Keys, John Franklin

Born near Jonesboro, TN; lost his hearing to fever in 1864. Went to the school for the deaf at Knoxville, TN, ages 7-15, then printed the weekly Tennessee Tomahawk with his brother in Mountain City, TN, for 10 years. Returning to Knoxville, took a postgraduate course, edited The Silent Observer, and worked with The Knoxville Daily Tribune and other newspapers for a while. In 1887 on, went to work for the Montgomery, AL Daily Advertiser, moving into linotype operation starting in 1894., possibly the first of many deaf linotypists in the years to come.