Kanton Kallikaks
- Author:
Julia F. Randolph,
Teacher of Special Ungraded Room, Canton, Illinois. “There are Kallikak families all about us.”?Goddard. This report is based upon a study of the families of ten pupils who have attended the Canton schools within the last twenty years. The records, while incomplete, tend to show the increase in the number of defectives and dependents among the descendants of sub-normal men and women, and the relation existing between defective mentality and economic dependence.
In making an investigation of this kind such expressions as “not very bright,” “a little off,” “not all there,” “very peculiar” are often heard. The term “sub-normal” has been used where there seems to be no doubt of low mentality yet no positive proof of feeblemindedness. Those who have been cared for in state or county institutions, or supported by others than their parents, are called dependent. Persons who live at home and receive help from the county or from local charity are called partially dependent. Some changes have been made in names and conditions to prevent identification. John is a feebleminded boy. One sister is at the state school for the feebleminded. John’s father was sub-normal and drank to excess. When he died he left his family unprovided for, and four of the children were partially supported by the state through the mother’s pension. John’s grandfather was not considered “just right” by the neighbors and his great-grandfather was spoken of as “queer” and “peculiar.” Members of this family for three generations have been backward in school work.
For years the county contributed to the support of the Jefferson family. Mr. Jefferson was sub-normal. Mrs. Jefferson was feebleminded and finally became insane. She was taken to the county home and later to the insane asylum. A feebleminded daughter, Marian, married a feebleminded man.
Pete Van Dusen has been in our ungraded room, and was at the* state school at Lincoln for a short time. He is very defective and is in poor health. Pete’s sister, Miranda, is feebleminded and his brother is at the state school for the deaf and dumb. Both Mrs. Van Dusen and her father are sub-normal. Mr. Van Dusen was reported “dissipated, shiftless and not very bright.” He does not live with his family, and Miranda and her husband are separated. Matthew Mildmary was defective mentally, but was capable of supporting himself. His grandchildren are a burden to society.
Ned, after three years in the first grade was taken to the state school and colony for the feebleminded, from which institution he ran away eight times. Ned’s father was a defective. Matthew’s feebleminded daughter, Ella, married a feebleminded man who became an inmate of one of the state hospitals for the insane. Ella’s oldest child is sub-normal and dependent. Her son Jim is at the state school for the feebleminded, and two other children were declared dependent by the court and placed in homes. Matthew’s son, Peter, was killed by a train, and his wife married again. Her second husband, who was related to Mr. Reuben, was shot. The two children are in private homes. The mentality of one of them is doubtful.
Mr. Argum lived on a farm near Canton. He was poor and worked very hard. We know nothing of Mrs. Argum. Two daughters are feebleminded. Lulu married a feebleminded man who became an inmate of a state hospital for the insane. Lulu’s son, Jacob, is feebleminded. Her daughter is too young to judge mentally. They are all dependent. Jane’s husband belonged to an intelligent family, and of their children one is normal, one rather slow and physically weak, and the third is not old enough to judge of her mentality. Jane was separated from her husband, and, though she was able to work under supervision, she could not make a living for her children.
The families of Luther and Sam are connected by marriage, and one chart answers for both families. According to their neighbors, all the members of Luther’s immediate family were sub-normal. His sister spent some time at the state school for girls. An older brother married Helen, a sub-normal girl whose early life was an eventful one. When Helen was a very young girl a middle-aged man, said to be “half-witted” persuaded her to marry him and go to another town to live. Helen was brought back to Canton, and the marriage was legally annulled. Then Helen was taken to a mission home supported by private charity. Sometime afterwards the man became an inmate of one of the state hospitals for the insane. Helen’s brother was at the state school for boys. We know nothing of Helen’s father, but her mother was sub-normal and married a very eccentric man for her second husband. The husband and three children were at one time in the county home, and later two of the girls were cared for at the mission home. Sam has been in the ungraded school. Both families have depended upon county help and local charity for partial support in addition to the institutions mentioned.
The story of the early life of Harriet was given by an old gentleman who was once her teacher. Many years ago there lived in Canton an immigrant family of low type. Mr. and Mrs. K. were “very peculiar,” and Mrs. K.’s brother John was a sub-normal man. Their house was very dirty. Mrs. K. as well as the men drank to excess, and their standard of morality was low. Harriet, a little orphan girl of defective mentality, was taken into the K. home where she became the household drudge. When very young she married Tom, a neighbor boy. In later years Tom drank a great deal. Tom and Harriet had two daughters, both sub-normal. After several years of poverty and hard work Harriet finally ended her days in the state hospital for the insane. Hattie followed her mother’s example and married a drinking man. Jonas was not able to take care of his children without occasional help from local charities. His relatives were dull and inefficient and depended more or less upon outside help. Two of Hattie’s children, were considered subnormal by their teachers. The family history of Jacob D. is a good illustration of the fact that dependence increases at a rapid rate in succeeding generations. Jacob was the only one of several brothers and sisters who was mentally deficient or dependent. Both of his wives were from families greatly inferior to his own in position and intelligence. Jacob’s son Philip was killed by accident leaving a family of small children. Janet, a feebleminded daughter, became insane and was sent to a state hospital for the insane. Janet’s husband was subnormal and could not support his family. In the third generation, Henry is feebleminded, Philip’s three children are helped by the mother’s pension, and Janet’s three children are in homes kept up by the state or county. Jacob depended largely upon county orders. The Reubenites lived in tumble-down shanties in the slum district. Mrs. Reuben has been married twice. Her son is at the state school and colony for the feebleminded, and her feebleminded daughter is said to be sexually immoral. The daughter’s husband and son are deformed. Mrs. Reuben is feebleminded. Mr. Reuben was reported as alcoholic, and both Mr. and Mrs. R. have been in the county home. These people depend largely upon others for food, clothing and medical attention.
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