New Book about Mary Ann Walworth Booth
Mary Ann Walworth was a great-great-granddaughter of William Walworth of Fishers Island (b. 1646) and Mary Abigail Seaton.She also was a sister of Caleb Clark Walworth, who has been discussed on this Forum.
Harry G. Lang has written a new book about Mary Ann and her husband, Edmund Booth:EDMUND BOOTH:DEAF PIONEER, published by Gallaudet University Press.On the cover of the book it says:
"Born in 1810, Edmund Booth epitomized virtually everything that characterized an American legend of the 19th century.He taught school in Hartford, CT, then went west to Anamosa, Iowa, where he built the area's first frame house.He left in 1849 to travel the Overland Trail on his way to join the California Gold Rush.After he returned to Iowa in 1854, he became the owner and editor of the Anamosa EUREKA, the local newspaper.Edmund Booth fit perfectly the mold of the ingenious pioneer of 19th-century America, except for one unusual difference -- he was deaf."
Mary Ann Walworth Booth, also totally deaf, was no less remarkable than her husband.While Edmund was in California, she single-handedly raised two young children on the Iowa frontier (there was no known white settlement five miles west of their home), took care of their farm, bought land with money that Edmund sent her, had a house built, and handled all financial and family affairs.This would be a heavy burden for any woman alone, but Mary Ann had the additional handicap of deafness.She succeeded remarkably.
The fascinating book about Edmund and Mary Ann is described on the Internet at:http://gupress.gallaudet.edu/catalog.htmlhttp://gupress.gallaudet.edu/catalog.html(To read the details, click on "Recently Published" and then on Edmund's picture.)
Happy reading!
Wilma H. Spice
Great-great-granddaughter of Edmund and Mary Ann
More Replies:
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Re: New Book about Mary Ann Walworth Booth
Steven Hanken 2/27/05
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Re: New Book about Mary Ann Walworth Booth
Wilma Spice 3/03/05
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Re: New Book about Mary Ann Walworth Booth