William Stickney

Who was William Stickney?

William Stickney, was the son-in-law of Amos Kendall, a co-founder of the Columbia Institution for the Deaf, a grammar school in Washington, DC, which became Gallaudet University. He was a member of the board of directors of Columbia Institution from its inception in 1857 until his death in 1881. He was the first secretary of the board of directors, and held the position throughout his entire tenure as director.

In May 1857, a house and a vacant lot owned by Stickney were rented and, along with another house, were used to start the Columbia Institution.

William Stickney was born on April 11, 1827 in Vassalborough, Maine, and married Jeannie E. Kendall, the oldest daughter of Amos Kendall, on January 15, 1852 in a ceremony that took place on Kendall Green. They had two children: William "Will" Soule Stickney, and a second child who died at six months of age in 1854.

Stickney attended Waterville College in Maine, from 1846 to 1849, then entered the senior class at the Columbian University in Washington, DC and graduated from that institution. He was admitted to the bar to practice law in St. Louis, Missouri in 1850.