COLUMBIAN HISTORY 
OF THE 
Wan San n i Dm. 
BY 
EDWARD E. CLIPPINGER, M. A. 
ESTABLISHED IN 1 852, 
DELAVA N, WIS  
Or COLUMBIAN HISTORY 
OP THE 
Wna tan in i in. 
BY 
EDWARD E. CLIPPINGER, M. A. 
ESTABLISHED IN 1 852, 
DELAVA N, W 1 S. OFFICERS AND TEACHERS 
OF THE 
Wiscopi] School for tlje Deaf, 
JANUARY Ist, 1893 
MEMBERS OF THE STATE BOARD OF CONTROL. 
Clarence Snyder, President, Ashland. 
J. E. Jones, Portage. J. L. Cleary, Kenosha. 
Charles I). Parker, River Falls. W. 11. Oliver, Waupun. 
W. H. Gr.ebner, Milwaukee. 
John W. Swiler, M. A., - Superintendent and Steward 
C. M. Tallman, - Assistant Steward 
Mrs. M. H. Schilling, .... Matron 
Matilda Cannan, - Assistant Matron 
Joseph Wachuta, .... Boys’ Supervisor 
RESIDENT OFFICERS. 
LITERAR Y DEPARTMENT. 
TEACHERS. 
W. Robinson, M. A. 
J. S. Long, A. B. 
Eleanor McCoy. 
E. E. Clippinger, M. A. 
J. J. Murphy, A. B. 
Agnes Steinke. 
W. F. Gray'. 
E. G. Phoenix. 
Thos. Hagerty. 
ORAL DEPARTMENT. 
Emily- Eddy-. 
Elsie M. Steinke. 
Alyiira I. Hobart. 
Clara Maklem. 
Pya C. Pearce, B. S. 
ART DEPARTMENT. 
Jene Bowman. 
GYMNASTICS. 
J. S. Long. E. Florence Long. 
IND US TRIAL DEPARTMENT. 
Foreman of Printing Office, W. T. Passage. 
Foreman of Shoe Shop, Jno. Beamsley. 
Foreman of Cabinet Shop, H. Stone. 
Foreman of Bakery, Gus Hilkmann.  
Wisconsin School for the Deaf. 
The Wisconsin School for the Deaf is in Delavan, Wal- 
worth County, a town of 2,200 inhabitants, on the Racine & 
Southwestern division of the C., M. & St. P. R. R., which, 
with its wide streets, well-kept lawns and tasty residences, 
justly claims to be one of the most attractive towns in the 
state, and with Delavan Lake, which is two and a half miles 
from the town, is one of the most popular summer resorts in 
the Northwest. 
The institution is delightfully situated on an elevation 
overlooking the town and the surrounding country, and the 
beauty and desirability of its location can hardly be sur- 
passed. The grounds include about forty acres. The build- 
ings are artistically constructed and are supplied with all the 
modern improvements, such as electric lighting, steam heat- 
ing, and water for fire and domestic purposes. The institu- 
tion embraces two departments—the educational and the 
industrial. The educational department comprises a school 
course covering about ten years, whose curriculum cor- 
responds to that in our public schools. The system of in- 
struction in the school is the Combined System, which in- 
cludes the manual and the oral methods. The manual 
method is the teaching by use of signs, of the manual alphabet 
and by writing. The oral or articulation method is the 
teaching by speech. Each pupil is taught by that method 
which is best suited to the pupil. The manual method has 
been emplo}Ted ever since the organization of the school. 
The oral method wTas begun in this institution as soon as, if 
not prior to, any institution in the West. Miss Emily Eddy 
has been articulation teacher in the school since 1868. For 
the last eight years there have been three articulation classes, 
each class having a separate teacher. The plan in these 6 
classes is to have exclusively oral recitations. Pupils are not 
only taught articulation, but they are taught by articulation. 
Graduates from this school are qualified to enter the intro- 
ductory class of the Deaf-Mute College at Washington, D. C. 
In the industrial department four trades are taught— 
cabinet-making, shoemaking, printing and baking. Each 
shop is under the direct supervision of a skilled foreman and 
pupils leaving the institution are thus enabled to earn a 
sufficient livelihood. The law provides that all deaf and 
dumb residents of the state, between the ages of eight and 
twenty-five years, of suitable capacity, shall be received and 
taught—-free of charge for board and tuition, parents and 
guardians being expected to furnish clothing and pay traveling 
expenses. 
The Wisconsin School for the Deaf was incorporated by 
an act of the legislature April 19th, 1852, which declared the 
object of the school as follows: “To afford to the deaf and dumb 
of the state, so far as possible, enlightened and practical 
education, that may aid them to obtain the means of subsis- 
tence, discharge the duties of citizenship, and secure all the 
happiness which they are capable of obtaining.” The incep- 
tion and establishment of this school is largely due to Ebenezer 
Cheesbro, who emigrated from New York State and settled 
two miles west of Delavan in 1839. Ariadna, the deaf daughter 
of Mr. Cheesbro, had been in school in the New York institu- 
tion, and Mr. Cheesbro was desirous of completing her educa- 
tion. In 1850 Miss Wealthy Hawes was engaged to come to 
the Cheesbro residence and teach Ariadna, together with 
James A. Dudley, a deaf boy living in the vicinity. Miss 
Hawes was a graduate of the New York institution and had 
known Ariadna in school. This acquaintance led to her in- 
stallment as a tutor of these two deaf children. In the fall 
of 1851 she was succeeded by John A. Mills, a graduate of the 
New York institution. About this time the idea of organiz- 
ing a larger school was formulated by the members of the 
Cheesbro family, and it was through their efforts that the 
school opened in the fall of 1851 with seven deaf pupils and 
John A. Mills as teacher. This school was held at Mr. 
Cheesbro’s residence for four months and was maintained at his own expense. It was then that Mr. Cheesbro had drawn 
up, and circulated,_a petition to the legislature asking for the 
establishment of an institute for the education of the deaf, to 
be located at or nearDelavan. Hon. C. M. Baker, assembly- 
man from Walworth’county, presented the petition to the 
legislature, and it was through his efforts that a bill was 
passed April 19th, 1852, incorporating the “ Wisconsin Insti- 
tution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb,” to be located 
at Delavan, Walworth county. On the recommendation of 
Superintendent J. W. Swiler, the legislature changed the 
name of the school to the “Wisconsin School for the Deaf’ in 
1885. The act of incorporation named Ebenezer Cheesbro, 
William C. Allen, Franklin K. Phoenix, Henderson Hunt, 
P. W. Lake, Wyman Spooner, Jesse C. Mills, James A. Max- 
well and George Williams as a board of trustees, having the 
general management of the school, with power to employ a 
principal; and made an appropriation of $3,000 for buildings, 
and 1500 for the support of the school for the ensuing year. 
This board was organized in June, 1852, with Henderson 
Hunt, president; Wyman Spooner, treasurer ;F. K. Phoenix, 
secretary; J. It. Bradway, principal. Under this administra- 
tion school was opened in July, with eight pupils, in the 
upper story of a building in the rear of the Schultz block, 
where it remained till the new buildings were completed. 
The pupils were at first boarded in private families, but 
their number increasing to fourteen a house was rented for 
their special use. 
In the meantime the location and erection of the new 
buildings occupied the attention of the board. F. K. 
Phoenix donated a tract of eleven acres in the western part of 
Delavan, which is the present site of the institution, and in 
his honor the grounds are called “Phoenix Green.” The plan 
of the buildings consisted of a main building, 56x60, five 
stories, of brick, including basement and attic, with two trans- 
verse or lateral wings. The east wing, a two-story building 
of brick, 34 by 44, with attic and basement, was completed 
in January, 1854, at a cost of $2,981, and had accommodation 
for thirty-five pupils. The school moved into their new 
quarters the following month. The main building was 8 
finished in 1857 at a cost of $30,000. Among other improve- 
ments made that year was the construction of a workshop, 
24x48, two-stories in height, at a cost of $1,500, together with 
a large barn. 
Principal Brad way had been succeeded by Lucius Foote, 
and he in turn by Horatio N. Hubbell. At the time of the 
■opening of the new building, Louis H. Jenkins was principal. 
He was a man of experience in deaf-mute education and con- 
tributed largely to the auspicious opening of the school. 
To Professor Warren Robinson we are indebted for the 
following extract from his history of the school. “In 1856 
Mr. Jenkins was succeeded by J. S. Officer, under whose able 
management the institution made a decidedly forward move. 
Though previously advocated by Mr. Jenkins, industrial edu- 
cation was not begun until Mr. Officer’s term, in the form of 
cabinet-making. This was a wise step, for too much can 
hardly be said in favor of manual training, especially in the 
case of the deaf. 
During the session of 1857-58 a law was passed by the 
legislature requiring pupils who were sent to the Deaf and 
Dumb or Blind institutions to pay $75 per annum unless 
parents could make oath before an officer that they were un- 
able to pay that amount; and a similar one in 1867 ; but 
they operated so disastrously on the prosperity of those in- 
stitutions that they were both repealed soon after their passage. 
The period of the civil war was a time of considerable pecu- 
niary embarrassment to the institute, and teachers worked on 
reduced salaries. Mr, Officer died in office in 1864 and his 
place was filled by Mr. H. W. Milligan, whose administration 
was signalized by the introduction of steam-heating, gas- 
lighting, and the opening of a shoe-shop. The next two 
principals to take charge of the institute, between the years 
1869 and 1875, were E. C. Stone and George L. Weed, both 
men of experience and ability. In 1875 Dr. William H. De 
Motte was elected superintendent. The following events 
marked his term of office : The erection of a small wooden 
building for a gymnasium ; the opening of a basket-shop in a 
part of the cabinet shop ; the introduction of printing and the 
starting of a paper, the “Deaf Mute Press,” in 1878; the 9 
giving of elementary instruction in drawing for a few months ; 
the erection and fitting up of a building for a kitchen and 
laundry; and the destruction of the old institute by fire on 
September 16th, 1879. No clue as to the origin of the fire 
has ever yet been obtained. The building was a total loss to 
the state, as it was not covered by insurance. In spite of the 
great inconvenience caused by this most unexpected calamity 
the work of the school was not suspended. The shoe-shop 
was immediately converted into a dormitory for the hoys, 
while the lady teachers and girls were taken in by private 
families on the hill and down town. In the meantime the 
school work was carried on mostly in the Methodist church in 
the village, until the carpenter-shop was divided up into 
OLD BUILDING—DESTROYED BY EIRE SEPT. 16, 18V9. 
school-rooms, and a small office for the principal and 
steward. After the fire the public press began seriously to 
discuss the advisability of moving the institution to some 
other place, but nothing came of it. Plans for new buildings 
were adopted and, an appropriation of $65,000 having been 
secured, their erection wras commenced in the spring of 1880.” 
The new buildings were constructed on the cottage or 
segregate plan. The main building is a three-story white 
brick structure, with attic, and solid stone basement, 50x100. 
A wide corridor runs the entire length of the first floor, which 
contains a reception-room, parlor, office, matron’s room and 
and a suite of rooms occupied by the superintendent. On 
the second floor is a large, well-lighted study-room used by 
the girls, and the rooms occupied by the lady teachers living 10 
in the institution. On the third floor are the girls’ sleeping 
and toilet-rooms. The attic is used as a gymnasium for girls. 
In the rear of the main building is a two-story brick exten- 
sion, 45x75, which contains a chapel, with seating capacity 
for 300 persons. 
The chapel has a large platform supplied with a full 
complement of stage settings and drop curtains which aid 
materially in the giving of institution entertainments.. In 
the basement of the building are the dining-hall and kitchen. 
About 100 yards east of the main building stands the school 
building, a solid, white brick and stone structure, two stories 
in height, with basement, 66x122. It has two main entrances, 
one for the boys and one for the girls. A wide corridor runs 
the entire length of the building on each floor. The school- 
rooms, 20x26, are all supplied with closets and cloak-rooms, 
and are so arranged that each room has the benefit of sunlight 
during some portion of the day. The building is well fur- 
nished with the best school apparatus, and has ample accom- 
modations in the way of heat and ventilation. Thirty yards 
west of the main building is the boys’ dormitory, a two-story 
white-brick structure, with stone basement, 66x122, which 
contains besides the dormitories, lavatories and study-rooms. 
In the rear of the main building stands the new engine house, 
which was erected in 1885. The building is two stories in 
height, with a smokestack 107 feet high. The building is 
equipped with a Rice automatic slide-valve engine, which runs 
an Edison dynamo that furnishes the electric light for all the 
institution buildings and grounds. A storage battery is used 
to supply the light during the latter part of the night. The 
building is also furnished with a Knowles pump for fire 
purposes ; two smaller pumps for filling boilers and an eight- 
horse power engine for driving the machinery. In the boiler- 
room are three large tubular boilers, five feet in diameter by 
sixteen feet in length, for generating steam used in the heat- 
ing of the buildings, which is done by the gravity return sys- 
tem, and another boiler, 3xll, for running the dynamo en- 
gine and for heating water. On the second floor is the 
laundry, which is supplied with. reversible, hydraulic 
washers, a Weston centrifugal wringer and a ternary mangle. 11 
Other buildings contain the printing office, which is supplied 
with a Prouty power press, jobber and cutter ; a cabinet- 
shop, a shoe-shop, a finely equipped gymnasium, bath and 
swimming pool, play-rooms and hospital. 
The present Superintendent, J. W. Swiler, took charge of 
the institution in July, 1880. During his administration the 
new buildings have been constructed, the various depart- 
ments of the institution enlarged and developed, and to-day 
the institution enjoys the reputation of being one of the best 
equipped and best managed schools in the country. That 
Mr. Swiler is a man well qualified for the position he holds is 
universally admitted, and further attested by the fact that he 
is retained notwithstanding political changes in the adminis- 
NEW BUILDINGS—ERECTED IN 1880. 
tration of the state. The following mention is taken from 
Professor Robinson’s history of the institution: “ The 
present Superintendent, John W. Swiler, was born in Cum- 
berland county, Pennsylvania, in 1844. In 1852 his parents 
removed to Monmouth, Illinois, and in the course of time he 
entered the college at that place and graduated in 1864, after 
which he engaged in the book trade for two years. In 1867 
he went to Jacksonville, Illinois, where he was appointed as 
a teacher in the state institution there. His stay in Jackson- 
ville covered thirteen years, during which time he constantly 
rose to prominence as a man well fitted to educate and 
govern. Endowed with great practical and executive ability, 12 
as well as good judgment, he seems to have found his proper 
place in the profession. His experience grows rapidly with 
his years. His appearance indicates energy, decision, and 
firmness. His use of the sign language is characterized by 
perspicuity, and his utterances are fraught with the useful 
and practical. Since he came here he has steadily grown in 
the esteem of those in his charge, no less for his managing 
skill than for the faithful care, consideration and respect he 
ever evinces for them. And inclosing it does not seem too 
much to say that his management has had a tendency to de- 
velop the present material and mental resources of the school 
to a degree never surpassed.” Superintendent Swiler is a 
member of the Wisconsin State Educational Committee, and 
also of the committee of that section of the World’s Fair Con- 
gress Auxiliary devoted to deaf-mute instruction, of which Dr. 
P. G. Gillett is chairman. He is a man of progressive ideas, 
and during his administration the school has attained a high 
rank among the institutions of the country. In 1885 the in- 
stitution received a diploma from the Cotton Centennial Ex- 
position at New Orleans for pupils’ work. Very flattering 
exhibits of school work were made at the Teachers’ National 
Convention at Madison in 1884, also at Chicago in 1886, and 
at the Milwaukee Industrial Exposition at several times. 
The institution was under the general management of a 
Board of Trustees from its establishment till 1881, when, with 
all other charitable, penal and reformatory institutions in the 
state, it passed under the control of a State Board of Super- 
vision, consisting of George W. Burchard, president ; Charles 
Luling, James Bintliff, C. D. Parker and L. A. Proctor. The 
outgoing board of trustees consisted of S. R. Laßar, D. G. 
Cheever, Hollis Latham, E. D. Holton, and Albert Salisbury. 
Dr. A. L. Chapin, the late president of Beloit college, resigned 
in 1880. He was for many years the president of this Board, 
and, having once been a teacher of the deaf, was at all times 
the ardent supporter and warm friend of the institution, and 
is held in sacred memory by all deaf-mutes and all friends of 
deaf-mute instruction in the State of Wisconsin. The Board 
of Supervision remained in office for ten years and during its 
administration of affairs the public institutions of the state 13 
enjoyed a period of unprecedented growth and development. 
In 1891 this Board was succeeded by the State Board of Con- 
trol, which at present consists of Clarence Snyder of Ashland, 
president; Charles D. Parker, of River Falls ;J. E. Jones, ot 
Portage ; J. L. Cleary, of Kenosha ; W. H. Graebner, ofMil- 
wankee, and J. W. Oliver, ofWaupun. 
The resident officers have been the following persons : 
J. R. Bradway 1852-1853 
Sl’ PERINTE X D ENTS. 
Horatio N. Hubbell 1853-1854 
Louis H. Jenkins 1854-1856 
J. Scott Officer 1856-1865 
W. H. Milligan 186-5-1868 
Edward C. Stone 1868-1871 
George L. Weed 1871-1875 
W. H. He Motte 1875-1880 
J. W. Swiler 1880—— 
MATRONS. 
Mrs. Adelia F. Jenkins 1854-1856 
Mrs. M. Marshall 1856-1857 
Miss Orpha S. Taylor... 1857-1862 
Miss M. J. Adams 1862-1869 
Miss Alice F. Cornell 1869-1871 
Mrs. Luthera J.Hill 1871-1876 
Mrs. AY. H. Bishop 1876-1877 
Mrs. A. Broadrup 1877-1880 
Mrs. Julia A. Taylor 1880-1884 
Mrs. H. C. Swiler 1884-1885 
Miss S. I>. Gibson 1885-1891 
Mrs. M. H. Schilling 1891 
NAMES OF TEACHERS 
AT THE WISCONSIN SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF, SINCE ITS ORGANIZATION 
John A. Mills 1852-1855 
in 1852. 
Hiram Phillips r 1854-1878 and 1881-1882 
Zachariah McCoy 1855-1883 
John A. McWhorter 1856-1870 
Lucius Eddy 1859-1868 and 1870-1874 
W. A. Cochrane 1867-1871 and 1875-1892 
G. F. Schilling 1868-1883 
Ezra G. Valentine 1869-1873 
J. Northrop 1870-1871 14 
C. X. Williams 1871-1877 
Mary Johnson 1871-1874 
Philip L. Engelhard! 1872-1873 
Mary E. Smith... 1873-1883 
Thomas Clithero 1874-1875 
Imogene Tilden 1876-1878 
Cora E. Carver 1876-1878 
Isabella Kimball 1877-1878 and 1881-1882 
Rosetta Ritsher 1878-1883 and 1884-1886 
Mary H. Hunter 1879-1892 
W. J. Fuller 1878-1883 
Kate DeMotte 1879-1881 
Helen E. Briggs 1882-1884 
Harry Reed 1883-1886 
Mary E. Griffin 1884-1885 
Mary Jameson 1881-1887 
Harriet C. Swiler 1883-1884 
Alice E. Turley 1883-1887 
Alice Christie 1885-1888 
B. T'. Bensted 1885-1892 
Anne M. Gray 1887-1891 
Eva L. Cutler 1887-1892 
Clara Waite 1883-1884 
A. I. Farrant 1883-1884 
Mary H. Schilling 1888-1889 
James L. Smith 1883-1884 
Ruth E. Swiler 1890-1891 
been in service since the dates set opposite their names : 
The following teachers are still at the school in 1893, and have 
Emily Eddy 1857 
Eleanor McCoy 1874 
Almira I. Hobart 1884-1885 and 1886 
Warren Robinson 1884 
Elsie M. Steinke 1886 
James J. Murphy 1884-1889 and 1892 
Elizabeth G. (Bright) Phoenix 1884-1891 and 1892 
W. F. Gray 1887 
Iva C. Pearce 1888 
Thomas Hagerty 1 ....1891 
Agnes Steinke 1891 
J. S. Long 1890 
E. F. Long ’. 1891 
Jene Bowman 1892 
Edward E. Clippinger 1883-1885 and 1892 
tion, the Superintendent, J. W. Swiler, took charge in 1880 ; 
Of the officers and teachers now employed in the institu- 15 
Mrs. M. H. Schilling, matron, in 1891; Charles M. Tallman, 
clerk, in 1892; Joseph Wauchuta, boys’ supervisor, in 1891 ; 
Miss Matilda Caiman in 1880; Miss Emily Eddy became a 
member of the teaching force in 1857 ; Mrs. M. H. Fiske in 
1879; Mrs. A. I. Hobart in 1884; Miss E. M. Steinke in 
1886; Miss I. C. Pearce in 1888; Miss Agnes Steinke in 
1891 ; Mrs. Eleanor G. McCoy in 1874; Miss Jene Bowman 
in 1892; Warren Robinson in 1884 ; J. J. Murphy in 1884 ; 
E. E. Clippinger in 1883; W. F. Gray in 1887 ; J. S. Long 
in 1889; Thomas Hagerty in 1891. Warren Robinson, 
Thomas Hagerty and J. J. Murphy are graduates of this 
school, and J. S. Long is a graduate of the lowa State School 
for the Deaf. 
The only death of a resident officer that is recorded 
in the annals of the school occurred February 3d, 1865, 
when J. S. Officer, who had been at the head of the 
school, as principal and steward, for eight years, was re- 
moved by death. In a tribute to the memory of Mr. Officer, 
Hon. X. M. Harrington, Secretary of the Board of Trustees, 
wrote as follows : ‘‘Mr. Officer possessed a rare combination 
of qualifications for the position which he occupied. Among 
these were the following : A strong, ripe and luminous 
Christian character, a Christianity which infused its ennobling 
and benign spirit into all his life ; great executive ability 
and untiring industry; unswerving integrity and scrupulous 
exactness in the details of business; a marked suavity and 
kindness clothing a deportment of unusual dignity ; a cease- 
less watchfulness for the well-being of those committed to 
his care ; system and order reigned wherever he had con- 
trol. In the use of the sign language he was a master.” 
In this connection it seems proper to state that in 1883 
the institution sustained a serious loss in the .death of 
Professor Z. G. McCoy, who had labored diligently, with an 
unswerving devotion to duty, and an untiring interest in all 
that concerned the members of this institution during almost 
its entire history, his connection with the institution dating 
from November, 1855. In Superintendent Swiler’s report to 
the State Board of Supervision, we find the following 
mention : “Z. G. McCoy was born at Fort Edwards, New 
York, November Ist, 1829. He was appointed teacher in 16 
tins school soon after graduating from the New York institu- 
tion. He came to Iris work with the highest recommenda- 
tions and during his subsequent course he developed a higher 
scholarship and a more loving Christian character than even 
Ins most sanguine friends had expected. During the years 
that have passed and through all the changes that have 
transpired in this institution, Zachariah G. McCoy remained 
steadfastly at his post, laboring earnestly for those he loved. 
No one hut a teacher can realize how much of devotion, self- 
sacrifice, and hard work was required by the opportunities of 
those twenty-eight long years, and no one hut the ‘lnfinite 
One’ can know how much good work was done by this faith- 
ful servant, in unveiling so many beclouded minds.” 
In the industrial department John Beamsley has been at 
the head of the shoe-shop since 1882 ; W. T. Passage, foreman 
of the printing office since 1891; and Hollis Stone took 
charge of the carpenter-shop in 1892. 
Nine hundred and twenty pupils have had instruction in 
the school since 1852 ; of this number 105 took the full course 
and graduated prior to 1880; since that time 89 have 
graduated; making a total of 194 graduates. Of this number 
20 have entered the National College for the Deaf at Wash- 
ington. There are at present 180 pupils in the school. Ac- 
cording to the Eleventh Census there are 1,333 deaf and 
dumb in Wisconsin—793 males and 540 females, or one deaf 
person to every 1,265 inhabitants. Of these 743 are beyond 
the school age ; 153 under school age and 437 between the 
ages of eight and twenty. As there are now about 275 chil- 
dren in the schools for the deaf in Wisconsin, it leaves 162 
deaf children of school age not under instruction. 
An Alumni Association was organized in 1876. Lars M. 
Larson, a graduate of this school and the founder and present 
superintendent of the school for the deaf at Santa Fe, New 
Mexico, was the founder of this association, and for several 
years its president. The association has held triennial re- 
unions since then, and at present has a membership of about 
one hundred alumni. 
In connection with the school are two literary societies. 
The Ariadna Society, named in honor of Ariadna 17 
Cheesbro, was organized in 1889 by Miss Linnie Bailey, a 
graduate of 1890. It includes in its membership the girls of 
the highest four classes and meets once a week. The Phoenix 
Literary Society, including likewise the elder boys of the 
school, was organized in 1884, though it existed two years 
prior thereto as the Badger Literary Society. It meets for 
debate and other literary exercises every Saturday evening 
and is well maintained from year to year. 
The Art Department gives half-hour daily instruction in 
writing and drawing to each of the classes in school. In ad- 
dition to this, select classes are given higher instruction in the 
studio. This department has grown since 1881, when regular 
instruction in writing and drawing was begun, until the 
whole school feels its influence and many have come to a 
higher appreciation of the possibilities of life. 
The Department of Physical Culture with competent in- 
structors and well-equipped gymnasia for the boys and the 
girls is doing a great work of development for many, who in 
addition to deafness would display other defects of form or 
feature were it not for a systematic course of calisthenics, 
which straightens, broadens, and makes more supple and 
graceful boys and girls, who lack only proper training to 
make them perfect specimens of manhood and womanhood. 
The Wisconsin Times is a weekly, eight-page paper de- 
voted to the interests of institution affairs and deaf-mute in- 
struction in general. Prior to 1881 it was published 
irregularly under the name of the Deaf-Mute Press, at which 
time it was changed to its present name, made a regular 
weekly publication, and enlarged to its present size. The 
paper is printed and partly edited by the pupils of the school. 
Its editorials on leading topics pertaining to the education of 
the deaf, its spicy locals on life in the institution and its 
general matter of valuable information reflect a great deal of 
credit on its editor and on the institution, and its extensive 
exchange list attests its popularity with not only other 
institutions but also the press of the state. 
In concluding it seems but justice to add that the present 
efficiency and prosperity of the school is largely due to the 
superior management of the state board, to the admin is- 18 
tration of its Superintendent, J. W, Swiler, and to 
his sagacity in selecting and retaining an efficient official 
corps of instruction. Since he assumed control, in 1880, the 
school has from time to time extended its course of instruction 
and organized new branches of study and work as fast as 
necessity required or ability permitted. The sterling worth 
of his character has been reflected on the lives of all children 
under his care, and the example of his life and the precepts of 
his moral and religious teaching are embodied in the high 
character of the men and women who have gone out from this 
institution. There are no deaf beggars and no deaf criminals 
in Wisconsin. Those who might have otherwise become a 
burden to society are found in the useful walks of life, most 
of them discharging all the duties of intelligent citizenship, sup- 
porting themselves and families, and in many cases occupy- 
ing leading positions in the social and industrial pursuits of 
the communities in which they live. This brief historical 
sketch is only an outline of the course of events at the Wis- 
consin School for the Deaf, the records are replete with sug- 
gestive facts and incidents for the complete history of the 
school, which is yet to be written. 19 
APPENDIX. 
TABLE I. 
CAUSES OF DEAFNESS. 
Pupils Admitted During the Teem of 
Total Number 
in School in 
1880 
1880-82 
1881-86 
1886-88 
1888-90 
1888-81 
Congenital 
Spinal Meningitis 
Snarlet, Cover 
10 
7 
21 
11 
4 
20 
16 
8 
33 
16 
6 
19 
10 
6 
81 
59 
29 
Inflammation ot'Brain 
5 
Measles 
1 
9 
2 
4 
Unknown 
8 
9 
3 
Cerebral Meningitis... 
11 
6 
28 
Typhoid 1 
4 
1 
1 
17 
Fevers 1 
9 
1 
9 
Abscess 1 
9 
9 
Whooping Cough 1 
1 
1 
o 
Catarrh 1 
... 
Scrofula 1 
1 
1 
9 
Erysipelas ! 
1 
Croup 1 
1 1 
9 
1 
Fits 1 
2 
1 
1 
Fall 1 
... 
Sunstroke 1 
1 1 
1 
Dentition 1 
r-v- 
i 
Diptheria 1 
i i 
i 
Hydrocephalus 1 
i i. 
i 
Sand in Ears 1 
i 
i 
Accident ' 
1 1 3 
TABLE 11. 
PARENTAGE. 
Pupils Admitted Duping the Term of 
Total Number 
in School in 
■ 
1880 
1880-82 
1884-86 
1886-88 
1888-90 
1883-84 
American 
14 
15 
14 
14 
14 
70 
German 
11 
24 
14 
20 
9 
86 
English 
2 
O 
6 
2 
2 
11 
Irish 
3 
9 
7 
7 
4 
26 
Welsh 
2 
2 
1 
o 
Norwegian 
3 
5 
o 
8 
4 
15 
Polish 
1 
2 
6 
9 
9 
Swedish 
2 
2 
1 
2 
Belgian 
9 
2 
9 
Hollander 
1 
o 
1 
5 
3 
Swiss 
1 
Scotch 
. 
2 
Canadian 
1 
3 
2 
9 
Bohemian 
1 
1 
9 
1 
2 
1 
Russian 
1 
Prussian 
1 
Negro 
1 20 
TABLE III. 
AGE AT WHICH HEARING WAS LOST. 
Pupils Admitted During the Teem of 
Total Number 
in School in 
Age. 
1880 
1880-82 
1884-86 
1886-88 
1888-90 
1884 
1 year... 
7 
0 ‘ “ 
8 
17 
10 
7 
6 
49 
3 “ 
9 
15 
8 
14 
12 
29 
4 “ 
I 
5 
8 
5 
0 
27 
5 “ 
1 
3 
4 
2 
4 
10 
6 “ 
i 
2 
1 
8 
1 
2 
1 
H “ 
o 
1 
4 
9 “ 
1 
i 
4 
10 ‘ 
9 
11 “ 
i 
12 
1 
9 
Unknown 
10 
Congenital 
5 
20 
33 
19 
81 
TABLE IV. 
AGE OF PUPILS AT DATE OF ADMISSION. 
Age. 
1882-84 
1884-86 
1886-88 
1888-90 
1 
7" “ 
1 
4 
1 
8 “ 
4 
2 
12 
10 
9 “ 
6 
8 
13 
9 
10 “ 
12 
7 
6 
5 
11 “ 
13 
3 
4 
2 
12 “ 
7 
7 
7 
2 
13 “ 
5 
1 
5 
5 
14 “ 
2 
7 
1 
4 
15 “ 
3 
8 
3 
2 
16 “ 
3 
2 
17 “ 
2 
4 
2 
18 “ 
4 
3 
6 
•i 
19 “ 
1 
1 
1 
3 
20 “ 
2 
1 
1 
23 “ ; ::: 
1 
24 “ 
1 
‘>7 “ 
1 
Note.—The above tables are compiled from Superintendent 
Swiler’s Reports. SINQLE=HAND ALPHABET- 
JOHN BARRICK, CNO.t CIN,, O.