| Emigration
Bell's younger brother Ted and older
brother Melly both died of tuberculosis  ,
and Bell's parents were worried about losing their third son. Bell's father
had been sent to Canada for health reasons and decided that the climate
would be good for their son. Aleck put up a big fuss about leaving University,
but in the end agreed to emigrate to Brantford, Ontario, in 1870. He worked,
along with his father, as a speech therapist for the deaf.
Boston
Bell moved to Boston in 1871 to teach
at a school for the deaf. He did many great things there, and Hellen Keller
(whose parents he advised) said "He is never quite so happy as when he
has a little deaf child in his arms." He invented an audiometer to test
hearing. The units of measure of sound we call decibels were named after
him. This device enabled people to realize that several children who had
been deemed "slow" in actuality simply had hearing problems.
During this time, Aleck, who still
spent his summer in Brantford with his family, invented and patented the
telephone. He also founded the Bell Telephone Company in 1876. He won dozens
of lawsuits contesting
his right to its patent, thus becoming rich
by the age of 35.
Marriage
Bell also met his wife, Mabel Gardiner
Hubbard, in Boston, in 1874. She was born on November 25th, 1857 in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. Scarlet fever at the age of five made her deaf, however
she still received a good education thanks to her sensible parents, who
also sent her to the school for the deaf to improve her speech. Aleck and
Mabel soon became friends, but her parents didn't approve of their relationship.
Mabel was 17 and they thought Aleck (27) to be 35. They let him tell Mabel
of his feelings, however, and the two became engaged. Bell promised to
change her life but continued to work all night and sleep all morning.
She painted his portrait — as a great white owl.
Mabel's father also disliked Aleck's
tendency to jump from one subject to another, and forbade the marriage
until the completion of Aleck's multiple telegraph, which angered him.
But the contraption was finished and the couple was married on July 11th,
1877. As a wedding present, Aleck gave his wife all but ten of his shares
in the Bell Telephone Company.
The two spent their first year of
marriage in Britain. Their first child, Elsie May, was born there on May
8th 1878. While in England, Bell demonstrated the telephone to Queen Victoria.
Mabel was quite upset about not being invited!
Bell then moved to Washington D.C.
for business reasons, and his second child, Marian "Daisy" Bell was born
there on February 15th, 1880. Mabel also gave birth to two premature sons
who, sadly, did not survive.
Beinn Breagh
In 1890 Aleck and his family bought land at Baddeck, Nova Scotia, and
had a large house named Beinn Breagh built there. Beinn Breagh (pronounced
Ben BRAY-ah) means "beautiful mountain" in Gaelic. Until the house was
built, the family lived in a "modest" 13-room house called "The Lodge"
(with a nearby "Pansy Lodge" for the children). Beinn Breagh (finished
in November of 1893) had, among other things, 11 fireplaces, a tennis court,
and an observatory.
Children &
Family
Bell loved all children, especially his own. He once told a friend "Always
listen to the children... they might have ideas you've never heard." Aleck
always drank his soup through a straw, just to amuse them, and he kept
a small notebook tied to his wrist. He filled it with thoughts, observations,
and questions, and brought it out at dinner to encourage conversation.
He often played the piano in the evenings, and Mabel (though deaf) would
sing along. She could feel the rhythm of the songs by putting her hand
on the piano.
Research
Alexander Graham Bell continued his scientific research for the rest
of his life, and he provided funding for the research of others. He worked
on the iron lung, the phonograph, and *tried* to breed a "super race" of
sheep at Baddeck. His wife conducted horticultural
experiments and lobbied
with her daughters for women's suffrage .
For a time, Bell was president of National Geographic Magazine, and
transformed it from a dry, scientific journal, to an interesting publication
filled with pictures.
Aleck and his wife were both members of the Aerial Experimental Association,
and worked to construct human-lifting kites and later biplanes .
The Silver Dart (the first manned flight in Canada) took off at Baddeck
on February 23rd, 1909.
Death
Alexander Graham Bell was "considered second only to Thomas Alva Edison
among 18th and 20th century inventors and... originators of social change."1
He died at Baddeck on August 2nd, 1922, and his wife died the following
year.
|
Mabel Gardiner Hubbard
Aleck met his wife at the School
for the deaf where
she was a student. Despite
the age difference and the
hearing barrier, the couple fell
in love and led a long
and happy life together.
Beinn Breagh
Alexander Graham Bell's "home away
from home"
and favourite place was his "beautiful
mountain"
at Baddeck, Nova Scotia.
Children
Bell had a great love for children.
He is pictured here
with his wife Mabel, and his daughters
Elsie May
(left) and Daisy (right).
Sheep
Bell attempted to breed a race of
supersheep at
Baddeck. Above is a photograph of
one of his
flocks.
...
(Larger and more detailed versions of these
pictures can be viewed by clicking on the
links under "pictures".)
|
