USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 47
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Although the Nebraska Institute for the Deaf and Dumb is a state institution, it is located at Omaha and is therefore entitled to a place in the history of the benevolent institutions of the city and county. It is said that the first movement toward the establishment of a school for the deaf and dumb was made by Rev. H. W. Kuhns, the first Lutheran minister in Omaha. While serving as one of the school trustees under the old system, Mr. Kuhns was approached by the parents of little Kate Callahan, a deaf mute, with the request that he use his influence to have the child educated by the state. There was no state institution to which the little girl could be sent, but Mr. Kuhns interested other citizens and
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some of the newspapers in the subject of having one established. The result of the agitation was the passage of an act by the Legislature providing for an insti- tute of that character, "to be located within three miles of the City of Omaha." The act was approved by Gov. Alvin Saunders on February 7, 1867, just two weeks before the state government went into effect.
The first board of trustees, or directors (eight in number), was composed of the following gentlemen: Joseph H. Millard, Rev. Henry W. Kuhns and Dr. G. C. Monell, of Omaha; John S. Bowen, of Blair; E. H. Rogers, of Fremont ; Dr. Aurelius Bowen, of Nebraska City; Dr. Abel L. Child, of Plattsmouth; and Dr. John McPherson, of Brownville. In the organization of the board John S. Bowen was elected president; Rev. Henry W. Kuhns, secretary; Joseph H. Millard, treasurer; Dr. G. C. Monell and Rev. Henry W. Kuhns, executive com- mittee. Prof. W. M. French, himself a deaf mute, was appointed the first superintendent, his sister, Mrs. Jennie Wilson, the first matron, and the institu- tion was opened for the reception of pupils in April, 1869. The first report of the board was dated December 1, 1869. In it the directors gave the following account of the opening of the school:
"No sooner was the principal, W. M. French, appointed, than, with the con- currence of the board, he issued a circular and engaged in correspondence, inviting all the deaf mutes of the state, of suitable age, to the institution. A building sufficient for the immediate requirements of the pupils was obtained and supplied with the necessary furniture, and the little family of first pupils gathered to their temporary home. They came tardily. Parents could not spare them; some could not afford the expense of such clothing as they deemed needful; the insti- tution was new and untried; but gradually the number of pupils has increased and at the date of this report thirteen pupils are regularly entered."
The school was opened in leased quarters, where it remained for about three years. In 1871 the people of Omaha donated ten acres of ground where the institute is now situated, and the Legislature of that year appropriated $15,500 for the erection of suitable buildings. A brick building, 44 by 60 feet and three stories high, was completed by January 1, 1872. Prof. R. H. Kinney and his wife succeeded Professor French and Mrs. Wilson as superintendent and matron, and three teachers were employed. In 1875 another appropriation of $15,000 for new buildings was made by the Legislature and a second structure was erected Other appropriations followed, that of 1899 being $39,760, and in 1913 an appropriation of $100,000 was made to provide a primary school building and enlarge some of the other buildings.
By the constitutional amendment adopted at the general election on November 12, 1912, all the state institutions were placed under the control of a board of three members, "to be appointed by the governor and confirmed by two-thirds of the senate." The board of commissioners at the beginning of 1916 was composed of Silas A. Holcomb, of Broken Bow; Howard Kennedy. of Omaha; and Henry Gerdes, of Falls City.
J. A. Gillespie was appointed superintendent on September 1, 1878, and held the position for about twenty years. In the last published report of the institution, Frank W. Booth, superintendent, gives the number of pupils on November 30, 1914, as 168. All pupils receive instruction in the branches taught in the Nebraska public schools. In addition to these studies, the boys are taught
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cabinet making, printing, wood carving, clay modeling and gardening. The girls are taught sewing, dressmaking, domestic science, laundry work, basket making, wood carving and clay modeling. The school is free to all Nebraska children of school age who are too deaf to attend the public schools.
HOSPITALS AND ASYLUMS
The Omaha City Directory for 1916 gives a list of forty-five institutions that are maintained for the treatment of disease, or for the shelter and protection of the unfortunate. Quite a number of these are small private concerns, operated chiefly for the fees charged patients, and can hardly be classed as benevolent institutions.
St. Joseph's Hospital, located on the northeast corner of Tenth and Castellar streets, is the oldest hospital in the city. It was opened for patients on September I, 1870, in a two-story frame building on the corner of Twelfth and Marcy streets. The building was erected by the Sisters of Mercy and contained ten rooms. It was at first known as the Mercy Hospital. Two years later the capacity of the institution was doubled by the erection of a second building, at a cost of $14,000. On April 10, 1880, the hospital passed into the hands of the Sisters of St. Francis. A change in location becoming desirable on account of the growth of the city, John A. Creighton donated four lots at Tenth and Castellar streets for a new site. After Mr. Creighton's death, his widow gave $50,000 for the erection of a new hospital. The institution then took the name of Creighton Memorial, St. Joseph's Hospital.
'By solicitation additional funds were raised and the present building was erected. It is a magnificent structure, four stories in height, exclusive of base- ment and attic, with accommodations for 500 patients, 200 of whom can have private rooms if they so desire. A separate surgical building was recently erected, at a cost of $30,000 and the entire hospital property is now valued at nearly one million dollars. The equipment is of the most modern type, including a well appointed laboratory. The physicians and surgeons that constitute the regular hospital staff are all members of the faculty of the Creighton College of Medicine. The resident staff are graduates of that medical school, and a train- ing school for nurses is conducted in connection with the hospital. About five thousand patients are treated annually.
In 1881 the Bishop Clarkson Memorial Hospital was founded by Rt. Rev. Robert H. Clarkson, the first Episcopal bishop of the diocese of Nebraska. Bishop Clarkson was born at Gettysburg, Penn., November 19, 1826. He graduated in the Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg with the class of 1844 and then took the theological course in St. James College at Hagerstown, Md. On June 18, 1848, he was ordained deacon by Bishop Whittington, and in 1849 went to St. James Church in Chicago as rector. On January 5, 1851, he was ordained priest by Bishop Chase. He remained at St. James Church in Chicago for fifteen years and in November, 1865, was appointed missionary bishop to the territories of Nebraska and Dakota. When the diocese of Nebraska was established in 1870, he was made the first bishop and remained a resident of Omaha until his death on March 10, 1884. In 1857 he received the degree of D. D. from his alma mater,
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and in 1872 the Nebraska State University and Racine (Wisconsin) College honored him with the degree of LL. D.
A few years before his death, Bishop Clarkson saw the necessity for a hospital for children. Miss Sarah Mattice, who had been connected with institu- tions of that nature in the East, came to Omaha from New York in the fall of 1881 and joined with Bishop Clarkson in his efforts to establish the hospital, soliciting funds, etc. The "Child's Hospital" was opened in December, 1881, in a little, onc-story frame house at No. 1716 Dodge Street. Mrs. John Jacob Astor, of New York, sent Miss Mattice fifty dollars soon after the hospital was opened. Mrs. Ogden, also of New York, sent Mrs. Clarkson $5,000 and $3,000 were raised by subscription among the people of Omaha. With the funds thus secured a brick building was erected, at a cost of $8,000 and the hospital began to care for grown people as well as children. An addition costing $4,000 was made to the building a short time before Bishop Clarkson's death.
Subsequently, the present site of the hospital at No. 2100 Howard Street was purchased and in 1909 a building erected thereon, at a cost of $140,000. It is five stories high and on each floor is a sun porch at each end of the building. Accommodations are provided for eighty patients at a time and the hospital treats about fifteen hundred every year.
The institution known as the Presbyterian Hospital, located at No. 211 South Thirty-fourth Street, dates its beginning from 1890, when a few Presbyterians became interested in hospital work and opened, in a small building at No. 1626 Wirt Street, what has grown into the present hospital. The first board of trustees was composed of Alexander G. Charlton, Charles Bird, J. C. Denise, Lew Ander- son, Harry Lawrie, Frank Koze, Z. T. Lindsay, W. C. McClain, Robert McClel- land, W. R. Drummond, L. B. Williams, M. M. Van Horn, G. W. Hervey, C. A. Starr and J. L. Welshans. The institution was incorporated on May 2, 1892, as the "Presbyterian Hospital of Omaha." A few years later it was removed to the Bishop Worthington property on South Tenth Street, where the property of the hospital is now valued at $100,000, though it is no longer under the control of the Presbyterian Church. The hospital has thirty-five private rooms and a number for two patients each. About one thousand patients are treated annually. At the beginning of the year 1916 Robert McClelland was superin- tendent. The Presbyterian Surgical Hospital, located at No. 1240 South Six- teenth Street, was then under the superintendency of Jessie E. Graham.
Another hospital started in 1890 is the Immanuel Hospital, which is located at No. 4516 North Thirty-fourth Street. It owes its inception to the work of Rev. E. A. Fogelstrom, who came to Omaha in 1879 and took charge of the Swedish Lutheran Church. Through his efforts the greater portion of the money necessary for the establishment of the hospital was raised. In January, 1890, the institution was incorporated as "The Evangelical Immanuel Association for Works of Mercy." The incorporators were Dr. George L. Miller, Frederick Drexel, Alfred Millard, William L. McCague, G. A. Lindquest, John Johnson, Guy C. Barton, Joseph Barker and Anthony Johnson. Rev. E. A. Fogelstrom was made manager and William L. McCague, treasurer. During the first year $40,000 was expended in buildings and equipment.
As at first established the institution was known as the Immanuel Hospital and Deaconess' Institute, and in 1891 a Deaconess' Home was erected on the
EAST SIDE VIEW OF GOOD SHEPHERD CONVENT, OMAHA
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block east of the hospital, at a cost of $5,000. Some years later the entire property came into the hands of the Deaconess' Society of the Swedish Lutheran Church and the hospital and institute are now maintained separately, the latter being located at No. 4346 Meredith Avenue. In 1909 a new hospital building was erected, with a capacity of sixty-five beds, twenty-seven of which are in private rooms. The property is now valued at $175,000. At the beginning of 1916 P. M. Lindberg was superintendent of the hospital and Albertina Gassman was matron. Anna Flint was then superior of the Deaconess' Institute. Besides the hospital and institute buildings, the Deaconess Society owns an orphanage, a home for the aged, two parsonages and some other property. The Immanuel Hospital treats about one thousand patients annually.
The Nebraska Methodist Episcopal Hospital, one of the largest in the city, is the property of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Nebraska. It was organized on March 3, 1891, and was incorporated a little later with Rev. J. W. Shank as president of the association ; J. J. McLain, vice president ; J. E. Cowgill, secretary. A building on Twentieth Street, between Harney Street and St. Mary's Avenue, was purchased and the hospital was opened on May 28, 1891. During the first year 243 patients were admitted to the hospital, of whom fifty-seven were charity patients. Each member of the association paying ten dollars a year was entitled to free treatment at the institution when it-was first. established, and $250 pur- chased a life membership.
In 1908 the present location at No. 3612 Cunting Street was purchased and a new hospital building erected thereon before the close of the year. It is four stories in height, exclusive of the basement, and cost $212,000. The property now is estimated to be worth a quarter of a million dollars. About two thousand patients are treated in this hospital every year: "MYs."Allie P. Mclaughlin was in charge of the institution at the beginning of the year 1916.
Wise Memorial Hospital, so named for Rabbi Joseph M. Wise, was started in a small way in 1899 by Mrs. J. L. Brandeis, Mrs. C. Schlank and Mrs. J. Sonnen- berg. Memberships in an association were sold and contributions came in from other sources until enough was secured to purchase a lot 150 by 200 feet at No. 406 South Twenty-fourth Street. Plans for a building were then prepared and the structure was erected in 1912 at a cost of $125,000. Connected with the hospital is a nurses' home, the entire property being valued at more than two hundred and twenty thousand dollars. Over a thousand patients have been treated in this hospital every year since the new building was completed.
The Swedish Mission Hospital, at No. 3706 North Twenty-fourth Street, was established in 1905 by an organization called the Swedish Hospital Association, of which O. B. Johnson was president. It began with fifteen private rooms and three wards. The present modern structure, three stories high, with basement, was erected a little later and the hospital now treats about six hundred patients an- nually. Carl Johnson is president of the association; A. G. Seastedt, vice presi- dent; Paul N. Wiemer, secretary ; Helma Carlson, superintendent and treasurer. Dr. Roy A. Dodge is chief of the medical staff.
In 1906 the Omaha Christian Institute founded the Omaha General Hospital, but it was taken over by private interests about two years later and the name was changed to the Lord Lister Hospital. It is located on the southwest corner of Fourteenth Street and Capitol Avenue in the building once known as the Dellone
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Hotel. One of the features in this hospital is the system of mit al or medicinal baths, which has been recently installed by the new managemen It has eighty- eight beds, treats about twelve hundred patients annually, own property worth $125,000 and is a self-supporting institution in every respect.
The Nicholas Senn Hospital, on the corner of Park Avenue and Dewey Street, was established by a company of which Dr. A. P. Condon was president, and Dr. C. H. Newell vice president. It was opened on February 1, 1912, in a modern building erected for the purpose and embodying all the latest ideas in hospitals. The institution was named in honor of Dr. Nicholas Senn, a surgeon in the faculty of the Rush Medical College in Chicago, and makes a specialty of surgical cases. One of the finest X-ray machines in the United States has been installed, with all the necessary apparatus for the making of X-ray photographs. This department is in charge of an expert operator. The hospital has sixty beds and the property is valued at $125,000.
The South Side Hospital was established a few years ago by an association called the South Omaha Hospital Association. When that section was annexed to the city in June, 1915, the present name was adopted. It is located at the corner of Twenty-fifth and G streets and has twenty-eight beds. Across the street is a small maternity hospital owned by the same association, the property of the two being valued at $30,000.
Concerning the Emergency Hospital, located at No. 912 Douglas Street, a recent issue of the World-Herald says: "This big structure of residential appearance was given to the City of Omaha for the purpose it now fulfills, several years ago by its owner, a woman who had strayed from the paths of righteousness, had amassed a large fortune, and who sought to do some good before departing this earth at a very old age."
The city accepted the gift and during the great scarlet fever epidemic that followed soon after, it was given over to the treatment of patients afflicted with contagious diseases-nearly all scarlet fever cases-and played an important part in conquering the epidemic. It has sixty-seven beds and the property is valued at $100,000.
One of the newest hospitals in the city is the Ford Hospital, located at Twenty-fifth and Douglas streets. It was projected in 1915 and opened early the following year in a building that cost $90,000.
The University of Nebraska has maintained for some time a free medical dispensary, "Jacobs Hall," at No. 1714 Dodge Street. In 1916 this dispensary was in charge of Elizabeth Elsasser. A state hospital, to be operated in con- nection with the medical department of the University of Nebraska, was erected in 1916. It is located at the corner of Forty-second and Dewey streets, is four stories high, accommodates 150 patients, and cost $150,000. Medical treatment in this institution is free, the counties paying the cost of transportation to and from the hospital.
Among the minor hospitals may be mentioned St. Catherine's, Birch Knoll, Kountze Park, St. Luke's and the Leonardo da Vinci. St. Catherine's is located at No. 811 Forest Avenue, is under the charge of the Sisters of Mercy, has forty beds and owns property valued at $100,000. It handles a great number of maternity cases. Birch Knoll, similar in character, is situated at No. 2211 St. Mary's Avenue, has sixteen beds and owns property worth $25,000. St. Luke's
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is at No. 2121 make Street, has twenty beds and property worth $15,000. Kountze Park Hospital 's at No. 2102 Wirt Street and Leonardo da Vinci at No. 2804 Harney Street.
First among the institutions of an asylum nature stands the Old People's Home, located at No. 2214 Wirt Street. It was established in 1883 and incor- porated in 1887, "To maintain and conduct one or more homes for old people in or near the City of Omaha." In the spring of 1916 George A. Joslyn and his wife gave to the home five acres of ground near the Deaf and Dumb Institute and preparations are under way for the erection of new buildings. In May, 1916, the home had seventeen inmates, three men and fourteen women. The home has an endowment of $26,000 and is managed by a board of which Mrs. E. H. Johnson is president ; Mrs. E. R. Hume, vice president ; Mrs. M. N. Woodward, recording secretary; Miss Callie McConnell, corresponding secretary; Mrs. K. S. Spalding, secretary. The association owns property valued at $22,000, exclu- sive of the recent gift of Mr. and Mrs. Joslyn.
The Catholic Orphanage dates from 1888, when the old buildings of St. Mary's Convent were sold and the proceeds used to establish the orphans' home at the corner of Fifteenth and Castellar streets. About two years later a new site was obtained in Benson Place (now the City of Benson) and a larger struc- ture was erected, with school rooms, chapel, dormitories, play rooms, etc., usually found in first class institutions of this class. It is controlled and conducted by the Sisters of Mercy.
The Union Pacific Dispensary, located at Room 467 Brandeis Building, and the hospital department in Room 459 of the same building, are under the charge of Dr. A. F. Jonas as chief surgeon. The Douglas County Detention Home at No. 310 Bancroft Street, sometimes called the Riverview Home, is under the superin- tendency of Marshall B. Thompson. The House of Hope at No. 958 North Twenty-seventh Street was established in 1906 by Rev. C. W. Savidge to care for old and infirm people. In 1915 a new building was erected, at a cost of $26,900, and during the year the institution disbursed $5,121. Mrs. Larsine Baum is matron.
Other charitable or benevolent institutions are the Creche, or day nursery, for the care of children of women who are compelled to go out to work. It was established in 1887 and is located at No. 1231 Park Wilde Avenue. The convent of the Good Shepherd at No. 653 South Fortieth Street; the Child Saving Insti- tute at No. 619 South Forty-second Street ; the Negro Women's Christian Home at No. 3029 Pinkney Street; the Keeley and Neal institutcs for the treatment of drunkards or persons addicted to the use of drugs; the Salvation Army industrial and rescue homes ; the Society for the Friendless; the Nebraska Humane Society for the prevention of cruelty to children and dumb animals; the Social Settle- ment Association, and a few others of less importance, each following some special line of charitable work.
ASSOCIATED CHARITIES
The Omaha Associated Charities was incorporated in 1892 to care for the indigent or needy families of the city, find occupations for the unemployed, etc. Headquarters are maintained at Gardner Hall, No. 1716 Dodge Street and front
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the beginning the organization has depended solely upon the contributions of the charitably inclined citizens for the means to carry on its work. During the year ending on July 1, 1916, the contributions amounted to $10,590 and 2,320 families received aid. On the date just mentioned E. W. Dixon was president; C. T. Kountze and Dr. I. W. Porter, vice presidents; Mrs. Draper Smith, secretary ; Mrs. Robert T. Burns, treasurer; Mrs. G. W. Doane, general superintendent.
The Associated Jewish Charities is similar in character to the above. It was organized and incorporated in 1901 and maintains its general office at 784 Brandeis Building. On July 1, 1916, Morris Levy was president; there were four vice presidents; Harry Monsky, secretary; Harry Friedman, treasurer. During the year 1915 this organization disbursed $9,314.68 and the secretary reported a balance on hand on January 1, 1916, of $400.54.
CEMETERIES
The graveyard is an institution of a charitable nature, yet it is one which the pioneers in a new country are always reluctant to see make its appearance. One can scarcely imagine a more lonesome or desolate object than the first grave in a new settlement. After a number of burials, when the cemetery reaches propor- tions that naturally require greater care, much of the desolation disappears and the cemetery frequently becomes one of the beauty spots about a city.
What is now Prospect Hill Cemetery had its beginning in 1858, when Moses F. Shinn set apart ten acres of his claim for a burial ground. The first grave there was that of Alonzo F. Salisbury, one of Omaha's pioneers and one of the members of the Legislative Council in the third session, which was convened on January 5, 1857. His death occurred in March, 1858, about the time Mr. Shinn announced his intention of donating the ten acres for burial purposes. J. L. Winship died the following June and was the second person to be buried in the new graveyard. Adjoining Shinn's claim was a tract of land belonging to Jesse Lowe, on which a few burials were made. The ground was not fenced and stock roamed over the graves at will. Seeing the lack of care, Byron Reed in 1859 purchased the ten acres from Mr. Shinn and fifteen acres from Mr. Lowe, includ- ing the site of the graves. He then dedicated fourteen acres of the ground for cemetery purposes, with the provision that the land should revert to him or his heirs whenever it ceased to be used as a burial place. He gave the place the name of Prospect Hill and cared for it at his own expense for more than twenty years -- the outlay exceeding the income by some five thousand dollars.
In 1885 the Legislature passed an act permitting cemetery associations to own more land than the laws had formerly allowed. Forest Lawn Association was organized under the new law and purchased a half section of land, in what is now the northwestern part of the city, though it was then far beyond the city limits. To the new association Mr. Reed turned over the management of Prospect Hill Cemetery. In the spring of 1890 the lot owners in Prospect Hill organized an association and incorporated under the name of the Prospect Hill Cemetery Association, with C. A. Baldwin as president and C. F. Catlin as secretary. Additional land was purchased from Byron Reed's estate, extending the cemetery from Thirtieth to Thirty-fourth streets, and from Parker Street on the south to Lake Street on the north. The association now has an office at 216 Brandeis
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