Job Williams

 Job Williams born on March 1, 1842 at Pomfret CT and died at Hartford CT on March 15, 1914.  His wife, Catherine Stone, was born on March 25, 1845 at Hartford CT and died at Hartford CT on April 17 - April 1909.  They were married on June 20, 1868.

Source: Descendant Database, DAR Genealogical Research Catherine Craddock Williams Nat'l #: 465726 Ancestor #: A126644 great granddaughter of Job Williams

Job WILLIAMS 1, 2 was born on 01 Mar 1842 in Pomfret, Windham Co., Connecticut. He died on 15 Mar 1914. Job was employed as in Eminent teacher of the deaf. He was employed as in Teacher in Newburg & Poughkeepsie, New York. He was employed as in 1879/1913 in Succeeded Rev. Stone as Principal of the Hartford Academy f. He resided in 1879/1913 in Hartford, Connecticut. Job married Catherine STONE 1 on 25 Aug 1868. Catherine was born on 25 Mar 1845. She died on 17 Apr 1909. Catherine resided in Hartford, Connecticut.

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This brief sketch of the life of Job Williams late Principal of the American School for the Deaf at Hartford does not aim to be conventional or exhaustive It is based on a friendship which began when we were young men and which increased as time went on for nearly forty seven years We first met at the opening of the school year in 1867 He had then been for one year a teacher of the deaf and I was looking for a temporary position which might become a stepping stone to something else For a year at the end of which time he married we shared the same room and interchanged such thoughts and sentiments as were natural to young fellows of similar disposition and character Though widely different in temperament we were in aim and purpose much alike I found him clean in thought and speech deeply but quietly religious cheerful self reliant patient and prompt to meet every duty He possessed a rich bass voice which had been a source of income to him as a choir singer while he was in college and he not infrequently burst forth into spontaneous and jubilant song Music of the higher sort he loved and he seldom missed an opportunity to hear the best whether vocal or instrumental

Job Williams was born in Pomfret Connecticut March 1 1842 not far from the scene of Putnam's exploit with the wolf When he was about four years of age the family removed to Worcester Massachusetts where he attended the public schools and fitted for college at the Worcester High School Somewhere during his boyhood he acquired that fondness for a good horse which he always retained and which doubtless prolonged his life He graduated with high honor at Yale in 1864 and three years later became Master of Arts In 1889 he received from the National Deaf Mute College now Gallaudet College the degree of LHD He was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa It seems to have been his purpose to make teaching his life work At the time when he graduated application had been made to Yale College by Dr Isaac Lewis Peet Principal of the New York Institution for a young man of ability and good character to become a teacher of the deaf The late Professor Thatcher urged Mr Williams to apply For some reason he did not act upon the advice but taught for two years in a boy's school at Newburg on the Hudson Then happening of Arts In 1889 he received from the National Deaf Mute College now Gallaudet College the degree of LHD He was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa It seems to have been his purpose to make teaching his life work At the time when he graduated application had been made to Yale College by Dr Isaac Lewis Peet Principal of the New York Institution for a young man of ability and good character to become a teacher of the deaf The late Professor Thatcher urged Mr Williams to apply For some reason he did not act upon the advice but taught for two years in a boy's school at Newburg on the Hudson Then happening boy's Newburg Then happening to meet the good professor again he was strongly advised to write Mr Collins Stone Principal of the School at Hartford The result was that in 1866 he began the work to which as teacher for thirteen years and as principal for thirty four years he devoted his life It was a kind of special Providence making for success in his work that he won as his wife Miss Kate Stone a daughter of Principal Stone for through this connection he was brought into the circle of a family long and closely identified with the care and education of the deaf and whose social converse as well as professional interest was seldom far removed from the thought of their welfare

From the first he brought to his work zeal patience and perseverance He was especially successful in teaching arithmetic for he had marked ability in that line and would have made a fine professor of mathematics That he won the esteem and affection of his pupils was evinced by their eager inquiries about him in after years and the pride with which they claimed him as their teacher It is equally true that his interest in them after they left school was genuine and unabated When on the death of Edward C Stone in 1879 the fitness of Mr Williams to succeed him as principal was being considered the only doubt in the minds of the directors was through fear that the state of his health which had become seriously impaired by a previous illness might not warrant his appointment On his last public appearance in the chapel less than two weeks before his death Mr Williams feelingly referred to this fact and added that after all in the goodness of Ood he had been spared to occupy the position longer than any one of the five principals who had preceded him

To his new duties from the first he gave the full measure of his powers It was his good fortune to be free from bondage to nerves His calm and even temper was seldom unduly ruffled hence he passed with dignity through experiences that might have diminished his influence and marred his work In the prolonged and fatal illness of his greatly beloved wife and in the hopeless invalidism of a cherished and only daughter he bravely went about his daily duties in such a quiet way that a stranger would scarcely suspect the pain that was gnawing at his heart

Those who came into frequent contact with could not fail to perceive that he was constantly sustained by the Christian faith His religion was obtrusively displayed but it was an integral part of character and interwoven with the very fiber of being

Toward the pupils of all ages he manifested a but fatherly kindness which won their esteem and love On occasion he could be severe and no offence so his indignation as impurity in conduct or speech

It was only natural that on first being appointed to the office of principal over men most of whom were older than himself and who were also well seasoned teachers he should at times feel impelled to exercise rather more authority than was really required but he seldom went too far As time went on and he became well assured of the loyal support of every teacher the irritating imperativeness of manner was forever laid aside Many a time in these later years he has spoken of one and another of the teachers as true as steel His quiet but cheery Good morning as he habitually looked in upon each schoolroom after the chapel service seemed to give tone to the work of the day Continued contact with and oversight of pupils and teachers for whose comfort and welfare he felt largely responsible so richly developed his latent powers of sympathy that he won the confidence and affection of all His latest photograph taken several months before his death strikingly reveals the man It expresses benignity without weakness poise without self consciousness ripe fruition without either the softness or the sourness of senility

When Mr Williams became principal and for some time thereafter the question of methods was being hotly sometimes acrimoniously discussed In certain quarters those teachers who knew the value of signs and used them as an aid in the education of the deaf were affirmed to be behind the times The pupils in schools where combined methods prevailed were pointed to as the victims of antiquated ideas and as proper objects for pity The school at Hartford was a special target for the critics The essential principles underlying all successful training of the born deaf child principles established by the scholarly and truth seeking men who first dealt with the problem how to develop the deaf mute's mind were flouted or ignored Happily those fundamental principles have now been widely adopted and are the saving salt in what are senten tiously called pure oral methods They are essentially the result of the discernment of the early teachers in the Hartford New York and Philadelphia schools

A weak man or one whose chief aim was to swim with the tide would have been swept off his feet and the education of many born deaf children would have suffered detriment The patience with which Mr Williams endured the bronchial cough which racked his frame in the last years of his life was a marvel to all But it gradually wore away his strength to such a degree that he finally felt compelled to resign The resignation was very reluctantly accepted by the Board of Directors On his retirement in August 1913 the Board presented to him a handsomely engrossed Testimonial expressing their appreciation of the valuable service he had rendered to the cause of deaf mute education This and the letters he received from principals of schools for the deaf both here and abroad afforded him deep satisfaction

A word should be said of the school reports annual at first then biennial which in a certain way added much to the literature of the profession He always had something worth while to say and he said it in a terse compact and convincing way There was no redundance of adjectives used for effect and there never was anything that was meant to be offensive to those who held opinions differing from his own By his administration of the Ellen Lyman printing fund and the Joseph Davis illustration fund Mr Williams rendered an important service to the cause of deaf mute education in all English speaking countries Through the use of these funds the school at Hartford has been enabled to publish about a dozen books specially prepared for use in schools for the deaf All these he saw through the press keeping account of expenditure and income distributing to the authors the profits to which they might be entitled and attending to the orders which came from various parts of the world All this involved much labor but it was given cheerfully and without other compensation than the possible thanks of the authors of the books The fraternal feeling that now prevails and is destined to increase among the educators of the deaf irrespective of the methods they employ and the high esteem in which Mr Williams was held by those eminent in the profession were shown at his funeral Besides Dr EM Gallaudet and Principal Wheeler six principals of other schools were present viz Miss Taylor of Portland Miss Yale of Northampton ALE Crouter of Philadelphia EH Currier of New York EG Hurd of Providence and Harris Taylor of New York

At the school on the day of the funeral all recitations were suspended At ten in the forenoon a memorial service was held in the chapel and addresses were made by several of the teachers The portrait recently given to the school by the officers and teachers was draped in black The funeral services in the afternoon at the chapel of the Asylum Hill Congregational Church were conducted by Rev Dr Twichell and Rev Dr Voorhees the pastor Of this church Mr Williams had been for many years an effective member and for twelve years a deacon The pupils attended in a body and for them the service was translated by AS Clark The end came much as he had often wished it to be There were only a few days of pain Soon after midnight on the morning of March 15 it was found that he had apparently passed away while asleep Eulogy is needless When the busy world is hushed and the fever of life is over and the work is done what better word can be said than this He faithfully did a noble work he was a good man he was a Christian gentleman ABEL S CLARK Instructor in the American School Hartford Connecticut