Hughes, Mary

A member of the first class (1855) in what is now the Iowa School for the Deaf. Born at Galena, IL; family moved to Anamosa, IA. Deafened at age 5 by scarlet fever. Her mother died when she was 4. Her father left her and her youngest brother in the poorhouse at Galena, took two older brothers, and was not heard from again. Adopted by a deaf couple, Lewis and Aliena Perkins, but retained her family name. Attended the Iowa school 1855-1860. Married a hearing man in 1862.