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Worcester Apr 2^nd 1868

Dear Brother

Since father has been talking of trying to do something in the way of teaching the deaf we have been corresponding upon the subject & as a matter of course I have been talking to the people about it & by some of those with whom I have conversed there has been an idea suggested & not only suggested but urged & they have insisted that I should prepare the way & they say that they will execute it to the utmost of their ability (& those persons are old residents & persons of note) it is this they say that your father in order to be successful ought to have a little means to start with & if you will send home to some of your friends or acquaintances & have them send a statement of the case in question that is have some of your fathers neighbors make a statement in writing that they know him to be a man of intelligence

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& that they know you & of your being able to understand by the motion of the lips & recommend the public to assist father a little by putting a small sum to their names get a few (the more the better of course) & then send it to me & they say that they have no doubt but that they can help father a considerable [sic] there is one old lady who has lived here all her life knows every body & is known by every body almost from the governor to the humblest individual she first proposed this & she gives me no peace day nor night hardly (as she boards with me in the same house) she is from one of the richest families in Worcester & of course a privileged character. She was gone she said all day yesterday stirring up the people she is so much interested that it seems to be her whole thoughts about the poor deaf children.

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She used to teach school in her younger days went to Canady [sic] & taught the French children can talk French fluently & goes away [to] that class here & stirs them up with the rest.

Her idea is to have a fair statement of your case what father has done in teaching you & others & what he proposes to do by starting a school & get a few neighbors to sign it showing that father is honest & that he is worthy of encouragement in his noble undertaking.

Now if you will have this started & then send it to me I should not wonder if I could be the means of helping father to quite an extent.

Business is rather dull here yet but I believe that I shall have a fair share by & by. My health is quite good.

Please let me hear from you as soon as convenient. I should rather not have father know what I am trying to do until

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I see how I succeed. I think that if I can get from fathers own neighborhood a start I can get quite a little help here it is not necessary to get persons just in the immediate neighborhood any that know him let them be where they may I shall wait to hear from you in the mean time I shall be looking up the deaf children.

With much love to all

Your brother

Let us surprise father by sending him a nice little sum if we can.