USA > Iowa > Mills County > History of Mills County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc. > Part 66
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Before determining finally upon any definite plan of management, and wishing to organize the asylum under the most favorable circumstances possible, the board opened a correspodence with Dr. C. T Wilbur, super- intendent of the Illinois asylum, requesting his presence and the benefit of his experience in determining upon the final plan. That eminent philan- thropist cheerfully responded and aided materially in outlining the work of the institution. In the selection of a superintendent the board was guided by ability and experience as being necessary factors and to be combined, and selected from the several applicants Dr. O. W. Archibald, a gentleman of liberal culture, of high professional standing and a man of experience having been assistant physician for a year and a half to the Iowa Hospital for the insane, at Mt. Pleasant.
Soon after the first meeting of the board a circular was issued to the
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public, announcing the establishment of the institution, and that its doors would be opened for the reception of pupils on the first Wednesday in September, 1866. This circular was gratuitously published in most of the newspapers of the state, and the press, ever generous in matters of this kind, brought its claims before the people in editorials, some of them of great ability and influence.
Concerning the nature of the undertaking the trustees further stated in their report that " the trustees are aware that the public generally fail to appreciate the magnitude of the work in which they are engaged, and believe the idiotic child incapable of any mental, physical or social develop- ment,and many of our most intelligent citizens think any expenditure of time or money upon this class of persons, is uselessly squandered. The oppor- tunities afforded us by reason of our connections with this asylum, and observation of the asylums of other states of similar character, to form an opinion, and to reach a conclusion based upon facts and personal obser- vation, cause us to dismiss any and all doubts of the practicability of markedly and surely elevating and reclaiming from mental darkness and moral degradation a large proportion of this beclouded class. From being objects of repugnance to society, and omnipresent sources of sadness and sorrow to their friends, they are transformed into neat, clean, orderly individuals. The mental habitude, or the perversity of their animal natures, are so changed by the exercises of these schools as to return them to their homes and friends as rather acceptable members of society and with such development, mental and physical, as to remove them from the class of dependents to a producing, and at least, partially self-sustain- ing plane.
" And now, gentleman, we have the pleasure of showing you our work, and saying that after a little more than a year's experience we think we have fully demonstrated the wisdom of a law which provides for the fee- ble minded children of Iowa a home where the provident care of a mag- nanimous state furnishes this unfortunate class an education which, with their capabilities, equals that of their more fortunate brothers and sisters at home. A former legislature, appreciating their claims to sympathy, have made a trial and awaited developments of progress. We believe the question of success beyond dispute, as is that of necessity for such an institution; and we trust that you, as the representatives of an intelligent constituency will most cheerfully grant this infant asylum such aid as will place its future success and prosperity beyond the possibility of failure, and thus be the means of happiness and consolation to as many sorrowing homes and hearts as either of the other charitable institutions of which our citizens are so justly proud."
In the first biennial report of the superintendent to the general assembly the objects of the institution are set forth in a new light, together with
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some general reflections on the educable capabilities of unfortunates of this class. Dr. Archibald writes as follows :*
"The belief that idiotic and imbecile children are susceptible of an edu- cation beneficial to themselves, to the family and neighborhood, has long since been wholly justified by results obtained in the institutions of other states and countries of Europe, to be greater in degree with such educa- tion as the deaf and dumb and the blind are capable of receiving. The principle in providing special means for the education of deaf mutes and the blind was established many years ago throughout our whole country, but only a few years since was the same principle recognized, in any con- siderable degree, as applicable to the idiot. That defective physical organization, or any physical infirmity, with consequent mental and moral characteristics, constitutes no bar to their enjoyment of the public pro- vision for education, where the education is practicable. Hence the main object and design of this institution, as established by legislative action, is to furnish special means of education to that portion of the youth of the state not otherwise provided for in any of the other educational institu- tions. The education proposed for our pupils, includes not only the sim- ple elements of instruction usually taught in common schools, but em- braces also a course of training in the more practical matters of every day life, the cultivation of habits of cleanliness, prosperity, self-management, self-reliance and the development and enlargement of a capacity for use- ful occupation. To promote these objects children in our school will receive such physical training, and such medical, moral and hygienic treatment as their peculiar and varied conditions demand. On the first of September, 1876, our institution was formally opened, and admitted the first pupil on the fourth of September. Since then there have been admitted eighty-seven, fifty-two boys and thirty-five girls, making the whole number under treatment and training for the two years ending eighty-eight, fifty-three males and thirty-five females. Two have been discharged, both females, one boy has died, leaving in the institution, at the present time, eighty-five children, fifty-two males and thirty-three females. The health of our children has been remarkably good, for which blessing we have great reason to be thankful."
A day spent in the institution would be a most profitable employment for those who are interested in this phase of education and philanthropy. To the student of mind are offered the best possible advantages for the study of its laws and the conditions of its development.
" The successful management of idiocy is a difficult work. Each in- dividual case is a study, and has to be treated as its peculiarities call for. Some of the most important things to remember, are to make the child more reliant upon his own resources, and develop within him the power
* First biennial report, p. 11. November, 1877.
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of self control; to make his sense of moral obligation stronger, and awaken in him a capacity for useful occupation. To acquire these re- sults, in the improvement of feeble minded children, physical training must be a prominent exercise in our school work, especially in beginning their treatment. The reciprocal influence of the body over the mind, and the mind over the body, must be diligently studied and applied. To have sound minds they must have sound bodies as well. Hence, we find the great necessity of gymnastic exercises, that the dim spark of will power existing may educate the weak and wayward muscles. The feeble will also will be strengthened and developed by this means. I observe that the most attractive means should be used in order to cultivate and acquire the very feeble power of attention. The affections must be tenderly cared for and the organs of the special senses trained and cultivated.
"Experience in the education of idotic persons, in other states, and European countries, have proven to us the fact that these feeble children can be elevated to positions of home comfort, safety and great usefulness, and that a large percentage of them can be so improved as to render them industrious and self-sustaining. An educational institution of this character will prevent the feeble minded children of our state from asso- ciating with paupers, lunatics and criminals who are cared for in county poor-houses and prisons, for it seems only a question of time until all indi- gent children of this class in our state, would of necessity be placed in said institutions, where they could only have custodial treatment, during their natural lives, and would not only prove burdens to themselves, but to all with whom they would come in contact.
"When we stop and consider these weak intellects and physical organi- zations, with their development entirely dependent upon the action of the more favored and intellectual of our people, we cannot avoid viewing them in a comparative sense; when left to themselves, and their education neg- lected, and again witness the feeble sparks of intellect submitted to proper drilling and education, awaken and develop, and become more capable of enjoying and acquiring the power of usefulness in the arena of domestic duties, we are certainly more than repaid for our energies, and money ex- pended for their benefit and comfort during their lives on earth. No rea- sonable person can deny these children what has been granted to all other classes of children in the state, viz: provision for whatever practical and necessary educatiou they are susceptible of, within a reasonable expendi- ture of means. Nothing in the form of human beings, however imper- fect, should be neglected, and more than all other creatures do idiots require our sympathies and protection. They are not to blame because they tread the path of life so insecurely and in weakness, therefore we desire to plead for those who are unable to do so for themselves."*
*O. W. Archibald, M. D. l. c. pp. 22-23.
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It would be interesting to note the causes that conduce to make ever larger this class of unfortunates, were this within the province of our task. Insanity, of which idiocy is a form, has been defined " to consist essentially in a morbid derangement, generally chronic, of the supreme cerebal centres,-the gray matter of the cerebral convolutions, or the in- tellectorium commune-giving rise to perverted feeling, defective or erro- neous ideation, and discordant conduct, conjointly or separately, and more or less incapacitating the individual for his due social relations."* Idiocy proper is an arrest of mental development by reason of some cerebral defect which may be either congenital or occur soon after birth. In those who are thus afflicted a marked arrest of growth of the skull is often met with. It is sometimes abnormally small, due either to defective nourish- ment or to a permature ossification of the sutures of the skull. It is a well-known fact that there exists a certain correlation between brain-power and the size of the encephalon, or skull. Such personages as are thus characterized are denominated in the reports as microcephalic. The ex- act reverse, as regards the size of the skull, is the case with those who are idiotic through chronic hydrocephalus, or dropsy of the brain, a condition due to a serous effusion from the membranes of the brain into its ventricles. Then again, certain parts of the brain are found wanting, or some portions may be defective, or there may be a deficient development of the anterior lobes and a simplicity of convolutions, such as characterize the brains of the lower animals. All these defects, or any one of them, conduce to the increase of this class of unfortunates. The causes of idiocy are frequently traceable to parents. Frequent inter-marriages, even to consanguinity, lead to mental degeneration. Great fright or unusual agitation on the part of the mother during the foetal life of the child, or irregularities, and excesses on her part destroy proper nutrition and so engender defects that end in total loss of mentality. Other predisposing causes in the parent are consumption, paralysis, epilepsy, nervous disorders, intemperance and syphilis. These may be either accessory or intermediate, but surely lead to defect of some kind. It remains only to point out another cause of in- crease mentioned by Dr. Archibald in his Second Biennial Report, (pages 36-37). His position is ably sustained by citations from various poor-house reports, which are of necessity here suppressed. In the course of some general remarks he writes as follows:
" We do not promise any great degree of proficiency in scholastic attainments, such as is acquired in the ordinary schools by ordinarily bright pupils. It is impossible to create mind where none exists, but our school does develop and strengthen a weak mind, and thereby render the condi- tion of even the weakest better by making its possessor more comfortable and less offensive to others, while the better grades are so improved that
*Dr. Henry Maudsley, in Reynold's System ef Medicine, Vol. I, Am. Ed. p. 585.
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they are enabled to read and write for their own pleasure and benefit, besides being made capable of performing all kinds of domestic duties; and the boys, in addition to the above, are taught to work on the farm and garden.
" We are often asked the question, ' what do you expect to make of these children and what do you aim to accomplish by training them in the various school exercises, and also, what will become of them after a certain age?' 'Don't you think it is a sin to enlighten these dark minds and thus fit them for crime and possibly improve them till marriage becomes a legitimate sequence, to result in bringing others more feeble than themselves into a still darker state of existence?'
" These and many similar questions are asked of me, almost daily since the opening of the institution, but invariably by parties who had never given the matter any careful thought.
" Only stop and consider for a moment the danger to which feeble- minded girls are exposed in alms-houses and county poor-houses, from rude and evil-minded young men that infest almost every neighborhood, and of the number of illegitimate children born of these poor unfortunates, just because they have not the proper guidance and protection !
"As to which course would be the better adapted to prevent illegiti- mate and feeble-minded issue, that of allowing these females to be ex- posed to all the dangers awaiting them in the poor-houses, or to take them and place them under well-managed discipline, where they can be taught not only the elementary work of our common schools, but how to perform all domestic duties, and be rendered not only more intelligent but more useful, respectable and happy, it seems to me requires no argument for a reasonable human person to decide. As to what we shall do with them at a certain age, and whether they will be turned loose in Mills county to annoy and pester the peaceful and lawabiding citizens of this section, I will answer, they will not. The object of an institution of this kind, and the school-training the pupils receive, is to enlighten the dark minds and, in time, provide for them sufficient farming-lands and work- shops so that all those who can never be made sufficiently responsible to leave the institution and safely provide for themselves, may always have a home in which, under proper and legitimate guidance, they can be measur- ably self-supporting, and the females be at the same time protected from those vile and degrading influences to which this class of unfortunates is peculiarly subjected.
" It seems to me that the strongest argument that can be presented in favor of an institution of this kind, in an economical point of view, leaving out, if you please, the enormous amount of suffering removed, is the fact that by this means alone are prevented hundreds of issue from imbecile parentage that would fall upon the counties and states to protect and sup-
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port, without check to farther increase. I claim that no one will deny that it is the duty of the states and public generally to adopt at as early a date as possible the most advisable means for the prevention of these great evils, and, in a great measure, secure the female portion of this depraved and helpless class against an immoral element that infests almost every neighborhood. If we will but take warning and profit by the experience of some of the older states, we will certainly give this important matter the due consideration which it demands of a christian and philanthropic people."
To this alarming state of things attention should be directed and prompt measures taken to remedy the cause. In this manner the state will do a service that society urgently needs, and which the necessities of the case demand. " The time has come when all enlightened and good people must watch carefully the needy and unfortunate, and not only provide for their necessities, but investigate and prevent, if possible, the causes which bring about these lamentable results."
Persons interested in this matter and desirous of pursuing still further any investigation into this interesting though painful subject, may find much information in Ferrier's " New Method with the Brain," or Carpenter's " Mental Physiology," Maudsley's "Responsibility in Mental Disease," or in other works usually accessible in the physician's library.
In the conduct of the institution all has been done that could be desired or that was possible with the limited means appropriated to its objects. The Asylum demands more room and more land. It is now more than crowded, and over a hundred applicants have been refused admittance. An institution devised to meet the necessities of a class of unfortunates, should, at least, be equal to the demands made on it for accommodations.
" If the State of Iowa desires to carry out the benevolent doctrines she has always advocated and the liberality she has always manifested toward the unfortunate, she must face the topic of humanity and necessity, and devise ways and means to provide for them. Here is a class of children cursed from birth with the worst misfortune that can fall to the lot of hu- manity-feeble minds-mental imbecility, and too often without the shad- ow of a mind at all. No matter where they are they become burdens. Either they are burdens to their parents and guardians, who without school and training in their development, cannot do anything toward ameliorating their condition in life, or else they become the pauper charges of the counties in which they reside, and the opportunities of life are closed to them there. Hence the necessity for such an institution as the Asylum for Feeble-minded Children.
"We are aware that many regard such an institution as an experiment, others who have seen them as they are conducted in this age of intelligence and humanity, realize that they are a stern necessity, and all know that
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they require vast amounts of money to sustain them, and that the money must come from general taxation.
" The idiot can be trained and educated; this fact has been demonstra- ted in all the institutions of the country erected for their care. The won- derful success attending the labors of our teachers in this asylum in patient teaching, has demonstrated this fact in Iowa. Many of them can be taught to be self-supporting and made to earn their livelihood, but it requires years of patient toil and instruction, and the facilities for reaching so de- sirable a result must be provided by the State.
" Assuming that the State of Iowa intends providing permanently for this class, as her older sister states have done, you, as a law-making power of the State, must be the instrument through which the necessary assist- ance is furnished."*
The last session of the legislature modified the law relative to this in- stitution, but in no essential particulars as regards its contents. Follow- ing is the change:
EIGHTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY, CHAPTER 164.
AN ACT to amend section 1, chapter 152, of the laws of the Sixteenth General Assembly, relative to asylum for feeble-minded children :
Be it Enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Iowa: SECTION 1. That section 1, chapter 152, of the Sixteenth General Assembly, is hereby repealed, and the following enacted in lieu thereof:
SECTION 1. That there is hereby established at Glenwood, in Mills county, in this State, an institution to be known as the asylum for feeble-minded children, and the property of the State at that point, including buildings and grounds heretofore used for the western branch of the Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home, shall be used for that purpose. Said institution shall be under the management of a board of trustees consisting of three persons, two of whom shall constitute a quorum for business. Said trustees shall be elected by the Gen eral Assembly, one of whom shall be elected for two years, one for four years, and one for six years; and each General Assembly shall hereafter elect one trustee for six years.
LEC. 2. The expense of transmission of pupils to the asylum, and all clothing required for the same, shall be paid by the county sending then, when such pupils are reported [supported] by the State; in all other cases by the parents or guardians.
SEC. 3. All acts in conflict with this act are hereby repealed.
Approved March 26, 1880.
The General Assembly should now be called upon to provide suitable accommodations for the unfortunates who knock at its door, seeking ad- mission. The superintendent is equal to the task imposed upon him and, goes about his labor of love in spite of the meagreness of the means placed at his command. Already, under his supervision, have several thousands of dollars been saved the state by judicious use of the more strong and able inmates in grading and keeping the grounds in repair. The site of the building is all that could be desired. High, and command- ing one of the fines views, in southwestern Iowa, with pleasant natural
* Report of trustees, October 1, 1879.
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groves all about them, the buildings of the home make an attractive and pleasant abode. Nor should that self-abnegation and spirit of philan- thropy which the teachers exhibit in their work go without notice or its reward. Refusing, some of them, more lucrative and pleasant positions, they have devoted their energies and talents to one of the most difficult tasks that men ever conceived, a task that demands the closest attention and not a little insight into the laws that condition mind.
The institution has entered upon an existence, which, it is to be hoped will be the pride of the state contributing to its maintenance, and that shall take to minds darkened from birth the blessed rays of intelligence and the power of reasoning, and to homes over which a shadow has fallen, the joy of faces made bright with knowledge, and hearts happy with ability to love.
CORPORATIONS.
Of this class of organizations, instituted for pecuniary profit, Glenwood has its share. Among these is the MILLS COUNTY BANK, organized August 21, 1871, by the consolidation of the private banks of W. H. Anderson and J. V. Hinchman. The capital of the bank is sixty-five thousand dollars, with a surplus equal to that amount. It does a large and safe business, in all branches of the banking trade. The directors are J. V. Hinchman, E. C. Bosbyshell, George Mickelwait, B. F. Buffing- ton and W. H. Anderson.
Glenwood is the headquarters and has the Home office of the Iowa & Colorado Consolidated Mining company. This corporation was organ- ized on July 31, 1879, under the laws of Iowa and Colorado, for the purpose of developing and operating gold mines in Summit Mining Dis- trict, Rio Grande county, Colorado. The company has driven upwards of six hundred feet of tunnelling since its organization. The main tun- nel, at the present date, has reached four hundred feet. The company has about $25,000 worth of machinery, consisting in part of a ten stamp mill, erected at the mines, and a twenty stamp mill that will be put up early the coming season. This corporation has the most extensive property in one of the best mining districts in Colorado that has ever been organized in Iowa. Its present directory is composed of the following named gen- tlemen; James Callanan and C. H. Gatch of Des Moines, Gov. John H. Gear, M. C. McArthur and George Millard of Burlington, John Gibson, R. P. Smith and M. C. Beymer of Creston, J. W. McDill of Afton, E. S. Jennison of Chicago, Wm. Hale and George A. Bailey of Glenwood, and John H. Shaw of Del Norte. Wm. B. Rich of New York is the superintendent.
The Glenwood Telephone Exchange company is an incorporation under the general laws of Iowa, organized February 5, 1880, with D. L.
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