Library Collections: Document: Full Text

In September, 1860, Mr. Martin resigns to accept a similar position in the Louisiana Institution. By the first of October the board had secured the services of Mr. A. G. Scott, at that time principal of the Tennessee Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. The next report is made in 1861. During this time the number of pupils had increased from thirty-four to fifty-seven and everything seems to have prospered accordingly. For the first time this report gives a list of the officers and teachers.

A new era is dawning upon our country. About this time "rumors of unsuccessful and successful wars fill the air, and the dark clouds of civil strife begin to settle down upon this happy and prosperous people. Before another biennial term had passed, the iron heel of War was on the neck of this child of State, and she lay trampled in the dust. The buildings were burned, this beautiful and happy home was desolated, and the unfortunate and helpless children were left, it seemed, to the doom of darkness and ignorance. It will not be out of place here to inject the following extract from the message of Gov. Pettus sent to the legislature, Monday. November 4, 1861:

It is my painful duty to inform you that Col. E. R. Burt, auditor of public accounts, fell mortally wounded at the battle of Leesburg, while gallantly leading a regiment of Mississippi's brave sons to one of the most brilliant victories which has come to our arms during the war. These are times that try men's souls.

The deaf of Mississippi can never cease to honor the State for what it has done for them. Inexorable war had brought death and destruction and almost famine, yet amid all this desolation the representatives of the people did not forget the deaf, as will be seen from the following section, taken from an act of 1862 and 1863:

Be it enacted by the legislature of the State of Mississippi, That the trustees of the Mississippi Institution for the Deaf and Dumb be authorized and hereby empowered to place the deaf and dumb orphans in their charge, and such others in the State as are similarly situated, in some suitable institution for the deaf and dumb in or out of the State until the trustees of the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb properly fit up and organize the same for the reception of scholars.

The same act appropriated $7,000 annually to enable the trustees to carry out this provision. The next legislature not only provided for the orphans, but, to use the words of the act, "for the deaf-mutes who have been or may be under the pupilage of the Institution for that class."

No one can say that Mississippi has neglected her deaf children, when, amid the roar of the cannon and while the circling smoke of battle ascended up to heaven as incense from the altar upon which the flower of her manhood has been offered a willing sacrifice, she takes time to stop and provide for their wants. What an incentive to the deaf to become honorable and useful citizens! This history from April 23, 1862, to October 21, 1865, can best be told by the following reports, which read like a novel:

REPORT OF THE JOINT STANDING COMMITTEE ON THE DEAF AND DUMB INSTITUTION.

Mr. PRESIDENT: The Joint Standing Committee on the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb beg leave respectfully to report that they have endeavored to discharge their duty in the best manner they could with the meagre information they have been able to obtain. We have not visited the grounds on which the buildings once stood, because we deemed it unnecessary, having learned that they were all destroyed by the fortunes of war.

The impoverished condition of the finances of the State preclude the possibility of appropriations being made, such as will be requisite for erecting suitable buildings for this Institution, except, perhaps, some small buildings for temporary use, and which may hereafter be used for workshops, etc., by the Institution, as indicated by the board of trustees in their report to his Excellency Gov. Humphreys, which is herewith filed and asked to be made a part of this report.

We would recommend that the annual appropriations now made by law to this Institution be used by the said board of trustees for the purpose of boarding and tuition of the indigent deaf-mutes until such time as the State may be able to put the Institution again into successful operation.

In examining into the facts as presented in relation to the burning of the building by the Federal forces, and the general destruction of the property of the Institution, we find nothing to allege in condemnation of the trustees and managers of the Institution, but, on the contrary, we verily believe they did the best they could under the circumstances. The destruction of the property is a calamity much to be deplored, especially at such a time as this, when the treasury of the State is empty and the people of the State unable to bear the weight of a heavy taxation. We still recommend this unfortunate class of our fellow-creatures to the fostering care of the State. She has adopted them, and through weal or woe, riches or poverty, she ought to do the best she can for them. And although we cannot recommend appropriations at the present crisis of our affairs for the purpose of erecting an asylum for them on a magnificent scale, yet we would not have you for a moment lose sight of this important object and its consummation at the earliest possible time consistent with paramount public interest.