USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > The town and city of Waterbury, Connecticut, from the aboriginal period to the year eighteen hundred and ninety-five. Volume III > Part 33
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889
CHARITY, PHILANTHROPY AND REFORM.
collections and fairs, making the amount in the treasury nearly $5500; and during the ensuing five months nearly $4000 more were added-of this amount $2387 having been raised by a "kirmess " at the City hall. But the securing of the Wilson homestead seemed likely to be still further postponed, when a gift of $25,000 was received from Erastus L. DeForest of Watertown, for the purchase of that property. As the consummation of the authorized purchases would reduce the fund to about $6000-a sum insufficient to support a hospital, even on a small scale-the directors at the next annual meeting appointed a committee to secure an appropriation from the state, and in April a resolution was passed by the legislature appropriating the sum of $25,000, but conditioning its bestowal upon the increase of the existing fund to $50,000 from private sources.
The amount secured up to this time-including the contributions of Hospital Sunday in January, 1887, and the proceeds of an enter- tainment given by some of the Roman Catholics of Waterbury- was but little more than $35,000. This was increased soon after by four individual subscriptions of $1000 each, leaving $11,000 yet to be raised. The return of Hospital Sunday, 1888, together with the appeals of the clergymen on that day, revived popular interest in the fund, and during the following week the suggestion was made in the Republican that the balance be raised by popular subscription. The proceeds of this effort, carried forward through the year, amounted to $3530. This sum was increased during the year by a subscription of $1000 "in memory of the purpose of Samuel G. Black- man " and by the proceeds of a "barbecue " amounting to $2100. In January, 1889, it was still further increased by the contributions of Hospital Sunday, and by ten new subscriptions, ranging from $100 to $500. Before February the required sum of $50,000 had been raised, and the state appropriation was immediately received. On March 19, a letter was laid before the directors from Dr. Henry Bronson (see page 857), communicating his intention of "constitut- ing a perpetual fund for the support of free beds" in the Water- bury hospital. The letter was accompanied by a check for $10,000.
The directors having now at their command the income of $50,000 and the prospect of annual gifts from the churches and other sources, it seemed to them desirable to open the hospital as soon as possible. To this end extensive alterations had to be made in the buildings, and additions thereto-a process extending through the year and into the year following. The work was completed in January, 1890. Carrie E. Lewis, a graduate of the Bridgeport training school for nurses, was engaged as matron, and the hospital
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
was opened to the inspection of the public on January 20, with pro- vision for thirty beds. Between the date at which the charter was applied for and that of the opening, a period of six years had elapsed.
The interest of the people of Waterbury in the new hospital was rapidly developed during the summer of 1890 by the prevalence of typhoid fever in the city, and by the good work done by the hos- pital, during a period of anxiety, in behalf of those suffering from that disease. The wards were so crowded with patients that it became necessary to resort to the use of tents for those suffering · from fever. Three large tents were purchased, and twenty-five patients were thus provided for. On July 9, 1890, the executive committee was authorized to erect an additional ward at an expense of $10,000. The work upon this addition was completed in June, 1891 .*
During the session of 1893 the legislature appropriated to the hospital the sum of $25,000, making the state appropriation $50,000, the amount originally asked for. In the same year the hospital received from the executor of the will of Margaret Gorman, by direct bequest and as her residuary legatee, the sum of $9,441.40. + Other considerable receipts for this year, in addition to the usual church offerings were from a concert by the Yale Glee club, and a course of lectures on life in Palestine, by Mrs. Mountford, under the management of the Hospital Aid society. The annual report of the treasurer for 1893 shows that, in addition to its land, build- ings, furniture and equipment, the Waterbury hospital had funds invested and on hand of $46,419.88. The Bronson free bed fund - amounted to $12,910.14, and the Rosemary cot fund to $3, 134.87. On May 25, 1894, by the will of Charles Scott of Washington, D. C., the hospital received $5000. The legislature at the session of 1895 appro- priated the sum of $2500 annually for the use of the hospital.
In April, 1895, the Supreme court of the state handed down a decision in the case of Hugh Hearns of Naugatuck versus the Waterbury hospital, sustaining the verdict of the lower court that the hospital was not liable for improper treatment which he claimed to have received there.
* The first Annual Report of the directors of the Waterbury hospital, published in 1891, contained a detailed history of the origin and establishment of the hospital, prepared by the Rev. Dr. Joseph Ander- son. This sketch, and part of what follows, is condensed from that narrative.
+ Margaret Gorman was born in Ireland, in 1836, and died in Waterbury, December 21, 1891, She left an estate of about $15,000, one-third of which she received from a sister who died a year or two earlier. She gave ȘIooo to the hospital and about $5000 to other charitable and religious institutions and to relatives. On the contingency of the death of a brother (who had, as was ascertained, died some years since in the West Indies) she made the hospital her residuary legatee. The whole of this money was earned and saved at domestic service. She had lived in one family thirty-four years. As a generous benefactor to the hospital, and as an example of what even with moderate earnings may be accomplished by industry and frugality, she deserves to be held in grateful memory by the community which she has blessed .- F. J. K.
891
CHARITY, PHILANTHROPY AND REFORM.
Between January 28 and December 15, 1890 (the first hospital year) the whole number of patients admitted was eighty-six, sev- enty-two of whom were residents of the city. In 1891 the number admitted was 127, of whom seventy-seven were from Waterbury and the others from eighteen different towns, three being from other states. In 1892 the whole number was 157, of whom Waterbury furnished 116. The others represented twenty-one different towns and ten were from other states. In 1893 the number of admissions was 176, of whom 124 were from Waterbury. The others repre- sented twenty-three different towns and five were from other states. In 1894 the number of admissions was 188, of whom 145 were from Waterbury.
The officers of the hospital for 1895 were:
Directors: Frederick J. Kingsbury, Augustus S. Chase, Edward L. Frisbie, George W. Beach, David S. Plume, Edward C. Lewis, John W. Smith, Henry H. Peck, James S. Elton.
President, Frederick J. Kingsbury.
Vice-president, Augustus S. Chase.
Executive committee, Edward L. Frisbie, George W. Beach, Henry H. Peck. Secretary, J. Hobart Bronson.
Treasurer, Augustus M. Blakesley.
The only changes since the first election in 1884 are in the substitu- tion of John W. Smith and Henry H. Peck in the board of directors for H. C. Griggs and R. E. Hitchcock, both deceased, and in the executive committee, by which A. S. Chase succeeded H. C. Griggs and was succeeded by Henry H. Peck.
The medical staff for 1895 was composed as follows:
Consulting physicians and surgeons, Edward L. Griggs and Charles S. Rodman. Visiting physicians and surgeons, Frank E. Castle, Walter L. Barber, Edward W. McDonald, Thomas L. Axtelle, John M. Benedict, Caroline R. Conkey, Carl E. Munger, C. W. S. Frost.
Matron, Mary Felter (who succeeded Carrie E. Lewis in September, 1891).
Dr. Griggs succeeded Dr. Gideon L. Platt, deceased, and Dr. Rodman succeeded Dr. Alfred North, deceased, on the staff of con- sulting physicians. Dr. Walter- H. Holmes is the only member of the original staff of visiting physicians whose name is missing from this list, he being incapacitated by permanent illness.
The following is a list of the original corporators and of those elected since the incorporation, with dates of their election:
Corporators named in the charter: John C. Booth (died July 29, 1886), Douglas F. Maltby, Augustus S. Chase, Calvin H. Carter (died September 18, 1887), Freder- ick J. Brown, Frederick J. Kingsbury, James S. Elton, Elisha Leavenworth, Guernsey S. Parsons, John W. Smith, Rufus E. Hitchcock (died June 18, 1888), Edward C. Lewis, George W. Beach, David S. Plume.
THE WATERBURY HOSPITAL.
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CHARITY, PHILANTHROPY AND REFORM.
Corporators elected: Henry C. Griggs, December 15, 1884 (died April 17, 1886); Nelson J. Welton, December 15, 1884; Theodore I. Driggs, December 15, 1884 (died June 28, 1893); Edward L. Frisbie, December 15, 1884; Charles Dickinson, December" 15, 1884 (died April 15, 1888); J. Hobart Bronson, December 15, 1884; Erastus L. De Forest, December 6, 1885 (died June 5, 1888); Henry H. Peck, December 5, 1887; Henry S. Chase, December 3, 1888; J. Henry Morrow, December 3, 1888; Henry A. Matthews, December 3, 1888; Augustus M. Blakesley, December 14, 1891; Wil- liam E. Fulton, December II, 1893.
The list of directors since 1884 is as follows:
F. J. Kingsbury, 1884; A. S. Chase, 1884; E. L. Frisbie, 1884; H. C. Griggs, 1884; G. W. Beach, 1884; J. S. Elton, 1884; E. C. Lewis, 1884; D. S. Plume, 1884; R. E. Hitchcock, 1884; C. H. Carter, 1886; J. W. Smith, 1887; H. A. Matthews, 1888; H. H. Peck, 1890.
The following description of the hospital is in part condensed from a detailed account published in the first annual report of the directors:
The large brick house which constitutes the main building of the hospital stands upon a bluff on the west side of the Naugatuck, and nearly two hundred feet above it. It is reached by a circuitous driveway, ascending from Riverside avenue. Allen B. Wilson selected the place as a site for a residence in 1855, when the land was entirely uncultivated. Under his kindly supervision it was trans- formed into orchard and grove and lawn. The house erected by Mr. Wilson was a three-story structure of brick, with a broad piazza on its east side, overlooking the Naugatuck valley. It was transformed, under the supervision of the executive com- mittee, into what all must consider a delightful resting-place for those who require hospital treatment.
On entering this building from the front, the visitor finds on the right a large room, named the Peck room, in honor of Henry H. Peck who furnished it, and on the left the dining-room of the establishment. At the further end of the hall is a room which serves as an office and a reception room, and behind the parlor are the matron's apartments. There are also on this floor bathing-rooms, a dispensary, and the kitchen, and beyond this, to the south, is the old conservatory, which can be used as a place for sun-baths. Both the second and third stories are given up to private rooms for special patients.
The wards are in the new brick addition, built in 1891, connected with the main building on the west side and approached by the existing halls and stairways. It is seventy feet long and thirty feet wide and is designed to accommodate forty patients.
To the west of the main building, 300 feet distant, is the nurses' home. It con- tains eleven sleeping rooms and a reception room, all prettily furnished and with complete equipment for light. water and heat. The expense of construction and furnishing, to the smallest details, was met by Henry H. Peck. The building was begun in November, 1892, and the secret of its giver was made public on its com- pletion in July, 1893.
To the north of the hospital proper, and separated from it, stands the laundry, a building of goodly dimensions, two stories high, and fitted up with large tubs, a furnace and a boiler. The barn, to the south of the main building, is thoroughly fitted up with whatever pertains to the comfort of "man and beast."
The hospital grounds are artistically laid out, with carriage drives, walks, shade trees and fruit trees.
894
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
THE ROSEMARY COT.
In November, 1889, while the hospital was approaching comple- tion, the Mission circle of the First church was preparing for an "authors' carnival," to be given for some philanthropic object. Among those who were to take part in the carnival was Mary Rose Anderson, wife of Dr. Carl E. Munger and daughter of the pastor of the church. On November 24, after a brief illness, and while her husband was very ill, Mrs. Munger passed away, mourned by all who knew her. By a vote of the Mission circle, the carnival was postponed to December 17 and 18, and it was decided that the proceeds of the entertainment should be set apart to endow a free bed in the hospital, to be known as the "Rosemary cot " and thus to serve as a perpetual memorial of her who had so recently been called away. The receipts of the carnival were large, but the expenditures were heavy, and the net profits amounted to $482.96.
This sum was increased during the following year by contribu- tions from the Mission circle and the Sunday school of the First church, and afterward by the proceeds of a series of entertain- ments managed by a committee of ladies, amounting to $938.95. In the annual report of the hospital for 1890 the fund was given as $1600.99; in that of 1891 as $1716.64, and in 1892 it was raised to $3000. This sum was sufficient to endow a child's cot, and it was deemed best to devote it at once to this object. The right to nomi- nate those who should occupy the cot was, by request of its promoters, assigned to a self-perpetuating committee consisting of Dr. Anderson, Dr. Munger and Alice Kingsbury.
The establishment of the cot was commemorated by a tablet in the main hall of the hospital, which was unveiled December 22, 1892, with appropriate services. The tablet is of brass and upon it in black enamelled letters is the following inscription:
THE ROSEMARY FREE COT.
In memory of Mary Rose, daughter of the Rev. Joseph Anderson, D. D., wife of Dr. Carl E. Munger; died November 24, 1889, in her 24th year. Endowed by her friends, November, 1892.
" There shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain."
Although originating in the First church, this enterprise from first to last was shared in by representatives of all the churches and of all classes in the community. And it was understood from the first by its promoters that the use of the Rosemary cot was not to be restricted to one church or parish, but was to be as unlimited as the interest taken in its establishment and the largeness of
895
CHARITY, PHILANTHROPY AND REFORM.
heart of her whom it commemorated would naturally suggest to those having control of it.
THE HOSPITAL AID SOCIETY.
A meeting to organize a Hospital Aid society was held on Sep- tember 13, 1890, at the rooms of the Young Women's Friendly league. About forty ladies were present. After a careful consid- eration of the various wants of a hospital which a voluntary organization of ladies could supply and the best methods of organization, a constitution was adopted, in which the object of the society was stated as follows: "To give aid to the hospital in various ways-in furnishing clothing, bedding, delicacies, papers, books, pictures, or other needed articles." Provision was made for quarterly meetings and for a visiting, a sewing, and a soliciting committee, representing the several kinds of work to be under- taken by the society. The officers are a president, vice-presidents, a secretary and a treasurer, who, with the chairmen of the several committees, constitute an executive board. The annual member- ship fee is one dollar, and for honorary membership two dollars; and "any funds accumulating beyond the expenses of the society may be applied to supporting in the hospital any person who is needy and well recommended." The constitution was adopted, and signed by those present. The following officers and commit- tees were elected: President, Mrs. Edward L. Frisbie; vice-presi- dents, Mrs. J. H. Bronson, Mrs. C. F. Chapin; secretary, Mrs. W. F. Chatfield; treasurer, Mrs. Jesse Minor.
At the annual meeting held October 1, 1895, a membership of 146 was reported. The receipts for the previous year amounted to $289.20, and the expenses to $191.22. The chairman of the visiting committee reported visits made by forty-two ladies during the year. Much interest was shown by these visitors in hospital mat- ters, and large quantities of clothing were carried to the hospital by them, besides books, periodicals, flowers and delicacies of all kinds. The sewing committee reported 388 articles furnished.
At the election of officers the president and vice-presidents who had served from the organization of the society were re-elected. Mrs. George E. Terry was re-elected treasurer and Helen Merri- man secretary.
E. L. DEFOREST.
Erastus Lyman DeForest, only son of Dr. John and Lucy Starr (Lyman) DeForest, was born in Watertown, June 27, 1834. He entered Yale college at the age of sixteen, passed through the aca-
896
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
demic course with honors, studied for two years in the engineering department of the Sheffield Scientific school, and received in 1856 the degree of Ph. B. He had inherited about $20,000 from his maternal grandfather, Erastus Lyman of Litchfield, but desiring to test his own capacity for self-support he went in January, 1857 to California, where he worked for a time in the mines and then engaged in teaching, and removed from there to Australia, where he became a tutor in the College of Melbourne. Tiring of labors that promised little distinction, he visited India, made a tour in western Europe, and then returned to America. He established himself at New Haven and resumed his favorite studies in the higher mathematics. With the exception of a visit to Utah and two later very extended tours in Europe, the remainder of his life was passed in New Haven and Watertown. He was chiefly occu- pied with the care of his venerable father and with researches after a new system of algebraic notation. In March, 1885, he inherited the bulk of his father's large fortune, but a little later his health began to fail rapidly, and on the morning of June 6, 1888, he was found dead in his bed. He was unmarried, and with him ended the male line of Benjamin DeForest of Watertown, the female line being represented by the children of Alma DeForest and her husband Eli Curtis.
Mr. DeForest's private beneficences were numerous. His pub- lic gifts were as follows: To Yale in 1886, for the purpose of increasing his father's mathematical prizes, $4000; to Yale in 1887, for the endowment of a mathematical chair, $10,000; to.Waterbury, for a hospital, $25,000.
His mind was a superior one, his reading large and varied, his tastes cultivated. He was an excellent scholar in Greek and Latin, and retained his knowledge of those languages through life. His memory was wonderful for accuracy, tenacity and breadth of grasp. Little given to conversation except with intimate friends, he was able to converse on all intellectual subjects fluently, and was a most instructive companion. Of his capacity as a mathema- tician, a capable judge, Professor Irving Fisher, has given the fol- lowing opinion (in a manuscript memoir of Mr. DeForest and his work):
Mr. DeForest's work originates in the investigation of the methods of correct- ing an irregular series of numbers. All that he has written is either on this sub- ject or on subjects directly connected, such as interpolation, the extent to which an irregular series ought to be "smoothed," the general theory of errors and probability, and the properties of polynomials involved. His work shows great patience and tenacity and gives evidence of careful study in the region into which his natural gifts had led him. In quality and amount his regular memoirs
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E. L. De Forest
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CHARITY, PHILANTHROPY AND REFORM.
compare favorably with those of most professed mathematicians. He always had an eye to the practical, and all his theories were formed with their application steadily in view. He generally carried his work into a numerical form and all - devices for saving labor were carefully noted and employed. The idea of con- tinuity of thinking could scarcely receive a better illustration. All his memoirs are the record of persistent thought in a single groove. His work flows along, fol- lowing the shape of the landscape and the line of least resistance. It sees clearly what is immediately in front, but it nowhere mounts a hill first that it may reconnoitre and select the most promising fields. . When he conceived an idea he followed it up with great persistence and with that patient enthusiasm which characterizes the true devotee of science and at once explains and beauti- fies the achievement of his results.
THE WATERBURY INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL.
In the winter of 1863-64 the attention of some of the ladies of the city was directed to the fact that a considerable number of young girls made regular visits from house to house, soliciting charity, and further, that indiscriminate giving to this class of applicants was encouraging them in idleness and deceit, and pro- ducing a bad influence upon the families to which they belonged. These ladies, representing the several Protestant churches in the city, came together on January 15, 1864, at the residence of Mrs. Nelson Hall, to consider how they could break up the habits of idle dependence these girls were forming and encourage them in indus- try and morality. The following preamble was presented and signed by the ladies present :
Hoping to promote the cause of humanity and religion by the formation of an Industrial school for girls, we associate ourselves together for this purpose, agree- ing to use our time, money and influence to advance its interests and bring under its influence as many destitute girls as possible.
The first officers chosen were a school superintendent, Mrs. Edward J. Hayden; an assistant, Miss Eliza J. Holmes, and a secre- tary and treasurer, Mrs. S. E. Harrison. At the annual meeting in 1865 officers were elected as follows: President, Mrs. P. G. Rock- well; vice-presidents, two each from the First and Second Congre- gational and the Baptist and Methodist churches; secretary and treasurer, Mrs. James Abbott; school superintendent, Miss Fanny Smith. The last Saturday of September was fixed upon as the regular time for the annual meeting.
From its organization to the present time, the school has held weekly meetings, from October I to May I of each year, with a steadily increasing number of pupils, its expenses being met at first by the voluntary subscriptions of its friends, and later, by the con-
57
898
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
tributions of the Protestant churches. Sewing in all its branches is taught, and habits of neatness and politeness and all the womanly virtues are urged upon the pupils by the teachers. Scripture reci- tations and singing give variety to the exercises.
In 1872 a charter was secured through the application of the following ladies: Mrs. Ruth W. Carter, Mrs. Nelson Hall, Mrs. J. J. Jacques, Mrs. F. L. Allen, Miss Mary E. Cooke and Mrs. S. E. Har- rison. The purpose of the school, according to the terms of the charter, was to encourage "morals, religion and fine sewing." In 1879 an advis- ory committee was ap- pointed, consisting of two ladies from each of the
THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL BUILDING.
churches represented in the school, which met monthly and to which were referred all matters respecting the wellbeing of the school and the disbursement of the funds.
On account of the continued growth of the school, the question of a convenient and permanent place of meeting became of vital importance, and small sums were contributed by its friends from time to time which formed the nucleus of a building fund. In July, 1886, Elisha Leavenworth generously gave the sum of $10,000 for this object, and a fair held by the friends of the school a few months later added to this sum over $1300 more.
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CHARITY, PHILANTHROPY AND REFORM.
A corporation was immediately formed, consisting of sixteen members, including the charter members, and officers and a board of finance were elected, the school being thus placed upon a sound and permanent basis among the public benevolent institutions of the city. Corporation officers were elected October 1, 1888, as follows:
President, Mrs. S. E. Harrison.
Vice-president, Mrs. A. S. Chase.
Secretary, Mrs. G. C. Hill.
Treasurer, Katharine L. Peck.
Prudential committee, Mrs. Rufus E. Smith, Katharine L. Peck, Elisha Leaven- worth, F. B. Rice, A. S. Chase.
A lot on Field street was purchased with part of Mr. Leaven- worth's gift, but this was subsequently sold and on March 8, 1889, a lot on Central avenue was purchased for the erection of a suitable building. Work was soon begun, and on October 10, 1891, the new Industrial school building was dedicated. A hall seating four hun- dred persons occupies the second floor of the building. It is named Leavenworth hall in grateful recognition of the gift to which the school owes in so large a degree the possession of a well adapted home.
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