Carl, what a fascinating story. Who is this "blind history lady," and
where can I read more of her stories?
I grew up on Maryland's Eastern Shore, very near where John lived five
or so decades earlier. Attitudes toward blindness had changed very
little from those that John encountered many decades later.
I was always in horror of having to make a living doing one of those
"blind jobs," like making brooms or selling pencils, but this story
gives me a new, more accepting perspective.
Thanks for sharing it.
Penny
On 6/6/18, Carl Jarvis <carjar82@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The following was sent to me, and I thought some of you might find it
interesting, too.
Carl Jarvis
***
Last month I told you that when a person was blind, they often were
lost to us through public records. One of the first lessons I learned
as a genealogist
was to always obey the research rules and be willing to change the
rules to find my results.
This month, I wish to tell you of a man who’s blindness as an adult
led us to find him or, he would have been, as a sighted man, lost to
us forever. Because
he went blind, we are able to relate his blessings of blindness.
John Hudson was born in 1866 or 7, or as late as 1871. There was no
one left from his early years to tell him of his actual birth date.
As a very young child he was orphaned. There were very little options
for a child with no one to care for him. He became an indentured
servant, bound out
by Sussex County, Delaware. At the age of 14, he was working as a farm
hand, not as an adopted child, on a farm for a couple in Gumborough,
Delaware, who
had no children. His childhood and indeed, much of his adult life was
nothing but hard work with little pay.
In 1907, John went totally blind. The cause is not known. There were
no services in Delaware for a blind adult. John found himself at the
county Almshouse. He
was there with many other unfortunates and blind persons such as John
Defuse, a single black man about 77 years old and Martha Stafford, 76
years old,
white and single and no one to care for them.
In 1907, an almshouse was just an over-crowded place to live and get a
meal. There was no one to help John learn how to adapt to his new way
of life, There
was no person connected with the almshouse to get anyone living there
back on their feet. To complicate matters, John had contracted
Tuberculosis and could
not afford any medical treatment.
In 1911, the newly established Delaware Commission for the Blind sent
their home teacher out into the poor houses and on one of these trips
found John
at the Sussex County Almshouse. He was sitting in a chair, just
sitting. After leaving the Almshouse, he often told the other blind
men that this period
of his life was the most wretched. His mind was a blank. There was no
one to talk to, read to him and no purpose to his life.
The home teacher brought John right away to the Blind Shop on West 8th
Street in Wilmington. The building had sleeping rooms for 8 to 10 men
to live there,
if they had nowhere else to stay.
John was put to work in the broom shop. He had a purpose again. John
quickly learned how to size the corn, cut the handles, wind the brooms
and become
a competent broom maker where his wares were then sold in the
salesroom of the Blind Shop and he, he alone got the profits from his
labors.
Another change that John, though indirectly brought about through his
earlier circumstances, was legislation that allowed a two-year capped
financial aid
package for those just losing their sight, put into place about 1915.
A newly blinded person could apply for a $3 a week payment, to help
keep them in
their current situation and to adapt to their blindness. John did not
benefit from this new legislative program as he was busy earning his
way, making
brooms. Although the legislation was soon shadowed by future welfare
legislation, other newly blinded individuals were able to benefit from
his trials.
One cold day in February of 1914, John went down to the basement of
the Blind Shop where the broom making supplies were stored. He smelled
smoke when
entering the basement. By feeling his way around the basement, he
quickly located the fire in the broom corn and sounded an alarm
Several other blind men
working upstairs came quickly with buckets of water and put the fire
out, saving the building and themselves. No sighted person was at the
shop at the
time, so it was all up to the blind guys to put out the fire. The
blind men seemed to know they were up to the task. It was the
newspaper reporter and
the sighted community that were surprised that the blind men could put
out the fire themselves.
John died on December 5, 1916 at the Blind Shop. Because of his poor
health, his right lung had collapsed, causing his death. John spent
the last five
years, living at the Blind Shop where he was happy and felt like he
had a family.
Peggy Chong
The Blind History Lady
.
www.theblindhistorylady.com.
