USA > Iowa > Muscatine County > History of Muscatine County, Iowa, from the earliest settlements to the present time, Volume I > Part 5
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COLLEGE FOR THE BLIND.
In 1852 Professor Samuel Bacon, himself blind, established a school for the instruction of the blind at Keokuk. He was the first person in the state to agi- tate a public institution for the blind, and in 1853 the institute was adopted by the legislature, by statute, approved January 18, 1853, and removed to Iowa City. During his first term twenty-three pupils were admitted. Professor Bacon was a fine scholar, an economical manager and in every way adapted to his position. During his administration the institution was in a great measure self-supporting by the sale of articles of manufacture by the blind pupils. There was also a charge of twenty-five dollars as an admission fee for each pupil. In 1858 the citizens of Vinton, Benton county, donated a quarter section of land and $5,000 for the establishment of the asylum at that place. May 8th of the same year the trustees met at Vinton and made arrangements for securing the donation and adopted a plan for the erection of a suitable building. In 1860 the contract for the building was let for $10,420, and in August, 1862, the goods and furniture were removed from Iowa City to Vinton, and in the fall of the same year the school was opened with twenty-four pupils. There is a regular appropriation of twenty-two dollars per capita per month for nine months of each year to cover support and maintenance. The school term be- gins on the first Wednesday in September and usually ends about the first of June. They may be admitted at any time and are at liberty to go home at any time their parents may send for them. The department of music is supplied with a large number of pianos, one pipe organ, several cabinet organs, and a
CITY HALL AS IT APPEARED IN 1877
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sufficient number of violins, guitars, bass viols and brass instruments. Every pupil capable of receiving it is given a complete course in this department. In the industrial department the girls are required to learn knitting, crocheting, fancy work, hand and machine sewing; the boys, netting, broom making, mat- tress making and cane seating. Those of either sex who desire may learn car- pet weaving.
HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE.
The hospital for the insane was established by an act of the legislature, Jan- uary 24, 1855. The location for the institution was selected at Mt. Pleasant, Henry county, and $500,000 appropriated for the buildings, which were com- menced in October of that year. One hundred patients were admitted within three months after it was opened. The legislature of 1867-68 provided measures for an additional hospital for the insane, and an appropriation of $125,000 was made for the purpose. Independence was selected by the commissioners as the most desirable location and 320 acres were secured one mile from the town on the west side of the Wapsipinicon river and about a mile from its banks. The hospital was opened May 1, 1873. The amount allowed for the support of these institutions is twelve dollars per month for each patient. All expenses of the hospital except for special purposes are paid from the sum so named, and the amount is charged to the counties from which the patients are sent.
SOLDIERS' ORPHANS' HOME.
The Soldiers' Orphans' Home is located at Davenport and was originated by Mrs. Anne Whittenmeyer, during the late rebellion of the states. This noble hearted woman called a convention at Muscatine, September 7, 1863, for the purpose of devising means for the education and support of the orphan children of Iowa whose fathers had lost their lives in the defense of their country's honor. The public interest in the movement was so great that all parts of the state were largely represented and an association was organized called the Iowa State Orphan Asylum. The first meeting of the trustees was held February 14, 1864, at Des Moines, when Governor Kirkwood suggested that a home for dis- abled soldiers should be connected with the asylum, and arrangements were made for collecting funds. 'At the next meeting in Davenport the following month, a committee was appointed to lease a suitable building, solicit donations and pro- cure suitable furniture. This committee obtained a large brick building in Law- rence, Van Buren county, and engaged Mr. Fuller at Mt. Pleasant as steward. The work of preparation was conducted so vigorously that July 13th following, the executive committee announced it was ready to receive children. Within three weeks twenty-one were admitted and in a little more than six months seventy were in the home. The home was sustained by voluntary contribu- tions until 1866, when it was taken charge of by the state. The legislature ap- propriated ten dollars per month for each orphan actually supported and pro- vided for the establishment of three homes. The one in Cedar Falls was or- ganized in 1865. An old hotel building was fitted up for it and by the following January there were ninety-six inmates. In October, 1869, the home was re- Vol. I-3
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moved to a large brick building about two miles west of Cedar Falls and was very prosperous for several years but in 1876 the legislature devoted this build- ing to the State Normal School. The same year the legislature also devoted the buildings and grounds of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home, at Glenwood, Mills . county, to an institution for the support of feeble minded children. It also pro- vided for the removal of the soldiers' orphans at Glenwood and Cedar Falls homes to the one located at Davenport. There is in connection with this insti- tution a school building, pleasant, commodious and well lighted, and it is the policy of the board to have the course of instruction of a high standard. A kindergarten is operated for the very young pupils. The age limit to which children are kept in the home is sixteen years. Fewer than twenty per cent remain to the age limit. A library of well selected juvenile literature is a source of pleasure and profitable entertainment to the children, as from necessity their pleasures and pastimes are somewhat limited. It is the aim to provide the children with plenty of good, comfortable clothing, and to teach them to take good care of the same. Their clothing is all manufactured at the home, the large girls assisting in the work. The table is well supplied with a good variety of plain, wholesome food and a reasonable amount of luxuries. The home is now supported by a regular appropriation of twelve dollars per month for each inmate, and the actual transportation charges of the inmates to and from the in- stitution. Each county is liable to the state for the support of its children to the extent of six dollars per month, except soldiers' orphans, who are cared for at the expense of the state.
FEEBLE MINDED CHILDREN.
An act of the general assembly, approved March 17, 1878, provided for the establishment of an asylum for feeble minded children at Glenwood, Mills county, and the buildings and grounds of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home were taken for that purpose. The asylum was placed under the management of three trustees, one of whom should be a resident of Mills county. The institution was opened September 1, 1876. By November, 1877, the number of pupils was eighty-seven. The purpose of this institution is to provide special methods of training for that class of children deficient in mind or marked with such peculiari- ties as to deprive them of the benefits and privileges provided for children with normal faculties. The object is to make the child as nearly self supporting as practicable and to approach as nearly as possible the movements and actions of normal people. It further aims to provide a home for those who are not sus- ceptible of mental culture, relying wholly on others to supply their simple wants.
INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS.
The industrial school for boys is established at Eldora. By act, approved March 31, 1868, the general assembly established a reform school at Salem, Henry county, and provided for a board of trustees from each congressional district. The trustees immediately leased the property of the Iowa Manual Labor Institute, and October 7th following, the school received its first inmate.
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The law at first provided for the admission of both sexes under eighteen years of age. The trustees were directed to organize a separate school for girls. In 1872 the school for boys was permanently located at Eldora, Hardin county, and some time later the one for girls was established at Mitchellville. There is ap- propriated for these schools and their support the sum of thirteen dollars monthly for each boy, and sixteen dollars monthly for each girl inmate. The object of the institution is the reformation of juvenile delinquents. It is not a prison. It is a compulsory educational institution. It is a school where way- ward and criminal boys and girls are brought under the influence of Christian instructors and taught by example as well as precept the better ways of life. It is a training school, where the moral, intellectual and industrial education of the child is carried on at one and the same time.
PENAL INSTITUTIONS. 1131931
The governor, by an act approved January 25, 1839, was authorized to draw the sum of twenty thousand dollars, appropriated by an act of congress in 1838, for public buildings in the territory of Iowa and establish a state penal institu- tion. The act provided for a board of directors, consisting of three persons, to be elected by the legislature, who should superintend the building of a peni- tentiary to be located within a mile of the public square in the town of Fort Madison, Lee county, provided that the latter deeded a suitable tract of land for the purpose, also a spring or stream of water for the use of the peniten- tiary. The citizens of Fort Madison executed a deed of ten acres of land for the building. The work was soon entered upon and the main building and the warden's house were completed in the fall of 1841. It continued to meet with additions and improvements until the arrangements were all completed accord- ing to the designs of the directors. The labor of the convicts is let out to con- tractors, who pay the state a stipulated sum for services rendered, the state furnishing shops and necessary supervision in preserving order. The Iowa Farming Tool Company and the Fort Madison Chair Company are the present contractors.
PENITENTIARY AT ANAMOSA.
The first steps toward the erection of a penitentiary at Anamosa, Jones county, were taken in 1872, and by an act of the general assembly, approved April 23, 1884, three commissioners were selected to construct and control prison buildings. They met on the 4th of June, following, and chose a site do- nated by the citizens of Anamosa. Work on the building was commenced Sep- tember 28, 1872. In 1873 a number of prisoners were transferred from the Fort Madison prison to Anamosa. The labor of the convicts at this peniten- tiary is employed in the erection and completion of the buildings. The labor of a small number is let to the American Cooperage Company. This institution
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has a well equipped department for female prisoners, also a department for the care of the criminal insane.
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
A state historical society in connection with the university was provided for by act of the general assembly, January 25, 1857. At the commencement an appropriation of two hundred and fifty dollars was made, to be expended in collecting and preserving a library of books, pamphlets, papers, paintings and other materials illustrative of the history of Iowa. There was appropriated five hundred dollars per annum to maintain this society. Since its organization the society has published three different quarterly magazines. From 1863 to 1874 it published the Annals of Iowa, twelve volumes, now called the first series. From 1885 to 1902, it published the Iowa Historical Record, eighteen volumes. From 1903 to 1907, the society has published the Iowa Journal of History and Politics, now in its fifth volume. Numerous special publications have been issued by the society, the most important of which are the Messages and Proc- lamations of the Governors of Iowa, in seven volumes, the Executive Journal of Iowa, 1838-1843, and the Lucas Journal of the War of 1812.
IOWA SOLDIERS' HOME.
The Iowa Soldiers' Home was built and occupied in 1888, at Marshalltown. The first year it had one hundred and forty inmates. In 1907 there were seven hundred and ninety-four inmates, including one hundred and twelve women. The United States government pays to the state of Iowa the sum of one hun- dred dollars per year for each inmate of the soldiers' home who served in any war in which the United States was engaged, which amount is used as part of the support fund of the institution. Persons who have property or means for their support, or who drew a pension sufficient therefor, will not be admitted to the home, and if after admission an inmate of the home shall receive a pension or other means sufficient for his support, or shall recover his health so as to enable him to support himself, he will be discharged from the home. Regu- lar appropriation by the state is fourteen dollars per month for each member and ten dollars per month for each employe not a member of the home.
OTHER STATE INSTITUTIONS.
There are at Clarinda and Cherokee state hospitals for the insane and one at Knoxville for the inebriate.
It is strange but true, that in the great state of Iowa, with more than sixty per cent of her population engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock-raising, it was not until the year 1900 that a department of the state government was cre- ated in the interests of, and for the promotion of agriculture, animal industry, horticulture, manufactures, etc. The Iowa department of agriculture was cre- ated by an act of the twenty-eighth general assembly. In 1892 the Iowa Geological Survey was established and the law which provided therefor outlined
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its work to be that of making "a complete survey of the natural resources of the state in the natural and scientific aspects, including the determination of the characteristics of the various formations and the investigation of the dif- ferent ores, coal, clays, building stones and other useful materials." It is in- tended to cooperate with the United States Geological Survey in the making of topographical maps and those parts of the state whose coal resources make such maps particularly desirable and useful. The State Agricultural Society is one of the great promoters of the welfare of the people. The society holds an annual fair which has occurred at Des Moines since 1878. At its meetings sub- jects of the highest interest and value are discussed, and these proceedings are published at the expense of the state.
THE CELEBRATION OF THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONSTITUTION OF IOWA.
BY JOHN C. PARRISH.
In the year 1907 the state of Iowa closed the first half century of existence under the constitution of 1857. In April, 1906, the general assembly, looking forward to the suitable celebration of so important an anniversary, passed an act appropriating seven hundred and fifty dollars to be used by the State His- torical Society of Iowa, in a commemmoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the constitution of 1857. It was eminently desirable that the celebration should occur at Iowa City, for it was at that place, then the capital of the state, that the constitutional convention of 1857 was held. And it was particularly fitting that the exercises should be placed under the auspices of the State Historical Society of Iowa, for the same year, 1857, marks the birth of the society. While the convention was drafting the fundamental law of the state in a room on the lower floor of the Old Stone Capitol, the sixth general assembly in the legislative halls upstairs in the same building passed an act providing for the organization of a State Historical Society. Thus the event of 1907 became a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the State Historical Society as well as a commemora- tion of the semi-centennial of the constitution of 1857.
In due time plans were matured for a program covering four days, beginning on Tuesday, March 19, and closing on Friday, March 22, 1907. It consisted of addresses by men of prominent reputation in constitutional and historical lines, together with conferences on state historical subjects. On Tuesday even- ing Professor Andrew C. McLaughlin, of Chicago University, delivered an ad- dress upon "A Written Constitution in Some of its Historical Aspects." He. dwelt in a scholarly way upon the growth of written constitution, showing the lines along which their historical development has progressed.
The speaker of Wednesday was Professor Eugene Wambaugh, of the Har- vard Law School, one of the leading authorities in the country upon questions of constitutional law and formerly a member of the faculty of the college of law of the University of Iowa. Professor Wambaugh, taking for his subject The Relation Between General History and the History of Law, outlined the history
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of the long rivalry between the civil law of Rome and the common law in their struggle for supremacy, both in the old world and the new. In closing, he re- ferred to the constitution of Iowa as typical of the efforts of the American people to embody in fixed form the principles of right and justice.
Thursday morning was given over to a conference on the teaching of history. Professor Isaac A. Loos, of the State University of Iowa, presided, and mem- bers of the faculties of a number of the colleges and high schools of the state were present and participated in the program. In the afternoon the conference of historical societies convened, Dr. F. E. Horack, of the State Historical So- ciety of Iowa, presiding. Reports were read from the historical department at Des Moines and from nearly all of the local historical societies of the state. Methods and policies were discussed and much enthusiasm was aroused looking toward the better preservation of the valuable materials of local history.
The history of the Mississippi valley is replete with events of romantic inter- est. From the time of the early French voyagers and explorers, who paddled down the waters of the tributaries from the north, down to the days of the sturdy pioneers of Anglo Saxon blood, who squatted upon the fertile soil and staked out their claims on the prairies, there attaches an interest that is scarcely equaled in the annals of America. On Thursday evening, Dr. Reuben Gold- thwaites, superintendent of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, delivered an address upon "The Romance of Mississippi Valley History." He traced the lines of exploration and immigration from the northeast and east and drew in- teresting pictures of the activities in the great river valley when the land was young and the ways full of wonder to the pioneer adventurer.
Friday's program closed the session. On this day Governor Albert B. Cum- mins attended and participated in the celebration. At the university armory before a large gathering, he spoke briefly on the constitution of the United States, paying it high tribute and at the same time showing the need of amend- ment to fit present day needs. He then introduced Judge Emlin McClain, of the supreme court of Iowa, who delivered the principal address of the day. Judge McClain took for his subject "The Constitutional Convention and the Issues Before It." He told of that memorable gathering at the Old Stone Capitol in Iowa City fifty years ago when thirty-six men met in the supreme court room to draft the fundamental law for the commonwealth.
The members of the convention of 1857 were from various occupations. The representatives of the legal profession led in numbers with fourteen mem- bers, among whom were many men of prominence. William Penn Clarke, Ed- ward Johnstone and J. C. Hall were there. James F. Wilson, afterward so prominent in national politics, was a member, then only twenty-eight years of age. J. C. Hall was the only delegate who had served in either of the preceding constitutional conventions of the state, having represented Henry county in the convention of 1844. There were twelve farmers in the convention of 1857- rugged types of those men who settled upon land and built into the early history of the state its elements of enduring strength. Among the remaining members were merchants, bankers and various other tradesmen. They were a represen- tative group of men and they attacked the problems before them with charac- teristic pioneer vigor.
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The convention of 1857 chose for its presiding officer, Francis Springer, an able farmer and lawyer from Louisa county. Many were the discussions that stirred the convention. One of the first was over the proposition to move the convention bodily to Dubuque or to Davenport. The town of Iowa City it seems had not provided satisfactory accommodations for the delegates, and for hours the members gave vent to their displeasure and argued the question of a removal. But inertia won and the convention finally decided to remain in Iowa City and settled down to the discussion of more serious matters.
The constitution of 1846 had prohibited banking corporations in the state. But there was strong agitation for a change in this respect, and so the conven- tion of 1857 provided for both a state bank and for a system of free banks. The matter of corporations was a prominent one before the convention. So also was the question of the status of the negro. The issues were taken up with fairness and argued upon their merits. The convention was republican in the proportion of twenty-one to fifteen. The delegates had been elected upon a party basis. Yet they did not allow partisanship to control their actions as members of a constituent assembly. On the 19th of January they had come together and for a month and a half they remained in session. They adjourned March 5th and dispersed to their homes.
That the members of the convention did their work well is evidenced by the fact that in the fifty years that have followed only four times has the constitu- tion of 1857 been amended. Nor did these amendments embody changes, the need of which the men of 1857 could have well foreseen. The first two changes in the fundamental law were due to the changed status of the negro as a result of the Civil war. In 1882 the prohibitory amendment was passed, but it was soon declared null by the supreme court of Iowa because of technicalities in its submission to the people and so did not become a part of the constitution. The amendments of 1884 were concerned largely with judicial matters, and those of 1904 provided for biennial election and increased the number of members of the house of representatives.
With these changes the work of the constitutional convention of 1857 has come down to us. Fifty years have passed and twice has the convention been the subject of a celebration. In 1882, after a quarter of a century, the surviv- ing members met at Des Moines. Francis Springer, then an old man, was pres- ent and presided at the meeting. Out of the original thirty-six members, only twenty responded to the roll call. Eight other members were alive but were unable to attend. The remainder had given way to the inevitable reaper. This was in 1882. In 1907 occurred the second celebration. This time it was not a reunion of the members of the convention, for only one survivor appeared on the scene. It was rather a commemoration of the fiftieth birthday of the con- stitution of the state. Only one member of the convention, John H. Peters, of Manchester, Iowa, is reported to be now living.
The celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of our funda- mental law was marked by a unique feature. There were present and partici- pated in the program three aged pioneers of the state, a survivor of each of the three constitutional conventions. These three conventions met in 1857, in 1846 and 1844 respectively, fifty, sixty-one and sixty-three years ago. On the open-
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ing day of the celebration, J. Scott Richman appeared upon the scene. Sixty- one years ago he had come to Iowa City as a delegate of the convention of 1846. Eighty-eight years old, with patriarchal beard and slow step, he came as the only living member of the convention that framed the constitution under which Iowa entered the Union. On Thursday there came from Marion, Samuel Dur- ham, a tall pioneer ninety years of age, the sole survivor of Iowa's first consti- tutional convention-that of 1844. His memory ran back to the days of Iowa's first governor, Robert Lucas, for he had reached Iowa from Indiana in the year 1840. On the last day of the program these two old constitution makers of 1844 and 1846 were joined by a third, John H. Peters, who had come from Delaware county as a member of the last constitutional convention of fifty years ago. They sat down together at the luncheon on Friday noon and responded to toasts with words that took the hearers back to the days when Iowa was the last stopping place of the immigrant.
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