Fearing his father's anger, Gregg did not report the incident and his injury was not treated. With his hearing thus impaired, Gregg had difficulty in school and was thereafter considered slow-witted.
Became Enamored of Shorthand Writing
When Gregg was about ten years old, the family was visited by a journalist friend of his father, who, while attending church, was observed taking notes using the Pitman shorthand system (introduced by Isaac Pitman in 1837 and, with improvements, still the most widely used system in English-speaking countries today). The villagers were tremendously impressed and so was John Gregg, who decided that his children should learn the system--all except his youngest child, who was considered too "simple." The Pitman system makes great speed possible but is difficult to master, and one by one the Gregg children abandoned it. Young Gregg, fascinated by the concept, decided that he would learn another system of shorthand writing. He took up the 1786 system of Samuel Taylor and excelled at it, but his grades remained poor throughout the six years he spent at the village school. That was his only formal education; he then went to work to help support his family.
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