The statement that Lord was "partially deaf and had limited speaking ability" has been in the article, uncited, since the very first edit in 2006. I've found a reference to him being "hard of hearing" as an adult in With Her Own Wings, a book about the history of women in Oregon - but that's from 2008, and thus we can't be sure that the author didn't get it from us.
I've also found the sentence "Governor Lord is unfortunately a little hard of hearing" in an article in the Oregon Daily Journal, March 13, 1908, p. 7. That's definitely not citogenesis, but I would be loath to interpret "a little hard of hearing" as "partially deaf and had limited speaking ability", given that he was elected to the Oregon State Senate, the Oregon Supreme Court, and the Oregon governorship, all in the 19th century. (I'd further point out that in 1908, Lord was 70, an age at which a degree of hearing loss is not uncommon.)
As such, I am commenting out the statement until and unless a better, pre-2006 source can be found. DS (talk) 19:06, 2 April 2023 (UTC)Reply
