hool
was established in Illinois, the bill passing the legislature by a
unanimous vote. To it came pupils from Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin. In
1849 a school was established in South Carolina. Thus by the middle of
the nineteenth century, or thirty-two years after the founding of the
first school in America, there were schools in a dozen states. In the
next quarter century schools were created in nineteen other states, and
since in nearly all the remainder.

EARLY IDEAS CONCERNING THE SCHOOLS FOR THE DEAF

It was but natural that for some years the providing of schools for the
education of the deaf should be looked upon with wonder. To many the
very thought of their instruction seemed strange. Curious notions had
been held as to the deaf-mute's mind, and it was not certain how far it
was capable of instruction.

By some the idea of the education of the deaf was received with scarcely
concealed skepticism, and despite the enthusiasm of the promoters and
despite the cordial interest manifested in many quarters, there were not
a few doubters. Efforts to educate the deaf were even declared quixotic
and absurd. When the state of Illinois was erecting a building to be
used as a school, it was by some called "the state's folly."[194] The
legislatures themselves occasionally had misgivings, and now and then an
appropriation was voted for a school more in hope than otherwise.[195]
The work was thus with many often misunderstood, and a few of the
schools did not have altogether easy sailing.

But when it was found that the deaf could be, and were being, educated,
not only were all doubts dispelled, but the astonishment almost goes
beyond bounds, and even passes into a rapture of thanksgiving. Visitors,
in some cases, flocked to the places where these wonderful things were
transpiring. They came to convince themselves, and stood hushed in
admiration at the spectacle before them.

The accounts of a number of the early schools attest the greeting given
to the new work. The New York Institution in its first report[196]
speaks of the "numerous visitors" and their "expressions of mingled
surprise and delight." In the new Pennsylvania Institution interest was
markedly aroused. By _Poulson's American Daily Advocate_ of Philadelphia
it was stated that 1,600 people crowded into a church to witness an
examination of pupils, and by the _Columbian Observer_ it was declared
that this scene "was impressive beyond description," and that "