USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > Centennial history of the city of Washington, D. C. With full outline of the natural advantages, accounts of the Indian tribes, selection of the site, founding of the city to the present time > Part 68
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In the southern portion of the grounds is the dairy farm, once the property of W. W. Corcoran, containing two hundred and fifty aeres. The Corcoran cottage was erected on this traet about 1850. Directly south of it is a fine spring and spring house, and just beyond is the southern limit of the home grounds. The proposed new city reservoir is outside the fence, and in the middle of this reservoir is the famous Capitol spring, which formerly supplied the Capitol build- ing with water.
Following is a list of the governors of the home: I. B. Crane, colonel First Artillery, December 20, 1851, to September 13, 1852; Larkin Smith, brevet major, September 13, 1852, to November 5, 1855; M. M. Payne, brevet colonel, November 5, 1855, to July 4, 1857; J. A. Haskins, brevet major, July 4, 1857, to November 7, 1857; M. M. Payne, colonel Second Artillery, November 7, 1857, to February 10, 1858: J. A. Haskins, February 10, 1858, to May 6, 1858; I. L. Alexander, major Eighth Infantry, deputy governor, May 8, 1858, to November 23, 1863; Justin Dimick, colonel United States Army, November 23, 1863, to April 1, 1868; I. B. McIntosh, brevet major-general, April 1, 1868, to July 1, 1868; A. Cady, colonel and brevet brigadier-general, July 1, 1868, to January 29, 1869; A. S.
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Lee, brevet lieutenant-colonel, January 29, 1869, to October 5, 1871; T. G. Pitcher, brevet brigadier-general United States Army, October 5, 1871, to July 1, 1877. J. H. Potter, colonel Twenty-fourth Infantry, July 1, 1877, to July 2, 1881; S. D. Sturgis, colonel First Cavalry, brevet major-general United States Army, July 2, 1881, to May 15, 1885; Henry I. Hunt, brevet major-general United States Army, May 15, 1885, to September 23, 1885; R. Catlin, captain United States Army, deputy governor, September 23, 1885, to May 26, 1886; Henry I. HInnt, brevet major-general United States Army, May 26, 1886, to February 28, 1889; Orlando B. Willcox, brigadier-general, retired, February 28, 1889, to the present time.
The home has an excellent brass band, organized in 1886. Its members are inmates of the home, and they receive extra compensa- tion. The band plays every afternoon, except Saturday, on the parade ground or in the hall, and every Wednesday afternoon between four and five o'clock it plays in front of Barnes' Hospital. The band also attends all funerals of inmates.
General Seott levied on the city of Mexico $300,000 for the viola- tion of a truce. Of this money Congress appropriated $118,719 toward the erection of the Scott building. Since then the expenses of the insti- tution have been paid out of its own funds. The revenues of the home are derived from the interest on a sinking fund, a tax of twelve and a half cents each month on each enlisted man in the army, from money dne deserters, from fines, court-martial forfeitures, and from the proceeds of the unclaimed effects of deceased inmates. The amount realized annually is near $200,000, the regular annual expenses being abont $200,000. The permanent surplus fund now amounts to $2,348,529.43, which draws interest at the rate of three per cent. per annum. The treasurer of the home is Major Richard C. Parker, who of course, has charge of the financial interests of the institution.
The first inmate was William Daily, admitted in May, 1851. The total number of inmates admitted to date is 7,097. There were on the rolls January 25, 1892, 1,228, of whom twenty-five are colored. The number steadily increases from year to year.
The movement resulting in the establishment of a national asylum for the insane commenced at least as early as 1841, on the 5th of January of that year the Hon. William Cost Johnson, of Maryland, asking unanimous consent to consider a bill making tem- porary provision for the Innaties of the District of Columbia. The bill was taken up on a suspension of the rules, and after considerable
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discussion it was defeated by a vote of 72 to 82. On January 7, on motion of Mr. Fillmore, the vote was reconsidered, and the bill passed the House by a vote of 110 to 59. Those opposing the bill did so on constitutional grounds; those favoring it favored it from motives of right, justice, and charity.
At that time the corporation of Washington was allowing $2 per week for the care of each insane person, and asked the assistance of Congress only in ease of persons requiring restraint. The insane were then kept in the old jail.
The District of Columbia, in appealing to Congress for aid, justi- fied herself by the consideration that many of the insane whom she had to support belonged in distant parts of the country. Some of them were old men who came to Washington to secure pensions, which were in many cases refused, and in many of these cases the applicant became insane. Others came to Washington as inventors of many a crazy scheme, and failed to obtain a patent, and then became insane. Still others came to seek office under the Government, and being in many cases disappointed, became insane, like the applicants for pensions and patents. Hence, it was not just that the care of all the insane in the District should be taken care of by the District.
February 2, 1841, an act was approved making an appropriation of $3,000 to this objeet, and on August 3, 1841, another act was approved appropriating $3,500 to the same purpose, and authorizing the marshal of the District to provide for the pauper lunatics at any publie asylum in the United States, consulting economy in the selection.
During the session of 1851-52, Congress appropriated $100,000 for the purpose of founding in the District a hospital for the insane of the District, and of the army and navy, to be erected on the beautiful place of Mr. Blagden, south of the Anacostia River. This result was brought about chiefly through the labors of Miss Dix, widely known for her philanthropie efforts in favor of the insane. Its erection was commenced in 1855 or 1856, and was about one-third completed in October of that year. At that time there were 95 patients in the institution; white males, 47: white females, 36; black males, 8; black females, 4. Dr. Nichols had charge of the hospital, and was assisted by Dr. William Young. The matron was Mrs. Montgomery.
This asylum is situated on Nichols Avenue. It is a national institution, and receives all the insane of the army and navy and the revenue marine service, and also the indigent insane of the District of Columbia. United States convicts, becoming insane, are also sent to this hospital by order of the Secretary of the Interior, on
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the request of the Attorney-General. W. W. Godding, M. D., is at this time superintendent of the hospital.
Providence Hospital is situated at the corner of Second and D streets Southeast. It was for several years in the old "infirmary," until that was destroyed by fire in 1859, and then a new building becoming an absolute necessity, the present building was provided for. It was commenced in June, 1861. All classes of patients were received, except those afflicted with contagious diseases. From the first, it has been in charge of Sisters of Charity, who, in 1866, on account of the limited accommodations at their command compared with their field of usefulness, commenced the erection of a new build- ing, the corner stone of which was laid July 5, 1866. The building then erected is one hundred and eighty-one feet in length and ninety- nine feet in depth, and it cost $110,000. The resident physicians are W. Don Cannon and Henry L. Hayes, and the medical and surgical staff is composed of some of the most distinguished physicians of the city.
The Columbia Hospital for Women was established in 1866. The first meeting of its incorporators was held June 21, 1866, at which A. D. Gillette, D. D., was elected president; C. HI. Hall, D. D., and P. D. Gurley, D. D., vice-presidents; Rev. J. Coombs, secretary; Moses Kelly, treasurer. J. II. Thompson, M. D., was the physician in charge. Dr. Nictols and W. B. Matchett were appointed a committee to apply to Congress for an appropriation of $10,000 to defray the current expenses for that year. There were at first forty beds in the hospital which were supported by voluntary contributions, and fifty to be supported by popular subscription. Charles Knapp and II. D. Cooke had been the chief contributors to the support of the hospital up to this time. This hospital is finely situated at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Twenty-fifth Street.
The Washington Orphan Asylum was established October 10, 1815, and during its earlier history it was managed by an association of benevolent ladies of the city. Mrs. Madison, wife of President Madi- son, was its first directress; Mrs. John P. Van Ness was her successor, and for many years she devoted herself to the interests of the asylum with a zeal and liberality both helpful to the society having the institution in charge and highly honorable to herself. The asylum was first opened for girls, in a house on Seventh Street, between II and I streets, and afterward a large building was erected for its use on what was known as Mausoleum Square, fronting on II Street, between Ninth and Tenth streets. The corner stone of this building
42
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was laid by Mrs. Van Ness, in the presence of a large number of people. The institution was incorporated by Congress in May, 1828, by the name of the " Washington City Orphan Asylum." This new building was occupied from 1826 to September, 1866, and from the time this house was occupied, orphans of both sexes were admitted. In 1848 Mr. Matthew Wright, then late of Washington, bequeathed the interest of $10,000 to aid in the support of the institution. Con- gress had previously donated lots in the city to the institution, valued at $10,000.
St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum was established by Rev. William Mathews and the Catholics of Washington about 1825, and it was chartered by Congress in 1831. It is situated on Tenth and G streets Northwest, and its management is entrusted to the Sisters of Charity. It is supported by private charity and voluntary contribu- tions. In 1834 it received from Congress a donation of lots in Wash- ington worth $10,000. It is one of the most prominent of the public charities in the city.
Garfield Memorial Hospital is situated at the head of Tenth Street Northwest, and owes its origin to a philanthropic movement begun within a month after President Garfield's death. Those interested in the establishment of this institution were some of them of national prominence-James G. Blaine, W. T. Sherman, S. F. Miller, William Windom, and Mrs. John A. Logan. It was incorporated in 1882, with HIon. S. F. Miller, president; B. G. Lovejoy, secretary, and Edward Temple, treasurer. Upon the death of Judge Miller, Justice John M. Ilarlan became president. The Ladies' Aid Society has always done efficient service in sustaining the claims of the hospital. The entire property of this hospital, including its five acres of ground and five buildings, is valued at $250,000. The medical staff has always been exceedingly efficient. Congress makes an appropriation annually of about $15,000 for the current expenses of free wards, the general expenses, amounting to some $20,000 per annum, being met by the efforts of the Ladies' Aid Society. The capacity of the institution has increased from ten beds, in 1883, to one hundred and twenty at the present time. The number of patients admitted in 1891 was four hundred and ninety-five.
Besides the above-mentioned public institutions, there are also the following: The National Homeopathic Hospital, at the corner of N and Second streets Northwest; the Homeopathic Dispensary and Emergency Hospital, on Massachusetts Avenue, near Seventh Street; the Aged Women's Home, of which Mrs. B. Kennon is president and
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Mrs. J. B. Nourse secretary, and which is situated at 1255 Thirty- second Street Northwest; the Children's Hospital, on W Street, near Thirteenth Street, Northwest, of which M. W. Galt is president and W. S. Thompson secretary; the Church Orphanage Association, St. John's Parish, at 525 Twentieth Street Northwest; the Colored Women's Home, St. Matthew's Parish, at 1909 R Street Northwest; the Emergency Hospital, at the corner of Fifteenth and D streets Northwest; the Epiphany Church Home for Aged Women, at 1319 II Street Northwest; the Freedman's Hospital, at the corner of Pomeroy and Fifth streets Northwest, supported by the General Government; the German Orphan Asylum, on Good Hope road; the Home for Friendless Colored Girls, on Erie Street, between Seventeenth and Eighteenth streets, Northwest; the Home for the Aged, of the Little Sisters of the Poor, at the corner of HI and Third streets Northeast; the IIonse of the Good Shepherd, at the corner of Thirty-sixth and T streets Northwest; . the House of Merey, 2408 K Street Northwest; the Lenthall Home for Widows, at the corner of Nineteenth and G streets Northwest; the Methodist Home for Aged Women, at the corner of Twelfth and N streets Northwest; the National Association for the Relief of Colored Women and Children, on Eighth Street, near Grant Avenue, Northwest; the National Temperance Home, 218 Four and a Ilalf Street Northwest; St. Ann's Infant Orphan Asylum, at 2300 K Street Northwest, founded in August, 1860, and under the care of the Sisters of Charity; St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asylum, on II Street, near Tenth Street, Northwest, in charge of the Sisters of the Holy Cross; the Washington Ilome for Incurables, on Meridian Avenue, Mount Pleasant; the Washington Hospital for Foundlings, at 1715 Fifteenth Street Northwest; the Women's Christian Association Home, at 1719 Thirteenth Street Northwest; and the Young Women's Chris- tian Home, at 404 Sixth Street Northwest.
CHAPTER XIX.
GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS AND PUBLIC MONUMENTS.
The Capitol -The President's Mansion -The City Hall -The Treasury Department - The Patent Office - Department of Agriculture - Pension Building-The Bureau of Engraving and Printing - The State, War, and Navy Department Building -The New Congressional Library Building - Washington National Monument- Green- ough's Statue of Washington-The Jackson Statue-Mill's Statue of Washington - Mrs. Hoxie's Statue of Farragut -The Lincoln Statue - The Scott Statue -The Rawlins Statue-The "Emancipation" Statue-The Statue of Peace -The Mc- Pherson Statue- The Greene Statue -The Thomas Statue -The Franklin Statue - The Marshall Statue - The Garfield Statue -The Henry Statue- The Dupont Statue -The Luther Statue - The Lafayette Statne.
THE Capitol, in which Congress holds its sessions, is located on Cap- T' itol Hill. It consisted originally of two wings and a rotunda in the center. It is of the Corinthian order of architecture, and was built of freestone from the quarries of Acquia Creek, Virginia. The com- missioners appointed to lay out the city of Washington were directed to procure suitable buildings for the accommodation of Congress and of the President, and for the public use of the Government of the United States. Shortly after the city was surveyed, they entered upon this portion of their duties. The Federal House of Congress was designated on Major L'Enfant's plan of the city as "The Capitol," and this name was adopted on the approval of President Washington. From the surveys it was ascertained that the hill in the eastern section of the city was nearly in the center of the Dis- trict, and it was for this reason that the Capitol was erected upon it, facing eastward, in which direction a spacious plateau extends about two miles, upon which plateau it was believed and expected that the best houses would be erected. Hence the Capitol was built facing castward, but for reasons given in another part of this history, the growth of the city was almost entirely toward the west, and so to-day the Capitol stands with its back toward the most populous part of the Capital.
A premium of $500 and a building lot was offered by the com- missioners in an advertisement for the best design of a Capitol building, and in response to this advertisement sixteen designs were
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submitted to the commissioners by architects in different parts of the country. But upon a careful examination of these designs by Mr. Jefferson, then Secretary of State, who really possessed nearly all the taste and ability in this direction that was possessed by the Govern- ment officials, they were promptly rejected. Mr. Jefferson preferred the adoption of the models of antiquity, which had the approval of thousands of years. In July, 1792, a French architect living in New York, named Stephen L. Hallett, sent a sketch of a design to the commissioners which met with favor, and he was invited to Wash- ington to examine the locality chosen for the Capitol, in order that he might perfect his designs, which in some particulars were satis- factory.
About the same time, an amateur draughtsman, named Dr. William Thornton, an Englishman who had resided some years in the West Indies, and had then come to the United States, presented to President Washington an elaborate and highly colored design, which greatly pleased the President, and he wrote to the commissioners suggesting the substitution of Dr. Thornton's plan in place of Mr. Hallett's, and that Mr. Hallett be engaged as supervising architect, as Dr. Thornton had no practical knowledge of architecture.
This letter of President Washington's was written January 31, 1793. In it he said that he had under consideration the two plans mentioned above. He said that he thought Mr. Hallett's had a great deal of merit; but he preferred Dr. Thornton's for grandeur, sim- plicity, and beauty, the propriety with which the apartments were distributed, and the economy in the mass of the whole structure. He therefore thought it best to give the Doctor time to finish his plan, and for this purpose to delay, until the next meeting of the commis- sioners of the District, a final decision. He said some difficulty arose with reference to Mr. Hallett, who was led into his plan by ideas "we all expressed to him"; but that ought not to induce the acceptance of his plan in preference to a better, and that it would be best to liberally requite him for the time he had expended upon it, that his feelings should be soothed as much as possible, and left it to the commissioners to prepare him for the possibility of the Doctor's plan being preferred to his.
On March 3, 1793, the President wrote a letter introducing Dr. Thornton to the commissioners, and he came down to Washington from Philadelphia to show them his design. July 23, 1793, the Presi- dent wrote again to the commissioners in favor of a plan of the Capitol by Judge Turner, and said: "The dome which is suggested as an
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addition to the center of the edifice, would, in my opinion, give a beauty and grandeur to the pile; and might be useful for the recep- tion of a bell, clock, etc. . . . Could such a plan as Judge Turner's be surrounded with columns and a colonnade like that which was presented by Mr. Hallett, without departing from the principles of architecture, and yet not to be too expensive for our means, it would, in my judgment, be a noble and desirable structure; but I would have it understood in this instance and always that I profess to have no knowledge of architecture, and think we should be governed by the established rules laid down by the professors of this art."
July 25, 1793, President Washington again wrote the commis- sioners on the same subject from Philadelphia, stating that objections to the plan of Dr. Thornton for the Capitol building had been made by both the persons, Mr. Carstairs and Mr. Williams, chosen by Dr. Thornton as practical architects and competent judges of such things; that Mr. Hallett's plan was free from the objections of Dr. Thornton's, and would not cost more than half as much. Mr. Hoban was therefore informed that the foundation would be begun according to Mr. Hallett's plan, "leaving the recess in the east front open for further consideration. But it was the wish that the portico of the east front, which was in Dr. Thornton's plan, should be preserved in that of Mr. Hallett's, the recess which Mr. Hallett proposed strik- ing every one unpleasantly, as the space between the two wings was too contracted to give it the noble appearance of the buildings of which it was an imitation; but whether the portico or the recess should be finally decided upon, would make no difference in the com- mencement of the foundation, except in that particular part."
The question of plan continued to give the commissioners trouble for a considerable time, and for several weeks the different aspirants for the distinguished honor of furnishing the plans for the Capitol build- ing of the new American nation worked with intense rivalry and bitter feelings. At length, however, Dr. Thornton's plan was in the main adopted, at which Mr. Hallett felt greatly aggrieved, and in order "to soothe his feelings," as President Washington had expressed it, he was made supervising architect of the Capitol, with a salary of $400 per year, and at once began work on the edifice.1
The corner stone of this building was laid in the southeast corner
1 See Dr. Thornton's address "To the Members of the House of Representatives of the United States," of January 1, 1805. It is there clearly shown that Mr. Hallett, as supervising architect of the Capitol, worked in the main according to Dr. Thorn- ton's plan.
GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS AND PUBLIC MONUMENTS. 661
of the north wing September 18, 1793, in the presence of President Washington and a large assemblage of citizens. A grand Masonic, military, and civic procession was formed on the square in front of the President's grounds, whence it marched to the Capitol square with martial music and flying banners. The ceremony was both imposing and grand, large numbers from various portions of the country being in attendance. On the corner stone was placed a large silver plate inscribed with the following words:
"This southeast corner stone of the Capitol of the United States of America, in the city of Washington, was laid on the 18th day of September, 1793, in the eighteenth year of American independence, in the first year of the second term of the presidency of George Wash- ington, whose virtues in the civil administration of his country have been as conspicuous and beneficial as his military valor and prudence have been useful in establishing her liberties, and in the year of Masonry 5793, by the President of the United States, in concert with the Grand Lodge of Maryland, several lodges under its jurisdiction, and Lodge No. 22, from Alexandria, Virginia." .
A few months after the corner stone had been laid, a difficulty sprang up between Mr. Hallett as architect and Dr. Thornton, who had been appointed one of the commissioners. Mr. IIallett was re- quested to furnish the commissioners with his various drawings and designs, which he refused to do, and was in consequence dismissed from the public service. George Hadfield, from England, coming highly recommended by Benjamin West and by James Hoban, archi- tect of the President's House, was then appointed to the place, and Mr. Hadfield and Mr. Hoban were associated most, or all, of the time during which the north wing was in progress. It was completed in 1800.
In 1803 the construction of the south wing of the Capitol was placed in charge of Benjamin Henry Latrobe, who had come from London, England, to the United States in 1796. He had studied architecture in London with Mr. Cockrell, one of the leading archi- tects of his day. He was introduced to Judge Bushrod Washington, a nephew of President Washington, at Norfolk, Virginia, and was taken to Mount Vernon to be introduced to General Washington by Judge Washington. General Washington was favorably impressed with Mr. Latrobe, and afterward frequently consulted him in reference to the public buildings. Mr. Latrobe was given by the commissioners full power to construct the south wing of the Capitol, and to remodel the north wing according to his own plans. Mr. Latrobe finished
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his work in 1811, completing the hall for the reception of Congress, and connecting the two wings by a large wooden building or bridge which occupied the place of the present rotunda. Such portions of the building as were necessary for the public use being completed, work upon it was suspended during the War of 1812-15. The walls of the wings were constructed of sandstone from quarries at Acquia Creek, and the bricks used in the interior were made by Andrew lloke at the site on the Capitol Ilill, selected by Captain Elisha Williams. The commissioners made the contract for three hundred thousand brick for this purpose with Mr. Hoke, May 1, 1792, agree- ing to give him fifteen shillings per thousand for good merchantable brick, 9 inches long, 44 inches wide, and 23 inches thick. Congress commenced to occupy this building in 1800, and continued to occupy it until it was partially demolished by the British troops August 24, 1814. It cost the Government previous to that war $789,070.98 - the north wing, completed in 1800, $480,262.57, and the south wing, com- pleted in 1811, $308,808.41. The hall of the House of Representa- tives was in the second story of the south wing, and was sixty feet high to the highest point in the ceiling. The Senate chamber was" in the north wing of the building and was seventy-four feet in its . greatest length and forty-two feet in height.
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