Laurent Clerc’s American Short Story

(1816-1869)

 

*Letters reviewed for this draft are from 1816 to 1848.

 

This story begins on Laurent’s arrival in the New World. Laurent’s French story remains there for the time being. Many of the French know and revere his time there but may know little of his path once he arrived in New York City on Thursday, August 9, 1816 at 12 noon. This shortened story, using documents of the American Asylum in Hartford and family letters tells us what happened.

 

On his arrival to America, Laurent and Thomas Gallaudet spent several days in the city before heading to Hartford to meet Mason Cogswell. Laurent’s first dinner as a guest appears to be at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, with the then president, Timothy Dwight. Then he finished his trip to Hartford. 

 

On Thursday, August 15, 1816, Thomas Gallaudet wrote to Mason Cogswell about their arrival. Thomas sends his letter in the company of Mr. Wilder, a merchant living in Paris that helped to connect Thomas to “Clerc” and even offered to pay his salary for the first year in America if necessary. Thomas let Dr. Cogswell know that he and Laurent were adjusting to the heat of summer and would take a few days to visit with his father’s family in New York before heading to Hartford. This would mean that they would not arrive in Hartford until Friday, August 23rd or Saturday, August 24th. Thomas says that many people have visited them and take a great interest in Laurent. He describes Laurent as “so modest and easy in his manners and converses with such charm and propriety with all that it is a matter of general admiration”. 

 

As Laurent made his way from New York to Hartford the new Directors of the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons held a meeting at the State House. They agreed to take over the three (3) year contract that Thomas Gallaudet made with Laurent, and negotiated with the help of Mr. Wilder, on the voyage from France to New York City. 

 

On Friday, August 16, 1816, Laurent addressed a letter to his “dear and esteemed teacher, the Abbe Sicard. He described New York city, especially highlighting the Catholic church situation. Laurent attended mass on Sunday, August 11th. The plan laid out for Laurent was to take a period of rest in Hartford and then travel to Boston, Philadelphia, Washington and beyond to raise money for the Asylum. 

 

In 1824, John Carlin, painter and former student of Laurent’s at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf wrote a letter to be read at Laurent's birthday party I suppose. 

Apparently, John recounts that he was visiting Mr. Clerc in Hartford when he alluded to a passage in an annual report of the Hartford Asylum. John is referencing the famous story about how the speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Henry Clay, met with Laurent during a trip to Washington City in 1818. Apparently, Mr. Clay recognized him as one of two deaf men who sat next to him in a restaurant in Paris. Mr. Clay stopped the proceedings in the House and introduced Laurent around, encouraging them to see how a deaf man could be educated. Mr. Clay personally promised to help Laurent with his cause and the US Congress later gave the school a land grant, the first in the nation from the federal government. Laurent was also introduced to President Monroe who remembered him from their meeting at the Bennett Hotel. 

 

On September 18, 1818, John Cheverus, The Roman Catholic Bishop of Boston donated $25 dollars to the Asylum, beginning his associated and distant supervision of Laurent’s spiritual life as promised to Abbe Sicard. So afterwards he gave Laurent a letter of introduction to the Rev. Enoch Fenwick, pastor of St. Peter’s Church in Baltimore, which Laurent may not have ever used. However, it appears that some of Laurent’s children were baptized by a pastor of the same name. His son’s were baptized by the Bishop of Boston of the same name and successor to Bishop Cheverus. Laurent would later convert to his wife’s religion, Episcopalism, after the death of Sicard. He often stated that the Book of Common Prayer was more consonant with his early religious education in the Gallican Church.  

 

In November 1816, Thomas and Laurent traveled to New York City and then Albany. Thomas and Laurent were advocating for one institution to serve New England. Governor DeWitt, who built the Erie Canal, introduced them to the legislature and they had dinner with many Senators who initially backed their plan. Laurent had excited and their compassion and esteem. A prominent lawyer and future wedding party member, Harmanus Bleecker would help introduce Laurent and Thomas to the Albany elite. 

 

On December 7, 1816, Laurent gave a presentation and speech to “an assemblage of the Ladies and Gentlemen of the City of Philadelphia at the Washington Hall. Laurent was attempting to impress the audience significantly enough to loosen their purse strings and support the Asylum in Hartford. 

 

In a December 10, 1816 advertisement in Burlington, New Jersey announced that Laurent and Thomas had prevailed upon to make a presentation on methods of teaching the Deaf which Laurent brought from France. 

 

Soon afterwards, while traveling north to New York City, Laurent stopped in Bordertown, New Jersey at the home of Joseph Bonaparte, Count of Surveiller and former King of Spain and of course the older brother of Emperor Napoleon and who was hiding out from the chaos in France. He was not home but wrote to Laurent on his return that he would learn more about the Asylum and assist in promoting their efforts. 

 

On January 14, 1817, while in New York City, Laurent wrote to Dr. Cogswell about meetings there to decide if New York would attempt its own school or utilize the Asylum in Hartford for the forty-seven (47) deaf and dumb students they discussed. Earlier that day Laurent wrote a letter to Dr. Cogswell describing his time in New York amongst its “Society” and connecting with the most respectable citizens of the state. He said they were making progress with the intellectual members but they were outnumbered by “least intelligent” who may carry the vote to form a school in New York instead of utilizing the Asylum in Hartford. A second letter that day confirmed that the support for Laurent’s and Thomas’ position withered when their supporters did not show up for the afternoon voting. Laurent noted that he was greatly affected by the deaths of Dr. Strong on December 25th and Dr. Dwight on January 11th.

 

On January 25, 1817, in Paris, Jean Massieu presented at the first exhibition of the “Deaf and Dumb”. A letter conveyed by Joseph S. Corre contained a letter from Massieu and Sicard for Laurent. Massieu wowed the audience and the Abbe Sicard read a letter from Laurent, announcing his arrival  and progress in the United States. The audience apparently took great interest in Laurent’s “magnanimous sacrifices” and applauded at its conclusion.

 

On April 15, 1817, the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons officially opened in the Bennett Hotel in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. It was the first of its kind in America and remains open to this very day.

 

On May 10, 1817, the Board of Directors of the Asylum gave Laurent a salary of 2500 French francs and was raised to $500 soon afterwards. They voted to give Laurent $100 gratuity in September 1817. In December 1816, they paid him an additional $200 gratuity, plus $50 for teaching signs to the new instructors. In November 1818, Laurent received a gratuity of $300 and another $150 for further sign language instruction. Further payments from in 1819 and 1820 netted Laurent $425.

 

The June 1, 1817 annual report for the Asylum showed monies paid to Thomas Gallaudet that included the expenses to bring Laurent to Hartford. Another payment included the room and board for Laurent’s work prior to the opening of the school. There is also a payment by James Byers, Esq. of $100 for six (6) months tuition for Eliza Boardman, Laurent’s future wife. The couple's second daughter would carry Bryers as her middle name. 

 

Laurent’s work life and the innovative methods he brought to Hartford exposed him to many significant and important people shaping early America. On June 22,1817, President James Monroe visited the Bennett Hotel while on a Northeast Tour. The president made a public address in front of the hotel where Thomas Gallaudet interpreted for the crowd. Laurent kept notes of this event and his excerpt appeared in the Hartford Courant on Tuesday, July 1, 1817. This event is where the ASL sign for president was created. Laurent notes that he had dinner with the President and local clergy. He watched with apparent satisfaction a demonstration by Laurent Clerc and Thomas Gallaudet. He asked Laurent several questions, to which he replied in writing with his usual promptness and facility. Laurent was mightily impressed by the affable, unaffected and dignified style of the president. 

 

In September 2017, the Directors of the decided to no longer pay Laurent in French francs but United States dollars, beginning a respectful struggle over compensation that would last forty (40) years. An additional $100 was given to him at this time in lieu of services rendered. 

 

In December 1817, Laurent was given a leave of absence for four (4) weeks to visit the City of Washington. 

 

In 1818, Laurent first appeared in the Connecticut Register and United States Calendar as an assistant instructor at the Connecticut Asylum. 

 

Laurent’s first teaching contract was for a duration of three (3) years. He had always envisioned returning to France at its completion. In 1818, the Asylum Board began to explore the idea of Laurent staying longer. They wished to extend this contract but Laurent could not commit to a new contract until he received his input from Abbe Sicard and he kept  everyone waiting until he received a response to his letter to France. 

 

In March 1818, Laurent had visited Philadelphia again and had returned to Hartford. He received a letter from John H. George Randolph, a Deaf and Dumb Viriginian who had studied under Laurent at the Paris school. Laurent and St. George Randolph, as he was to be called when in 1858 Laurent wrote about him in the American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb, spent time together walking the streets of Philadelphia. Laurent noted that St. George had become interested in skating, giving Laurent the opportunity to complain about Hartford’s winter weather. Laurent noted that his friend had forgotten most of his French signs and was using fingerspelling. Laurent was proposing to George that he come for a vacation with the Clerc family for several weeks, where he could relax and update his signs. 

 

Thomas Gallaudet and Laurent were close friends and colleagues during the early years at the Asylum. In April 1818, Thomas wrote to Laurent from New York City and began his letter that God had given him one true friend to bear his soul and it was Laurent. Thomas had tea with Dr. Moore, who we will see later teaching Laurent’s son, Francis, at the General Theology College. He appeared to be recruiting teachers from the College and wished to update Laurent of his progress. He commented on a meeting with a deaf carpenter that they met in Philadelphia who was now working in New York. Thomas also had tea with a Mr. Byers, the possible donor of tuition for Eliza Boardman? Mr. Byers had apparently inquired very kindly after Laurent and Miss Boardman. Could he be responsible for their eventual marriage by keeping Eliza in school. 

 

The Asylum Board of Directors were always keen to utilize Laurent’s skills to sell the idea of their school. On May 4, 1818, at their meeting, they voted that they request that Laurent prepare and address at a public exhibition to take place this spring. 

 

Soon afterwards Laurent wrote to Dr. Cogswell about his return to Hartford and the work that he did with Mr. Gallaudet in New York. He expressed some concern about the physical health of Mr. Gallaudet, the lack of space for the growing school, their competition, and the political environment as it related to funding the school. 

 

On June 1, 1818, Thomas Gallaudet addressed the Board of Directors about his work but he took the opportunity to educate them on who was doing the real teaching there, Laurent of course. His letter appears to be regarding a discussion occurring around what would happen if Laurent was to return to France at the end of his contract.  

 

“You have been please to devolve upon me the more immediate responsibility of the progress of the pupils in the acquisition of knowledge, and I must look to my friend, Mr. Clerc, as the ultimate source of all which myself & the other instructors can home to acquire of the very elaborate & difficult art of teaching the deaf and dumb. In him is concentrated the experience of the Abbe de l’Epee & the Abbe Sicard. His familiarity with the whole circle of signs is the only fountain from which must flow all the future streams of instruction in the Asylum. His art, too, is purely a traditionary one & most of it cannot be reduced to writing. It must be learned by long & repeated efforts at imitation by those who wish to acquire it”.

 

Thomas indicates that Laurent was talking with him about his intention to return to France in thirteen (13) months time. Thomas indicated that it would be important for the Asylum to increase the daily instruction of the teachers to tap into the decades of experience Laurent contained. He felt that it was too short a time for the inexperienced instructors to obtain Laurent’s method. The Asylum board seemed to wish for Laurent to focus on the instructors while still teaching the student. Mr. Gallaudet reminded them that it was not in his contract to do so. The solution for Thomas was staring him in the face, retaining Laurent’s services for longer. He encouraged the Board to approach Laurent about increasing his instruction of the teachers and under what circumstances Laurent might consider extending his contract with the school. 

 

Mr. Gallaudet warned the Board that others might seek his services and that his salary, which they might find high, was actually still much below what is due to a man of his talents and worth. He reminded them that due to Laurent’s personal efforts the Asylum owes most of its funds, its character & its usefulness. Thomas had planned to write down Laurent’s method and was asking if the Asylum might purchase it when finished. Lastly, Thomas suggested that they were admitting too many visitors, anxious to see these new methods, but it was disrupting the progress of the students, the ultimate barometer of the school reputation and success. 

 

Soon afterwards the Board met on August 12, 1818 and approved Gallaudet's recommendations for more oversight by himself, having first passed it by Laurent for his approval. At the same time they voted on a request by Laurent that he no longer had to reside at the school but could take outside lodgings. 

 

In our history of the Clerc family we do not often find the words of Eliza Boardman coming off the pages. However, On August 5, 1818, we got a rare glimpse of Eliz Boardman. Eliza appears to be connected in her social group or to her religious network through Jonathan Wainwright, recently ordained as a Episcopal priest at the Christ Church in Hartford. Eliza appears to be involved in Mr. Wainwright’s marriage to Amelia Maria Phelps. This letter Mr. Wainwright to his brother, Peter, has a note attached from Eliza. The note suggests that Eliza might be actively involved with the wedding planning and was enjoying the events as their friends gathered. From this note it is possible that the Wainwright’s or the Phelps were related to Eliza. It is noted that Eliza comments about her and Laurent being involved in the wedding, implicating them in a relationship nine (9) months before their marriage. 

 

In an August 15, 1818 letter Thomas wrote to the Asylum board indicating that he was in Ballston-Springs, NY collecting donations for the school. He comments that he has been giving out Laurent’s address, the June 1, 1818 presentation to the Connecticut Legislature, extensively and which he thinks will benefit the Asylum greatly. This might have resulted in the Asylum Board giving Laurent an additional $200 to his salary and $50 for teaching the instructors. They might have been sweetening the honey pot in order to get Laurent to remain longer. 

 

Laurent’s expertise in the methods of education of the Deaf and Dumb meant that others often asked him to comment on the progress of the early Asylum efforts. Mr. Charles Sigourney, an original founder, documented his conversation with Laurent and submitted it to the Asylum Directors on November 16,1818. Mr. Sigourney was concerned about the impending departure of Laurent and wished to determine what to do about it. Laurent readily indicated that he would agree to further teaching after he returned from a visit to France. Mr. Sigourney asked Laurent how he felt about an invitation to Francis Garde, teacher at the Bordeaux School who was trying to get to the United States a few years earlier. Laurent knew him and indicated that he would be delighted to have him. Laurent was asked how many students one teacher could instruct and Laurent said approximately nineteen (19) with the proper space. Mr. Sigourney was worried that the other instructors would only take on ten (10) students at a time. Laurent advocated for Francis Garde to be contacted to take his place during his visit to France. Laurent and Mr. Sigourney then discussed Laurent going to Boston to present to the legislature. Lastly, Laurent reiterated that Mr. Garde was more advanced with French Sign Language and would be a valuable asset for the Asylum. 

 

Another role of Laurent at the school was to appraise families of the progress of their students and to advocate for the funding of Deaf education. Laurent did this in a letter to Aaron Fuller of Deerfield, Massachusetts who was struggling with the cost of his two (2) sons' education at the Asylum. 

 

Laurent kept abreast of the developments at the Paris school and with his friends, especially Jean Massieu. He appears to have transcribed a brief history of Massieu’s appearance in front of a Paris judge after he was pickpocketed on the street.  

 

Around this same time, Laurent and the Asylum Board were entering negotiations for a salary that would suffice for Laurent, who may soon be married. The documentation does not identify the amount of money that Laurent was requesting but it appears to have been over $1200 annually. We guess this because the Asylum Board outlines the tight expenses of the school and lists occupations that make less than that amount, like the Governor of the State of Connecticut. 

 

On April 30, 1819, Laurent invited H. Bleecker to the wedding. 

 

On May 3, 1819, Laurent married his former student, Eliza Crocker Boardman, at the home of her uncle, Benjamin Prescott of Cohoes Falls, New York. 

 

Few letters or documents in our various collections give us a good opportunity to understand the relationship between Laurent and Eliza. With his position at the school and the accompanying work load kept Laurent very busy. And of course now a married man and he was providing for his new family. On October 1, 1819, writing from Springfield, Massachusetts, we find Eliza six (6) months pregnant and writing to Laurent, who appears to have taken that trip to Boston to fundraise. Eliza appears to have been sick, under stress and maybe overwhelmed with the constant visitors to their home. It probably does not help when everyone appears to constantly be inquiring about Laurent and wishing to see him.  She states at one point in her letter to him that “I am sorry you do not think of me. I have hatred you because I was sick. Now I feel much love you”. A young couple under stress and perhaps a workaholic Laurent?

 

With Laurent preparing to visit France in 1820, he appears to assist the Asylum in recruiting his replacement. In the ASD collection there is a letter from Monsieur Pellin to Mr. Wilder referencing a letter Laurent sent to him earlier that year. M. Pellin was declining an invitation to come to America to teach at the school. He says that the salary is too low and not worth the effort of immigration. 

 

On August 22, 1819, Laurent agreed to a new teaching contract which would pay him $1200 a year in salary.

 

In April 1819, Laurent made his first visit home to France for a year. The Asylum Board unanimously agreed to make a new contract for after his return. His annual salary recommenced again on May 1, 1820 at $1200 a year. It is noted that they did not wish to pay him at the same rate as the Governor of Connecticut but then they did, speaking to his value and importance to the success of their venture. 

 

Laurent, having visited France in 1819 wished to maintain contact with his family. At times he would have friends carry packets of letters with them on their trips to France. Laurent also was helpful to his friends. An example of this was when Mr. Bleecker, a member of his wedding party, requested that Laurent assist his friends that were visiting Hartford. 

 

On March 25, 1820, Eliza and Laurent welcomed their first child and daughter, Elizabeth Victoria Clerc. The birth of Elizabeth seemed to be welcome news within the Deaf community in Hartford. Elijah Loring sent the news to his son, George, who was a student at the Asylum in a letter addressed to him on April 7, 1819. 

 

On April 25, 1820, the Asylum Board created a new contract for Laurent. It was for three (3) additional years, set out his classroom hours (6 hrs daily, 3 hrs on Saturday, off on Sunday), the need to give lectures, no other relationships with schools and be able to give private lessons. For this he will receive $1200 yearly and $900 at the end of his contract to defray costs of returning to France. 

 

In preparation for his trip to France in 1820, Laurent sent a note to the Asylum Board  thanking them for their help and asking if Eliza can continue to use the furniture that the school provided them during his absence. 

 

George Loring, Laurent’s pupil, wrote a letter to his teacher (Thomas?) from Boston on May 16, 1820. Laurent is at sea traveling to France. Why a young father with a two (2) month old baby would travel across the ocean considering the risk is beyond some. In it he mentions that Eliza Is “in trouble because she fears her husband would be drowned at sea and she would not be able to support her little child…”.

 

Some in France may have had their designs on Laurent and keep him there after his visit. Abbe Sicard wrote in a note that he was going to see Laurent soon and hoped he preferred Paris, as the foremost city in the world, to Hartford. 

Throughout the letters in our collections we seem to never see Laurent upset about anything. Well, in a letter to Benjamin Prescott, Laurent remarks that he was expecting some type of banquet with the French Ambassador while visiting France, which did not occur.  Laurent expressed “hurt” feelings over the matter, showing his humanity in a way we had not seen. 

 

On August 20, 1820 a letter was written by Caroline Chester to Laurent traveling in France. She remarks that Eliza had shown her the letters he wrote to her. Ms. Chester remarks that Eliza was very pleased Laurent had made it to Europe. She states that Eliza’s affection for Laurent has made her worry about his trip and was relieved with his safe arrival. She comments that the students at the school often talk about Laurent. As well, they are preparing to move to the new Asylum in October of this year. 

 

In a letter from Laurent to Eliza, he mentioned that the Abbe Sicard wished for him to stay in France. Ms. Chester states “I have thought many times of what you wrote in our last letter to Mrs. Clerc that the Abbe Sicard wished you not to return to the United States. Oh! Do not be persuaded to leave the American deaf & dumb, they need you very much & your loss to them now would be greatly felt, yet I know I cannot but candidly acknowledge that the claims of your native land are far beyond courts. We already owe you much gratitude for so long remaining in this country & for your unwearied attentions to the deaf &dumb. I hope you will never doubt that this is the true feeling of your friends here & that your goodness in leaving your native place & assisting to establish the American Asylum will never be forgotten by any of the friends who love this benevolent institution.” 

 

In May of 1821, having returned from his trip to France, he appears to have wanted to live in “the house” with his colleagues. 

 

A document in 1821, now held in the American School for the Deaf’s collection, seems to indicate that Laurent was invited to the New York Asylum at Lexington for six (6) months and Lewis Weld took his place. 

 

On May 30, 1821 a letter from Alice Cogswell to Mrs. Phillips. She said “ You cannot imagine how I was glad of the arrival of Mr. Clerc. Everybody in Hartford is extremely happy to see him. He is fleshy, happy & healthy”. Alice also mentions that the new Asylum is completely finished and all the students have moved in. 

 

The Asylum Board of Directors met on October 19, 1821 to consent to Laurent’s employment by the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf (PSD) for a period of six (6) months, with the condition that he could be recalled at any time. A week later the PSD sent a thank you to the Hartford Asylum. 

 

Laurent was released from his employment agreement temporarily in 1821 for the purpose of reorganizing  the Philadelphia Asylum. He left on November 1, 1821 with his family and was absent for seven (7) months. His salary commenced again on May 1, 1822 at $1200 a year and continued at that rate until April 1, 1825.

 

Interestingly, a poet named Henry Joseph Hutchins, penned a poem after seeing Laurent lecture to the students at PSD on Easter April 7, 1822. Soon afterwards Robets Vaux, board member of PSD wrote to Laurent that they were lamenting that the Hartford Asylum would not agree to an extension of his help. While we have not seen this anywhere else it appears that PSD may have asked and their request was rejected. In lieu of his going, Mr. Vaux asked for a candid evaluation of their remaining staff and recommendations for their program. Laurent responded indicating that he would recommend that the curriculum not be changed and no further instructors were needed. He recommended Mr. Dillingham highly, supported the employment of Mr. Hutton and encouraged Mrs. Dilingham’s introductory role continues as is. 

 

It is about this time that Laurent started to receive inquiries by Charles Willson Peale, painter and museum curator, about his desire to paint a portrait of Laurent. Peale apparently wished to place these portraits in his Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Laurent was said to have been reluctant but decided to have his, Elizabeth’s and Eliza’s paintings done because of the fame and influence of the painter. There is a letter in the collections where Mr. Peale confirms the time for a sitting that was provided by Laurent. 

 

In 1825 Laurent received a letter from Paris indicating that he would be offered a “secondary’ office in the Paris Institution. He was notifying the Board of Directors of the Hartford Asylum that he had decided to return to France with his family in November of that year. Laurent wished for the Board to know of his plan so they could find a replacement for him. Was Laurent trying to tip the school’s hand and secure a better salary and position? 

 

In March 1825, Laurent was solicited by Theodore Dwight, lawyer, prominent journalist, member of the American Bible Society (ABS) and brother of Yale President, Timothy Dwight to address the ABS on Thursday, May 12, 1825, about what we do not know. There is no reason to assume that he did not do this. 

 

In April 1825, it happened again. Laurent notified that he would leave the Asylum after the termination of his present contract. They resolved “ have received a communication from Mr. Laurent Clerc, signifying his intention of leaving his institution nex Autumn, they regret that any cause should exist which has led him to this determination and feel desirous  of retaining him if it can be done on terms consistent with their duty to the Institution. They voted to form a committee to approach Laurent and determine how to extend his contract. And they granted him a two (2) week vacation as well. Not long afterwards the Asylum committee proposed an agreement with Laurent for a new ten (10) year contract at $1000 per year and a one time payment of $5500 if he agrees with this term. 

 

Within a month Laurent had a new 10 year contract, commencing May 1, 1825, to teach at the school. Laurent’s contract stated that he would teach six (6) hours a day excepting Saturday, where he would only teach for three (3) hours. Laurent would teach Grammar, Arithmetic, Geography, the use of the globes, history and the Holy Scriptures. He was off on Sundays and was given six (6) weeks of vacation. Laurent would still be required to give public lectures but his expenses would be paid. Laurent was permitted to give private lessons outside of school hours. His contract would pay $1000 per year, $200 which would be deducted and put towards a payment of $5500.00 at the termination of his contract. Lastly, Laurent and his growing family would be provided with the appropriate housing, with its costs assumed by the Asylum. 

 

Laurent appeared pleased with his new situation and he set about his work with haste. Some of his work included mentoring and encouraging those around him. In this same year, Laurent wrote to Alice Cogswell (now 20 years old) about her need to continue her education. It was not clear why she was not still at the school. Laurent recommended that, for her health, that she visit with her friends more often and walk out often when the weather permitted. If she remained at home, she should write to others to keep her fluency, to read for a half hour every day and focusing on history, travels, edifying novels for leisure and books of piety. He especially felt that history would give her examples of good and evil that would prevent her from straying. 

 

Laurent, always a family man, mourned with Eliza the losses in his new family. Mr. Benjamin Prescott, Eliza’s uncle, who gladly gave this young couple his home for their wedding had died. 

 

Due to Laurent’s prominence he was approached by others about attempts to establish new schools for the Deaf. In 1827 he was approached by backers of a new school in New York, hoping that he would educate members of the legislature about the methods of teaching the Deaf. New York State wished to establish a school based on the Hartford system and wished an evaluation of the efforts already untaken in the state. They were familiar with Laurent’s work at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf and hoped he could provide them the same service. Laurent was known to not hold his punches when it came to the important task of giving the Deaf a language and an education. 

 

Laurent responded to the Honorable John C. Spencer of the Albany Senate by highlighting his statement that the “a pupil educated at the American Asylum at Hartford, was altogether beyond that of any pupil you had seen at the institution in New York City, and your wish to understand the reason for this difference”. Laurent commented that Hartford had offered assistance but it was declined. He had visited the school several years ago and while they appeared to be working hard, found little method to their program. They used some Indian sign language, signs learned from their pupils and some techniques gleaned from l'Epee’s and Sicard's published works. But he noticed they were good at math but that was the easiest subject. Laurent felt that their methods made it impossible for the students to express their own thoughts or to comprehend those of others. 

 

While Laurent had much to say about the deficiencies of the New York School’s methods he did not wish to have the legislature abandon them. He encouraged them to build their asylum and introduce the better, Hartford, system. Also, Laurent provided a postscript after discussing their letter with Thomas Gallaudet. Laurent clarified that it was the experience of experienced living instructors conveying the methods, not books, that gave them greater success. He reminded these politicians that the Hartford school had always avoided coming into conflict with other Deaf institutions.  

 

Also in 1827, we begin to see the first indications of struggles between Laurent and the Board of Directors over issues of housing and salary. In April of that year, Laurent brought to their attention the clauses ensuring housing and his keeping any payments for private lessons. It would appear that Laurent might have been expanding his family into rooms adjacent to his apartment and the Board of Directors took issue with it. Laurent wrote to the Directors indicating that he respected them too much to question their rejection of his requests. Later, it appeared that the Directors increased Laurent’s salary by $100 per year so he could seek lodging outside of the school apartments. 

 

In 1828, Laurent felt it was necessary to give an accounting of his family to his daughter, Elizabeth Victoria Clerc (8 years old). 

 

“Laurent’s father was Joseph Clerc, a notary by profession, as well as a judge and for many years the Mayor of La Balme-les-Grottes. Joseph had died in 1816 after Laurent traveled to America with Thomas Gallaudet. Laurent appeared to express sadness that he had missed his passing and could not attend his funeral. As well, Laurent’s mother, Elizabeth Candy, whom his first daughter would be named after, died in 1820 while Laurent was away. He expressed that his parents were very kind and he felt their loss greatly. 

 

Laurent’s grand uncle, his father’s brother, was also named Laurent Clerc and lived in Lyons. He is named after this uncle. His wife was named Victoria, which provided Laurent’s daughter with her middle name. 

 

Eliza’s mother is named Sabrina Boardman. Eliza’s brothers were John and Elijah. John’s wife is named Lucretia. These brothers resided in Huntsville, Alabama by 1828. Laurent had never met Eliza’s father, Colonel Elijah Boardman. 

 

Laurent has one (1) brother, Francis Clerc who resides unmarried in Lyons and is a merchant. Laurent has three (3) sisters. Margaret is now Mrs. Lurin and has two (2) children. Mary is not married and takes care of the parents' home. Victoria is now Mrs. Pollosson and has one son. Laurent has a maternal uncle living in Lyons by the name off Mr. Candy and who has many children.”

 

As well, Laurent remained in contact with his Holiness Benedict Fenwick, Bishop of Boston and founder of Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts. Laurent had met Benedict Fenwick, then a clergyman on his arrival in New York in 1816. Now Bishop of Boston, he wished to introduce a Dr. Kinnis of Quebec, who wished to visit the Asylum in Hartford. 

 

In 1829, we see further examples of Laurent becoming the advocate for the other Deaf instructors and his attempts to formulate the methods by which the Asylum would use. Also, we may be seeing the onset of conflicts between Thomas Gallaudet and Laurent of the direction of Gallaudet’s role. It appears that Gallaudet, superintendent of the Asylum, wished to either retire or teach fewer classes. Laurent felt that he must reiterate his opinion that Mr. Gallaudet should continue teaching, due to his skill. He encouraged the Asylum to increase Gallaudet’s salary. He reminded them that the Abbe Sicard taught until he was sixty (60) years old and noted that Gallaudet was only forty (40). Laurent did not mince words when advocating for the school, indicating that Gallaudet could work for another five (5) years and by this time the younger teachers would no longer need his instruction, rendering him obsolete. During this discussion a list of questions about Mr. Gallaudet’s job description seemed to indicate that his superintendent duties were minimal and he was needed as a teacher. Later letters to the Board of Directors from the instructors in 1830, pressed home their earlier opinions remained the same. Also, they did not wish to disrespect Mr. Gallaudet and his contributions to Deaf education in America.Thomas went so far as to ask the instructors for the views on his job description should he remain at the school. Thomas goes on, in writing to prevent confusion, to press the instructors to discuss the possibility of new duties being assigned to his position as principal. He wishes this dialogue to occur and to have their input, as it will make it easier for everyone once it is established. 

 

There was clearly a difference in opinion between Laurent and Thomas. Mr. Gallaudet’s attempts to change the code of regulations established in 1823. Votes by the Board of Directors appear to be changing Mr. Gallaudet’s job description. Mr. Gallaudet may have requested them as a condition of his remaining at the school. Mr. Gallaudet appeared to want to remain principal of the school, not teach classes and have the privilege to devote a larger part of his time to his own “personal concerns” which would increase his income. The instructors do not seem to be in agreement with the changes and Mr. Gallaudet appeared concerned that they would see the changes as asserting more power over them. 

 

Laurent and the instructors took the unusual step to consult with a Professor Omstead of Yale University about the powers and duties normally conferred on officers of the school. Mr. Gallaudet consulted with him as well. He felt that the instructors and himself, as principal, should submit their proposals on the “distribution of power” between these two entities. Mr. Gallaudet also wished to convey no disrespect within his letters. He also took umbrage that the instructors used Professor Omstead’s letter, itself meant to be private, in dealings with the Directors. 

 

Laurent and the instructors then clarified some points before the Board of Directors. They believed that Mr. Gallaudet was presenting that his reasons for considering retirement were solely a difference of opinion with the Assistant Instructors about the Code of Regulations for the Governance of the Asylum. The instructors appeared to be promoting a system of government based on their extensive experience and concern for the school. However, should the Directors agree with Mr. Gallaudet’s changes they would respect them. 

 

Laurent may have been an infrequent traveler to Quebec during his lifetime. In 1830, Laurent notified George ………. That he will be going to Quebec in October but he dissuades his friend to avoid the trip due to the weather being “unpleasant and the walking bad”.

 

In 1831, T.C. Brownell, minister for Laurent and founder of Washington College (Trinity) of Hartford writes to Laurent asking his friend to entertain a Mr. Lazarus of North Carolina who wishes to visit the Asylum. 

 

In 1835, Laurent continued to provide instruction to others seeking knowledge about his abilities. In a series of written answers to Mr. Frederick Barnard, Yale graduate and a teacher at the New York Institute for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, Laurent indicated that he presently thinks in English, having taken about four (4) years to transition from French. He reminds the questioner that he can think and communicate more rapidly in signs. He sees the correct signs in front of him when he thinks of a word or sees it on the written page. In front of his class Laurent thinks in signs but in conversation with others he first thinks of the words before signing. 

 

It is in 1835 that we see the first indications, through a series of twelve letters (12) spanning …….. years, of a relationship between Laurent and Anna Maria Pole, a wealthy single woman from England. From her family estate, Aldenham Abbey, she writes to her friend that she is anxious to get a response from her July 1834 letter to him which contains his travel plans to Europe. Our Miss. Pole was transitioning to an address in London soon and updated him on important things. One is that she had met a pupil of Laurent’s, Mr. Isted at Tunbridge Wells in Kent, where he participated in some hunting. 

 

It is at this time that Laurent had requested of the Directors of the Asylum to allow him to travel to Europe and to assume his responsibilities as a teacher when he returned. The Directors appeared to agree and with Laurent’s ten (10) year contract now expired the negotiations began. Laurent was requesting $1500 per year in salary but the Asylum felt that his worth as a teacher necessitated $1300 a year for the next ten (10) years. Laurent would be paid during his trip, not to exceed one (1) year to help with the expenses of travel. In addition, the Asylum advanced Laurent $500 for expenses while absent.

 

In May I835, Francis (13) traveled to France with Laurent. The plan was for Laurent  and Francis to visit parts of Europe before depositing him at a school in Lyon. Francis, writing to his mother, goes on to write about their trip to Paris before coming to school. Laurent was visiting with friends and took the opportunity to expose Francis to his old haunts and the tourist attractions of Paris. Francis describes visiting the Menagerie du Jardin de Plantes, the gardens of Luxembourg and the Tuileries. They visited the Chamber of Deputies before visiting the theaters, Cirque Olympique and the “Opera”. The Queen, princesses and the Prince of Naples attended the same night father and son did. 

 

Laurent wished that Francis visit the Cemetery de Pere La Chaise, the burial place of Laurent’s mentor, Abbe Sicard. Laurent and Jean Massieu wrote the inscription on the tombstone. Laurent often went to the school on St. Jacques. Laurent took his son to Versailles, where both enjoyed the Temple of Love on its grounds. 

 

Father and son visited Laurent’s old friends, like philosopher Baron Joseph-Marie de Gerando, where Francis played bocce ball. They even met with other families from America, who were also depositing their sons in France to be educated. Laurent and Francis also visited the Royal Library followed by the Musee Royal near the Royal Palace. After these visits, Laurent and Francis began making their way to Lyon by diligence (stage coach).

 

Writing to his Elizabeth, Francis described a trip to Geneva and Lausanne, Switzerland with his father. Traveling by diligence they would visit churches and the home of the great philosophers, Voltaire and Rousseau. They also visited with Mr. and Mrs. Eliza  Gallade Rumpff, who is the daughter of John Jacob Astor of New York, America’s first multi-millionaire. Writing to his mother on December 6, 1835 from his home in the La Croix Rousse district of Lyons, Francis indicates that Laurent is now back in Paris. At some point when describing Laurent, he says that his father has become so fat that he can hardly put on his pantaloons. Francis was the benefactor of these clothes that would not fit Laurent. Francis and Laurent have plans to travel to Cremieu to spend the days of Christmas with the Candy family.  In Lyons, Laurent was visited by a Mr. Rockwell, a former instructor at the Asylum in Hartford, who was fleeing the cholera epidemic in Marseilles. In two outbreaks in Marseilles in 1835, a total of 3441 people died, a mortality rate of 48.6%. 

 

Laurent had returned to the United States in April of 1836. His daughter, Elizabeth communicates to her brother that Sarah is at her side on a rocking chair, with no carpets and almost all the floors are in a sort of stone hewed and waxed. Laurent and Eliza appear to have decided to build a house in Hartford. 

 

In January 1837, Laurent appeared to have petitioned the Harford County Superior Court. Laurent is asking as a foreigner, twenty (20) years in Hartford would like to have the right to be authorized and empowered to hold, convey and transmit by grants, derise descents or otherwise real estate in Connecticut like any other native citizen. Could this be about the recent discussion about building a home in Hartford. 

 

In 1837, we see Ms. Anna Maria Pole appear again in Laurent’s correspondence. She has not seen Laurent in person for twenty-two (22) years and very much wishes he had a keepsake from her. She remarks that Francis may be in Paris in March of this year. She updates Laurent on the health of her family and the lack of much news in her life. Laurent has sent her a report of the Asylum in Hartford for her to read. She is disappointed that Laurent is not writing more frequently and says that she would like to visit the Asylum someday and to know his family. She continues to visit with her sister, with her invalid mother, at Aldenham Abbey. Ms. Pole is giving Laurent some recommendations for novels written by Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna and promises to send some to him. She expresses her sadness at the passing of Jean Massieu. This is interesting as he was not supposed to have passed until 1846 according to Wikipedia.

 

In 1838, Ms. Anna Maria Pole wrote to Laurent. He had sent her some pamphlets but she appeared annoyed that he was not writing her with personal letters. She sends her best wishes to Mrs. Clerc and Laurent’s children but has little of interest to report about herself. 

 

In May 1838 the Trustees of Washington College (Trinity College) conferred an honorary degree on Laurent. 

 

It is noted that in the Connecticut Annual Register of 1839, Laurent is listed as an assistant instructor under the principal, his former pupil, Lewis Weld. 

 

Our Ms. Anna Maria Pole writes around Christmas that she does not wish a year to go by without trying to communicate with Laurent. She inquires about the health of Laurent’s family and then gets into gossip about Queen Victoria and her marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg. Ms. Pole wrote three (3) times in 1840. Laurent continues to send reports from the school and she is not happy with the lack of intimate material. Eventually a letter, possibly forwarded by Ms. Sigourney arrived months later. Laurent has conveyed that Mr. Clerc is not well and that the Asylum is flourishing.    

 

It is noted that in the Connecticut Annual Register of 1841, Laurent is listed as an assistant instructor under the principal, his former pupil, Lewis Weld. Ms. Pole continues to be annoyed at receiving annual reports from Laurent and not personal letters. 

 

It is noted that in the letters from Laurent’s children they often refer to some pear trees that may have been planted by him at their home in Hartford. 

 

Again in 1842, Ms. Pole comments that it has been twenty-six (26) years since they met and she now believes that they will never meet again. She laments Laurent’s lack of communication. She did remark that she had helped a Deaf and Dumb boy admitted to the Asylum but it is not clear if that means providing financial assistance. 

 

In 1843, Laurent was awarded a Diploma from the Society of Education in Lyon, France. Francis writes his father a letter where he comments that Eliza’s brother, John has died. Ms. Pole sends Laurent her yearly letter after receiving a forwarded letter of his. She congratulates him on the marriage of Elizabeth to George Beers. Laurent’s son, Francis, has taken a position in a boys school in Richmond, Virginia. Francis told his father that he would visit the Peale portraits of Laurent and Eliza on his transition through Philadelphia. 

 

No year would be complete without a letter from Ms. Pole and 1844 was no exception. This time she was at Northampton Court in Tewksbury. Lewis Weld was traveling in England and dropped off a letter from Laurent. She sent a package with Mr. Weld for America which contained some prints of her father’s art, an inkstand for Eliza and a gift for Elizabeth to celebrate her recent marriage.

 

On May 13, 1845, The Rt. Rev. T. C. Brownelll married Capt. George W. Beers, of Buffalo, NY, son of Seth P. Beers of Litchfield, CT to Miss Elizabeth V. Clerc, daughter of Prof. Laurent Clerc of Hartford. 

 

On April 28, 1846, Laurent requested the Asylum Board give him a leave of absence for a one (1) year visit to France. Laurent was asking that his salary continued to be paid at $1000 a year while on leave. Laurent uses this request to remind them that he is due $1100 under his contract for the $100 per year from 1835 to 1846 in lieu of living outside the school housing. Apparently, a committee designed to negotiate Laurent’s last contract and one member, Henry Hudson, decided that Laurent’s $100 per year should be banked for the future. Laurent had hoped that these funds could be used to repair his house. The Asylum felt differently about the “verbal” contract with Mr. Hudson, who was now deceased, declined Laurent’s request. They felt that his increased salary, to $1300, included that amount and his supposed agreement was not documented in his contract by Hudson. They did approve a salary of $1000 during his year aboard. 

 

In preparation for his trip, Laurent believed he needed to secure a passport to travel to France. Laurent sought the help of the Honorable James Dixon, a representative in the United States House of Representatives to petition James Buchanan, Secretary of State for the document. Buchanan (future President) sent a letter back indicating that Laurent was not a United States Citizen. Laurent would travel with a U.S. passport and would receive an internal French document on landing. Laurent embarked from New York on the packet, Argo, on August 8, 1846 with his son, Charles Francis Clerc, whom he intended to leave with relations in Lyons to improve his French but also to study silk production. 

 

Laurent wrote a diary of his travels in 1846 to schools for the Deaf & Dumb in France and England. His voyage took twenty-two (22) days to arrive in Havre, France. Laurent and Charles then embarked two (2) days later by rail for the overnight ride to Paris. Laurent’s first impulse was to go to the St. Jacques school. On arrival the concierge almost did not let him in as it was closed for vacation. Even after understanding who Laurent was he declined his entry as it was the rules of the institution. Laurent persisted and a plan was made to wait for Professor L. who was out at dinner. On his return, he let Laurent into to view some of the vocational classes happening at the time. He was disappointed that he could not witness the other classroom instruction. 

 

We do not have many letters from Eliza Clerc but some to her from family members and her children. In September 1846, her cousin Nancy Crocker, wrote of family business. She also made the statement that she learned from other family members that “you are well & bore the separation with fortitude and feel, Dear Eliza, that it is a great trial to be so long separated from your dearest earthly friend and from you son Charles for years, perhaps”. Nancy says that she had the opportunity to see Elizabeth and George Beers on September 2, 1848 for tea. They were making their way west from Hartford on the way to their home in Buffalo. 

 

In October 1846 he went to Lyons with Charles. With Charles settled after a few weeks, Laurent headed to La Balme-le-s Grottes to pass the winter with his sisters. He visited with family members in the area during this sojourn but returned to Lyons to check on Charles and visit the School for the Deaf & Dumb in that great city. Founded by a Mr. Cornberry in the 1820’s it sat on a bold hill overlooking the western suburbs of Lyons. On his death, his daughter married a deaf man named Mr. Forestier and they took over running the school. These hearing administrators hired Deaf & Dumb assistants to teach the classes. Laurent loved to give advice but Mr. Forestier did not seem interested in Laurent’s suggestion to connect the school to a priest or wealthy benefactor to help promote the school…the Sicard model. Laurent also traveled to the city of St. Etienne, south of Lyon. They had two (2) schools for the Deaf. One for girls run by some benevolent nuns and the other by two men educated in the priesthood. 

 

With time to burn in Lyons, Laurent would visit throughout the city. One day he saw a notice about a Mr. Lafontaine who claimed to cure deafness with animal magnetism. Laurent, always curious, wanted this man to operate on him. But God appeared to intervene and Charles got seriously sick and Laurent missed the presentation. 

 

On a trip with a friend, Laurent came upon a deaf milkmaid in a small town on the border of France and Switzerland. He quickly taught her fingerspelling, so she and the town folks that had gathered were amazed with their efficiency of communication. Laurent was reminded that if someone was exposed to other Deaf & Dumb individuals and taught sign language then she might have experienced so much more. This led him to state that he was blessed to be founding every where school for the instruction and education of these “unfortunate beings”. Unfortunately for us, the latter pages of his travelog remain lost.

 

In November 1846, Laurent might have been surprised by a letter from Francis, recently graduated from seminary, that he was engaged to Julia “Juta” Lord Perry. Given the trans-atlantic mails service a letter of Francis’ marriage arrived soon afterwards. 

 

Meanswhile, in Hartford. E.T. Sloan, a pupil in Laurent’s class, said in a letter that “Mr. Clerc teaches some of the pupils and stays thirty years. He wished to see his brothers and sisters and all his friends. He is a deaf and dumb and good man. Mr. Clerc wished to go to France. Before he went to France, some of the pupils went in a shady grove on Saturday afternoon. Mr. Clerc sent love to all the pupils and they sent love to him. Mr. Clerc went in a ship across the ocean eight last August. I hope that God blessed him.”

 

By February 1847 Laurent was winding up his trip to England and France with a letter from La Balme to Charles in Lyons. He was delayed by the absence of his father-in-law arriving later than expected. Laurent inquires about his experiences there and worries about Charles' newly installed wood stove. La Balme is covered in 2 or 3 inches of new snow and it is very cold there. The Rhone is frozen. Laurent walks alone every day, much like he must have as a young boy. His sister Marie is not in good health and this results in brother and sister reminiscing by the warm fireplace over old journals and letters that Laurent wrote to his family before and after he left for America. 

 

Days later, on Wednesday, February the 27th, Laurent is writing to Charles, annoyed that he has not received any word from him for ten (10) days. Laurent is worrying that the new humidity of his lodgings might make him sick. 

 

Laurent had good reason to be worried about Charles. Charles relates to Francis that he has moved to the Pont St. Clair area of Lyons. He has a magnificent view of the Rhone and the surrounding country. He left the old residence because it was too far from the center of the city and he was disgusted with his landlady. She was too curious and charged him too much for her attention while he was unwell, a cold and slight attack of inflammatory rheumatism. Charles says that he does not get meals with his lodging and must take them at local eating establishments. 

 

Instead of writing to his father, Charles seems to be penning a letter to his brother, Francis.  Charles comments that his mother has been sick and he is glad she had gone to Buffalo to stay with Elizabeth. He says that it is not often that Eliza chooses to leave her home and he hopes it will do her good. Charles lets Francis know that Laurent is a La Balme and that he is finishing up his business with Mr. Clerc, Polloson, Candy and Monavan. Laurent had left Lyons approximately three (3) weeks earlier. Laurent planned to stay near Lyon for another month and then spend the rest of his time in Paris. 

 

Laurent wrote to Charles from La Balme on Saturday, March 20, 1847. Laurent appears to be making his rounds to collect on debts from investments made in family business. He travels to Bourgoin and Cremieu briefly. He informs Charles that he plans to return to Lyons on the 23rd or 24th. He asks Charles to let his creditors know that he is coming to settle their bills. Laurent then plans to travel to Neuville to bid the Bottex adieu and to him him help to collect his money from Mr. Decross, who has been found. Laurent will then return to La Balme to stay a week with Charles before returning to Paris. Laurent seems to not know that Charles has decided to stay in Lyons but supports his son making that decision. Laurent asks Charles to straighten out his newspaper subscriptions and they have stopped arriving. 

 

Laurent wrote to Francis from Paris on May 14, 1847. Laurent laments that his choice of making Charles his secretary and responsible for getting letters home. Laurent left Lyons on May 1, 1847, He left Charles well and content and willing to remain a year longer. He arrived on May 2, 1847 and put up at the Grand Hotel des States on rue Notre Dame, opposite the Messagerie Royale. He has decided to stay there until he leaves Paris for the coast in June. He has not decided yet if he will leave for America from Harve or Liverpool. This depends on the state of his expenses. 

 

Laurent recounts to Francis that he was sent to the Paris Institution when he was eleven (11) years old, where he remained until he was twenty-one (21), the first time they let him go home for a vacation for four (4) weeks. His next trip home was several more years, always in the autumn season. Therefore, he never had the chance to spend the winter at home, in La Balme or Lyons and was convinced he would during his trip. He realized that he did not like the winter in Lyons as it was cold, damp, muddy and dirty. And the people there used the wood stoves very sparingly. So he went to La Balme to stay with his sisters. While they were very lonely, they could sit by the warm fireplace and were happy to be there. But the weather was about the same as in Lyons but the road being dry they made many outings. They went up and down mountains and took in the country scenery. They went to Pressieu to see the Clercs, to Ambutrix to see the Candys and Bottus. To Bourgoin to see the Pollosson and Perregeaux. He went then to Lyons to see Charles, then on to Vienne to see the Dode, back to La Balme and back to Lyons before setting out for Paris. 

 

Laurent relates that Joseph Clerc has not failed in business. Laurent has lost a 17,000 franc investment. Apparently, Joseph knew he was going into debt, keeping it secret and then fled Lyons for Pressieu and lived very luxuriously with his friends. He duped everyone and his partners/employees did not sound the alarm for several years. Now he is struggling and contemplating suicide. Laurent saw him daily and now Joseph’s plan is to sell off the remains of his business and go to Pressieu to live in his wife’s family home. He will be dependent on her family. For a moment, Joseph thought he could go to America with Laurent and take up business. Laurent discouraged him, except to say that French teachers were more in demand. This did not please Joseph and he talked of it no more. 

 

He described Mr. Decross as a child who ran off when the business began to fail. He lived more extravagantly than his means would permit and borrowed much by mortgaging some of his estates, without the knowledge of his family. When the loans came due he ran and disappeared. Everyone thought him to be assassinated or drowned. After searching for him for over three (3) months they found him between Nimes and Marseilles. They forced him to return to the family estate where much of it will be sold off to pay his debts. He refuses to pay Laurent his 6000 franc investment and without a record of it Laurent knows it is gone. 

 

While in Paris Laurent is visiting the Deaf and Dumb Institution. People who had met Francis during his stay there in 1835 gave their warm regards. He says that Paris is better since their trip there twelve (12) years earlier. There are many new public institutions, monuments, superb private houses, hotels, bazaars, large and fine streets. There are magnificent depts for railroads and in better order than anywhere else he has seen. He no longer sees beggars on the streets. Laurent is visiting everything but he is not sure he can make it to all the things he wishes to visit before returning to America. 

 

He feels that the people, in general, are better dressed and appear more happy, even more comfortable. But he does not see as much gaiety as before. He believes that the population is more “church going”. He puts that all down to their wise King Louis Philippe and the long state of peace in Europe. Laurent comments that there are many foreigners and tourists! Laurent says that he has purchased the books that Francis requested and with the permission of God he will be able to deliver them personally. Laurent says that he has not met any of the people from Connecticut that he was told would be in Paris. He did meet Mr. Walsh, the U.S. Consul at Paris, an old acquaintance of his. 

 

Laurent, with some time on his hands in Paris, wrote to Elizabeth on May 29th,1847. He had been enjoying Elizabeth’s letters during his time in France and was excited to see all the Beers family members on his return home. He indicated to her that he had been in Paris since the 2nd of May. He described it as a “gay place” and that the weather was beautiful. Different from his letter to Francis, Laurent highlighted the pretty girls who were elegantly dressed at the shops, stores and coffee-houses he visited. He was enjoying the pleasant promenades full of seemingly happy people, indulging themselves in all sorts of amusements. Always providing social commentary, Laurent wrote about the citizens of the city acquiring fortunes by trade whilst the nobility and gentry are squandering away their estates  left them by their ancestors. Laurent must have been still smarting by Mr. Decross’ betrayal and refusal to pay his debts. 

 

And is Laurent becoming more melancholy in his old age or is he a child of the revolution? He writes that this has always been the conduct of mankind in trading nations. On sows, another reaps, while a third part enjoys all the fruit of their labor. He goes on to say that he is neither fond of gaiety nor solitude. “In all things there is a medium which ought to be preferred to extremes”. “A sudden elevation to affluence or grandeur and a sudden fall from either  are equally dangerous, the one too often plunges the person in all sorts of immorality.” Oh yes, he then references Joseph Clerc and Mr. Decross who fared luxuriously and rode princely and were now depending on others for their livelihood. 

 

Laurent may be feeling the changing times and the loss of many of his past friends since his last voyage to France. The ones that remain are very happy to see him and they go out walking with people everyday. When alone he goes to visit “the principal public institutions” of Paris. When he is tired of the hustle and noise of the city he goes to the country, apparently to find quiet and to feast upon salads made from the “blooming garment of Spring”. Laurent has seen the King and Queen riding through Paris in a carriage drawn by eight (8) beautiful horses. Laurent the monarchist commented that the King looked well for a man his age. Laurent remarks that he could apply for tickets to balls, dinners and concerts in the royal court but the cost of proper clothing was beyond him. 

 

As Laurent mentioned to Francis, he has not decided whether to return to America through Havre or England. He divulges the reason for his indecision to Elizabeth, the concern about double taxation of the silk goods he is bringing home. 

 

Laurent comments that Charles is finally on track with their plan for weekly correspondence. In June 1847, he set out to the countryside to see how silkworms are bred, cocoons formed and silk threaded. All part of his ongoing education to find work in Lyons great silk industry. Charles did not get an invitation to live with any of the Clerc relatives in Lyons and is living alone in lodging. Laurent wonders if it is because of his busy and potentially disruptive school schedule. Or because they have no children his age. Or perhaps Charles is not anxious to give up his freedom. He takes his breakfast at the coffee-houses, his dinners at a boarding house or restaurants nearby. Apparently, this is common among all the young men of Lyons who do not live with their parents. Laurent laments the $600 a year that it will cost him but there were apparently few other options. Laurent believes that at the end of the year Charles may be able to find a situation with a salary or come back to the United States and work in the silk industry in New York.

 

Laurent appears to be carrying “daguerretories”, apparently uncommon in  France,  of Elizabeth and the other women in the family. He had been sharing them with all the Clerc family members during his travels. Viewers commented that Laurent’s daughters looked like young ladies of distinction. Laurent may have been carrying a miniature portrait of Charles and people commented on the resemblance. They all recognized Francis from his previous visit but found him thin, sober and pale. Some said that Francis drank only water and the gravity of his being a Protestant minister accounted for this. These devout Catholics commented that they hated Protestantism as it makes everyone look so grave and unhappy. Laurent asked his French relatives to have daguerretories made of themselves so he could take them home, but the ladies said they would appear too old and ugly in lieu of these attractive young Americans. Lastly, Laurent says that if he does not find Sarah and Eliza in Hartford he will head straight to Buffalo to visit Elizabeth. 

Before Laurent left Paris, he wrote about his visits to the Paris Institute for the Deaf and Dumb on rue St. Jacques. He was very excited to see the teachers do their work in the classrooms. He remarked that they still separated the boys from the girls, unlike at the Asylum in Hartford. His first class to view was that of Mr. Berthier, a former student of his and now the senior teacher at the school. He described Berthier as a distinguished author and lecturer. After visiting the other classes Laurent vowed to return for a closer look. He was surprised that the school used articulation in their method and that they attempted to do this with just one teacher. Laurent was asked not to display his doubts for fear of discouraging the pupils. Laurent kept silent but observed that the teacher was losing the attention of the boys not focused on. Laurent made a test of some of the students abilities but was not impressed with the results of this oral method.  

 

It has been about three (3) years since we have had any correspondence from Laurent’s admirer in England, Anna Marie Pole. She appears to have received a letter from Laurent about his choice to return to America through England. She appears to be getting her wish to see him again thirty-two (32) years after they first met. 

 

While in London, Laurent appears to be trying to visit with Thomas Watson, son of Joseph Watson, founder of the London Asylum and nephew of Thomas Braidwood. Mr. Watson indicated in a letter to Laurent that his apartments were under renovation and that might prevent them from connecting. 

 

On June 28, 1847, Laurent wrote to Charles again notifying him of changes in his travel plans. Laurent was to leave London that week and travel to Havre. But now he is staying in London until July 2nd. He will travel to Southampton to disembark on the ship “The Washington”. The reason is that the ship is now not going to Havre and they are bringing the passenger from there to Southampton by steamboat. 

 

On July 6, 1847, Laurent was still in Southampton, having received a lovely letter from Charles. Laurent says that he left London on Saturday the 3rd of July, taking the railway to Southampton, a distance of seventy-eight (78) miles. Laurent seemed excited that it took only three (3) hours at an average speed of twenty-six (26) miles per hour. Laurent has taken a room at the Dolphin Hotel on High Street. He finds the town smaller than Hartford, with narrow streets and a lovely wharf. He had visited the ship several times and found the bedrooms to be rather small for a packet ship. There is no room for his large trunk so he plans to break the rules and put it in the dining room. The American Consul, Mr. Croskey is one of the two hundred (200) passengers on the voyage. Laurent is one of the 1st class passengers sailing on July 10th and hoping to arrive in New York on the 25th of July. Laurent comments that he hopes to find everyone healthy at home but feels the anxiety of separation already from Charles. He gives his adieu 1,000 times to Charles and asks him to be careful.

 

However, by July 12, 1847, Laurent still remained in Southampton. It turns out that around seventy (70) miles out to sea the furnaces in the ship began to melt. They tried to fix it at sea but decided to return to Southampton for repairs. It was blamed on “bad coal”. They did not return to the wharf as the captain was fearful that the crew would get drunk and get in fights. Laurent returned to the Dolphin only to write letters and will return to the ship in the evening. Laurent had met a classmate of Francis from Trinity College on the ship. 

 

Laurent received a letter from Charles, in Lyon, dated September 25, 1847. Charles blames the packet ships and procrastination for their frequency. Laurent appears to now be in Buffalo visiting Elizabeth. Sarah and Eliza are still there and everyone is glad to be visiting with the new baby. Charles had been visiting La Balme with his aunts and getting updated on the Clerc family happenings. He did some hunting in Pressieu and was glad to contribute his game to several wonderful dinners. He informs Laurent of the loss of one of his family, Mr. Rozier. He comments on the strange will he left, where he gave his estate away to nephews and nieces, giving on his watch to his wife. 

 

On his return to Lyons, he was offered a position with a silk merchant. Joseph Clerc is finally going to settle his debts with Laurent but only at ten (10) percent of the original investment. Another nine (9) percent will come from a Mr. Thollon. 

 

Charles says that he is glad that Eliza and Sarah loved their gifts Laurent brought home from him. He gives some instructions about how to divide them among them and Elizabeth. Charles teases Sarah with the idea that unmarried women do not exist in the social life of Lyons, only married women attend the parties and are recognized. Charles tells Sarah to wear the dress he bought her and not to let it languish in the drawer. Lastly, Charles lets Laurent know that he is eating well at the dinners he has been invited to by the good families of Lyon. 

 

Another letter arrived from Charles on October 18, 1847. He clarifies the work situation he has been given. It is with a “commission silk merchant” that does business with many American and English customers. Charles does sales and translates documents. Charles remarks that he ran into a Hartford native, Alf Woodbridge in a cafe and now sees him everyday for dinner. Good news on the Joseph Clerc debt front, several payments are now coming Laurent’s way. Charles performs his duty of summarizing the aging and increasing losses of Clerc family members there. 

 

As we entered the new year, 1848, Charles continued to update his father on his situation in Lyons. Charles loves to focus on the deficiencies of the mail in his letter. He does let his father know that he is feeling better after a serious bout of the “grippe”. He comments that Lyons has been suffering from his illness and the winter weather has been damp and nasty, necessitating he stay close to the wood stove. January weather is looking up with its dry cold mornings and sunny afternoons. The Rhone has been frozen and he is a celebrity on his ice skates. Charles has agreed to start bookkeeping lessons while business is slow. The rest of the time he is focusing on reading and writing in French, making great progress. Charles needed to withdraw Laurent’s money from Mr. Thollow due to his retirement. A lengthy description followed about the troubles he had with finding a new investment home for it. 

 

Charles has done very well in the business this year and will get a salary in the coming season. If he returns to America, his employee believes he can help set him up there with associates in the importing business. It appears that Charles has decided to return in the fall of 1848. Charles is again enjoying the winter social scene in Lyons. He is attending many balls and dinners, being a member of the “Set”. During Carnival the events are nightly, sometimes with two hundred (200) people in attendance. Charles goes on endlessly about his outfits and the social norms of society, deciding to stop thinking Laurent may not be so interested. He defaults to the tried and true topics of family illness and impending demise. 

 

Before signing off Charles asks about Elizabeth and the baby. Sarah had written him an account of her long trip to Boston. Charles remembers his trip there with the Beers several years earlier. He gives wishes to everyone and comments that his letter from Eliza was the best he had received. 

 

In March of 1848, Charles was witness to the brief revolution taking place around France. Laurent’s favorite king, Louis Philippe was overthrown. Charles writes “Vive la Republique! He speaks about the triumph of the people and the principles of lIberty, Egality and Fraternity. Charles called out the king as being hard headed and obstinate, feeling that if he had granted more privileges to the people he would still be on the throne. While the Parisian riots sounded exciting to Charles, things in Lyons are tamer but this news was stupefying. In Lyons the troops are out to keep peace. Some silk weavers were storming the Croix Rousse and the hotel de ville. They burned and pillaged the public offices, singing La Mareillaise and making a loud racket over a period of three days. The National Guard had been re-established and so had the order in the city. The National Assembly will meet again and Mr. Candy (cousin) is being put forward as a representative. The workmen of the city, the weavers, butchers, bakers, cleaners, street pavers, washerwomen and garcons of the cafes have all joined the cause for higher wages. 

 

But then Charles, always the bourgeois, bores of politics and describes the feast he had several weeks ago. Copies of the New York Herald arrived from America and consumed his interests. The anticipation of his return to America can be felt in his words. Charles recounts the Clerc family news and signs off with well wishes to everyone stateside. 

 

Questions about Laurent’s impact on Canadian Deaf populations appear to find an answer with a letter from Ronald MacDonald of Quebec. On October 13, 1848 Laurent received a letter from him announcing that the Catholic Bishop of Montreal was going to add a school for the deaf-mutes unless the provincial legislature did so first. Abbe Lagorce, now a director of an orphanage in Montreal will be the director. Mr. MacDonald has been compiling a collection of books and other documents related to the instruction of deaf-mutes but they were lost in a big fire in 1845. Abbe Lagorce has asked Mr. MacDonald asked Laurent for a list of resources he could utilize. Mr. MacDonald sends Laurent a Gazette newspaper article about the schools he proposed in 1835 and now they may hire him as a teacher. Mr. MacDonald said that he was going to make it a condition of employment that he be allowed to return to study with Laurent beforehand. He was very interested in seeing a copy of Mr. Weld’s report of his travels to deaf schools in Europe. 

 

In 1851, Amherst College conferred an Honorary Master’s Degree on Laurent, to recognize his contributions to Deaf education. 

 

The year 1852 begins like every other had done, with Laurent focusing on his work at the school and Eliza caring for her family. Laurent is asked to write a autobiographical sketch of his life as part of an introduction into the life of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet who had died the preceding fall. His passing ended one of the unique collaborations in the history of education in the United States. 

 

However, Laurent and Eliza would face another significant loss. Their son Charles Michaelm who was living and working in New York City for the Gourds & Freres import company had fallen ill. That fall, Laurent writes to his daughter Sarah about his trip to New York to help care for an ailing Charles. Charles appeared to have been ill but the doctors were more encouraged by his progress. He was described as having severe bleeding for his lungs. The prognosis appears guarded and the doctors are hopeful that he will improve enough to return to Hartford by mid September. Charles fever appears to have diminished and his complexion was more “natural”. Doctors are visiting him everyday at this point to check on his progress. Eliza and a friend, Mrs Burgess, are nursing him around the clock. Sarah had left a note for Charles during her recent visit but Laurent did not feel it proper to let him read it in his present condition. A letter has also arrived from Elizabeth but Charles appears to not be in a condition to read it. Laurent has decided to not return to Hartford for another week and Eliza will remain until Charles is recovered. Laurent discouraged the Demings and Elizabeth from coming to New York as Eliza wished to focus on Charles' care unimpeded. 

 

Laurent appears to have business in New Jersey, as Mr. Gourds was willing to send him daily updates on Charles' condition. On returning to New York, Laurent is greeted with a deteriorating Charles. While believing himself improving, it is clear to Laurent and his caregivers that Charles' condition is more serious. Charles may have been able to travel back to the family home in Hartford before passing away on October 21st, 1852. 

 

The year 1853 found Laurent and the faculty of the Hartford Asylum struggling over proposed changes in the role of the Principal at the school. Laurent organized the instructors to send a petition to the Board of Directors about their concern that new regulations would give the school principal (Lewis Weld) absolute veto power over the recommendations of the teachers. 

 

A year later, in 1854, we find Laurent negotiating with the Board of Directors over the status of his home on the campus property. Laurent had been offered $8000 for the property but wished to allow the asylum first right of refusal. Laurent had also been appointed to be the president of the Gallaudet Monument Association and was preparing to lay a cornerstone that year. No year would be complete without Laurent and the instructors being refused their request for an increase in their teaching salaries. 

 

While Laurent was struggling with the asylum directors, good news was coming from the City of Brotherly Love. In Philadelphia, Albert Newsam, a Deaf artist and former pupil of Laurent, had acquired the famous Peale portraits of Laurent and Eliza, painted in 1822. They had been in Charles Willson Peale’s museum of natural curiosities but had been waylaid, possibly to his son’s museum in Baltimore. Being sold at auction, Mr. Newsam had arranged for their purchase for $20 and was now offering them to Laurent and Eliza. Laurent and Eliza agreed and they were brought to Hartford by Mr. Newsam.

 

By August 1856, Laurent slowed by advancing age, opportunities to reflect on his work and spread his gospel still presented themselves. In August of that year, Laurent presented at the Annual Conference of Instructors and other Delegates of the Deaf and Dumb in Staunton, Virginia. Laurent’s address to the assembled body probably did not go down very well. He reiterated his previous concerns that instructors of the Deaf “did not take the trouble to learn our fine and admirable language of signs, nor did they endeavor to study and cultivate the system of instruction, or to teach the construction of sentences by analyzing them.” He did not see anything worthy in the new emphasis on fingerspelling and lamented the reliance of a pupil’s memory instead of their “intelligence.” 

 

With the fall foliage of 1856 upon him, Laurent attended the New England Gallaudet Association of Deaf-Mutes Convention in Concord, N.H. at the American Hotel. The convention then moved to the New Hampshire State House where they met to discuss the state of Deaf-Mutes in New England. Laurent spoke for two (2) hours and his speech was summarized in the convention meetings published in the American Annal of the Deaf and Dumb in April 1857.

 

Laurent would have been teaching the Deaf for forty (40) years at the Hartford Asylum. Over one-hundred and twenty (120) present at the convention prepared a letter to the Asylum board advocating for his retirement from teaching and his receiving a pension “which would surround him with all the comforts essential to an unembarrassed enjoyment of the remainder of the space of life which may be allotted to him.”

 

On his 40th anniversary year of teaching in 1857, Laurent wrote to the Asylum Board of Directors about the letter from his students and friends. While touched by their compassion for him he wished to let the board know that he was not thinking of retirement. With a family to house and feed he wished to continue teaching and receive his annual salary. Laurent’s letter also conveyed some angst about his past contracts and their conditions for his decadal leaves of absence from teaching. Having decided to die in America he had hoped to travel once more to France to see his family. He lamented the costs of his going and the assistance given to others promoting the school abroad. And a request for six (months) off without a reduced salary was laced with statements about being left poor and destitute. Around this same time, Laurent felt it necessary to send a summary of all his financial compensations agreed upon with the Asylum, hoping to make clear to the present board his justifications for compensation. 

 

Some possible relief for Laurent’s anxieties appear to have come late in 1857, with the loss of Eliza’s brothers, John and Elijah Boardman. Their passing in Alabama and Mississippi resulted in Eliza inheriting a share of rented land there. With a flurry of correspondence between Laurent and the lawyers handling the estate, he tries to ascertain the value of Eliza’s inheritance. However, John Boardman’s widow and daughter appear to have been siphoning off the rents for the land and its value had decreased over the years. Laurent had communicated his questions to the widow during a 1850 visit to Hartford but she was easily offended and vague. It is not clear if Laurent and Eliza were ever able to access monies for these properties. Mrs. Boardman and her daughter would eventually turn up at the home of Fanny Prescott in Waterford. Later they would reside in a boarding house in Troy, NY, before disappearing to Princeton, N.J. 

 

By the spring of 1857, it had become apparent to Laurent that he must not return to France. Correspondence from family members there had informed him of the loss of his remaining sisters over the last winter. With this news Laurent withdrew his request for a leave of absence and felt that he “still possessed a vigor of constitution sufficient to carry me though several (more) years.” And Laurent, ever looking to secure his financial situation, inquired about compensations he felt were entitled to him. 

 

The year 1858, saw Laurent struggling with the news of the death of one of his former students in Paris, St. George Randoph of Virginia. So much so that he wrote a letter to the editor of the American Annals for the Deaf and Dumb in January 1858. Mr. Randolph had returned to America in 1814 after being taught by Laurent. Mr. Randolph was thought of having learned of the serious illness of his brother at Harvard University and was said to become deranged, reported to not again have a lucid moment. He had arrived in Laurent’s class in 1812 and had excelled. In 1821, Laurent would learn that Mr. Randolph had been hospitalized at the Philadelphia Hospital for the Insane. While visiting and walking with him Laurentt learned that an engagement to a woman of a wealthy Viriginian family was called off due to his being a deaf-mute. Laurent wished to convey to the publication’s readers “how quickly the deaf and dumb resent the wrongs done them by those who have the advantage of the full possession of all their senses.”

 

The Asylum board responded to Laurent’s request for further employment with a contract until April 1, 1858. They ratified this contract which would have him retire on this date, after forty-one (41) years of teaching. Also, they agreed to pay Laurent an annual salary of sixteen-hundred ($1600) dollars, his highest to date. This appears significant as the asylum principal, Mr. Turner, received seventeen-hundred ($1700). With his retirement, the asylum agreed to pay him an annual pension of seven-hundred ($700) dollars for the rest of his life. 

 

Laurent responded to the board indicating that the annual pension appeared advantageous to him. However, he went on to describe his housing, which he described as dilapidated, putting he and his family at risk for ill health. The kitchen was falling to pieces and could not be inhabited in wet weather. Laurent could not see a way to provide adequate housing for he and Eliza without an alteration in the proposed contract. He suggested that he sell his home to the asylum and be granted a three-hundred ($300) stipend for renting. The asylum declined his offer and raised his salary by fifty ($50) dollars. 

 

In April 1858, at the age of seventy-three (73), Laurent retired after forty-one (42) years connected with the Asylum. On April 28th, he gave an address to the instructors and students of the Asylum who were assembled in the chapel. He “gave a brief review of his history, particularly as connected with the Asylum. He dwelt with much pleasure upon the unbroken harmony which had always subsisted between him and all with whom he had been associated here; also of his happiness in his domestic relations”. Laurent noted that twenty (20) deaf mute institutions whose instructors directly or indirectly derived from him the art and method of instruction. It was noted that he seldom if ever had been disabled by illness for a single day during his time there. 

 

In June 1858, the board of directors of the Asylum met and acknowledged Laurent’s contributions. They expressed their deep gratitude  and appreciation for his commitment to the school and its students. They wished him personal happiness and many years to witness the fruits of his labors. 

 

On June 4, 1858, Laurent wrote to the Principal and Instructors of the American Asylum after publication of the board’s statements in the local papers. Laurent thanked them and commented that he believed his “best capacities have been wholly devoted to it (school), and while life lasts, my heart will cling to it with the trusses and deepest affection.” 

 

Later in July 1858, Laurent learns that several passengers he met on the ship, The Washington, in his 1846 crossing are in New Haven and have run into Sarah and Elizabeth. Laurent planned to visit with them on his next trip to the capital. 

 

On August 6, 1858, Laurent wrote a letter to the president of the Annual Conference of Deaf Instructors, declining their invitation to attend the next meeting in Jacksonville, Florida. He indicated that he did not have the financial means to travel to the convention. Furthermore, he seemed to suggest that if the organization wished to assist him with the costs, he would be willing to become a missionary and to travel to deaf schools around the nation, advising them of methods of instruction. 

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