Educator. After his daughter lost her hearing at age 2, Dr. Cogswell began the process to start an educational facility for similarly handcapped people. After several years he and a group of a few others obtained state funds to send Thomas Gallaudet to Europe to study the English and French schools for the deaf. After studying at the French School of Abbe Sicord, Gallaudet returned to the U. S. with noted French educator Laurent Clerc. Together the group  established the first school for the deaf in the U.S., the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons, in 1817 with Dr. Cogswell’s daughter, Alice, as its first student. (bio by: Don Connelly)  Family links:  Parents:  James Cogswell (1720 – 1807)  Allice Fitch Cogswell (1725 – 1772)  Spouse:  Mary Austin Ledyard Cogswell (1776 – 1849)*  Children:  Alice Cogswell (1805 – 1830)*  Mason Fitch Cogswell (1809 – 1865)*  Siblings:  Samuel Cogwell (____ – 1790)**  James Cogswell (____ – 1792)*  Alice Cogswell (____ – 1772)*  Septimius Cogswell (____ – 1772)*  Mason Fitch Cogswell (1760 – 1830) *Calculated relationship**Half-sibling