[5] Ibid., page 245.
CHAPTER EIGHT CHILD E
Child E when first seen was a boy 8 years 4 months of age. He was born June 17, 1908, and the first psychological measurements were made November 4, 1916. The circumstances that led to acquaintance with him were as follows:
A child of exceptional intelligence was desired for demonstration before a class at Teachers College, Columbia University, engaged in the study of the psychology and treatment of exceptional children. [1] E was suggested because of his remarkable school record. The consent of the parents was secured and the psychological examination was made before a class of about thirty students.
This was not, of course, the ideal circumstance under which to perform a mental test for scientific record. The presumption would be that the audience would tend to reduce the child's performance, so that whatever error there might be from this source would be in the direction of making the child appear less exceptional than he really was. Of course no one knew beforehand that such a phenomenal record was about to be made; for had such an unusual result been expected this child would have been kept for examination under more favorable laboratory conditions. [2] For an account of this testing, see under "Mental measurements," [this chapter.]
FAMILY BACKGROUND
Little or nothing is known of E's paternal relatives. His father was separated from them before age of recollection.
Of E's maternal ancestry fairly complete genealogical records are available. [3] Five persons bearing the surname of the mother settled in New England before 1650. These were probably all related to each other. The individual who was E's direct ancestor first appeared in New England in 1639 and settled at Cambridge, Massachusetts. This family attained great distinction in the six generations recorded in the New England genealogy. A son of the first ancestor in America was a royal councilor and the greatest merchant of his day in New England. A grandson was royal governor of Massachusetts, and later of New Jersey; he was also a patron of learning. A great-grandson was chief justice and lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia. A great-great-grandson was a royal councilor of Nova Scotia; some of his children settled again in England, of whom a son was a distinguished naval officer, attaining the rank of rear admiral in the British navy. These genealogical records, and other records of New England families which intermarried with this family, have not been brought up to date.
The maternal surname appears first about 1176 in the records of England, and was apparently Norman-French in origin. The remote male ancestor [4] from whom the mother of E derives the middle part of her maiden name was born in Providence, Rhode Island, March 11, 1753, a descendant of early colonial settlers in America. He was graduated from Rhode Island College (now Brown University) in 1773 and later took a medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1783 he was appointed Professor of Materia Medica and Botany at Brown. In 1819 he was elected a delegate from the Rhode Island Medical Society, of which he was vice president, to the convention which formulated the National Pharmacopoeia. He took an active part in the organization and proceedings of the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry. In 1824, with his son, William, he published The Farmer's Guide, "a comprehensive work on husbandry and gardening." He participated in the Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and delivered many lectures on botany. He died at the age of 81 years, leaving among descendants a large proportion of persons in the learned professions.
Father. E's father, while still a college undergraduate, produced a Latin play which was performed in a Boston theater. Since graduation from college he has maintained a keen interest in educational matters. He organized a special library of insurance in Boston which is now used as a reference library all over the world. He is at present [1939] engaged in business; has written several books; is a university lecturer on insurance; has served on many important city commissions. Unusual mental endowment is clearly indicated by the fact that he rose entirely by his own direction and effort to a post of honor in an intricate field of knowledge. He was 45 years old when E was born.