaf (New York: Vintage, 1984), 233. EDMUND BOOTH 109 Edmund Booth returned to Iowa in 1854. Two years later, he became editor of the Anamosa Eureka, making it a strongly abolitionist paper in the years before the Civil War. In 1862 he purchased the paper and gave up farming. He continued editing the paper until his retirement in 1895. In the 1840s, Booth helped to convince the Iowa legislature to provide for sending deaf children to the Illinois School for the Deaf. Later, he played an instrumental role in lobbying for the Iowa State School for the Deaf. He penned many articles for deaf publications; the essay on emigration included here appeared in the American Annals of the Deaf in 1858. In its lean, practical style, it typifies Booth’s writing. Booth also took part in the debate over a deaf commonwealth (see chapter ten). In 1880 the National Deaf-Mute College awarded him an honorary degree in recogni- 110 EDMUND BOOTH tion of his ‘‘high attainments as a scholar and as a journalist.’’ The same year, he helped to found the National Association of the Deaf. He was nominated for the presidency of the new organization...