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Ch 4 DHR: Mary Ann Walworth Booth - Coggle Diagram
Ch 4 DHR: Mary Ann Walworth Booth
Overall:
She and her husband, both deaf, literate; correspondence = communication of deaf Americans
most hx of deaf = New England & midatlantic but she was shift westward; frontier life
head of household, mother, wife
not much known about deaf women before 20th C.
lived in 19th C, wrote a book: Edmund Booth: Forty Niner, letters b/w them when he went to California
Both she and husband went to American School fro the Deaf - Hartford Ct
Background
lived from 1817 - 1898 - 80 years old
5th out of 9 children
parents born NH
deaf age 4 - Scarlet Fever
American School for Deaf - Edmund was teacher 1831, she was 14 when met
Edmund met her brother
1939, her brothers moved to frontier/owned business; remote Iowa, not yet a state, no transportation infrastructure; Mary Ann and parents/most siblings followed
later in 1939, Edmund moved, worked with her brother
later
1940 - married, had a farm
1942 first son Thomas
1846 - second child, Harriet, died age 1
1948 - another daughter, also named Harriet
1855 - last child Frank (after Edmund returned)
All children hearing
Letters from 1849-1854
most from Mary Ann to Edmund, few the other way arond
not a complete picture b/c most from her
little info about her prior to meeting Edmund or after he came home
Research Issues
1 - people didn't record information abut 19th C. woman as much as men
2 - Mary Ann led a typical life for a frontier woman, despite deafness
1949-1854
Mary Ann and children moved around a lot
originally lived with Edmund bro Henry; then moved in with other family members
letters showed issues; emotional, interesting, her words, attitude, problems, frustration
1950: Fall, Henry worked for Gideon Ford; "Wapsi House" / hotel
supposedly own room for Mary Ann and children, then lived with friends
1850 cont, lived with friends, one deaf (Louis Perkins); letters expressed many concerns
Linus Osborn, lived with then flood; moved to stay with her sister
Challenges while Edmund was away
communication barriers between her and those around her
oldest son Thomas = interpreter in town
dependence on Thomas to increase his English skills
used others as interpreter but was not always understood
used signs with children, they learned
had to manage household and $$$
hired people for farm
managed, business smarts, manage $
1951
used $90 from Edmund to buy 5 acres
built house for $150; became town center, cornter Main and Booth; burned down 1881
lonely, isolation
No help from Edmund with in-laws
she did not know his whereabouts, welfare often for 3-5 months at a time; very emotional, heartbreaking, begged him to come home
1854 and on
she lived 40 more years, but little known
did she maintain the house or finances?
relieved he was home but how was dynamic, relationship
was he in charge when he came home? She was more independent before? Must have been a relief - communication, no more lonliness
Died age 80 in 1898, had been sick, bedridden
After her death, Edmund lonely, they had been married 57+ years