History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire, Part 13

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia [Pa.] J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1520

USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire > Part 13
USA > New Hampshire > Belknap County > History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire > Part 13

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At the opening of the November session Governor Hill, in his message to the Legislature, remarks, in relatiou to the returns made in conformity to this resolution, that "less than one-half of the legal voters of the State have expressed any opinion, and the official returns, so far as received, would indicate that the vote had been nearly equal for and against the proposition."

In 1837 neither the message of the Governor nor the proceedings of the Legislature contain any allusion to the subject of an asylum for the insane. Great financial depression, extending throughout all parts of the country, may possibly have discouraged efforts in this direction, which, under other circumstances, would have been active.

The friends of the enterprise, however, were not disheartened, nor were their efforts abandoned, as they cherished a belief that these efforts must ere long be crowned with success. And in this anticipation they were not disappointed. On the 21st day of 4

June, 1838, a bill was reported to the House from the select committee, to whom had heen referred so much of the Governor's message as related to insane persons in this State, and petitions praying for the establish- ment of an insane asylum. This passed to a third reading, when a motion was made by Mr. Reuben Wyman, of Albany, to postpone it to the next session of the Legislature, and "that the Secretary of State be required to notify the selectmen of the several towns in this State to insert an article in their war- rants for holding the annual March meetings, to take the sense of the qualified voters upon the subject of granting an appropriation for building an asylum." Upon the yeas and nays being called for by Mr. Warren Lovell, of Meredith, it was found that the motion did not prevail, the yeas heing eighty-five and the nays one hundred and forty-four. The bill was then passed, and in a few days its passage was con- curred in by the Senate.

Thus, after a severe struggle of six years, during which period they encountered a most obstinate op- position, its advocates at length succeeded in obtain- ing for the asylum a charter. We would he glad to recount the names of these early and devoted friends to whose protracted and unwearied efforts the insti- tution owes its existence, but our limits forbid. But for their efforts in its behalf in the Legislature, the pulpit, the lecture-room, by the way and wherever an opportunity offered, it might not have heen erected to this day. In its success they afterwards had proof of the correctness of their early foresight of its im- portance, and in its usefulness, their reward.

By its charter the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane was constituted a corporation, with power to hold real and personal property in any amount neces- sary for its maintenance and support, " provided that its annual income from real and personal estate should not exceed thirty thousand dollars." The institution was placed under the management of a board of twelve trustees, the offices of three of whom should become vacant annually, eight to he chosen by the corpora- tion and four by a board of visitors, consisting of the Governor and Council, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, for the time being. It also provided that when the sum of fifteen thousand dollars should be secured to the asylum by individuals, then the State should make over to it, in aid of its benevolent aims, thirty shares of New Hampshire bank stock, worth at that time about eighteen thousand dollars.

Some six months after the passage of this act a controversy arose between the corporation represent- ing the subscribers to the voluntary fund and the board of visitors representing the State, relative to certain powers of control assumed by the former, and different interpretations of the act were urged. The questions involved were settled not long after by an act of the Legislature, " in amendment to and ex- planatory of the incorporating act," which provided

HISTORY OF MERRIMACK COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

that "the direction, management and control of all the property and concerns " of the asylum should be vested in the trustees, without power of interference by the corporation. And it was ere long thought hest that the institution should be placed entirely under the control of the State, which, in accordance with an act passed by the Legislature in 1840, assumed its sole management through a board of twelve trustees, to he appointed hy the Governor and Council. An- other act, passed the same year, provided that all contributions by private individuals, previously made, should be refunded to them if claimed within a speci- fied time.

The location of the asylum at some point in the town of Concord was left to the trustees, who, on the 21st day of January, 1841, selected that which it now occupies, the town of Concord having previously voted to give to the asylum the sum of nine thousand five hundred dollars, provided it should be located within its limits ; private citizens of the town having previously pledged a considerable amount in addition upon the same condition.

A building committee, previously appointed, now entered upon the discharge of their duties and pro- cured the completion, in October, 1842, of the front portion of the present centre building and the adjoin- ing north and south wings, which afforded accommo- dations for ninety-six patients. From the trustees' report of 1844 it appears "that the whole amount ex- pended in the erection of the hospital, barn and out- buildings, for the farm, consisting of one hundred and twenty-one acres, supply of water, furniture, farming tools, stock and other property was $35,266.70 ;" and that of this sum, nineteen thousand dollars only had been paid by the State, the balance having been re- ceived from contributions by the town and citizens of Concord, the Society of Shakers and other benevolent individuals or realized from the board of patients.

A few years later an additional building was erected in the rear of the main structure, for the use of excited patieuts, which, upon the completion of the original Peaslee building, in 1855, was converted into a laundry.

The asylum was opened for the reception of patients on the 29th day of October, 1842, under the superin- tendence of Dr. George Chandler, who, in June follow- ing, reported to the trustees the admission of seventy- six patients during the previous seven months. Dr. Chandler remained at the head of the institution for about three years, and to him it is largely indebted for the initiation of a wise routine of management. He was succeeded in 1845 by Dr. Andrew McFarland, afterwards superintendent of the Illinois Asylum for the Insane, who discharged the duties of superintend- ent for about seven years, and resigned in the summer of 1852. In 1849, three years before he retired from his office, the Chandler wing was built.

He was succeeded hy Dr. John E. Tyler, who held the office for a period of about four years and a half.

During his superintendency the first portion of the Peaslee building was erected in 1854, steam fixtures for warming the halls and other parts of the house were introduced in 1855, and, in consequence of in- creasing applications for admission, the Rumford wing was erected the same year, thereby increasing the limit of accommodations to two hundred and twenty- five patients.

In consequence of impaired health, Dr. Tyler re- signed in 1857, and was succeeded by Dr. Jesse P. Ban- croft. His period of service was a long one, extending from 1857 to 1883. It was also an active one, during which no less than seven important buildings were added to those previously in use.

The first of these, in the order of construction, was the Kent building, erected in 1867. This is the cor- responding building, on the female side of the asylum, to the Peaslee building, on the male side. It embod- ies most of the advanced ideas pertaining to the cus- tody of highly-excited patients prevailing at the time of its erection, and is still well abreast of the present period in this respect.

The very greatly-enlarged number of patients in 1868 rendered necessary a new kitchen, bakery, cellar, dining-room for employés, sewing-room and chapel. These wants were all supplied in the present chapel building, which was built this year and de- signed to meet them.

The ventilation of the old buildings proved more and more defective as time elapsed and numbers in- creased. In 1869, Dr. Bancroft devised a new system for the halls and rooms in these, and from time to time, as fast as practicable, it has been introduced with gratifying success.

The enlargement of the asylum structure on the south brought into very objectionable contiguity the barn and stable of the institution. The necessity for larger structures of this character, better planned and more remotely located, was met, in 1871, by their removal and reconstruction upon the sites which they now occupy.

In 1874 the Peaslee building, originally occupying a foremost rank among huildings of this description, was found to have become of insufficient capacity and wanting in some important conveniences, which the experience of the period following its erection had suggested. Its accommodations having become insufficient rather than unsuitable, it was enlarged to double its size and furnished with such additional conveniences as the most advanced treatment of highly excited patients required.

Three years later it became apparent that the asylum had outgrown its boiler-house and repair-shops, and that a new structure to meet these wants had become imperative. After a careful consideration of these and of the most desirable way of providing for them, the present boiler-house and work-shops were con- structed in 1877.

Twice since its erection has the central building of

THE INSANE ASYLUM.

the asylum been enlarged. Its accommodations were first increased, in 1860, by an addition of some thirty- six feet upon the west. The greatly-enlarged num- ber of employés calling ere long for still more room, an additional story was put upon it in 1879. These additions have doubled its original capacity.

The last addition made to the asylum structure was that of the Bancroft building. This was sug- gested partly by the need of additional room on the female side of the asylum, and partly by a desire, on the part of the friends of a somewhat limited class of patients in the State, for more ample accommoda- tions and a more private life than is usually found practicable at institutions for the insane. To meet this want the comely structure designated as above was erected in 1882.

Such has been the growth of the asylum structure up to the present time (1885). Its accommodations have been increased from those at first provided for ninety-six patients to those which can now more amply accommodate three hundred and fifty.

The whole amount expended upon this structure, from first to last, by the State has been but two hun- dred and fourteen thousand dollars, or, considering the character of the accommodations afforded, the very low sum of six hundred and eleven dollars per patient. Whatever the asylum has cost beyond this amount has come from sources other than the State treasury.

It is located in the very heart of the city of Con- cord, upon a tract of ground, highly improved, of about one hundred and twenty-five acres. Some twenty- five acres of this are occupied by the various build- ings and airing courts; the remainder by the pond, farming areas, groves, avenues and paths. In addi- tion to the ground about the house, the asylum owns a pasture, about a half a mile distant, of fifty acres.

One of the greatest boons enjoyed by the institution is that of an unlimited supply of purest water. This comes from a well sunk by Dr. Bancroft upon the premises in 1880, which has a diameter of fifty feet and a depth of fifteen. It is drawn upon daily for about fifty thousand gallons, and is capable of yield- ing a much larger supply. Never since its construc- tion has it shown the slightest indications of failure, even during the severest droughts.

In 1855, as before stated, the furnaces, which had been previously employed, were discarded, and ap- pliances for warming the buildings by steam were introduced. Up to 1870 wood was the fuel used. But this growing more and more dear in price and its supply more and more uncertain, it gave way to coal, and for the last fifteen years the steam for heat- ing, washing, cooking, etc., has been made by this.

After an active service of twenty-five years, Dr. Bancroft resigned the superintendency in 1882, and has been succeeded by his son, Dr. Charles P. Ban- croft. Familiar with all the traditions of the insti- tution and thoroughly equipped by education and

experience for the high responsibilities of his post, he is maintaining its usefulness and continuing it in the front rank of American asylums for the insane. Its success thus far has been due very largely to the entire absence of partisanship in its boards of visi- tors and of trustees, to the patient and devoted efforts of able superintendents, to the liberal benefac- tions of earnest friends of the insane, to timely aid from time to time rendered by the State and to the full reports made annually to the public of its con- dition and operations.

It is an interesting fact in its history that devoted friends of the insane have ever watched the progress of the asylum, and made, from time to time, liberal contributions to its funds. It has been deemed just and proper to put on record here the names of these generous patrons.

Before its opening, even, in 1837, Miss Catharine Fisk, of Keene, a lady of high culture and benevolent impulses, bequeathed to it a legacy of nearly six thou- sand dollars, charged with certain temporary an- nuities, since terminated. By the terms of her will, this bequest was not to be paid to the asylum until the expiration of fifty years from the time of her decease, and, consequently, no part of this has yet been received. At present, held by the State as trustee, it is increasing by the annual addition of the accruing interest, and now (1885) amounts to twenty- three thousand four hundred and seventy-six dollars and seventy-one cents. It will become payable to the asylum in the year 1887.

In 1846, and at subsequent times, the State, as trustee for the asylum, received, in partial payments from the estate of Jacob Kimball, of Hampstead, a legacy amounting to six thousand seven hundred and forty-three dollars and forty-nine cents, the interest of which is annually paid by the State treasurer to the asylum.

Again, in 1847, the Hon. Samuel Bell, of Chester, made to the asylum generous donations of money, to be expended in the purchase of books for the use of such patients as might be benefited by the perusal of them. With this some two hundred and fifty volumes of standard works, well suited to the purpose intended, were procured. These formed the nucleus about which the present asylum library has grown up. The important additions since made have re- sulted from numerous smaller and later gifts. This collection of books, now containing about eighteen hundred volumes, is of great value as a curative agency in the treatment of large numbers of con- valescent and mildly affected patients.

Two years afterwards, iu 1849, the institution re- ceived, as a contribution to its fund, the sum of two hundred dollars from John Williams, Esq., of Hanover.

Abiel Chandler, Esq., of Walpole, the founder of the Chandler Scientific School at Hanover, who died in 1851, bequeathed to the asylum two legacies, one

HISTORY OF MERRIMACK COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

of six hundred dollars, charged with the life-estate of a niece, and another of one thousand dollars, at the same time making the institution his residuary lega- tee. The several sums paid to its treasurer and financial agent, from time to time, by his executors amount to twenty-seven thousand six hundred and thirty-one dollars and fifteen cents. The ultimate amount of this fund, which bears the name of its donor, has been fixed by the trustees at thirty thou- sand dollars, and already, increased by the addition to it of interest, stands upon the books of the institu- tion at twenty-nine thousand eight hundred dollars.

The Countess of Rumford, who died at Concord in December, 1852, was also a benefactress of the asylum. Feeling a deep interest in this and other benevoleut institutions in her native State and elsewhere, at her decease she left to such a very large proportion of her estate. To her kindness the asylum is indebted for a legacy of fifteen thousand dollars, which was paid to its treasurer in 1853.

Mrs. Mary Danforth, of Boscawen, who also died in 1852, after making other specific hequests, left to the asylum the residuum of her estate. From this the sum of three hundred and forty-seven dollars and ninety cents was realized by the institution.

One of the early trustees of the asylum was Mr. William Plumer, of Londonderry, who ever mani- fested a deep concern for its welfare. It was found, after his decease, that, retaining this interest to the last, he had left to it a legacy of five hundred dollars, which was paid to its treasurer in 1863.

Still another benefactress of the asylum was Mrs. Peggy Fuller, of Francestown, from whose estate it received, in 1862-63, the sum of eighteen hundred and fourteen dollars and forty-two cents.

In 1862 the institution received from the executors of the will of Mrs. Fanny S. Sherman, of Exeter, a lady of great excellence of character, a legacy of five thousand dollars, the annual income of which is, by her direction, given to indigent patients, to assist them in paying the necessary expenses of their sup- port, and is the first bequest ever received by the asylum to which any particular direction has been attached by the donor. Some five years later the sum of two hundred and two dollars and ten cents was paid to the asylum,'by his executors, as a legacy of Mr. Horace Hall, of Charlestown.

The largest bequest ever made to the asylum was the munificent one of Mr. Moody Kent, who died in 1866. Having watched its progress with great interest for a long series of years, he left to it, at his decease, the residue of his property, after the payment of numerous legacies to relatives and friends. From his estate the institution received one hundred and forty- ninethousand four hundred and fourteen dollars, which sum, increased by a small addition derived from ac- crued interest, now constitutes the present Kent fund of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

The Rev. Dr. Charles Burroughs, of Portsmouth,

who, for about thirteen years, had held the office of president of the board of trustees, left at his decease, in March, 1868, as an evidence of his deep interest in the asylum, a bequest of one thousand dollars, to be paid to the institution at the close of the life of Mrs. Burroughs.

Isaac Adams, of Sandwich, after having served the institution for several years with signal ability as one of its trustees, upon retiring from the board, in 1868, accompanied his resignation with the liberal gift of one thousand dollars, requesting that the interest might be expended in affording means of in-door recreation to male patients so situated as to be de- prived of it in the open air. This fund, which has been accumulating, will be used at an early day as the foundation of active measures to secure the im- portant result suggested by its donor.

In 1872, John Conant, of Jaffrey, the constructing agent of the first asylum building, for many years a member of its board of trustees, and for six years its president, gave expression to a deep interest long en- tertained for the institution by a generous donation of six thousand dollars, as an addition to its per- manent funds.

The third on the list of female patrons of the insti- tution stands the name of Miss Arabella Rice, of Portsmouth, who died in 1872 and left to it a legacy of twenty thousand dollars as a proof of her deep interest in the welfare of the asylum and of the un- fortunate class to whom it ministers.

Hon. Isaac Spalding, of Nashua, for many years a member of the board of its trustees and from 1868 to 1875 its president, died the latter year, leaving to the asylum a legacy of ten thousand dollars as his con- tribution to its permanent funds.

In 1883 the asylum received a legacy of one thousand dollars from the estate of Miss H. Louise Penhallow, of Portsmouth, being the last which has come into its treasury.

The whole amount of the asylum's permanent funds on the 1st day of June, 1885, was two hundred and seventy thousand three hundred and eighty-four dollars and five cents.

The settled purpose of the trustees as to each of these, and to every other fund which may hereafter be given to the asylum amounting to one thousand dollars or over, unless otherwise ordered by the donor, is to maintain the principal thereof intact, and so to expend the income, from time to time accruing, as the greatest good of the patients and of the asylum shall suggest. The following votes of the trustees, regulating their action in this regard, will present more in detail the rules by which they are governed :

"Voted, That the several funds that have been, or may hereafter ba, given to the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane, unless otherwise ordered by the donors, ba entered upon the books of the asylum as par- manent funds, he eat apart with the names of said donors attached to each, to be forever kept intact, and that the income thereof ba expended in accordance with the conditions upon which they are givan, or, in the

THE INSANE ASYLUM.

absence of such, in euch manner as the trusteee shall deem most for the intereet of the asylum and its patients.

"Voted, That if, at any time, the principal of any fund be impaired, the income thereof ehall be at once devoted to its restoration and continue to he thus appropriated until the said fund ehall attain its original amount."

From the foregoing sketch of the rise and progress of the New Hampshire Asylum it appears that, from the first, there have been successive demands for ad- ditional buildings and other facilities for the care and treatment of the insane. This demand has arisen, in part, from the constant increase in the number of persons requiring hospital care; but this has not been the sole cause of the demand. There has been, as the result of experience, an advancing idea of the requisites for the proper treatment of in- sanity, and, as a result, there has been, from time to time, demands not only for new buildings, but for radical changes of old ones. Experience has been constantly bringing to light the insufficiency and de- fects of the earlier ideas and usages, and calling for facilities for utilizing the fruits of that experience,-a common fact in all fields of progress. The history of the asylum has been one of progressive develop- ment, which has found no resting-place.

It germinated in sympathy for the insane, the depth of which was shown in the patience and per- sistency with which the first movers in the enterprise resisted the obstacles thrown in their way, and re- newed their determined efforts from year to year. The results of their efforts have been an emphatic vindication of the soundness of their judgment as well as of the benevolence of their sentiments. It would be impossible to form a just estimate of the benefits which have followed, unless by a comparison of the condition of the insane prior to the founding of the institution and that at the present time. A few words in regard to the old notions of insanity may be allowable here in contrast with present views, as illustrating the amount of good accom- plished. Before the opening of this century the in- sane were regarded and treated as outcasts, looked upon with horror, as culprits or possessed with evil spirits. Execution or imprisonment was their por- tion. Those who escaped these were subjected to measures for the expulsion of demoniac possession, incantations or vile compounds supposed to possess virtue against demons. Holy water, to which salt was added, was a famous prescription for this pur- pose, on the theory that the devil abhorred salt. Binding the subject to a cross was another remedy supposed to possess great efficiency.

An old medical writer records this as the treatment of a case of active mania, which he witnessed: A priest entered the room of the person and said, "Thou devil of devils! I adjure thee by the potential power of the Father and the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, aud by the virtue of the Holy Ghost that thou do show me for what cause thou dost possess this woman."

Recovery was the result reported. Prior to tlie year 1797 almost no rational and scientific provision for the insane had been attempted. The few institu- tions then existing differed little from prisons. Pinel, with an insight deeper than others, saw that disease, and not the devil, was the cause of insanity ; and his logical inference was that treatment of it as of other diseases was the remedy, rather than binding to a holy cross or the expulsion of the devil.

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History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire, Part 13

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Philadelphia [Pa.] J. W. Lewis & co. Number of Pages: 1520

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia [Pa.] J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1520