A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 50

Author: Rev. E. D. Daniels
Publication date: 1904
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1273

USA > Indiana > LaPorte County > A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana > Part 50

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The following are the officers of the institu- tion at the present writing :-

Board of Control-C. H. Bundy, Marion ; C. M. Kimbrough, Muncie; P. O'Brien, South Bend.

Officers-James D. Reid, warden; Frank Sewell, deputy warden; W. A. Garner, clerk; Dr. L. H. Streaker, prison physician; Rev. H. L. Henderson, chaplain.

For several years there was an institution in LaPorte called the Northern Indiana Orphans' Home, conducted by Mrs. Julia E. Work. It was -and still is, for it is still flourishing though moved to another county-a worthy example of this progressive age, and of what woman can do when she has the opportunity. Mrs. Work pos- sesses the qualities requisite for her work, being naturally kindhearted and sympathetic, but at the same time a woman of great native intelli- gence, enterprise, executive ability, and force of character. She was born in Plymouth, Indi- ana, November 12, 1845, coming into this busy world at a time well calculated to develop the best that was in her, and to combine the elements of her character into a well-balanced, useful woman. In the year 1879 she removed from Plymouth to Mishawaka, St. Joseph county, In- diana, where she organized the St. Joseph Coun- ty Orphans' Home, and became iis matron. In 1889 the name of the organizaton was changed to the Children's Aid Society, and Mrs. Work continued as general secretary of the same until March, 1891. At about that time sixteen gen- tlemen saw an opportunity to buy the Walker mansion, situated in east LaPorte, near the Lake Erie railroad, located on ten acres of ground de-

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lightfully situated, for $8,000. These sixteen men organized themselves into a company and bought the property, each taking a share of $500. Then the Northern Indiana Orphans' Home was organized, with Mrs. Julia E. Work as super- intendent, and the following executive board: Hon. E. H. Scott, president; Dr. George M. Dakin, first vice president ; Miss Mary Ethering- ton, second vice president ; Mrs. H. D. Morrison, treasurer, and George C. Dorland, secretary. Mrs. Work had become deeply interested in the work of child-saving, and after her years of faithful service at Mishawaka she entered into the work at LaPorte with vigor. Under a con- tract the company that had bought the property, rented it to Mrs. Work direct for an annual rental fee of $480, or six per cent. interest on the investment. Mrs. Work got the entire receipts of the home, paid the bills, and received no salary. Thus it was her own enterprise, to con- duct as she chose. Whatever profits there were, belonged to Mrs. Work. Like any other busi- ness, the larger it grew, the more profit there was in it. The Northern Indiana Orphan's Home was opened for business on the 7th of March, 1891, and up to 1893 had received two hundred and twenty-nine children, one hundred and forty-six of whom had been placed in perma- nent homes. Mrs. Work had contracts with twelve or more counties to take care of children committed to her charge. The method of con- tracting varied with different counties. Some counties paid her thirty-five cents per day for a certain period, and transportation ; others paid her a direct fee of $35 for taking each child, and transportation to the home. Both meth- ods amounted to practically the same thing. The books of the institution showed that no child was kept in the home longer than three months, except where specially ordered and paid for ; and in a number of instances Mrs. Work took the child directly from the county to its permanent future home, without taking it to the Orphan's Home at all. On an average, the stay of each child at the home was about two weeks. Under the contracts with some counties, all the orphan charges were received; while with others only sound-bodied charges were taken. In cases where feeble-minded children were received, they were paid for by the counties sending

them, and then Mrs. Work took them to the state institutions. Homes for orphans from this institution were found principally in states west of the Mississippi river, by agents acting for Mrs. Work. Those agents found homes for children, and then drew on Mrs. Work to fill the orders, and were paid a regular commission for their services. The majority of the children were under five years of age, and in view of the cause in which Mrs. Work was engaged, the railroad corporations were liberal to her, and transportation bills were not large. Parents had to sign a regular form when turning over their children, and the family receiving a child was required to sign an agreement, and furnish recommendations signed by three responsible citi- zens. Mrs. Work conducted the home on the theory that for every homeless child there is somewhere a childless home, that some agency is needed to bring the two together, and that she would be that agency. She held that home life is far better for a child than life in an asylum. In cases of illegitimate children, the curse of the parentage is lost among strangers, and op- portunity is given for the child to grow up a useful and respected citizen ; whereas if it were compelled to grow up where it was born, it could not rise above its disgrace. During one month thirty infants from New York were placed in homes in Rochester, Indiana, for the same reason that Indiana children are sent to Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska. On the same plan Mrs. Work held that Iowa children would do better in some other state. The Northern Indi- ana Orphan's Home was a model in every re- spect. The building was large, roomy, nicely furnished inside, and had splendid accommoda- tions for the children. The meals given them were good and wholesome, the beds were clean, and the sleeping apartments and sanitary ar- rangements all that could be desired. A short distance from the home, and on the grounds, the township trustee had an excellent schoolhouse built, which was maintained at the expense of the township, though used almost exclusively by the orphan children. That schoolhouse has since been moved away, but in those days it was an interesting place to visit, and numbers of La- Porte people used to go there and listen to the exercises of the children, especially on Christmas

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and other special occasions. A hospital, former- ly a school building, was on the grounds, and was used in isolating children having contagious diseases. Everything was provided for. In one sense of the word the home was not a charitable institution, but a private concern operated as private schools and similar enterprises are. But in view of the work it was doing, it was a chari- table institution in a larger sense than a private school is, and was so regarded.

The home grew to such proportions under the charge of Mrs. Work, and the children she was handling became so numerous, that she found it necessary to enlarge her accommoda- tions. Failing in her attempts to purchase the property she was occupying, at a figure which she thought was reasonable, she decided to leave the county. Owning a farm in Marshal county, near Plymouth, consisting of three hundred and sixty acres, she erected a building there suita- ble to her needs, called it Brightside, and moved the Northern Indiana Orphan's Home to that place on February 1, 1899, where it has remained and grown so remarkably that Mrs. Work has been compelled to add a new building every year. The buildings are lighted with electricity and have modern conveniences. That is the work this woman would have done if she had remained in LaPorte. It was an interesting sight when Mrs. Work took her school to church, as she was in the habit of doing every Sunday-interesting both to those who attended church and to those who saw them on the way. The children of the home ate food, and wore clothes and shoes and consumed other things, and when they were gone the grocers and butchers and merchants discovered that there was a vacancy. To take thirty or forty children away always does make a vacancy.

"This country is in need of wives that know the difference between biscuits and battenberg," declares Mrs. Work. "Too many of our modern young women lack the knowledge of practical housekeeping, and I am going to see that none of my girls go away from here without knowing how to do what a modern housewife should do. That is my idea of the wifely wife."

One of the most useful institutions of the county, belonging to this chapter, is the Ruth C. Sabin Home for elderly ladies, situated on

the southern outskirts of the city of LaPorte, on Michigan avenue. This institution was en- dowed by Mrs. Ruth C. Sabin, who contributed for that purpose $58,000, the same being the balance of her fortune after making other be- quests. The home was opened in the fall of 1889 and has been in operation since that time. It has accommodations for twenty-two inmates. When these notes were taken by the writer there were twenty-three inmates, one of the ladies con- senting to take a relative into her room for a short time until there was a vacancy. Several had made application for admission, which had been granted to three and they were waiting for vacancies. The home is built of brick, in a very thorough and substantial manner. It has elegant large high-posted rooms, spacious hallways and staircases and is heated by steam and kept at a pleasant temperature. It is cool in the summer and warm in the winter; an inmate of the home need not be sensible of the changes of tempera- ture without. The dining hall is large, well lighted and cheerful. The food is abundant, of the best quality, properly cooked, well served, and all the culinary arrangements are conven- ient, sanitary and kept scrupulously clean and neat. The best of medical attendance is pro- vided. The home has modern conveniences and protection from fire. An atmosphere of com- fort pervades the entire institution. A piano is in the upper reception room. In the winter, plants grow and bloom in the spacious halls, and creeping vines hang in festoons down the central court. In the summer, flowers bloom and the lawn is green out of doors. Religious services are held at stated times in the great hallway, which are supervised by a committee of LaPorte ladies appointed for the purpose; and as the dif- ferent ministers of the city all respond cordially when called upon to officiate in those services, each inmate of the home is very likely occasion- ally to have the services of her own church. Be- sides this the inmates are free to attend the services of their own churches wherever and whenever they please, if able to do so; and if not, the carriage of the home serves them in this re- spect so far as it can be made to do so conven- iently.

The expense of conducting the home is $4,200 annually, or $350 per month, of which about one-

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third goes for help, another third for food, and $1,000 for her. One lady on becoming an in- mate gave the home her property, which was valued at $10,000. The home realized $9,000 out of it. In this way the home has been sustained. Out of the original $58,000 endowment, $26,000 was spent for the ground and buildings, and since that time over $40,000 has been spent for the care of the inmates. The endowment has in- creased $10,000, or from $58,000 to $68,000. The home has never asked assistance, it has never wanted for anything, and every year has added something to the permanent fund. The board of management are seeking to make it absolutely self-sustaining. They are as follows : the balance for other expenses. Any elderly lady of good moral character and habits, who is ac- cepted by the board of management, can become an inmate of the home for the rest of her natural life, by the payment of $500 at the time of her entrance and nothing afterwards. This amount however, does not cover the expense of caring for her. It is necessary to put $2,500 with it; or in other words it requires the interest of $3,- 000 to care for each inmate. But there are some who have not paid this amount. They are in every way worthy and nice people, deserving and needing the home and desirable for the home, and they have been received. As instances of Officers-Hart L. Weaver, president ; Martha B. Talmadge, vice president ; Elizabeth H. Wil- liams, secretary. this there are seven who all together did not pay over $400. A few special cases have been taken for nothing. How is this? How can the home Trustees-Mary R. Scott, Martha E. Tal- madge, Rachel Bowers, Ophelia Closser, Julia B. Kendall, Elizabeth H. Williams, Anna J. Crumpacker, Charles H. Truesdell, Julius Barnes, George L. McLain, William A. Martin, James H. Buck, Charles Bosserman, H. L. Weaver, William Niles. be sustained at this rate? Very easily ; and this is what has made the home a success. From the beginning it has been the policy of the manage- ment to make the home of such a high character and so desirable, that wealthy people would seek to become inmates and put their money into it. In several instances this has been the case. Even During the winter of 1900 a few sisters of the order of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ visited LaPorte with the object of locating a general hospital. Arrangements were later made to secure the frame building situated at the cor- ner of Second and E streets, and in March, 1900, six sisters of the order occupied the building and began refitting it for hospital purposes. Mrs. Sabin herself, who made the original be- quest, at first retained her own residence but finally gave it to Wabash College and went to the home and passed her days there. When the home was first orgnaized a committee visited similar homes in Chicago and elsewhere and ob- tained their methods, rules, etc., but it was soon found that the Ruth C. Sabin home could Previous to this time the building had been occupied by a private family and used as a boarding house. While the needs of radical structural changes were apparent in order to properly fit the building for hospital uses, few were made at first. The structure consisted of a ground floor with six rooms, a second story with seven rooms, a garret and cellar. The cellar had to be refitted with stationary tubs, stove, etc., for laundry purposes, while the garret was fitted up second stories were arranged for hospital wards, and living apartments for the sisters. Thus, as rapidly as possible, the building was transformed into a beginning hospital and its doors opened to the public. not be run successfully by applying a cast iron rule to every case, and that there must be some flexibility about it. This policy has saved the home. To become an inmate is so desirable that several ladies of some wealth made application. The reply was, "We can not take you because you have enough to take care of yourself." "But we want to come." "Well, then, if you who are more than able to pay the $500 admission to come into this home, you must make it possible . as a drying and storage room. The ground and for some special cases to come who can pay only a part of it, or none of it. In other words, you must put your money into the home." Accord- ingly several have done so. One lady paid $1,000; another paid $3,200 ; another paid $1,000 for herself, and $500 each for four more, and then brought a niece from a distance and paid

The first patient was admitted March 22, 1900. During April no patients were received,

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and until May 3 the institution existed with but one patient. The quota for the next six months was twenty-four.

It soon became apparent that the hospital facilities were inadequate and that more room was needed to meet the increasing demands upon the institution. Plans were instituted for chang- ing and rearranging the interior so as to increase the number of beds. With the financial aid of friends of the institution such changes were made as were thought would meet the demands for at least a year. A number of rooms were added and the capacity increased to twelve beds by crowd- ing. To do this necessitated the sisters fitting up the garret for their own sleeping quarters. These changes were made in October, 1900, and the anticipated increased demands are shown by the number of admissions during the second six months, which was forty-seven.

From the beginning of the year 1901, the capacity was taxed and still further enlarge- ment made necessary. Early in April the ad- joining property on E street was purchased and the house occupying the same moved and joined to the present hospital building, where it has been fitted into living rooms for the sisters who had previously been forced to occupy the garret.

The hospital grounds now occupy a quarter of a square, made into gardens and pleasure grounds for the patients.

Further plans were submitted and an exten- sion to the original building begun April Ist. The extension added seven rooms for patients, an operating room, physicians' room, anaesthetic and antiseptic rooms, a chapel, bath rooms and closets.

The hospital can care for twenty patients without serious crowding, has a complete modern operating room, and a diet kitchen separated from the hospital proper. The building is pro- vided with modern baths, and heated by hot water system. This hospital is a blessing to La- Porte. Among its patients have been num- bered far more Protestants than Catholics, which shows that it is not a bigoted concern; and a poor and needy patient unable to pay the usual fee, is not turned away. It is supported by vol- untary contributions, is doing the work of Christ, and is well worthy of support.

When approaching Michigan City via the

interurban street railroad, the first imposing building to come into view is the new St. An- thony Hospital. It is a fine-looking building and one of which Michigan City has every rea- son to be proud. The building is constructed of stone and brick, the foundation and first story being stone, and the rest brick. It is three stories high and has a large basement underneath and an attic. On the first floor are the doctor's room, drug store, twelve private rooms, one ward, a telephone room, two parlors, a linen room, a serve-kitchen, two toilet rooms, and two bath rooms. On the second floor there are. twenty- two private rooms, a serve-kitchen, a linen room, two toilet rooms, and two bath rooms. On the third floor there are seven private rooms, three wards, an operating department, with tile floor- ing, in the northwest quarter section, a chapel in the northeast quarter section, a linen room, serve- kitchen, two toilet rooms, and two bath rooms. A dumb-waiter connects the kitchen, which is in the basement, with the three serve-kitchens. In the basement there are, besides the large kitchen, the sisters' sewing room, and sisters' dining room. The hospital is not yet finished on the in- terior but will be completed about the middle of October, 1904, and will be able to accommodate about seventy-five beds. The building, it is cal- culated, will cost about $75,000. Father Blake- mann is the priest, and Father Miller is his as- sistant.

The corner stone of this hospital was laid October 1I, 1903, at 2 o'clock p. m. by Bishop Herman J. Alerding of the diocese of Fort Wayne. The ceremony was preceded by a parade of societies of the men of St. Mary's and St. Stanislaus parishes, clergy, city officials and guests.

After the bishop had blessed the corner stone and the Rev. John Bleckmann, pastor of St. Mary's church, had deposited the documents in the receptacle, the bishop spoke relative to the work of charity to be established in the city by the Sisters of St. Francis. Addresses were made by the Rev. E. M. Laycock, of Indianapolis ; M. T. Kruger, mayor of the city; the Rev. Richard Wurth, Lafayette, and the Rev. E. J. Wroebel, of Michigan City.

At the conclusion of the services the socie- ties escorted the bishop and clergy to St. Mary's

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Catholic church, where the ceremony was con- cluded with the solemn benediction and the Te Deum.

This hospital was erected and is sustained under the auspices of the Sisters of the Order of St. Francis, of Lafayette; though some of the wealthy people of Michigan City, who are not members of the Catholic church but identified elsewhere, subscribed very liberal sums for the purpose.

The law of 1901 authorizes the appointment of a board of six members in each county by the judge of the circuit court. The board shall have the care and supervision of neglected and depend- ent children under fifteen years of age, and shall have the power to take under its control any children abandoned, neglected or cruelly treated by their parents, children begging on the streets, children of habitually drunken or vicious and un- fit parents, children kept in vicious or immoral association, children known by their language and life to be vicious or incorrigible, juvenile delinquents and truants. The members of the board shall have the power, by leave of the cir- cuit court of the county, to commit such children to orphan asylums, or under order of the court, such children may be indentured as apprentices or be adopted without the consent of the parents of such child by the consent of the board filed in the circuit court ; or such children may be in any manner disposed of by said board as the circuit court, upon written petition may direct, provided that in committing children to the reform school for boys or to the industrial school for girls, the court shall be governed by the law regulating commitments to those institutions in very par- ticular.

A few years ago a petition was circulated, first in Michigan City and then in LaPorte, and the requisite number of signatures obtained, ac- cording to the statute, and Judge John C. Rich- ter of the circuit court appointed the County Board of Charities, of which until his recent re- moval to another pastorate, the Rev. R. H. Hart- ley, D. D., was chairman. This board has done a great deal of good in the ways above indi- cated. Before this board was organized, some of the good ladies of the county used to associate and of their own accord take such steps as seemed necessary in such cases; and several

young girls have thus been rescued and sent to Magdalen homes, or into other corrective and helpful associations. LaPorte county has done her duty in charities and corrections.

In the thirties, a few years after the organi- zation of the county, the commissioners made provision for an asylum for the poor. They pur- chased land and built a county poor house and from time. to time improved the possession as circumstances required. The poor farm origin- ally consisted of the southeast quarter of section twenty-two of Center township, the left hand lower corner of which extends into Pine lake. One of the men who served longest as superin- tendent of the county infirmary was Joseph M. Hoffman, who served sixteen years, having been selected by the county commissioners for that position in 1873. It is said that during his ad- ministration holidays were observed, and Sun- day services held regularly at the poor farm. The southern half of the poor farm was pur- chased by the Pine Lake Cemetery Association as stated in the preceding chapter. After this it was found that the farm was not adequate to the county's growing needs, and hence on February 7, 1886, the present county farm was purchased, which contains large tracts in sections three and ten of Scipio township. After a new and com- modious home had been erected for an infirmary, and other buildings had been provided, the poor and those who cared for them were removed to the new establishment, which has ever since been conducted successfully. Among the most satis- factory administrations was that of Mr. Con- cannon. The total cost of maintaining the poor farm for 1891 was $3,500. Besides this there is the township poor relief in which Michigan township in 1891 stood at the head, relieving 223 persons ; Center came next, relieving 197; then followed Kankakee with 20, New Durham with 13, Noble and Cass with II each, while those of the other townships were not as many as ten each. The total was 528. Considering popula- tion and everything, LaPorte county has little poverty as compared with many other counties. And this has been so from the beginning. The same industrial conditions, bringing poverty in their wake, have not prevailed here. The "slums" are not in the county, to any great ex- tent. In an early day, in Michigan City, the for-

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eign element was limited to a few Irish and Ger- man families. There was but little suffering from poverty. Even what existed was caused more by sickness or misfortune than anything else, and the needs of the sufferers were soon found out and relieved by those who were more fortunately situated. In December, 1848, a benevolent socie- ty was formed by the ladies of LaPorte, a fund was raised, and a committee appointed to make a canvass and discover those who were in need; but little poverty was found. In December, 1896, the writer enjoined his Sunday-school to come to their Christmas exercises not merely to receive presents but to give them. The result was that he had a chancel full of produce, cloth- ing, toys, etc., and some money. He resolved to place it all himself personally, that he might tell his Sunday-school about it. It took him four days of hard work. But he did not find much poverty. He found some suffering and want, in the cases of wives and children where the father was intemperate, but none from en- forced idleness. One instance which had been reported to him as one of the most needy cases,

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A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 50

Author: Rev. E. D. Daniels Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1273

Author: Rev. E. D. Daniels
Publication date: 1904
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1273