USA > Michigan > Kalamazoo County > Compendium of history and biography of Kalamazoo County, Mich. > Part 14
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From its inception the asylum has been espe- cially favored by the high character and special ability of the men who have been in charge. Dr. Gray and Dr. Pitcher have already been men- tioned, and it is not too much to say that nowhere in the whole extent of the American continent could an individual have been found as compe- tent to wisely and tenderly conduct its affairs as was Dr. E. H. Van Deusen, to whose devoted endeavor from 1859 to 1878, as its medical super- intendent, very much of its national reputation, as a model institution in its line, has been de- rived. His successor, Dr. George C. Palmer, was a superintendent of like character. He held of- fice until June 1, 1891, when, on his resignation, he was succeeded by Dr. William M. Edwards, who had been connected with the medical staff since May 1, 1884. Dr. Edwards stood in the same rank in the estimation of the people as did his distinguished predecessors. He died in April, 1905, and was succeeded by Dr. Alfred I. Noble as superintendent. Dr. Alfred I. Noble was born in Fairfield, Me., forty-nine years ago, and his entire life as a student was passed in his native state. After graduating from the schools of Fair- field, he entered Colby College in 1879 and grad- uated with honors in the class of 1883. His course there was academical, and upon gradu- ating he entered the medical school of Bowdoin College. He was graduated in 1886 and went to Boston, where he practiced for a short time, and then came to Worcester and entered the in- sane hospital. During the first of his being there Dr. Noble served as a medical attendant, but he rapidly rose from one position of trust to another until seven years ago he was made assistant su- perintendent under Superintendent Hosea M. Quinby. His" medical staff is in perfect accord with him, being most faithful, competent and efficient co-workers in their human treatment of the suffering and in all lines of sanitary science.
The present roster of trustees and officers, we will here give: Trustees-Alfred J. Mills, presi- dent, Kalamazoo; Erastus N. Bates, Moline ; Chauncey F. Cook, Hillsdale; Harris B. Os- borne, M. D., Kalamazoo; C. S. Palmerton,
Woodland ; Charles E. Belknap, Grand Rap- ids. Resident Officers-Alfred I. Noble, med- ical superintendent ; W. A. Stone, assistant superintendent. Assistant physicians-Herman Ostrander, George F. Inch, Frances E. Bar- rett, Charles W. Thompson, Emory J. Brady, George G. Richards, S. Rudolph Light ; John A. Hoffman, steward; Edwin J. Phelps, treasurer. The total number of employes now is three hun- (red.
CHAPTER XIII.
KALAMAZOO EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
One of the many good reasons for which the citizens of Kalamazoo are proud of their beautiful city is for its wonderful educational advantages. These institutions are not only numerous, but are all well in the front ranks of institutions of a like nature. These are of an exceedingly high standard, and have, for merit alone, become favor- ably known as educational institutions of great excellence. No western city of equal size and very few eastern cities can compare with Kala- mazoo in variety and standard of educational institutions. Thousands and thousands of dollars are represented by the property owned by these institutions.
Kalamazoo College is the oldest established educational institution in the city, being founded in 1835 by the Rev. Thomas Merrill. It enjoys the distinction of being one of the first co-educa- tional colleges in America. For the past twelve years Dr. Arthur Gaylord Slocum has been its president and has brought it to its present pros- perity. It is affiliated with the University of Chi- cago, and has a faculty of cultured and competent instructors.
Michigan Seminary is another of Kalamazoo's institutions of learning that is widely known. It is a high class school for young ladies and is under the competent guidance of the Rev. John Gray, the president of the institution.
The Western State Normal School is a com- paratively recent addition to Kalamazoo's educa- tional institutions, and commands a beautiful
A.H.BERRY PHOTOGRAPHERS AND ENGRAVERS KAL. MICH.
KALAMAZOO PUBLIC LIBRARY. By courtesy of the Telegraph,
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view of the valley from Prospect Hill. Dwight B. Waldo is president of the institution, which has one of the most cultured and able faculties in the state.
Nazareth Academy, a Catholic institution, is located two miles east of the city, and is a school of high rank in every way. The other Catholic institutions are Le Fevre Institute and St. Joseph Institute.
Parson's Business College is a commercial school of high rank and of splendid reputation. It graduates every year numbers of excellent bookkeepers and stenographers.
The public schools of Michigan are well known for their excellence throughout the country. The public schools of Kalamazoo are in the front rank of the schools of Michigan. There are seven graded schools at present, with negotiations being made for a new one on Reed street. The Kala- mazoo Central High School is one of the finest in the state, as is also the new Vine street school, which is inspected almost every day by out-of- town visitors. About one hundred and fifty teachers are employed by the board of education, who demand scholarship and good character in teachers. Perhaps more than enything else she possesses, Kalamazoo should be proud of her public schools.
CHAPTER XIV.
MICHIGAN FEMALE SEMINARY.
This popular and important institution, which numbers among its graduates many of the best and brightest ladies in this and neighboring states, was incorporated in December, 1856. It was or- ganized under the auspices of the Presbyterian church in the synod of Michigan. A tract of thirty-two acres of land, on the east side of the Kalamazoo river, was purchased as its site. It has a fine, healthful and commanding location upon the slopes and uplands of the bluff, covered by magnicent oaks, and falling away gradually to the river valley below. It was determined by the founders to place the buildings upon the crown of the hill, so as to command a magnificent view
of the city and widely surrounding country. Ac- cording to the original plan, the building was to be a brick structure, in the form of a Latin cross, two hundred and nineteen by one hundred and forty feet in dimension, four stories in height, with basement and attic in addition. The style of architecture was to be Norman and the plan to include a large central building, and a wing upon either side, connected by wide corridors. It was to be finished in the most approved style, heated with steam, lighted with gas, supplied with hot and cold water and offering accommodations for three hundred pupils and a corps of twenty teach- ers. The estimate cost was one hundred thousand dollars. The work of construction was begun in 1857, but was attended with delays and interrup- tions until 1860, when it was suspended until after the close of the war. It was renewed in 1866, when the Rev. John Covert was engaged to take charge of the work, and to have the building ready for occupancy at as early a date as possi- ble. Luther H. Trask, one of the devoted friends of the movement, was appointed superintendent of the work, with W. H. Coddington to assist. The central building alone was completed at that time, and the school opened to pupils January 30, 1867. A frame building, which was erected some time afterward upon the south side of the main edifice, was removed in 1892 to make way for the new Dodge Hall. This was a handsome four-story, brick structure, complete in every re- spect, one hundred and ten feet in length and fifty in depth and connected with the main building according to the original plan. In 1903 a two- story brick building, with class rooms, library and studios was added, and greatly aids in the efficiency and comfort of the work. The trustees are indebted for Dodge Hall to the bequest of the late Mr. Willard Dodge, of Kalamazoo, and for Recitation Hall to generous gifts from Mr. C. C. Chapin, of Chicago, and Mrs. H. B. Peck and her daughters, Mrs. Cannable and Mrs. Wads- worth, as a memorial to their husband and father, the late Mr. H. B. Peck, of Kalamazoo. The foundations were laid in 1857 for a wing, similar to Dodge Hall, upon the north side of the main edifice. When the trustees are enabled to erect
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this building, so much required, the plan of the founders will have been carried out and one of the most commodious, handsome and complete school properties secured which is anywhere to be found.
Dr. George Duffield, of sainted memory, pas- tor of the First Presbyterian church, Detroit, was the first to realize fully the necessity for such an institution and was most active in his endeavors to promote its interests and lived to see his desire accomplished. Shortly before his death he deliv- ered the first commencement address. It is fitting that his portrait should adorn the seminary wall and with it those of the early trustees, Rev. Dr. A. T. Pierson, then of Detroit, Mr. Elisha Taylor, still living in Detroit, Mr. Hughart, of Grand Rapids, with Messrs. Trask, Tomlinson, Wood- Ward, Curtenius, Parsons, Humphrey, Dr. Sill and Judge Wells, of Kalamazoo, who by their devotion and self-sacrifice laid broad and decp the foundations of an institution which has been a source of benefit to so many.
The names of two honored ladies should be especially mentioned as very intimately associated with the success and usefulness of this work. These are Mrs. Moore, of Three Rivers, the first and for many years efficient principal of the semi- nary, and Mrs. M. J. Bigelow, of this city, for several years before her marriage the much es- teemed principal.
The people of Kalamazoo and friends of Michigan Seminary generally recall with satis- faction and gratitude the advent of the present president, the Rev. John Gray, D. D., to the helm of its affairs at a critical period in 1900. He is a native of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, being the son of Mr. John Gray, lumberman and miller of that city. After completing his studies in the Model Grammar School and University College, Toronto, he entered upon the study of divinity in the Theo- logical Halls of Knox College there. Immediately upon his graduation he accepted a call to St. An- drew's Presbyterian church, in the city of Wind- sor, in his native province. He remained there for twenty-two years, was successful in building up a large and influential congregation, which he left to accept a call to the First Presbyterian
church in Kalamazoo, in 1893. It was during his seven years' pastorate in Kalamazoo that, as a trustee in the institution, he became deeply in- terested in and learned the requirements of Michi- gan Seminary. He took with him to the work a well trained mind, a large experience and much native energy, so that, as was predicted, he has proved a great success. Many difficulties have been overcome, the conditions of the property im- proved, the attendance increased and the course, academic, college and musical, is readily accepted without examination in the best institutions in the country.
President Gray, while pastor in Windsor, married Miss Bessie Sutherland, only daughter of Mr. Donald Sutherland, manufacturer and miller of New Market, Ontario, and sister of the Hon. R. T. Sutherland, K. C., M. P., of Wind- sor, and at the present time speaker of the domin- ion house of commons. They have two daughters, Gertrude S. and Muriel J., who with President and Mrs. Gray and her aged mother, Mr. Suther- land, reside in the seminary building and form an interesting and important element in the social life of the institution.
CHAPTER XV.
LADIES' LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF KALAMAZOO.
From time to time in the "Burr Oak" village there had been gatherings for literary pursuits, but the hour came when it seemed necessary that these informal convenings should assume a more businesslike air. The Ladies' Library Associa- tion was organized at the home of Mrs. Frances Dennison, in January, 1852. The following la- dies were chosen its first board of directors : Mes- dames D. B. Webster, L. H. Stone, Lyman Ken- dall, Nathaniel A. Balch, Milo J. Goss, Bruce S. Travor, William Dennison, Elon G. Huntington. Miss Hannah L. Trask, now Mrs. H. L. Cornell, was its first librarian. The library was formally opened on Friday, March 12, 1852, at the resi- dence of Col. G. W. Rice, where it was kept for a few weeks. It was then removed to a small room over Austin & Tomlinson's store on the
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northwest corner of Main and Burdick streets, where it was held until the spring of 1853. In April of that year the supervisors, recognizing the importance of this organization and its in- fluence upon this then village, placed at their dis- posal a pleasant room in the court house where the library found a home for nearly six years. In 1859 the association was reorganized and incor- porated, new quarters secured in the southeast corner of the basement of the Baptist church, at a rental of thirty dollars a year, and occupied un- til 1867. Through the generosity of the board of village trustees, two rooms in Corporation Hall were obtained at a nominal sum of one dollar for years, and there it remained until October, 1878, when it returned to its old quarters in the Baptist church basement till the completion of its own library building, May, 1879. The lot upon which this building stands was presented by Mrs. Ruth Webster, costing one thousand three hundred and seventy-five dollars. The plan of the proposed home for the library, after its twenty-six years of frequent change, was furnished by a Chicago ar- chitect for seventy-five dollars. Frederick Bush contracted to erect the building for eight thousand · dollars. The contract did not include stained glass windows, tiling the vestibule, gas fixtures, book cases or cabinets, mantels, nor any work outside the building. All these were added, with the stage and scenery, at a cost of about two thousand dollars. The cost of the stained glass windows was six hundred and fifty-two dollars, which was much under price, as the makers, W. H. Wells & Brother, would not duplicate them under fifteen hundred dollars. A building fund of something under two thousand dollars had accumulated through Mrs. Webster's careful management and this was raised to five thousand dollars by subscription; the three thousand was borrowed from Mr. J. P. Woodbury, five hundred for two years and twenty-five hundred for three years, at seven per cent. No salary had been paid any officer of the association except to the libra- rian between the years 1860 and 1863, when she received twenty-five dollars per annum.
A "social meeting," as it was called, was held · in the earlier years of its existence one afternoon
each month, when papers were read and discus- sions held informally. An evening "reading class" was instituted in 1861, the first meeting be- ing at the home of Mrs. Alfred Thomas, where the Guild House stands, Mrs. James Hubbard and Mrs. L. H. Stone being the readers and all at- tending paying five cents. It was resumed the following winter with a season ticket of one dol- lar for those who chose, the profits being divided with the Soldiers' Aid Society. These fortnightly socials were continued, somewhat modified as to the entertainments, under the name of Library Socials, for several winters from 1863 to 1868. In the winter of 1867-8 Mrs. Stone gave a course of historical studies of twenty lessons. In Octo- ber, 1868, a second course was given; in January, 1869, a third course of twelve lessons ; in October, 1869, a fourth course was begun. The charge for these historical courses was at first five dollars, and then three, the profit being divided between Mrs. Stone and the association. A drawing class, under Mrs. John Cadman's instruction ; a French class, taught by Mrs. Volney Hascall, in the sum- mer of 1873; winter lectures by distinguished lecturers were furnished each year from 1854 to 1862, two or three years in connection with the Young Men's Library Association. Single lec- tures were given from time to time, notable among which, one by John B. Gough, the gross receipts of which were four hundred and ninety- two dollars. In 1870 a series of Shakesperian readings were kept up fortnightly in the evening. In the summer and fall of 1873 Mrs. Stone gave a series of conversations on foreign countries and travels. As an outgrowth of these classes came the Library Club in 1873. The annual member- ship fee was fifty cents till 1867, when it was in- creased to one dollar.
To return to the building: Above the large front triple window may be seen the words "La- dies' Library," and in the stained glass the let- ters "L. L. A." The front lower window is called the Woman's window, the only one in the building. The center of the transom, from Mrs. Browning's Aurora Leigh, "Aurora and Rod- ney," on her birthday morn, "Aurora, the earliest of Auroras." On each side of this are two of
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the five learned women of Bologna, "Novella and Tambrone." The library transoms arc to Amer- ican authors, Longfellow's "Courtship of Miles Standish," Bryant's poem "The Waterfall," Whit- tier's "Mable Martin," Rip Van Winkle, met by his dog, belongs to Washington Irving. At the east end of the library is the memorial window, placed to the memory of Mrs. Ruth Webster by her many friends. The window is in three sec- tions, on the central of which is an oval, pointed at both top and bottom and inclosing a lozenge, a figure indicating, according to heraldry, that the deccased was of the female sex. Across this, on three transverse bands, we read "In Memoriam, Ruth W. Webster, Nov. 27, 1878." Two in- verted torches cross cach other over the lozenge, emblematic of death; under the same an antique lamp burning, emblematic of life. The border of the oval is a design in mingled olive branches and ivy leaves; the former meaning pcacc, the latter, immortality. About this central figure are various heraldic devices and conventionalizcd flowers. Above the oval in a medallion is a winged hour-glass, which tells the flight of time. Within a still higher compartment are heavenly cherubs and a crown, from either side of which falls a branch of pomegranate and palms; the fruitful pomegranate tells of the blessedness of good works, when coupled with the victory of faith, while the crown and the angels speak of hope verified and the Christian inheritance gained.
Beneath the oval, on a tablet, is inscribed, "Twenty-five years treasurer and fifteen years li- brarian of the L. L. A." About this entire di- vision runs a border of thorns and reeds, which bring to remembrance the person of the Savior. The left section is filled principally by the graceful leaves of the palm, everywhere emblematic of victory. In this same we find the lily, represent- ing purity, and a stalk of golden fleece, which be- ing interpreted, means the joy of heaven. On the center of one of these ribbons, running diagonally across the trunk of the palm, are placed the words, "Faithful unto death." The central portion of the section on the right is filled with ripe wheat and poppies, which tell of a life of good works and the final sleep of death. The motto here is,
"She has wrought a good work." Above these sections in medallions are, on the left; the globe, book, ink stand with pens, etc., so frequently scen, and on the right a sickle and a handful of gathercd grain. The border on either side is conventionalized palms and roses of Sharon.
The different transoms of the auditorium are devoted to Tennyson, with Scott and Burns on either side, Shakespeare, Milton, Goethe and the novelists, Dickens, Cooper and Hawthorne. An illustration for Tennyson's "Elaine" has been used for one of the decorations. "The Guardian Maid of the Strand," a scene from Scott's "Lady of the Lake," is the representative design for that au- thor. The Burns sclection is "Tam O'Shanter Crossing the Bridge," with the witches on the track and a real consolation it is that "A running stream they darc na cross." For the front window a scene from Shakespeare's "King Lear" stands between portraits of Dante and Michael Angelo, "Cordelia bending above and looking upon her sleeping father." The design illustrative of Mil- ton is from his life. The blind poet is dictating to his two daughters, loving and ever faithful, the words of his immortal poems. This brief but beautiful quotation from one of his shorter pro- ductions, accompanies the scene, "They also serve who only stand and wait." For Gocthe, the scene is Faust in his library, but the words-
"Here I stand with all my lore, Poor fool, no wiser than before"-
must not be taken too literally, for the picture has him sitting down. The window of novelists has. Dickens in the center. The illustration is from the "Old Curiosity Shop," being "Nell and her grandfather." Cooper is very well typified by two Indians looking at a dripping mill wheel; "The pale faces are masters of the world." Haw- thorne's "Hilda feeding the doves" comes from the "Marble Faun."
All along through these years special effort has been made to adorn the walls. Admirable copies of paintings such as "Lot's Daughters," after Rubens' original in the Louvre; "Vittoria® Colonna," Uffizi Gallery, painted by' Michael An- gelo; also from the Uffizi Gallery at Florence, a
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pair of "Fra Angelico's Angels"; a fine picture of cathedrals, of ruins, of celebrated frescos and paintings, a megalithoscope. "Dante and Beatrice," from Ary Scheffer. Dante says his last vision of his beloved was. crowned Would time permit, it would add interest to read the record of gifts received and the names of donors from the earliest day to the present, but Kalamazoo is under obligation to those who have with so much labor, time and money made these beautiful, instructive chef d'oeuvre accessi- ble to all. For the purchase of many of these we are largely indebted to the talents, musical and dramatic, of the people of Kalamazoo. Their ver- satility of genius and power of execution as a source of advancing the financial interest was ex- ceedingly gratifying. For the chairs in the audi- torium we are indebted to Dr. and Mrs. Joseph B. Sill. The chandelier was presented by Mrs. Van Huzen, of Albany, N. Y., a friend of Dr. and Mrs. E. H. Van Deusen; the latter made it pos- sible for it to be transported and placed in posi- tion, free to this institution. The cases and con- tents in this same room were gifts from Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Thomas. The president's table, to- gether with the sofa and large chair in the library, from Mrs. Ruth W. Webster. The piano from Mrs. Elia Marsh Walker, of Chicago. The handsome table in the library from Mrs. Benja- min F. Austin. The presentation of books and curios recall the names of Hon. Samuel Clark, Hon. Charles E. Stuart, Hon. David S. Wal- bridge, Dr. and Mrs. J. A. B. Stone, Hon. Allen Potter, to whom more than any one man we are indebted for our beautiful building, through his personal exertion among the friends of this asso- ciation. We can say "We owe no man." Colonel and Mrs. Curtenius, Mr. and Mrs. J. O. Seeley, Hon. and Mrs. Jonathan Parsons, Mr. and Mrs. George Torrey, Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Peck, Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Dewing, Rev. and Mrs. Conover, .Mr. and Mrs. F. E. Woodward, Mr. and Mrs. Kendall Brooks, Mr. and Mrs. R. S. Babcock, ·Mrs. F. C. Van Wyck, Mr. and Mrs. G. C. Burn- among the supreme blessed as far above him as the region of thunder is above the center of the sea. The whole history may be found in the last cantos of the Purgatory continued through the Paradise, to the scene which the painter has evi- dently chosen. A fine copy of "Madam Le Brun" of herself. "Love Triumphant" and "Love Treach- erous," originals in the Vatican, designed by Ra- phael and executed by his favorite pupil, Ginleo Romano. They are framed in Byzantine style. Albrect Durer," portrait of himself at Munich. "The Fonianno," after Raphael, in the Uffizi Gal- lery, Florence. "The Melon Eaters," after Mu- rillo, in the Pinakothek, Munich. "St. Cecilia," copied from Romanelli's original in the Capitol at Rome. "Street Musicians," after Van Ostade. "Pompeiian Ora," Raphael. Linda de Chamon in scene from opera, by Donizetti. Some fine land- scapes, the "Golden Gate," by L. Holtz, a Dan- ish artist ; "Pine Lake, Wisconsin"; others by A. F. Bonier, Hausen, Knapp and Sanderson. To friends we are indebted to much of art presented ; to the Misses Helen and Mary Bates, Mrs. D. B. Webster, Mrs. John Cadman, Will Park, Walter O. Balch, Mrs. John Dudgeon, Miss Mary Pen- field, Mrs. W. H. De Yoe, Col. Robert Burns, Mrs. Lorenzo Eggleston. The pictures to which references has been made were purchased by a committee, some of whom were sent to Chicago to make selections. The committee consisted of Mrs. Van Wyck, Mrs. L. P. Sheldon and Mrs. J. B. Sill. The pictures from abroad were chosen by Mrs. Stone, not so much for the beauty of the pictures themselves, but because they seemed to have a special message to an. organization like this. For instance, in the one of "Madam Le Brun," Mrs. Stone noted particularly the artist long contended with and over which she tri- umphed to become a member of the French Acad- ' ham, Judge and Mrs. H. G. Wells, Hon. and Mrs. emy of Arts. Madam Le Brun produced her best N. A. Balch, Mr. and Mrs. E. Woodbury, Mr. and Mrs. L. H. Trask, Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Cor- nell, Mrs. Emeline House, Mr. and Mrs. L. H. McDuffie, Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Griffiths, Lieuten- work at eighty. The lesson taught is only ob- tained by arduous self-training. In addition to these, we have hundred of large photographs of
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