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lotte Coovert, and they were the parents
of the following children : Mary, born
August 17, 1827; William H., of further
mention; Sarah E., born 1832; Catherine
M., born July 27, 1835.
William II. Weeks was so unfortunate
as to be stricken deaf and dumb in his
fifth year while suffering from scarlet
fever. Every attempt was made by lov-
ing parents to restore his hearing, but
to no avail. In his early childhood he
gave evidence of a desire to acquire
knowledge, and although he continued
to attend school with his sister after his
affliction, he made little progress. His
father was a man of superior education
and was determined that his son should
receive the best in the way of an educa-
tion. Accordingly, he took him to the
Fanwood School for the Deaf, which was
located on Fiftieth street, New York
City, and the boy was enrolled there as a
student at the age of twelve years under
the preceptorship of Dr. Harvey P. Peet.
The rapid progress which he made was
such that he was chosen from the class
to demonstrate the new method of training
before the Legislature of New York
State in 1848. He graduated from the
school in New York and was employed
there in 1850 as a teacher, which posi-
tion he held for fifteen years. In 1865
Mr. Weeks removed to Hartford, Con-
necticut, and became a teacher in the
American School for the Deaf in that city
and was there in that capacity until his
retirement in June, 1913. He was more
than sixty years of age before he took up
the science of lip reading, and eightythree
years of age when he retired from
the Hartford School. Altogether his
services in instructing in the two schools
aggregated sixty-four years. He could
very clearly remember the night of November
17, 1835, at which time the Hal-
ley Comet appeared in the northern sky.
He recalled the great fear which the spec-
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
166
tacle arouse among the people of the
country and numerous neighbors came to
his father saying that the world had
come to an end. His father was a devout
and religious man and answered them
saying that "God was the ruler of the uni-
verse," urging them' to be calm. A great
terror swept over the entire country and
many bade their friends good-bye, firmly
believing that the judgment day was at
hand. Mr. Weeks recalled that this con-
tinued for two weeks and then disappeared,
and the world resumed its normal
tenor. While he was a student at the
New York School, Mr. Weeks also saw
the Donati Comet and believed it to be
more brilliant than the Halley Comet.
In spite of his advanced age at the time
of his retirement, Mr. Weeks was possessed
of rugged health and was very
active. He visited the Clark School at
Northampton, Massachusetts, and con-
versed orally, reading the lips of pupils
and officers there.
Mr. Weeks married Mary M. Allen, of
Melrose, Massachusetts, in 1858, and they
were the parents of a son, Harry Allen,
who died in 1895. Mrs. Weeks died in
1893, and Mr. Weeks December 7, 1917,
five years after his retirement, at the age
of eighty-nine years.
His was a long life, full of good deeds
and love for his fellowmen. In spite of
his trouble, he was always cheerful and
pleasant ; he was possessed of sterling
qualities, a man of high moral and intel-
lectual character, and at his death left a
large number of friends and acquaintances
throughout the entire country who
were saddened as a consequence.
NEWTON, Charles Edward,
Business Man.
Charles Edward Newton, former treas-
urer and general manager of the Jewell
Belting Company of Hartford, Connecti-