The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1876-02-10
NUMBER Al.
The Case OF Laura Bridgeman.


In village in the mountains OF New
Hampshire the late DIR. Samuel u. Howe
found the subject of this sketch, then six
years old, blind, ueaf, dumb, and nearly
destitute of the sen 6f taste, scarlet
fever having deprived her of these gifts
She was thus excluded from oil the
beauties Of God in nature, and seemed
little better than piece of marble,
chiseled in human form, and thai form
containing Pickering spark of an inn
mortal sOu,. Her father Was well-tO-do
farmer, and her mother a woman of
much intelligence, who ably consented
to place her daughter in care OF DIR.
Howe. Accordingly, she was brought
to Boston, and process OF instruction
Immediately commenced ,e was first
taught to use her hands and to acquire a
command of her muscles and 'mbs, and
afterward, by means of sn and pin,
to distinguish two articles y arbitrary
sie rs. Then from monosyllables she
learned all the letters of the alphabet,
and how to arran.,, them TO represent
objects. She soon acquired knowledge
of numerals, punctuation, ETC., and then
she gaired the power of expressing
thought, the names O, things, etc. The
next process taught her was to recognize
the same signs in embossed types. She
worked with great eagerness, thus re-
warding the watchful care of her de-
voted teacher. Miss Bridgeman is now
in her forty-sixth year, and between her
home and the Perkins Institution she
has passed her time thus far. She is tall,
slight, graceful ia loi n and notion,
wears green bands across ner eyes, is very
demonstrative, and her face at times
radiates with emotion. She dresses with
great care-more to please her friends
than herself-and takes pride in show.
ing her gold watch and other feminine
ornamentations. She is quite expert in
crocheting and plain needle-work, and
takes much delight in assisting one OF
the teachers in the sewing department..
A few days ago she was at work with
perhaps a dozen of the pupils, turning
the hens of napkins, and threading
needles with her fingers and teeth. She
exhibited some of her hemming with as
much pride as a soldier bearing a tro-
ply from battlefield. A lady on the
occasion referred to made purchase from
her of crochet mat, and with clear ar
ticulation Miss Bridgeman repeated the
word "money" twice. She can utter
rtelligibly the name of teacher and
such words as baby, etc. She forms
words with lead.pencil by means of a
French writing-board. This latter ar
ticle has grooved lines about an eighth of
an inch deep, an inch so apart, running
transversely across the pasteboard. She
takes her paper and presses it into the
grooves, thus making Impressions which
can be felt by the pencil-point, and when
slightly pressed, leaves a letter mark. In
furnishing her autograph she writes above
her name Scripture text. On being
asked if she realized the meaning of the
quotation, "The Lord is my Shepherd" !"
she replied, Gully" On learning that
her questioner had been Sabbath-schoOl
teacher for eighteen years, she clasped
her hands with delight, and an attempt,
in rapturous manner, to speak, giving
forth lurid.like sound. Miss Bridge
man, after the death of her father, was
selfishly deprived of the little property
he left for herself and her mother, and
she continued to earn little money by
the use of her needle. She, however,
possesses the interest of a bequest of eight
thousand dollars from the LOring Fund.
Yesterday this lady was feeling acutelly
the death of the noble man who brought
out her imprisoned spirit from chaos.
She is living monument of his devotion,
patience, hope, waiting, watching, and
giving of eyes to the blind and .nguage
to the dumb lips. The Emperor of Prus-
sia sent DR.. Howe gold medal for his
marvellous achievement in educating
Laura Bridgeman. The attention of the
European world was fiji st drawn to Miss
Bridgeman's most extraordinary case
through Charles Dickens Notes" in
| which very full account was given, and
deserved eulOgium passed upon DIR.
Howe