In 1839 Ebenezer Cheseboro emigrated to Wisconsin from New York and settled in the town of Darien, two miles west of Delavan on the Janesville road. Due to the lack of a school for his deaf daughter, Ariadna, a teacher of the deaf was hired to come to the home. Two years later the school, then numbering eight pupils, had to be discontinued for lack of funds.
A petition for the establishment and maintenance of a school for deaf children was then sent to the State Legislature. On April 19, 1852, a bill was passed incorporating a school for the deaf to be located in Walworth County. Soon after, Franklin K. Phoenix, the son of one of the founders of Delavan, donated twelve acres of land to be used as the school site. The grounds are called "Phoenix Green" in his honor.
The school now comprises thirty-five acres of land and is supported by the State of Wisconsin. On October 20, 1962, dedication ceremonies were held for the Wisconsin Rehabilitation Center for the Deaf, also located on this site.
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