As a young man, Charles Appleby attended a very special school.  The School was first established 

in 1855, long before Charles was born to Homer and Isabella (Sour/Sauer) Appleby  in Sandsprings, 

Iowa,  in 1871.  This unique school was moved to Council Bluffs,  Iowa in 1870.  

  Today (1991), the campus is a park like setting of over one hundred acres, and welcomes the 

hearing impaired from birth through the age of twenty-one.  In the beginning, the school was  named 

the Iowa School for the Deaf and Dumb, a stigma that was removed when, accurately,  renamed the 

Iowa School for the Deaf.

    It was believed a fall from a chair, while still an infant, caused Charles' deafness. There is little 

known of how the accident may have affected his childhood, but it seems to have been a wise decision 

to enroll him in a school that taught the students how to live and communicate in a  hearing world.

    Charles met Nellie May Price, another student, while attending the School in Council Bluffs.  

Nellie's deafness may have been caused by a childhood illness.  Insensitivity in other children 

brought her great distress when they teased and taunted her because of her deafness and her 

speech pattern.  The trauma was severe enough for Nellie to decide never to speak again.

Nellie  was born 13 April 1874, North Branch, Gutherie County, Iowa to William and Louise

(Goldsmith)  Price.

   Charles and Nellie made their home in Monticello, Iowa where Charles worked in a 

Harness Repair Shop.  Nellie died 18 May 1947 and Charles died 17 April 1958,  both in   

Monticello and buried in the Oakwood Cemetery.

Click here for Charles Parents' Chart

  Other than basic research, Appleby Heritage has not documented the material for 

Homer and Isabella or their children except where noted.  Thanks to the various 

descendents of Charles and Nellie for sharing their memories....back in 1989-91.