USA > Michigan > Branch County > History of Branch county, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 27
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which should report on or before the meeting of the next Legislature. In accordance with this recommendation a joint resolution (Laws of 1869, page 442) authorized, and the Governor appointed, the commission during that ses- sion. The appointees were Dr. S. S. Cutter, of Coldwater, Ilon. C. I. Walker, of Detroit, and Hon. F. IT. Rankin, of Flint, gentlemen eminently qualified for the peculiar and difficult work allotted them. They spent several months in their investigations, visiting many of the county and State institutions of Michigan, and also those of other States. Their report to the Legislature of 1871 was drafted by Hon. C. I. Walker, and was able and exhaustive, covering most of the questions in social reform which had attracted publie attention, showing careful research, and containing many valuable recommendations.
In submitting this report, Gov. Baldwin, in his message in January, 1871, called especial attention to the facts and recommendations therein relative to dependent children, in and out of the county poor-houses, and asked for legislation for their relief. This report gave the number of these chil- dren under sixteen years of age, and gave a vivid account of their lamentable condition in the county poor-liouses. It showed very plainly that there was not, nor could there be, in such asyhims, any separation or classification of in- mates, so that from necessity the children were kept in close contact with the adult inmates of both sexes, who were often the physical, mental, and moral wrecks of their own excesses. They also had to associate daily, in crowded rooms, with the diseased, insane, and idiotic. In such a school of ignorance and vice as this, which the average county poor-house afforded (and they are no worse in this than in other States), with all these evil influences about them, the prospects for the young were gloomy indeed. These influences, too, operated strongly to attach the child permanently to the pauper and criminal class in which he was reared; the system thus working most effectually to propagate and perpetuate, from one generation to another, a dependent and criminal class of very low mental and phys- ical type, the ratio of increase in that class being greater than in the community at large.
The commissioners suggested three plans of relief, based on the experience of other States and countries, but none going as far in the way of State action as that afterwards adopted.
When the Legislature of 1871 convened, it was soon gen- erally understood that the matters treated by the special commission would furnish some of the most important work of the session. It was early decided there should be a joint committee of the Senate and House, composed of the com- mittees on the reform school and State prison in the Senate, and the like committees in the House, forming a body of sixteen members. At the request of the chairman of the special commission, Senator C. D. Randall, of Coldwater, accepted the chairmanship of the Senate committee on the reform school, which would probably make him chairman of the joint committee. The joint committee then elected him to that position. During the usual vacation of a few days, the joint committee visited the State charitable, penal, and reformatory institutions, and on its return held several meetings, discussing freely what recommendations should
The facts in this chapter are dorived from a paper on the school, prepared, at the request of the State Board of Centennial Managers, for the Centennial Exhibition, by lion. C. D. Randall, from an address by Superintendent L. P. Alden on " The School and its Purposes, " from the tifth annual report of the Board of Control, and from some minor documents. In many cases we have used the language of the papers mentioned.
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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
be made. After a full discussion, the committee instructed the chairman to report as he did Feb. 15, 1871. This re- port largely adopted the views and conclusions of the special commission in regard to needed improvements in the penal and reformatory institutions of the State, and also in regard to proposed aid for dependent children. The following langnage was then used in this report, which was the first ap- pearance of the subject in that or any previous Legislature : " Your committee also recommend that among the institu- tions of this State there be established, at an early day, a State Publie School, after the plan of that in Massachusetts, for the maintenance and education of indigent children. This class is now generally kept in our poor-houses, which are unfit places in which to rear and educate boys and girls, and whence it cannot be expected they will go bettered in mind and morals. It would be a noble work for the State to do, and it is to be hoped that it will soon take them in its fostering care." When this report was drawn the writer was not aware that the Massachusetts institution recom- mended, was partially penal and reformatory.
At this same time the association of ex-soldiers, known as the Grand Army of the Republic, were making efforts to have the Legislature establish an asylum for the children of deceased and indigent soldiers. The leading men of the Grand Army, however, readily assented to the suggestion that the proposed institution should be open to all the de- pendent children of the State, and thus another and a power- ful influence was added to those tending in the direction of the proposed institution.
The special commission appointed by Governor Baldwin, though presenting very convincing testimony and strong arguments, accompanied them with no bill as the embodi- ment of their scheme in regard to legislation for the benefit of the elass of children referred to. The joint committee of the Senate and House in its first report, though presenting other bills at that time, presented none for the benefit of dependent children. But subsequently in the session, Mr. Randall, after giving the subject as careful a study as he could, became strongly impressed with the idea that it was time the State should assume control of these children. The first fifty days of the session, after which no bills could be introduced, were rapidly drawing to a close, when, without the aid of precedents, for none existed for the institution desired, he prepared such a plan as to himu seemed nearest right as an educational preventive project based on our common-school system, having no regard to our penal or reformatory systems. Reports of commissions of various States, especially in Ohio and Massachusetts, furnished useful suggestions, but uot a basis for the organic law of the proposed school, for they all treated of institutions of a mixed character, partly penal or reformatory, none having treated of an institution purely preventive, beginning with children before they had become criminal.
Michigan already had a reform school, so there was no good reason for establishing one of a mixed character. Mr. Randall felt that governments, through all ages, had never treated the dependent-children question correctly. The poor-house, the work-house, the industrial schools have always. especially in England, received the innocent and criminal alike, and put them under the same treatment,
with the same associations. Under this régime, dependent children became criminals, and the governments, not as a remedy, but as a necessity, erected large and expensive reformatories and prisons, to reform or punish those whom earlier preventive treatment, in all probability, would have saved to a better fate. As education was conceded to be the best preventive of pauperism and crime, especially when assisted by moral and religious training, it was Mr. Randall's aim, in drafting the plan of the proposed school, to con- strnet the scheme directly on the educational basis of our common-school system, combining temporary support of the younger dependent children in a home under the supervi- sion of the State during minority. On that plan, accord- ingly, was the bill drawn,-a plan disconnected entirely from our penal system, so that no taint of crime or sentence, or suspension of sentence, should attach to any inmate ; so that none in after-life should ever have cause to blush that he or she had been a ward of the State in a school where the house had been built and the school maintained by the same system of taxation that supports the common schools of the State.
The law thus drawn was on the 22d day of February, 1871, the last day of the session for introducing bills, pre- sented in the Senate and referred to the joint committee. On the 3d day of March, after a full discussion of its pro- visions, the chairman, by the unanimous instruction of his committee, returned the bill to the Senate with a recom- mendation for its passage.
This measure soon found in the Legislature many friends and no active opponents. While it was under consideration the following gentlemen visited Lansing, and in public addresses favored it, viz. : Z. R. Broekway, Esq., IIon. C. I. Walker; Rev. E. C. Wines, D.D., LL. D., the noted philan- thropist of international reputation ; Rev. Dr. Mahan, presi- dent of Adrian College; and Rev. Dr. Gillespie, now bishop of the Protestant Episcopal diocese of Western Michigan. No address was made in either House in opposition to the bill. It had in the main been recommended by the special commission, by the joint committee, and the press. On its final passage in the Senate there were twenty-three ayes and four noes. In the House there were seventy-three ayes and ten noes. It received the signature of Governor Bald- win on the 17th of April, and thus was established what is believed to be the first government institution ever estab- lished exclusively for the children of the poor to which poverty alone gives admission.
The law appropriated thirty thousand dollars to the school, and commissioners were appointed to locate it, erect the buildings, and take charge of the institution. The first commissioners were Gov. H. P. Baldwin, ex officio, C. E. Miekley, and N. G. Isbell. Messrs J. S. Barber, C. D. Randall, and Dr. S. S. Cutter were after- ward members of the board of commissioners. In 1874 the board of commissioners was superseded by a " board of control" of three members, appointed by the Governor and Senate for six years, one every two years. The first mem- bers were C. E. Mickley, President ; C. D. Randall, Sec- retary and Treasurer ; and Dr. S. S. Cutter.
The beautiful site, salubrious climate, and pleasant sur- roundings of Coldwater marked that city as a proper loca-
STATE PUBLIC SCHOOL FOR DEPENDENT CHILDREN.
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Goldwater, May 20 + 1 89 1
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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
tion for the proposed institution, and when, in addition, the citizens donated a site for the school and twenty-five thou- sand dollars in cash, the commissioners had no hesitation in locating it at that point.
The site chosen was on an eminence a mile north of the centre of the city, and just outside of the corporate limits, commanding a fine view of the city and its suburbs, and of a wide-spread succession of smiling fields, stretching far, up and down the fertile valley of the Coldwater.
A further appropriation was made by the Legislature in 1873, and the buildings were ready for use in May, 1874. These consisted of the main or " administrative" building, which was in the shape of a cross, three stories high besides the basement, having a frontage of one hundred and ninety- eight fect, and in the central part a depth of one hundred and seventy-five feet. In this were located the rooms for the superintendent and his family, and other officers, reception- rooms, dining-room, school-rooms, shoe-shop, sleeping-rooms for the employees, etc. Near it were several " cottages," as they are called, although they were two stories high, and their dimensions were nearly forty feet by thirty. These were designed to accommodate thirty children cach, under the charge of a lady manager; the lower stories of each being fitted with a room for the manager, sitting-rooms for the children, and a bath-room, while the upper story was divided into dormitories for the children. All the buildings were of' brick.
From this it will be seen that the plan of the institution was of a mixed description, containing, as is believed, so far as possible, the benefits of the congregate system with that of separate families. This plan has been continued till the present time, and no doubts have been expressed but that it is the best that can be employed.
The school was opened on the 21st of May, 1874, with Zelotes Truesdell as superintendent. The law provided for the admission of children between three and fourteen years of age, on the certificate of the judge of probate of the county from which each might come, only to be issued to dependent children, ascertained to be of sound mind and free from any chronic or infectious disease. They were to remain at the school until sixteen, provided homes could not be found for them before that time in private families. After the children were sixteen the board of control was vested with discretion to retain them in the school or return them to their counties.
As soon as the school was opened the children were rapidly sent in from all parts of the State, and in less than a year the accommodations of the buildings were exhausted. Further legislative aid was obtained during the session of 1875, and during the following summer several new cot- tages were erected, bringing the whole number up to eight, besides a hospital. The latter was forty-eight feet by thirty-three, while the new cottages were forty by thirty- three. Like the first buildings, these were also of brick. As thus increased, the buildings accommodated two hun- dred and fifty children.
In July, 1875, Mr. Lyman P. Alden, a college graduate and a successful man of business, was appointed superin- tendent, and having shown marked ability in the position, has been retained in it ever since.
From that time to this, the school has continued to per- form its beneficent functions with great regularity, appar- ently succeeding most admirably in the purposes for which it was instituted.
About one-third of the children are too small to work, but every child large enough has some work to occupy it from two to three hours per day, either on the farm, in the laundry, shoe-shop, sewing-room, knitting-room, or in per- forming some domestic work. Each child attends school from four to five hours per day, and the very best and most experienced teachers are employed. Only the com- mon English branches are taught. Telegraphy has lately been introduced, and bright children who are physically too weak to labor on the farm, or who have been in some way crippled, are so instructed as to become self-supporting. All of the larger boys are taught the manual of arms, and are furnished with carbines.
The food is simple and plain but of the best quality of its kind, and the variety is sufficient to stimulate the appe- tite. A garden of eighteen aeres furnishes a large amount of vegetables for the use of the institution. About seven hundred bushels of apples were grown on the farm last year, but not enough to supply the school with all that could be used to advantage. A few cows are kept on the grounds, but not enough to supply the wants of the school, as there is but little pasture, and over one thousand dollars' worth of milk is purchased each year.
The moral culture of the children receives proper atten- tion in both the cottages and the school-rooms, and religions services are held for them every Sunday in the chapel, being conducted by the superintendent, assisted by ladies and gen- tlemeu of various religious denominations from the city. The older boys, in charge of a teacher or manager, attend services cach Sabbath at one or another of the city churches.
The boys wear a plain, coarse, but neat uniform dress. consisting of dark jacket and gray trousers; the girls are habited in an equally plain costume suited to their sex. The children of both sexes have a hearty, healthy, cleanly look, as different as can well be imagined from the depressed ap- pearance of many of the youthful inmates of almshouses, and which has come to be known as a " poor-house look."
The health of the children is above the average. No ailment, however slight, is treated at the cottages ; the in- valid, on the appearance of the first symptoms of disease, being removed to the hospital. By far the greater por- tion, however, are speedily returned cured, without the ad- ministration of medicine, through the employment of a proper hygienic regimen. During the year closing Septem- ber 30, 1878, there were only two deaths among over four hundred children who were in the institution ; the average constant membership being about three hundred.
As before stated, the object of the school is to furnish temporary support and instruction to the children until they can be placed in families which are willing to take them. The Governor has appointed agents in some thirty of the principal counties of' the State to find homes for the chil- dren, and to see that they are well treated when placed in them. The superintendent also acts as the agent of the school in regard to this branch of the work. By these
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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
means, and by the voluntary application of citizens, a large part of the children are provided for in that manner. Numerous letters are received from agents and guardians regarding the children thus cared for, generally showing favorable results ; though sometimes serious faults are dis- covered in the children, and sometimes harsh treatment is inflicted by those who should be their protectors.
The children thus sent away from the institution are also encouraged to write to the superintendent, and many of their letters are decidedly interesting in their childish sim- plicity. From those published verbatim et literatim, in the last report of the board of control, we select two, one apparently by a girl, and the other by a boy :
" February 4, 1878.
" DEAR SIR :- I sit down to write you a few lines to let you know that I am well, and getting along very nicely. Now I will tell you all about it. I think that I have got A good home. I am going to try to keep my place this time. They have been very kind to mo and I will try to please them, I have great deal of fun. They have got a little boy here. He makes lots of fun. I like him very mutch. Ile is a nice little boy. She is a very nice lady. She has a great deal of company and she bas got a great many kind friends. They all seem to be glad to see her. lle is a niee man. They have got a young man. He is always getting off something to mako fan. they are all good christian people. they have got a very pleasant place. We all go to church but we did not go to-night because she was sick. This lady's sister thinks of coming out there to get A girl not over ten years old. She will have a good home for her. She has got an organ and she wants one that can learn to play. I like my home very mutch. I cannot think of anything more to write so good by to all. "M- H -. "
" December 12, 1877.
"DEAR MR. ALDEN :- I received your nice letter some time ago and was very much pleased with it. Should have answered it before this had there not been so much sickness in the family. I like it here. There are two children in the family- a little boy 16 months old (his name is Burtie) and a girl four years old, her name is Mertie ; she goes with mo to feed the calf and hogs. I used to see Robbert Gambol at Sunday school, but I guess he has ran away. Ilenry Huntly is in this place. I go to school-like my teacher ever so well. I belong to the singing school, but can't read notes yet. My guardian let me husk corn on shares ; I have got 12 bushels. I am going to buy a pig and feed it. I helped put in the wheat last fall, and I buve I} acres of my own. I was to visit you about two weeks ago, but you was not there. I saw all the new buildings; think it looks nice. If you get a letter from all the children it will keep you busy reading, so I guess I will not write much. Will elose by hoping you will send a nice letter again sometime.
"A Boy Friend, " J-G -. "
Since 1875 there has been but one cottage added, but this is a large one, sheltering sixty children, so that now full three hundred are cared for in the institution. A new building for an engine-house and laundry has also been erected lately.
The whole number of children received into the institu- tion down to the 1st day of February, 1879, was six hun- dred and ninety, of whom three hundred and ten had been placed in families. Four hundred and twelve were cared for last year, including those placed out during the time ; the expense for each being eighty-one dollars and sixty-seven cents, which is stated to be very little more than it would have been in poor-houses.
The principal employees of the institution are the super- intendent, matron, clerk, teachers, cottage managers, and hospital manager. A complete but simple set of rules has been prescribed for their government, and the management of the institution seems to go on with great smoothness considering the number and age of the children. Though corporeal punishment is not absolutely interdicted, yet great care is taken that it shall not be harshly or needlessly ad- ministered, and we believe no complaint has ever been made that such is the case.
Such is the history and some of the characteristics of the " Michigan State Public School for Dependent Children,"- an institution which is certainly unique in its character, and which its friends believe is destined to take the lead in an important reformation in the treatment of such children throughout this country if not throughout the world.
The State Public School exhibit at the Centennial formed a quarto volume, including the papers by Messrs. Randall and Alden, mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, embracing a lithographie view of the buildings, ten photo- graphic views (exteriors and interiors), plan of cottages, plan of grounds, outline plan of all the buildings, annual reports of the boards of control for 1874 to 1875, etc.
Upon the exhibit thus made, a diploma and medal were awarded. No other institution having any resemblance to this received an award.
The following is the text of the report of the judges, as accepted by the United States Centennial Commission, and in conformity with which an award of diploma and medal was decreed to the State Public School : " The undersigned, having examined the product herein described, respectfully recommend the same to the United States Commission for award, for the following reasons, viz. : For the exhibit of plans, drawings, historical sketches and reports, showing the advantage of the separation of children untainted by crime from those more properly cared for in a reformatory institu- tion ; for the adaptation of the separate house- or cottage- system to the needs of said State Public School ; and for the evidence of thoughtful planning and careful work in the establishment." The report of the judges and diploma adorn the walls of the principal office of the school, and the medal is carefully preserved in the library.
We close with a list of the present officers and em- ployees of the institution,-Board of Control : Hon. James Burns, President, Detroit ; Hon. Ilenry IT. Hinds, Stanton ; Ilon. C. D. Randall, Secretary and Treasurer, Coldwater. Superintendent, Lyman P. Alden. Clerk and Steward, Daniel G. Blackman. Matron, Mrs. Lena P. Alden. Cottage Managers, Mrs. Lucretia Champlin, Mrs. Martha Bissell, Mrs. Agnes McCollum, Mrs. Sarah Watson, Mrs. Fannie Russell, Miss Sarah D. Parsons, Miss Jennie Hall, Mrs. Ann Glynn, Miss Hattie L. Evarts, Miss Sarah Ten Eyck. Teachers, Miss Anna Sanderson, Miss Auna French, Miss Ella Cretors, Miss Lucelia E. Staples, Miss Frances C. Staples, Miss Florence McCollum. Hospital Manager, Miss Agues Walter. Attending Physician, Dr. S. S. Cutter.
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HISTORY OF BRANCH COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
CHAPTER XXVIII
COUNTY SOCIETIES.
Branch County Agricultural Society-First Meeting-First Officers- First Fair-Premiums on Stock-Premiums Awarded to Ladies- The Fair in 1853-Extension of Fair in 1854-New Features in 1855-Permanent l'air-Ground-Legal Incorporation in 1857-Ad- journment in 1861-Scant Premiums in 1862-A New Fair-Ground -A Sheep-Shearing Festival-Building of Floral Hall-Receipts in Various Years More Land-Present Officers-List of Presi- dents-The County Grange-Its Organization- First Officers' Meet- ings-Object-Branch County Pioneer Society-The Bar Associa- tiou-First Officers-Object.
BRANCII COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
THE first meeting looking to the formation of an agri- cultural society in Branch County was held, pursuant to notice, on the 17th day of October, 1851, Asahel Brown being chosen president, and E. B. Pond secretary. F. V. Smith, Alvarado Brown, and J. B. Tompkins were ap- pointed a committee to draft a constitution, while John Root, Darwin Wilson, Oliver Burdick, Jr., and William P. Arnold were made a committee to nominate officers for the proposed association. They made the following nomina- tions, which were confirmed by the meeting: President, James B. Tompkins ; Vice-President, John Allen; Secre- tary, F. V. Smith ; Treasurer, H. W. Wright. .
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