Albert Newsam was born in the city of Steubenville in the state of Ohio in the United States. He was born deaf and mute. He was also an orphan. Newsam was making art when he was a little boy. When he was still a little boy, he met a man named William P. Davis. Davis acted like he was also deaf and mute, but he wasn't. He took Newsam to the city of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania and forced Newsam to make art and Davis would sell it and make money off of it. In 1820, Newsam was saved from being with Davis and went to school at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf.