An illustrated history of Sacramento County, California : containing a history of Sacramento County from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospective future portraits of some of its most eminent men, and biographical mention of many of its pioneers and also prominent citizens of today, Part 20

Author: Davis, Winfield J., 1851- 4n
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 916

USA > California > Sacramento County > An illustrated history of Sacramento County, California : containing a history of Sacramento County from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospective future portraits of some of its most eminent men, and biographical mention of many of its pioneers and also prominent citizens of today > Part 20

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"Under such circumstances that was true benevolence which attempted to respond to the requirements of humanity. And now let us see where the first grand response to these touching appeals came from. The record of so much credit should not perish. The first or- ganized efforts to relieve this suffering were made by the fraternity of Odd Fellows. Al- though denied the privilege of a complete organization, they yet came together, bound themselves by an informal association, and like a band of pure Samaritans devoted themselves with untiring zeal to the wants of suffering humanity. General A. M. Winn was elected president of the association, than whom no man could have been more active in his charity; Mr. McLaren was elected secretary, and Captain Gallup, treasurer. And every member of this body became one of a visiting committee whose duty it was to keep the society constantly ad- vised of every dependent subject of distress coming to their knowledge.

" From this association, the history of whichi would fill the heart of every lover of humanity, 9

an immense amount of relief was dispensed. But this was not sufficient to dissipate the in- creasing calamity. Men still sickened and died without assistance; men were still buried in the filth of an nnattended sickness, and frequently without the benefit of being sewed up in a blanket for interment. Rongh pine coffins ranged from $60 to $150, and it was not to be expected that in the midst of such distress and poverty coffins could always be procured. The association of Odd Fellows spent thousands of dollars for coffins alone; and when General Winn became the executive officer of the city government, no man was refused a coffin burial."

CHOLERA IN SACRAMENTO.

The cholera made its first appearance in Sacramento on the 20th of October, 1850, when an immigrant by sea was found on the levee, in the collapsing stage of the disease. The infec- tion was brought to San Francisco on the same steamer which conveyed the intelligence of Cali- fornia's admission to the Union, and reached Sacramento before the city had recovered from the demoralizing effects of the Squatter Riots. As usual in such cases, the local papers en- deavored to conceal the extent of mortality, and their files of that date give no adequate idea of the fearful scourge. On the 21st of October the city physician reported seven cases of cholera to the council, five of which were fatal. Some of the doctors attempted to quiet public appre- hension by the opinion that the malady was only a violent form of the cholera morbus, and the Times "felt confident that there was very little danger, and had not heard of a single case where the patient had not been previously re- duced by diarrhea." On the 27th six cases were reported, and the Times "hoped that some precautionary measures would be taken," etc. On the 29th twelve cases appeared; on the 30th, nineteen, and it was no longer possible to con- ceal the presence of the ghastly destroyer. A Sacramento correspondent of the Alta, Novem- ber 4, says: "This city presents an aspect truly terrible. Three of the large gambling

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resorts have been closed. The streets are de- serted, and frequented only by the hearse. Nearly all business is at a stand-still. There seems to be a deep sense of expectancy, mingled with fear, pervading all elasses. There is an expression of anxiety in every eye, and all sense of pecuniary loss is merged in a greater appre- hension of personal danger. The daily mortal- ity is about sixty. Many deaths are concealed, and many others are not reported. Deaths during the past week, so far as known, 188."

On the 14th of November the daily mortality had decreased to twelve, and on the 17th the plague was reported as having entirely disap peared.

The precise number of deathis resulting fromn cholera can never be known, as many were re- turned as having died of dysentery, fevers, etc., for the purpose of quieting public apprehension, and no-exact records of the event are accessible. The only reliable account extant was written by Dr. John F. Morse, ten years afterward, for Colville's Directory. Dr. Morse was one of the most active and humane physicians during the prevalence of the calamity, and parts of his narrative are almost too shocking for transcrip- tion here; bnt no one who ever knew that good man will think of calling in question his credi- bility, now that he, too, has passed away. Having referred to the general rejoicing on the admission of California to the Union, Dr. Morse continues:

"But, alas! the exuberance of spirit thus enkindled, the joyous and bnoyant feeling thus excited, were but the illusive precedents of one of the most appalling calamities that had ever yet set its seal of distress upon the destiny of the Valley City.

"Every snecessive day brought intelligence from the bay that the newly arrived passengers were still dying with cholera. In the feverish state of mind that existed in the community, there was no hope of escape. This alone, with the direction then given to fears, was sufficient to coerce the disease into a terrific development. It scarcely required an imported case to estab-

lish a panic more to be dreaded than its cause. But the first case that occurred was a steerage passenger of the steamer which brought the dis- ease. Early in the morning of the 20th of Oc- tober, a person was found on the levee in the collapsing stage of the malady. Medical aid was administered, but the disease had taken too deep a hold of its victim. I saw him at sun- rise; he was then expiring from the effects of the disease. The indications presented by his death were not calculated to abridge the de- pressing fear in the community. The cholera was now indeed in our city, and from month to month the story was communicated, so im- proved in all the features of a horrible descrip- tion as to darken the city with the very pall of death in a few hours. The next day several fatal cases were reported, and as duly circulated through the magnifying minds of thousands, whose fear of the disease made them the almost certain subjects of it.

"In six days from the time of its inception it was making such progress that regular burials were but slightly attended to, and nursing and attention were not unfrequently entirely over- looked. Money could scarcely buy the offices of common kindness, and affections were so neutralized by the conflicting elements of selfish- ness, that but little could be done to arrest the course of the disease.

"The victims of the malady did not seem to be confined so much to those of intemperate and irregular habits, as had been the case in almost all previous manifestations of the dis- ease. People of the most industrions, careful and regular habits seemed alike vulnerable to the dreadful enemy. In a few days many of our most substantial citizens were numbered among the victims of the sweeping epidemic. It was reported that 150 cases occurred in a single day; but such was the confusion and positive delirinin of the community that no proper records were made, nor can any accurate data now be found in respect to the epidemic of 1850. As soon as the daily mortality became so great as to keep men constantly employed in

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY.

carrying away the dead, the citizens began to leave the town in every direction, and in such numbers as to soon diminish the popula- tion to not more than one-fifth of its ordinary standard.

" In this pestilential reign of terror and dis- may, the most dreadful abandonments of rela- tives and friends took place. Those who were willing to forget self and become the visitants of mercy, constituted but a small and meagre proportion of the many, who, following the instincts of nature, sought only to preserve themselves. There were a few inen, as there always will be, whose warm hearts throbbed with an uncontrollable anxiety to convey relief to the distressed and the dying, and who lin- gered around the death scenes of the epidemic, so spell-bound by sympathy, that they endured anything and everything as long as there re- mained a solitary hope of even palliating the agony of dissolving nature. These men are found by and are known to those who constitute the heroes of epidemics. They consisted of an occasional brother, whose inwrought feelings of fraternity were sustained by a maternal bias that made them as enduring as life. I will mention one name, my motive for which will be readily acknowledged inore as the extortion of truth than the result of partisan partiality-that of John Bigler, the present Governor of California. This man, with strong impulses of sympathy, could be seen in every refuge of distress that concealed the miseries of the dying and the des- titute. With a lump of gum-camphor now in his pocket and anon at his nostrils, he braved every scene of danger that presented, and with his own hands administered relief to his suffer- ing and uncared-for fellow-beings.

" The rapid spreading of the epidemic gave to the physicians of the city no rest, day or night. As might be expected, they were falling like the foremost soldiers of a desperate charge, and ere the cholera had subsided, seventeen of their number were deposited in the Sandhill Cemetery of our city-a professional mortality never before known; an inroad of death from

which but a fraction more than two in three escaped with life, and not one in three from the disease! And yet, not a single educated phy- sician turned his back upon the city in its dis- tress and tlircatened destruction.

" This awful calamity lasted in its malignant form only about twenty days; but, by the un- systematic records of the times, the number of deaths cannot be ascertained. Besides those who died in the city, many were overtaken by death in other places, and upon the road. in their des- perate efforts to escape by running from the enemy. In the latter part of the epidemic the authorities procured the use of a large frame building on L street, where the destitute cholera subjects were taken and provided for. The abatement of the disease was much longer than the period of its inception and increase, and commenced just as soon as the frequency of death had familiarized people with the frightful scenes around them, and rendered them less defenseless from a paralyzing fear. By the time the disease liad alinost disappeared the city was nearly depopulated, and there were not a few who thought the Levee City was dead beyond the possibility of resurrection.

" But those who supposed that Sacramento and Sacramentans could be so easily crushed had not learned their character. The very moment that mortality began an obvious retreat fromn the premises, that moment those who survived their flight returned. Those who abided by the city in its distress, reacted upon the calamities of the town with such an elastic and vigorous energy as to completely transform the appear- ance of the place in a few days. The confidence of the people in the health of the city was almost immediately restored, and business communica- tions were reopened with the mines under the most encouraging circumstances. For a few weeks a good business was realized, and the broken and beautiful winter that followed im- parted a vitality to the town that could not have been anticipated by one who had contemplated its destiny through the gloomy scenes of Oc- tober."

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY.

HOSPITALS.

In April, 1850, the Freemasons and Odd Fellows together established a hospital, the Board of Trustees being elected by both orders. A series of concerts was given for the benefit of the hospital, which were liberally patronized. The managers of the Tehama Theatre and Rowe's Olympic Circus also gave benefits for the same object.

Dr. Dow had a " Thompsonian Hospital and Botanic Medicine Store" on K street, between Second and Third. Price of admission per day, 85 to $25, " according to trouble and expense."

Drs. T. J. White and C. D. Cleveland had an extensive hospital that would accommodate 100 patients, on the corner of Ninth and L streets.

Drs. James S. Martin and B. R. Carman con- ducted the " Sutter's Fort Hospital," inside the fort. Drs. Morse and Stillman also had a hos- pital at the corner of Third and K streets.

THE COUNTY HOSPITAL.

Several physicians, first at Sutter's Fort and afterward in the city, received boarding pa- tients; but very few of the sick had the means to pay the prices asked. Very early, therefore, were the people led to establish a public hos- pital. The first was established about 1851-'52, in the business part of the city, and among the early physicians to the institution were Drs. J. F. Montgomery, Johnson Price, - Procter and George W. Williams. In the City Direc- tory of 1853 is the following entry: " Drs. Johnson Price and George W. Williams, Phy- sicians to the County Hospital, corner of I and Seventh streets." About the same time or shortly afterward, Price & Procter established a hospital on Second street, between 1 and J, with seventy-five or eighty beds. They entered into contract with the county for keeping the poor, of whom they had abont fifty, charging very high fees. Within three or four years the county endeavored to break the contract, in the meantime establishing a hospital on the corner of Tenth and L streets, Price & Procter sued

the county and obtained judgment. This county building was on the northwest corner of the present Capitol Park, and was torn down and removed soon after it was vacated, some time after the war.

In 1857 Dr. Montgomery was again the county physician; 1858-'59, Dr. G. L. Simmons; 1859- '60, Dr. Montgomery; 1861, from November, Dr. J. G. Phelan; 1869, from September, Dr. Montgomery; 1870, Dr. A. C. Donaldson, with Dr. G. A. White as assistant.

About this time the county purchased from James Lansing sixty acres of land on the upper Stockton road, about three miles southeast of the business center of the city, at a cost of about $11,000, and erected upon it a very fine build- ing, and moved into it the seventy-five patients that were in the old building. October 5, 1878, this new building was accidentally burned, and the patients were temporarily cared for in the " old Pavilion," at the corner of Sixth and M. streets, until the present structures were com- pleted, in the summer of 1879. The Board of Supervisors called for plans for a new building or buildings, and adopted those furnished by N. D. Goodell, of this city, which were offered in competition with a number of others. The de- sign is what is called the " pavilion plan," con- sisting of a central or main building, with four separated wings like the rays of a star, the set constituting a half circle. Thus arranged, a better protection against fire is provided for, as well as a greater abundance of air and light and a superior aspect of cheerfulness. These build- ings cost between $60,000 and $65,000. All the appointments in the various departments are superior in respect to convenience and neat- ness, and all the surrounding premises are at- tractive. The sewage system is that of Shone, which is operated upon the pneumatic principle, and the sewage is all utilized upon the grounds. Of these grounds there are four acres in vine- yard, five or six acres in garden, ten in pasture and the remainder in orchard, meadow and building site. There is now an average of 150 to 160 inmates, each costing the county about

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY.

$14.50 a month. Monthly reports of the insti- tution are published in the city papers.

In the spring of 1879 the medical superin- tendence of the county hospital fell into the hands of the homeopathists, and for the first three months of this year Dr. George Pybarn was the county physician, and for the succeeding four Dr. George M. Dixon; and then Dr. J. R. Laine, regular, served out the unexpired termn. With the exception of this period, Dr. G. A. White has been the county physician ever since March, 1872.

CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD HOSPITAL.

Between the years 1864 (when the first train was run on the road) and 1868 most of the em- ployes were strangers, and new arrivals in Cali- fornia, and as the road passed for the most part through a country very sparsely inhabited, where little or no accommodations could be furnished for those who, by the vicissitudes of climate, exposure or accident, became sick and helpless, much suffering to the men on the line was caused; added to this, as a rule, very few of the employes had relatives or friends to care for them, or money to carry them through a period of sickness, which necessitated a call for dona- tions from their comrades and the company. These calls became so frequent and onerons that the company concluded the wisest and most hn- mane proceeding would be to build a hospital in Sacramento. where all the employes might be taken care of and restored to health as soon as practicable, whether the patient had means or not. Before building, however, an old resi- dence was leased and put to use.

The Central Pacific Railroad Hospital was built by the company at Sacramento in 1869, at a cost of $64,000. It consists of a main build- ing 60 x 35 feet, four stories and basement, with a wide verandah at each story, two wings 35 x 52 feet, and a kitchen twenty-four feet square, re- moved a few feet from the main building. The hospital has six wards, besides eight private rooms for patients, a library of some 1,500 vol- umes, well appointed executive and medical

rooms, and will accommodate 125 patients. Every officer and employe of the company con- tributes monthy 50 cents from his pay as " hospital dnes," which constitutes a fund to pay the current expenses of the institution. The payment of this 50 cents, monthly, entitles the employe to free admission and medical at- tendance at the hospital in case of sickness or injury while in the service of the company. The fund from this source has been sufficient to defray the current expenses of the hospital and pay the interest on its cost. It is gratifying to know that the hospital is fully appreciated by the employes of the company, who, by casualty or sickness, have been inmates. No employe is entitled to medical treatment here whose sick- ness has been cansed by any form of venereal infection, intemperance, bad habits, vicious act or. hereditary, constitutional or previous in- firmity. There are now (April, 1889) forty-two patients in the hospital-a lower number than they have had for a long time.

Dr. S. P. Thomas was the first physician Dr. A. B. Nixon had the medical charge from February 1, 1870, when the new building was opened, until recently. The present officers are: F. J. Huse, of San Francisco, Superintendent; T. W. Huntington, Physician and Surgeon; G. B. Somers, Assistant Physician; R. Forbes, Dispenser and Steward; J. F. Daul, Clerk.

PROTESTANT ORPHAN ASYLUM.

An association for the care of orphans was organized as early as 1858, but it proved short- lived. In 1867 Mrs. Elvira Baldwin interested a number of citizens, including the Governor, in the care of a family of seven children left or- phans by the death of their mother, a poor woman; and this movement directly resulted in the organization of a society for the care of or- phans and destitute children thronghont the county, and even the State. Mrs. I. E. Dwinell was the first president. The society immedi- ately rented and furnished a building on the corner of Seventh and D streets, where they placed fourteen or fifteen children in the care of

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY.

Mrs. Cole, the first matron. The next year the association erected a building on the site of the present establishment on K street, between Eighteenth and Nineteenth streets. It was con- siderably damaged by fire December 7, 1878, but it was soon repaired, and another and a sn. perior building added. Also, 1877, a neat school-house was built on the premises, where the school is made one of the " public schools " of the city, in the care of the City Board of Education. No child, however, but the proper inmates of the asylum, is admitted into this school.

Among the many noble women who have sac- rificed much of their time and money in sus- taining this institution, special mention may be made of Mrs. S. E. Clayton, who during the last fifteen years has traveled at least 4,500 miles, visited 110 children -- some of them several times-and taken fifteen orphans and destitnte children, who were afterward furnished homes under the management of the association. She was president of the society in 1887-'88.

There are at present about 150 children eared for at the asylum. The officers of the associa- tion this year are: Mrs. N. D. Rideout, Presi- dent; Mrs. O. P. Goodhne, Vice-President; Mrs. C. E. Paine, Treasurer; Mrs. W. H. Hobby, Secretary. The remaining members of the Board of Management are: Mrs. T. B. MeFar- land, Mrs. Edward Twitchell, Mrs. C. P. Massey, Jr., Richard Irvine, E. A. Barr, A. C. Tufts, J. Frank Clark, T. D. Scriver. Mrs. A. E. Peek- ham is Matron; Mrs. Maggie Warr, Assistant Matron, and Dr. W. A. IIughson, Physician.

MARGUERITE HOME.

This home for aged women is situated npon the one-half block of land, Seventh and Eighth Pand Q streets, in the City of Sacramento. The main building and handsome grounds had for- merly been the residence property of Captain William Whitney, and the addition of another equally well-constructed building alongside, 36 x 78 feet in size, was made, in order to pro- cure twenty-eight large bed-rooms, with parlor,

reception room, office, kitchen, laundry and dining room. The bed-rooms are all well lighted, perfectly ventilated and handsomely furnished, thus insuring the greatest possible comfort of the inmates. There is also a system of hot-air pipes throughont the honse, and an abundance of hoc and hydrants for fire purposes.

The pleasing and substantial character of the building and the spacious grunnds, shaded by large trees and filled with choice shrubbery combine to make the place home-like and at- traetive.

On February 25, 1884, the sixtieth anniver- sary of the birthday of the founder, the Mar- guerite Home was dedicated. The occasion was celebrated by a reception at the Home to the older citizens of the city. After the congratu- lations were over, Mrs. Margaret E. Crocker formally presented the institution to the Board of Trustees, with the following remarks:

" Frank Miller, Albert Gullatin, John II. Carroll, Gustavus L. Simmons and Charles McCreary :

" GENTLEMEN-Herewith I deliver into your possession a deed in trust for certain money, real and personal property, by means of which I propose to establish a home for aged and in- digent women in Sacramento, to be known as the ' Marguerite Home.' I have the honor, gentlemen, to solieit your acceptance of this trust. The deed expresses my intentions with- out placing restrictions upon your mode of management.

" Knowing your intelligence and ability, and having full faith in your character and in your disposition to aid in all benevolent purposes, and believing you to be in full accord with my views in respect to the especial objects of my regard in this gift, I have left, as you will see npon a careful examination of the deed, to your disere- tion and superior knowledge and to your kind and earnest efforts, which I most heartily in- voke, the success of this trust."

Appropriate responses were made by Dr. G. L. Simmons, Hon. Joseph Steffens and IIon. John Q. Brown, the mayor.

CALIFORNIA STATE PRINTING OFFICE.

MARGUERITE HOME, FOR AGED WOMEN.

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY.

In addition to the property purchased for the Home, tlie deed above referred to bequeaths also the sum of $50,000 as an endowment fund, and the further sum of $12,000 as additional aid.

While the income from Mrs. Crocker's large donation has already been apportioned for the support of the present ininates, the trustees, anx- ions to give the benefits of the institution to such worthy and respectable aged women as may de- sire to enter, have arranged to take for life such as may be able to pay the expenses incident to their maintenance. At present there are twelve to fifteen women cared for at the Home.

The Board of Trustees now consists of Dr. G. L. Simmons, Frank Miller, Charles Mc- Creary, Ludwig Mebins and Charles F. Dill- man; and the Directresses are Mrs. Frank Mil- ler, Mrs. G. L. Simmons, Mrs. Charles McCreary, Mrs. Charles F. Dillman, Mrs. L. Mebius and Mrs. Frank L. Orcott. Mrs. Fanny Safford is matron and Wallace A. Briggs, M. D., the phy- sician.

A brief history of this beautiful home, a copy of the deed of trust, by-laws of the Board of Trustees, forms of application, contract, bequest, etc., are published in a magnificent pamphlet, which can be obtained of any of the officers above mentioned.

WATER OURES.

Although private hospitals, strictly speaking are not charitable institutions, yet, as they are truly hospitals, it seems most appropriate to place onr mention of them here.

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Author: Davis, Winfield J., 1851- 4n Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 916

Author: Davis, Winfield J., 1851- 4n
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 916