James Simpson Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1738-1741 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

	This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit 
	organizations for their private use. 

	Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval 
	system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other 
	means requires the written approval of the file's author.


	JAMES SIMPSON.—No history of the South Dakota School for Deaf 
Mutes can be complete without a sketch of the life of the one man who, 
through thick and thin, worked early and late to build up the 
institution. This man was the late James Simpson, virtually the founder 
and for twenty-three years the superintendent. He took up the work in 
the summer of 1880, one year after any attempt was made to educate the 
deaf of the then territory of Dakota, and he did not relinquish the work 
until the end of the twenty-fourth year of the school's existence, in 
June, 1903. His was a most remarkable career, the more so when one 
considers that Mr. Simpson was himself deaf, like the young people of 
the state of South Dakota who came to his school in quest of an 
education. Being possessed of a broad and thorough education himself and 
realizing the many difficulties that the deaf have to surmount in the 
attainment of an education, Mr. Simpson was early drawn to the cause of 
teaching the deaf and he expended his whole life in the work. 

	James Simpson was born in Milford county, Michigan, January 21, 
1855, of sturdy Scotch stock. He was the youngest of a family of six 
children, two girls and four boys. Besides himself there were in the 
family two brothers who were deaf more or less. William, the second boy, 
was partially so, and Delos, the next youngest, was almost totally deaf. 
The deafness of James came on gradually and the exact cause is a 
mystery, though one of the physicians of the day attributed it to a 
throat trouble. The fact that he was losing his hearing was only fully 
apparent when he was about ten years old. His mother was a painstaking 
woman and encouraged him to use his vocal powers all the time, with the 
result that he was always able to speak. Being unable to hear, he came 
into the habit of watching the motions of the lips and in this way 
understood nearly all that was said to him. This accomplishment remained 
with him through life, and few persons, meeting and conversing with him 
for the first time, were aware that they were speaking to a man who 
could not hear a word of what was said to him. In nearly all matters of 
business intercourse Mr. Simpson relied on spoken words in carrying on 
conversations, thus facilitating matters and avoiding the tedious method 
of written conversation necessarily employed by those who are unable to 
use speech in their intercourse with the hearing people. 

	At the age of fourteen years, when both of his parents were dead, 
the subject of this sketch entered the Michigan School for the Deaf, at 
Flint. His brother William was acting as guardian to him and his other 
deaf brother, Delos. The last named, being older than James, had been 
attending the school at Flint for several years previous and was soon to 
graduate and enter the National College for the Deaf at Washington, D. 
C., the only institution of its kind in the world. At the Flint school 
James Simpson entered upon his studies with zest. He was naturally 
bright and absorbed learning readily. One of his ambitions was to 
graduate and enter the national college or one of the larger schools for 
the deaf in the east, to round out his education. For four years he 
studied hard under the tutorship of Prof. Thomas L. Brown, and made such 
rapid progress that he was soon in the highest class, having passed many 
a student who had been in the school any number of years. At the end of 
these four years young Simpson removed to New York state, making his 
home with an uncle or cousin. In the fall of the same year he entered 
the Fanwood School for the Deaf, in New York city. Here he again showed 
his propensity to outstrip the older students in the race for the head 
of the class. He entered the highest or academic class within three 
months after his entrance into the institution, and in so doing passed 
three or four classes of some twenty-five students each. The academic 
class consisted of about thirty students and was under the tutorship of 
Prof. Oliver D. Cooke, of whom there has seldom been an equal as a 
teacher of the deaf, and never as a disciplinarian. Prof. Cooke, 
previous to his appointment to the Fanwood school, was a teacher in the 
school for the deaf at Hartford, Connecticut, the original school of the 
kind in America, founded by Dr. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, whose son, Dr. 
Edward M. Gallaudet, is president of the National College for the Deaf. 
Mr. Simpson spent three years in the Fanwood school and graduated with 
the highest honors. He devoted himself so assiduously to his studies 
that in a total of seven years he had completed a course which it takes 
most young men from ten to fourteen years to finish. He was the 
valedictorian of his class, and delivered a masterly address at the 
graduating exercises, and received, with his sheepskin, honorary mention 
from the faculty for his particularly fine record throughout the three 
years he had spent at Fanwood. 

	Immediately upon graduation young Simpson went to Attica, New 
York, and took up the jeweler's trade. He spent about a year at this 
business, then went back to Michigan, where he secured employment on the 
farm of one of his cousins. He was young and his future in life had not 
then shaped itself definitely. He was determined, however, to make his 
mark in the battle of life and as he followed the plow he kept his mind 
active planning for the future. His chance, which was also the turning 
point in his life, came in a most unexpected manner. His brother Delos 
had graduated from the national college some time previous and his 
standing as a student had reached the ear of Moses Folsom, then 
superintendent of the Iowa School for the Deaf, at Council Bluffs. Mr. 
Folsom was looking for a number of bright and capable young men to 
become a part of his faculty. He wrote to Delos Simpson and offered him 
a position in the corps but the offer for some reason did not appeal to 
him. It occurred to him, however, that his brother James might be 
willing to accept the position were it agreeable to Superintendent 
Folsom to make the substitution. Accordingly he laid the proposition 
before James, who signified his willingness to accept, and a letter of 
explanation was dispatched to Superintendent Folsom. Word came back that 
it would be satisfactory to the school authorities to have James become 
a member of the teaching corps. 

	It was with vigor and enthusiasm that he entered upon the work of 
teaching the deaf. His methods were eminently those employed by Prof. O. 
D. Cooke at the Fanwood school and by Prof. T. L. Brown at the Michigan 
school. It was a coincidence that Mr. Simpson had had in Prof. Brown an 
instructor who had been a pupil of Prof. Cooke's at Hartford. To this 
fact undoubtedly was due the peculiar success attained by Mr. Simpson in 
his educational work, coupled with his natural aptitude for the work. 
His every procedure was logical and his explanation of subjects clear. 
He realized that to attain the best results the student should 
understand fully the subject in hand. Thorough and intelligent work on 
the part of the pupil was made the watchword—and results fully attested 
to the wisdom of such a course. At the Iowa school he was a leader among 
the faculty, ever holding out for modern and logical methods, tempered 
with conservatism. He remained in this position for three years, during 
which time he was married to Miss A. Laura Wright, a student of the Iowa 
school and sister of the matron. 

	In the summer of 1880 Mr. Simpson, finding himself in poor health, 
sought rest and recreation at the home of his brother-in-law, Atttorney 
E. G. Wright, at Sioux Falls, South Dakota: Another sister of Mrs. 
Simpson had been in Sioux Falls the previous twelve months, teaching a 
class of seven deaf children. She had found the work rather trying and 
was not sure that she would want to continue it indefinitely. When Mr. 
Simpson came among the people of Sioux Falls the suggestion was made 
that he was the proper person to take up and carry on the work. He 
immediately put the suggestion into effect. Citizens of Sioux Falls came 
to his aid promptly, for they realized that such an institution in their 
midst was bound to grow and prove a worthy institution. Money was raised 
for the erection of a suitable building and to provide for the 
maintenance of the school until such time as the territory should come 
to its aid with territorial funds. A tract of ten acres of land was 
donated by a few public-spirited citizens and a large building erected 
thereon. The school was opened under most auspicious circumstances on 
October 21, 1880, with James Simpson at the head. The attendance was 
eight pupils on the opening day. The ninth pupil came one month later, 
and by the beginning of the year 1881 there were ten pupils. Since its 
establishment this school had had at least two hundred and fifty pupils 
at one time or another within its walls. 

	Superintendent Simpson acted as instructor, assisted by his wife. 
The first two or three years were trying ones, but Mr. Simpson had a 
stout heart and knew he was engaged in a worthy work that would bring 
him his reward. He overcame numerous obstacles and the school prospered. 
The attendance grew rapidly and new buildings had to be provided. After 
the lapse of twenty years there were six fine stone structures, grouped 
in such manner that a fire threatening one would not affect the others. 
Thirty acres of land additional was purchased, deciduous and evergreen 
trees were set out and the grounds were beautified with driveways and 
lawns. From the nucleus of eight pupils on the opening day there were 
nearly fifty in 1889, when the territory of Dakota was divided into the 
states of North and South Dakota. A new school was soon established in 
the northern commonwealth and between fifteen and twenty pupils at Sioux 
Falls were transferred. A few years later the attendance at the South 
Dakota school was again at the former number, three or four teachers 
were regularly employed, and one of South Dakota's most worthy 
institutions was doing a noble and necessary work. Her graduates are 
scattered to the four winds, and they are self-supporting and valuable 
citizens. Most of them, in addition to obtaining an intellectual 
education, learned some branch of the trades, by which they are able to 
hold their own with hearing people. 

	Mr. Simpson was a careful manager and watched every detail of the 
institution closely. His expenditures were always within the annual 
allowances made by the state. The health of the children in his charge 
was so carefully looked after that seldom was there a case of serious 
sickness. The moral and spiritual welfare of the children also came for 
most careful attention. In his personality Mr. Simpson possessed a most 
attractive quality and he made friends easily. To know this man and to 
enjoy his confidence were an honor. He was devoted to his family, of 
whom he had three boys, all of whom survive him, and one girl, who 
passed away in infancy. His wife also survives him. He was a good 
business man and made judicious investments of his earnings, thus 
leaving his family in good circumstances at his death. His property 
holdings consisted of a large farm in Iowa and two in South Dakota, 
besides numerous head of live stock and other property. 

	The pernicious practice of permitting politics to enter into the 
affairs of state institutions is responsible for Mr. Simpson finally 
relinquishing the superintendency of the school he had so long guided. 
In the spring of 1903 the board of charities and corrections, pleading a 
desire to make a record in economical management of the institutions 
under their charge, reduced his salary nearly one-half. Under the 
circumstances Mr. Simpson could not accept the reduction and still 
retain his self-respect, so he promptly handed in his resignation. This 
step had been anticipated by the board, and they were not slow in 
accepting the resignation, seeing that it was their chance of driving in 
the wedge that was to open the way to using the school for deaf mutes 
for political purposes. For twenty-three years no preceding board had 
dared go contrary to public sentiment by removing the efficient head of 
the school. This action of the board in the spring of 1903 was condemned 
by every citizen of the state who wanted to see efficiency placed above 
politics. 

	At the time he handed in his resignation Mr. Simpson's health was 
poor and the action of the board only hastened a step he had considered 
for some time previous. He immediately sought recuperation of his health 
in the Black Hills, but there was no appreciable improvement. He 
returned to Sioux Falls to settle down in a home of his own, hoping that 
complete rest would restore him to health. But on the way he was 
stricken down and in a very short time breathed his last at the home of 
his brother-in-law, J. T. Gilbert, in Sioux Falls, surrounded by his 
entire family. His death occurred on November 16, 1903, and on the 19th 
his mortal remains were consigned to their last resting place in Mount 
Pleasant cemetery. The services at the house were private, but at the 
grave the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks had charge of the 
exercises, the deceased having been an honored member of the order. The 
services, both at the house and at the grave, were largely attended and 
the floral tributes were many. 

	In the demise of James Simpson the state of South Dakota lost a 
valuable citizen and the deaf a warm friend. There can be no nobler 
monument to his memory than the South Dakota school for the deaf. 
                                         PHIL L. AXLING.