lege. Clerc was born to a prominent family in the village of LaBalme, France. His father was a notary by profession and a mayor of the village for 34 years. His mother was the daughter of another notary. Males in Clercs family held the office of Tubelion (a Royal Commissary) in that village for over 300 years. Clercs family believes that he became deaf after falling from his highchair into the kitchen fire, but he might have been born deaf. His right cheek was burned from the accident- hence the name sign of brushing two fingers across cheek. Clerc lived through the French Revolution, witnessing Napoleons rise and fall. In fact, he lived in England for a while to escape from the turmoil. Clerc had once been considered to help start a school for the deaf in Russia but was passed over because he was deaf. He agreed to coe to America for only three years for three reasons: 1) to help organize a new school for the deaf; 2) to be the first experienced teacher; and 3) to teach others how to teach deaf. However, he married one of his beautiful, dark-eyed, dark-haired, slender, and vivacious pupils, Eliza Crocker Boardman of Whiteborough, N.Y. This proved to be a strong incentive for Clerc to stay in America. Clerc and Eliza had six hearing children (two died at the age of 2), and Clerc returned to France three times with his sons to ensure they would have a firm grasp of the French language. Clerc stated that each time he visited France, he returned to the U.S.A. feeling that America needed him more. He felt that he had received the blessings of an education and wanted to freely five to others- "freely receive; freely give" as he quoted from the Bible. The French are known for their logical way of thinking. When Clerc was sailing from France to America for the first time with Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, he saw some sailors feeding mice to the ducks that were kept on the deck as food for the passengers. Clerc wrote in his journal that if ducks at...
