USA > Iowa > Henry County > The history of Henry county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 51
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101
Number of uograded schools
7.77
Average number of months taught.
76
Number of male teachers employed.
165
Number of female teachers employed.
$35 54
Average compensation per month, males.
26 85
Average compensation per month. females.
4,123
Number of pupils between the ages of 5 and 21 in the county, males ...
4,055
Females
434
HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
Total number enrolled in county
6,638
Average cost of tuition per month for each pupil.
.96
Number of frame schoolhouses
78
Number of brick schoolhouses.
29
Number of stone schoolhouses
1
Value of apparatus
$727
Number of volumes in libraries. 6,644 Total amount of money received from all sources for school purposes ... $11,793 53
Paid for schoolhouses and sites
7,719 97
Paid for library and apparatus
41 00
THE INSANE ASYLUM.
Public attention was first directed to the necessity of providing a suitable hospital for the insane by the following sentences from the message of Gov. Grimes to the Fifth General Assembly, in 1855, which read : "The General Assembly cannot be too urgently called on to take immediate steps to establish State charitable institutions. According to the most reliable information, there are now more than one hundred pauper insane persons in the State. One-half of these are confined in the common jails, and are thus placed beyond a reason- able expectation of recovery. The other moiety are remaining at large, a ter- ror to their friends and neighbors, and by exposure to exciting causes, render- ing their disease hopelessly incurable. Every dictate of humanity, every prin- ciple of sound policy, demands that the State should make immediate provision for the care and treatment of this unfortunate class of fellow-citizens."
During the winter of 1854-55, while the Legislature was in session, Dr. D. L. McGugin visited the capital, and in a public lecture urged an appropria- tion in accordance with the suggestions of the Governor. Moved by the appeals of philanthropic persons, the Legislature appointed a commission- Gov. Edward Johnson, of Lee County, and Dr. Charles S. Clark, of Henry County-and appropriated $50,000 toward the measure. The Commissioners held their first meeting on the 15th day of March, 1855, and a good start was made.
The sixth section of an " Act to establish a State Insane Asylum," pro- vided that "the cost of the building contemplated by this act shall not exceed $50,000; but, it is advised that the plan determined on by the Board should be one that may admit of future enlargement."
On the 17th of March, 1855, the valuable tract of land, now occupied by the Asylum in Mount Pleasant, containing 123 acres, was purchased for $25 per acre.
As authorized by the act, the Commissioners proceeded to visit the best hospitals and asylums in other States, and also procured a plan from Dr. Bell, of the McLean Asylum, at Somerville, Mass., which was afterward substan- tially followed in erecting the hospital. The information obtained by them during their visits, led them to abandon, as unwise, the project of erecting for $50,000 an edifice which would be incomplete and soon insufficient. The united voice of the Superintendents of hospitals was strongly against such a proceed- ure, and the Commissioners determined to erect a building, complete, capacious and on the best plans-relying for support and justification upon the liberality, intelligence and humanity of the people and of the Legislature. " This reli- ance," says a writer, " was not misplaced."
Henry Winslow, for some time connected with the Maine Insane Hospital, was appointed to superintend the building. He entered upon his duties on October 22, 1855. The first patient was admitted on February 27, 1861. The hospital was formally opened on the 6th of March of the same year.
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435
HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
The hospital cost over $400,000. The building is of the Elizabethan style of architecture, consists of a stately central structure and wings on either side, tastefully grouped in the quadrangular forms. The central portion is four stories high, and all the other parts three stories high above the basements. The walls are all of solid cut-stone masonry, lined on the inner side with brick.
In the central building, which is 90x60 feet, and four stories high, are the public offices of the Superintendent and his assistants, the Stewards, and the private rooms of all resident officials. It also has a rotunda 49x57 feet, in which is a splendid double stairway reaching to the top. It is surmounted by a beautiful tower, the top of which is 137 feet from the ground. The six wings, three on either side, are for the special use of patients, and are each respect- ively 114, 151 and 131 feet in length by 40 feet in width, all three stories high above the basements. They are agreeably diversified by bay-windows, projec- tions and recesses, and give an entire front of 512 feet. Two cupolas rise 90 feet from the ground over these wings, and serve a practical use as ventilators as well as ornaments. At the extreme end of these wings are return-wings, each 131x40 feet, giving the structure its quadrangular form. Also, there is one central wing, extending from the rear of the central building, 115 feet deep and three stories high, the basement and first stories of which are used as kitchen, bakery, dining-rooms, store-rooms and domestic offices. The second and third stories are occupied as a chapel, 38x50, with 20-feet ceiling. In the rear of this are situated the lodging-rooms of the domestics.
In each story of the lateral wing, where are located the apartments of the patients, are placed and always kept, 240 feet, or, in the aggregate, 720 of water-hose, always attached to the water-pipes, to subdue fire in case of its occurrence, and, for the same purpose, 6 iron pipes, 14 inches in diameter, open into the attics at various points.
The lateral wings contain 220 single rooms for patients, size 8x12 feet ; 18 associated dormitories, 18x24; 18 parlors, 16x24; 18 dining-rooms, 12x112; 24 bathing-rooms for patients ; 25 water-closets ; 25 wash-rooms with enameled iron sinks, and 78 clothes closets.
There are 425 rooms, great and small, exclusive of basement rooms. The building contains 1,100 windows and 900 doors. It requires 120,000 feet of galvanized iron sheeting to cover the roof. In the basement is a railroad one- eighth of a mile in length, with iron rail, upon which a hand-car carries food from the central kitchen to dumb waiters beneath all the dining-rooms.
The entire establishment is warmed by steam ; and all machinery for elevat- ing water, for forced ventilation, for washing and wringing clothes, is driven by steam-power. Steam is liberally used for baths and cooking. There are galvanized iron pipes running to every part of the building. There are 70,000 feet, or 13} miles, of iron pipe connected with the warming, lighting and watering of the building.
For a time, the building was lighted by gasoline, but later, gas-mains were laid from the city works to the hospital.
The hospital building stands one-half mile from the main or public avenue. A fine stone walk was commenced in 1878, leading from the avenue to the Asylum.
The hospital farm contains nearly four hundred acres of fertile land, and is the source of the principal necessaries used upon the tables of the asylum, although some purchasing has to be done to make up the deficiency. The farm supplies the stock with food.
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436
HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
The first officers of the hospital were these: Commissioners, Hon. James W. Grimes, Hon. Edward Johnstone, Hon. Ralph P. Lowe, Dr. Charles S. Clark, Hon. Samuel J., Kirkwood, W. H. Postlewaite; Treasurer, Presley. Saunders ; Clerk, M. L. Edwards ; Trustees, Harpin Riggs, Samuel McFar- land, D. L. McGngin, J. D. Elbert, Joseph M. Merrill, John B. Lash, Lincoln Clark, Timothy Stearns, G. W. Kincaid, Thomas Hedge; Superintendent, R. J. Patterson, M. D .; Assistant Physician. D. C. Dewey, M. D .; Stewards, Henry Winslow, George Josselyn ; Matrons, Mrs. Catherine Winslow, Mrs. Anna B. Josselyn.
Of all the reports made by the Trustees, probably none are more interesting than the third one. It is as follows:
"The act for the incorporation and government of the hospital for the Insane, appointed seven Trustees, two for two years, two for four years and three for six years. The longest term, six years, has not elapsed, yet in this brief space, four of the seven have died-Col. Samuel McFarland, Dr. John D. Elbert, Dr. D. L. McGugin and Mr. Harpin Riggs. The survivors feel with deep sensibility this fatal and admonitory incursion of death into their narrow circle; they participate in the grief of the bereaved families of their late associates, and they lament the loss sustained by Iowa of so many citizens whose virtues pointed them out for selection for the work of putting in opera- tion this greatest of the charitable institutions of the State. They cannot refrain from paying some tribute, slight indeed, to the memory and worth of their departed colleagues. Col. McFarland was the youngest member of the Board, yet he had attained the foremost rank among the legislators and politicians of the State. He was the author of the law under which we are now acting, and prepared the code of by-laws by which the institution is now governed. No member of the Board had more weight or influence than he. When his country sum- moned him to arms, he obeyed her voice with alacrity, and led his regiment to the field of battle, where he fell gallantly fighting at its head.
"Dr. Elbert was a pioneer in the settlement of the State; he had been a member of the Territorial Legislature, and President of the Council. His generosity, kindness of disposition, and his public spirit made him a suitable guardian of an institution of charity; and his cordial good humor made him an agreeable companion in every circle.
"Dr. McGugin occupied the highest rank as a physician, and he devoted his fine talents with zeal to the advancement of medical science and to the improvement of medical education. He gave the first impulse to the move- ment which resulted in the establishment of this magnificent institution. He made a journey in the winter to the capital of the State, to deliver an address before the Legislature, on the necessity of erecting a hospital for the insane.
"Mr. Riggs was a man of practical and solid sense, and remarka ble capac- ity for the transaction of business. The city of Mount Pleasant and the county of Henry had employed him in various responsible offices, the duties of which he discharged with exemplary fidelity. It was fortunate for the county to have a citizen so upright and so gifted, and it was creditable to the people to employ him in their service."
On the 18th day of April, 1876, the rear building of the hospital was burned. From a report made by the Trustees, on October 18, 1877, which re- port was addressed to His Excellency, Joshua G. Newbold, Governor of Iowa, the following is an extract:
"The burning of the engine-house of the hospital was a calamity unfore- seen and of course unprovided for. It placed upon the Board of Trustees
437
HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
what they felt to be a grave responsibility, and which would admit of no evasion, but must be met. The boilers, engines and machinery, were either destroyed or left without an inclosure or covering. They felt that there was but one course to pursue, and that was to rebuild. It was not a matter of convenience, but of absolute necessity. The erection of a temporary structure was canvassed and rejected, as being impossible to meet the indispensable wants of the hospital during the winter season, as well as being a useless expenditure of money, and as endangering the entire institution. After mature consider- ation, and advising with Gov. Kirkwood and other State officers, it was determined to proceed at once to rebuild in a substantial manner, leaving the building unfinished, except so far as necessary to finish, to meet the immediate pressing needs of the hospital. The Superintendent, assisted by Mr. George Josselyn, who had superintended the building of the Hospital at Independence, prepared plans which were approved by the Board ; and the work proceeded under the personal supervision of the Superintendent, who consented to assume that great addition to his duties and responsibilities ; and there has been ex- pended the sum of $32,046.43, the details of which are appended to this report. A considerable amount of the sum was not expended upon the build- ing, but was for replacing and repairing machinery destroyed and damaged, and other items. It is believed that for economy in building, strength and durability, as well as for convenience and safety, this structure will compare favorably with any public work in the State. To complete, it will require an expenditure of $5,500. The estimates for proper hospital accommodations, were over $39,000."
From the Superintendent's last annual report we take such paragraphs as are interesting in a double sense. A portion of the quoted remarks are histor- ical and a portion suggestive. The latter will be found of a character introduc- tory to that statistical matter which is given further on in this chapter. The suggestions of Superintendent Mark Ranney commend themselves to every benevolent and thoughtful mind.
" In presenting to you the Ninth Biennial Report of this hospital, I feel I may say, while some obstacles have arisen in our path, and we have met with some discouragements on the way, a fair degree of success has attended our best efforts to make the period a prosperous one in general. The obstacles and dis- couragements have been in part the same that I have remarked upon in former reports-the uncomfortable overcrowding of the hospital and the lack of facil- ities for treating or properly caring for so large a number-amounting to, at the close of this period of twenty three months, 608 persons-a number represent- ing more than twice the capacity of the hospital. Still, we have got along with- out any serious accident or epidemic, though constantly exposed to both, for which immunity some credit may be fairly claimed to be due to all who have had the care of patients, in the watchfulness that has prevented collisions and violence, and the high degree of cleanliness that has been maintained, so neces- sary to preserve health. Another obstacle, and one that added much to the cares and perplexities inseparable from the management of a large and crowded hospital, one that has caused much anxious thought, was the occurrence of a destructive fire, to which all institutions of the kind seem peculiarly liable. On the afternoon of the 18th of April, 1876, a fire was discovered by one of the patients upon the roof of the original engine-house, over the ironing and drying- rooms, near the bell-tower and the ducts through which air was supplied to the ventilating fan. How the fire originated is not known, but if it was not an incendiary' work, it must have taken from a spark from the ironing-stove
438
HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
chimney, some twenty-five feet distant, though there had been no fire in the ironing-stove for three or four hours. This building was forty feet distant from the principal rear and main center building. * * *
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"The roof was shingle, and many partition walls and all the floors were wood, and no brick partition wall afforded any protection against the spread of fire. By reason of its uses it was very dry and in a condition favoring rapid combustion. The alarm was promptly given, but the fire, apparently small at first, quickly burned through the roof into the attic, and involved the bell-tower and assumed formidable proportions. The wind was fresh from S. S. E., blow- ing sparks and burning cinders in the direction of the rear and main center buildings and the wing occupied by the female patients, while the fire tended strongly to spread in the same direction. Fortunately the firemen had a good head of steam, and hose being quickly attached to the Niagara and Worthing- ton pumps, but a few minutes elapsed till two strong streams of water were playing on the fire. For a half-hour or thereabouts it seemed as if the fire would overcome all efforts to control it, reach the main building and end only in the destruction of the whole or greater part of the edifice; but, thanks to the whole corps of employes, some of whom worked heroically to stay the fire, while others rendered scarcely less efficient aid in other spheres, the fire was subdued at the point where it endangered the main building and the female wing before it had reached the pump-room and rendered them useless ; after which efforts were chiefly confined to saving what could be saved, while the remainder of the building burned down rapidly. The engineer filled his boilers and let off steam, to which foresight is due the fact that the boilers, exposed to the greatest heat of the fire, came out but little injured. One pump was also but little injured, and so we were able with slight repairs to the jacket of one boiler and the least injured pump, to have steam and water again in forty-eight hours after the breaking-out of the fire. There was, of course, for a time, a state of consternation among portions of the female patients, which was happily kept subdued by the judicious exertions of the doctor's assistant and the female supervisor, efficiently aided by the attendants. * * * * *
" As no biennial period has yet passed without the occurrence of some unfore- seen contingency, and the necessity for the expenditure of a sum or sums that ought not to be drawn out of current expense funds, I would recommend that $2,000 be appropriated for such purposes.
"It is possible some may think the foregoing recommendations uncalled for and extravagant, but to think so is to be not well informed of what is really necessary to equip and conduct a hospital for the insane in such a manner as to merit and command the approval of the public. Something more is required to properly treat and suitably care for the insane than simply to live. If this were otherwise, if insanity were only a bodily disease, to be grappled with as most other diseases are by members of the profession at large, requiring no extraordinary or peculiar care, the hospitals specially devoted to its treatment would be unnecessary, at least far less numerous, and even these of much re- duced capacity. But insanity differs from most other diseases. Not only is the brain involved and disordered in its action, but through it the mind also, ren- dering the individual generally incapable of management by the ordinary meth- ods applicable to the management of the sick. The insane person's own will and power of self-control being perverted or destroyed, the will of others must be substituted instead, and that often for months and years. It was long since
Mark Ronney, Th.D. MT. PLEASANT
439
HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
found by experience that generally the will or judgment of others than those of the patient's own household and kin could be beneficially substituted, and any needful restraint be more beneficially applied by strangers than by near friends ; that removal from the surroundings in the midst of which the nervous and men- tal disorder arose, and by which it might be kept active, to such as conduce to orderly habits and systematic ways of life is a necessary step for its most suc- cessful treatment ; that wide experience in the management of this as of some other diseases, gives rise to special skill that aids success, hence has arisen the modern hospital which has been multiplying all over the country ; and having been generally well managed have obtained a deservedly high reputation. These institutions and the sums necessary for their maintenance appear to be a costly burden when viewed in the concrete; and in a certain sense they are so, though the individual burden is small ; but they are a necessity nevertheless and must continue to exist, and must be supported till some other way can be devised and tried and found to be a better way. I have little faith to believe a much cheaper way is to be discovered, nor any very much better way outside of the general principles that form the organic basis upon which the present hospital system of the country rests. These institutions are not for the immediate present only, but for generations to come also. This and these institutions are not for pau- pers only, and their provisions and furnishings and general equipment should not be measured by what is considered simply necessary for the pauper class. For them, shelter, wholesome and plain food may be about all that is necessary -about all the public are called upon to afford. But pauperism and insanity are widely different, and require widely different means and appliances for their treatment and care. The pauper may become insane and the insane may be of the pauper class, and the concurrence of insanity and pauperism renders it nec- essary as a general rule that it shall have the treatment and care humanity and philanthropy demand for the insane as a class. But required as these hospitals are by the tax-paying portion of the community chiefly, they should be well and cheerfully supported and maintained to a standard satisfactory to all. Not one of the numerous tax-paying friends of the three thousand and more patients who have been treated in this hospital, or of the one.half or more of that num- ber who are or have been tax-payers, I believe, will say the scale of expenditure has been too liberal, or the means and appliances greater than have conduced to reasonable comfort and welfare. Nor will the thousands say so who in all proba- bility will receive shelter and treatment here during the period of a generation or two to come. The mental standing and equilibrium of all is insecure-the rich, the well-to-do, those contending with adversities and poverty yet possessed of high moral worth, and the paupers, are all alike liable to this dread affection, and the true spirit of philanthropy which regards all unfortunates as the " wards of the State," demands that they shall be cared for with no less than liberal economy.
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"For the fifth time, I believe, I feel it my duty to protest against the prac- tice of sending insane convicts to the hospital. We have now received all from the Penitentiary, and, with two or three exceptions, they have been vicious, violent or dangerous persons. They have delusions and hallucinations; all, or nearly all, are addicted to masturbation, and they are totally unfit to be asso- ciated with decent people. One was, in my opinion, a case of simulated insanity, and just before I was ready to ask that he be remanded to the Penitentiary, he broke out and escaped. And the last case was at least one of doubtful insanity, who has escaped while I am writing this report. One other, an unquestionably
II
440
HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
insane convict, escaped, and none of these elopers have been heard from. The hospital affords no barrier to their escape that they do not hold in derision, and personal vigilance is all that keeps them here over night. Considering the fact that these persons never get well, it would seem as if the attention we have to give them would be better bestowed upon worthier subjects. A ward or wards connected with the Penitentiary hospital should be prepared for them where they can be secure and receive all the medical and other attention they need; or else a separate building should be erected here for them, so they may be isolated from other patients. A plain, substantial brick structure could be built without great expense, and perhaps be on the whole the cheapest way for their proper disposal. If this suggestion should be adopted, this class could probably be provided for within a year, and probably earlier than in any other way. This method is to be preferred if it is felt that they should be under the super- vision of one of the Superintendents for the hospital for the insane; and in such an annex, those persons who are found insane by the courts, or are acquitted on the ground of insanity, and deemed improper persons to go at large, could be detained. Such a building should have all the necessary facili- ties for cooking, and be essentially a separate department.
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" Hospital life is not that almost solitary, monotonous, dreary or cheerless state or stage it has sometimes been pictured. If it has its dark and suffering shadows, as what severe illness has not ? It has its shades of lighter hues, also, and its periods of real enjoyment. Temper and temperaments of different individuals differ widely, and persons differ in their estimates of the ir personal experience here and in other hospitals, I suppose, as they differ in their temper and temperaments, or their estimates of anything else. The optimist and the pessimist are here found side by side, and neither, as usual, are quite right. While some stay with us cheerfully and willingly-even sometimes desiring to stay even longer than we feel it quite necessary to do, and thankfully acknowledge the benefit they have derived and the kindness they have received -others, with no more occasion for complaint, are dissatisfied with everything and grateful for nothing, and are chiefly occupied with schemes for obtaining their release or return home. And, unfortunately, they sometimes promulgate the grossest misrepresentations and misconceptions for solid truths. But for all those who will, there is a way for much enjoyment. In the suminer, the men who are capable and willing, have opportunity for light work on the farm and in the garden, or about the administrative department; and the women have opportunities for doing some work in the sewing or ironing 100m or in the kitchen. All classes are encouraged to assist in the general work of the wards. Some thus work in the forenoon and some in the afternoon ; some on one day and some on another. A large number engage more or less every week in cro- quet and base-ball. Walking parties of both sexes are abroad every pleasant day, and when it is unpleasant or inclement abroad, large numbers visit the greenhouse, to enjoy the exotic, tropical and rare foliage and bloom always to be found there. During the winter evenings, or the long evenings from Octo- ber to May, five or six each week are occupied with social gatherings or assemblies of some kind. On Monday, a social party of patients and their attendants in the officers' parlors ; Tuesday and Friday evenings are devoted to exhibitions with the magic lantern, and an explanatory lecture of views from most parts of the civilized world, of which we have a very good collection ; Wednesday evening is occupied with a social dance, which amusement is kept up most of the year round. On Thursday evening, is a meeting of the debat-
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