Mary Caroline McClelland

Female 1858 - 1912  (~ 54 years)


Personal Information    |    PDF

  • Name Mary Caroline McClelland 
    Born ca 1858  Fulton, Callaway Co. MO Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Female 
    Died 29 Jan 1912  Riverside Co. CA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried Maple Lawn Cemetery, Faribault, Rice Co. MN Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Notes 
    • SOURCE Historic MSD: The Story of the Missouuri School for the Deaf, Richard d. Reed, 2000, Fulton, Missouri

      NOTED EDUCATOR OF THE DEAF

      Mary Caroline McClelland Tate was born in Fulton, Missouri around 1858 but was raised in Kentucky. It is thought her father was killed in the Battle of Vicksburg. Her mother, a nurse, died about the same time, near the same place. She became a ward of Thomas Nesbit. Mary attended Sayer Institute in Lexington, KY and Fulton Female Seminary.

      She became a teacher at the Missouri School for the Deaf in 1871 and was assigned to the newly created position of articulation teacher. In October, 1872 Mary traveled with Supt. William Dabney Kerr to the Illinois School at Jacksonville. There she received instruction from Miss Cornelia Trask, an unusually skilled speech teacher who was expert in the use Alexander Melville Bell's Visible Speech symbols. (Mr. Bell was the father of Alexander Graham Bell.) She returned to MSD and organized rotating classes in articulation. She taught speech and lipreading exclusively. Mary worked with selected pupils who came to her from their regular classes at scheduled times. Back in their classrooms, her pupils continued to receive instruction through sign language. This field was so new that it was necessary for her position to be approved by the Legislature.

      On August 15, 1878 she married James Nolley Tate who succeeded William Dabney Kerr as superintendent of MSD. The Tates left Fulton in 1896 for the Minnesota School for the Deaf in Faribault.

    Person ID I16429  Master File
    Last Modified 22 Sep 2012 

    Family Dr. James Nolley TATE,   b. 14 Oct 1851, Callaway Co. MO Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 27 Sep 1923, Rice Co. MN Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 71 years) 
    Children 
     1. Isaac Nesbit TATE,   b. 30 Apr 1880, Fulton, Callaway Co. MO Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 04 May 1976, Rice Co. MN Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 96 years)
    Last Modified 22 Sep 2012 
    Family ID F8471  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart