USA > New York > Monroe County > Rochester > History of Rochester and Monroe county, New York, from the earliest historic times to the beginning of 1907 > Part 28
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HISTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
$5,000 for building the hospital. The directors applied to the Charitable society for aid, and the ladies raised nearly $6,000, to which they added the first legacy of the society of $500 from Everard Feck in 1854, and $700, the avails of the sale of the Charity school lot, and placed the money at the disposal of the directors, thus securing to the Charitable society a perpetual free bed in the City hospital.
When the central building of the hospital was completed in 1863 the directors requested that a committee from the Charitable society be ap- pointed to confer with them and devise plans for the furnishing of the hospital. A committee was ap- pointed, one member of which, Mrs. Wm. H. Per- kins, is still with us. This committee raised $5,000 to help furnish the building, aided by churches and individuals, and the entire management except the medieal department was entrusted to this society, and was called the board of managers of the City hospital, and to a certain degree their interest still continues, and it is an accepted fact that the City hospital is a child of the Charitable society.
Since its formation this charity has been favored by gifts from many others besides our citizens. In 1851 Jenny Lind came to entertain the good people with her wonderful voice, and the sum real- ized from premiums on the seats was $800, which she gave to the society. In 1855 P. T. Barnum gave a lecture and left $256.00 for the benefit of the sick poor. In 1865 after the great flood which caused such devastation, and brought destitution and suffering to certain portions of the city, the citizens generously contributed for the relief of these people the sum of about $2.000, and also an- other gift after a great fire in 1868. We have at present about $50,000 as our endowment fund, which in great measure enables the society to keep pace in its work with the growth of the city, with the additional sum given every year as the regni! of the annual appeal. There are about 400 per- sons on our list most of the time. either sick, or old and feeble, some of whom receive twenty-five cents a week, and frmin that to one dollar a week, and sometimes more in severe cases, according to the necessity of the case. Many of these worthy prople are aged women, alone in the world without a home or friends to care for them, who. through no fault of their own, are brought to a helpless condition, and shrink from contact with the class
of people they would be housed with at the alnie- house.
The Charitable society has no permanent abid- ing place, no salaried officers, but is dependent upon its friends for a room in which to hold its meetings, since its membership has become so large that they cannot be held in the homes of its treas- urer and assistant treasurer, as formerly was the custom, and, like some of the recipients of its bounty, for many years it was not long stationary in one place. For several years its meeting-place has been the guild room of St. Luke's church.
The aim of the good women who formed this or- ganization was practical to a degree, not to pau- perize whom they sought to help, but to encourage them as far as possible to help themselves, when not incapacitated by sickness or extreme poverty. This all required discrimination and good sense; sometimes they were imposed upon, as we are in these days, but, above all that, the good done was beyond human comprehension. As the result of their foresight and efforts came the most of our city charities, and as the years went on and the original workers ceased from their labors, their daughters, and grand-daughters, and, in some families, great grand-daughters, took their places, imbued with the same spirit, and finding the same need for effort as in former days.
For several years from the beginning the offices of secretary and treasurer were filled by the same person. About 1827 Mrs. James K. Livingston's name appears as president. Afterward Mrs. Silas O. Smith, Mrs. Norton, Mrs. James H. Gregory. Mrs. Webster held the office for several years. Mrs. Scoville, Mrs. F. F. Backus, Mrs. Atkinson, Mrs. S. L. Selden, Mrs. Wm. Mumford, Mrs. Joseph Strong, and a few other names. In 1860 Mrs. Maltby Strong was president, which office she held until 1885-twenty-five years. There were numer- ous treasurers during all that time-Mrs. Colman, Mrs. Pomeroy, Mrs. Jonathan Child, Mrs. Whittle- sey, who held the office two different times, Mrs. Sampson, Mrs. T. H. Rochester, Mrs. Hunt, Mrs. Ford, Mrs. Chas. M. Lee, Mrs. Schermerhorn, Mre. Samuel Miller, Mrs. N. T. Rochester, Mrs. James Webster. Mrs. Selah Mathews, Mrs. S. G. Andrews, Mrs. Pitkin, Mrs. Fred'k Starr, Mrs. Wm. H. Per- kins, Mrs. Alexander Me Vean, Miss C. L. Roches- ter. Miss Long, Mrs. Edgar Holmes, Mrs. Emmett Hollister, Mrs. David M. Hongh, Mrs. H. P. Brew-
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THE CITY HOSPITAL.
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HISTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
ster and our present treasurer, Miss Sarah Frost, who has held the office since 1892. The first men- tion of a secretary distinct from a treasurer seen's to have been about 1860, when Mrs. Wm. C. Row- ley was elected, afterward Mrs. A. G. Mudge and then Mrs. Adolphus Morse. In 1869 Mrs. Oscar Craig was elected and continued in office until 1884, when Mrs. Arthur Robinson took the place, which she still holds. Now we have a correspond- ing secretary, Mrs. Wm. D. Ellwanger. The as- sistant treasurer for several years was Mrs. Henry R. Selden, who died in 1903, the present inenm- hent being Mrs. C. A. Vanderbeck. The vice- presidents are Mrs. Adolphus Morse, Mrs. Charles H. Webb, Mrs. Theodore Bacon, Mrs. J. A. Van Ingen, Mrs. W. C. Manning. The trustees are Howard L. Osgood, William H. Ward, Granger A. Hollister, J. Sherlock Andrews, James S. Watson, J. Craig Powers.
The first circulars were printed in 1847. In 1829, the year of the first election of officers in the officially organized society as it now is, there were sixteen visitors elected for as many districts. There are now ninety-one districts and seventy-three visi- tors, several having two or three districts. So the work has gone on for eighty-five years, character- ized by faithful service by all who have been en- gaged in it, and so may it continue in the future, blessed in its labors of love.
THE ROCHESTER CITY HOSPITAL."
The Rochester City hospital, which however, i? tot owned or supported by the city as the name might imply, was incorporated May 7th, 1842. The directors named were John B. Elwood, William Pitkin, Isaac Hills, Thomas H. Rochester, Patrick Kearney, Frederick Starr, Ralph Lester, Edward M. Moore. John Williams, Elijah F. Smith and David Barton. The following month there were added to the board Levi A. Ward, John H. Thomp- son, Jonathan Child, Aristarchus Champion, Ever- ard Peck, James Webster, William Brewster, Jared Newell, Alexander Kelsey, Harvey F. Montgomery. Jacob Gould and Frederick F. Backns. These twenty-three men were prominent and representa- tive citizens. At the outset no funds were available for the undertaking, and therefore no effective
measures could be adopted .. It was not until 1851, when the co-operation of the Rochester Female Charitable society was requested, that work was commenced. The ladies responded heartily, and thereafter the project was carried forward with energy and practical wisdom, though difficulties were met at every turn. To these devoted women must be awarded the credit in large part of e+ tablishing the hospital. Their agency was para- mount in providing the first building, its equip. of responsibility has never been withdrawn. The management, except in the medical department, was formally entrusted to them, and this transfer of responsibility has never been withdrawn. The institution was properly regarded as the creation of the Charitable society.
The need of a public home for the sick had be- come pressing as carly as 1845, when the same society appointed a committee to consider the sun- ject and consult with other persons interested : and that committee was continued from year to year until their services were no longer needed. Efforts were made to care for patients in hired rooms, but were successively abandoned, chiefly on account of the expense. Indeed, the financial problem then and for many years following loomed up as almost insoluble. Nevertheless obstacles were gradually overcome and the work proceeded, but not until sixteen years after the hospital was incorporated was a building ready for use. How this was accomplished by the Charitable society, the directors, certain churches and benevolent citi zens, with initial help by the common council, is related elsewhere in this chapter. Here it is neces. sary only to state that the city conveyed to the directors the Western cemetery of three aeres, in which burials had ceased, Mount Hope having been opened in 1838, and added $7,000 from the alm+- house fund. The Charitable society on its part raised nearly $6,000 by subscription and appro- printed $1,200 in cash. Work was commenced and the central building was completed in the autumn of 1862, but could not be occupied because as vet unfurnished. The ladies. again appealed to, met the emergency by raising a large amount. over $7,000. The dircetors added $1.000, given to them by the Collegiate institute, With these sums the building was properly equipped and on January 29th. 1864, was duly dedicated to the service of the public. It is probable that a few sick persons had
*This sketch of The hospital was prepared by Dr. Charles A. Dewey.
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THESTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
been treated the previous sunnner. Indeed there ie an early record to that effect. The first patient after the formal opening was admitted February 1st. By June following, sick and wounded soldiers began to arrive. The building was soon overtaxed and ients were placed on the lawn. In the next twenty months 448 soldiers were received. Most of these the government had transferred before the end of 1865, but a few remained for several years. A nominal charge of two dollars a week was fixed, but the city and county would pay only a dolla: and a quarter.
The need of ampler accommodations was ex- treme and large wings with mansards were added, as funds could be procured, until the long main edifice, practically as it now appears, was com- pleted. Extensive interior changes have since been made. The erection of other buildings and many improvements followed. Thus, in 1883 two isolated pavilions for contagious diseases were erected- one by the estate of Harvey Hall, the others by Drs. W. S. Ely, E. V. Stoddard and J. W. Whit- beck. These separate little houses served a most useful purpose until recently, when they were re- moved. The dome was utilized by division into twelve rooms, In 1886 an elevator was placed. The children's pavilion was erected in that year, the laundry in 1890, various small buildings in 1891, a stable in 1896, the pathological laboratory in 1901. Finally in 1906 a neighboring lot, with house, on Troup street, was purchased. Extensive betterments in the heating and lighting plant also had been made. In the meantime the hospital harl acquired more important extensions through the munificence of a few friends. The various build- ings successively added met imperative needs, and supplied new facilities. As early as 1868 an eve and car department had been established, in which cut-patients also received gratuitous treatment. The clinic was maintained for twenty years, or un- til the opening of the commodious Magne-Jewell annex afforded the opportunity to develop the out- patient work on the broad plan that is still pur- sued, Mrs. Mary S. Jewell of Vineland, N. J., wishing to rear a memorial to her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Magne, who settled in Rochester in 1816, and to connect her own name therewith. presented the building, which cost $3,000. In 1891, two years before her death, she again gave $3,000 for additions and improvements. The usefulness of
the ont-patient department thus housed is shown by the record of 1906-1,600 new patients, not including those previously registered and still needing attention, 5,699 visits to the department by both classes, 8,893 prescriptions and treatments.
In 1891 Dr. John W. Whitbeck gave to the hospital the convenient surgical pavilion bearing the name of his father, John F. Whitbeck, who at his death in 1880 had been for fourteen years # member of the staff. This building, representing the most approved construction and equipment proved, as was expected, an indispensable addition. Many contributions for the purchase of instru- ments and apparatus were also received.
In November, 1899, the Nurses' Home was opened. This beautiful structure was the tribute of James C. Hart to the memory of his wife, Isa- bella Graham Hart, who for twelve years had served the hospital faithfully as a member of the board of managers, and who died the previous year. The building is perfectly adapted to its use as a quiet residence for the nurses, with its spacious halle, library, assembly room, dining- room, sleeping apartments and baths. Subsequent- ly Mr. Hart provided a liberal sum for the perpet- ual maintenance of the home. After his death in 1905 his daughters, Mrs. Robert Bartlett (also a manager) and Mrs. George D. B. Bonbright, ex- pressed a desire to erect, in honor of their father, a building similar in design to the Nurses' Home. This imposing edifice, opened in May, 1907, is to be used by medical, including maternity patients. The work requires much space and this has been provided in the comprehensive plan adopted. The building, in its fire-proof construction, its arrange- ment and appointments, complies with the most exacting demands of the medical art and thus presents advantages not to be found in any private house. Patients in its private rooms, as elsewhere in the hospital, have the attendance of any physi- cians they may select. All other consideration- aside, the two Hart memorials, because of their im- pressive dimensions, architectural beauty and lo- cations, the last contributing to the symmetrical development of the plant on the hospital grounds. cannot be praised too highly.
The ambulance was first used in 1896. Dr. H. T. Williams gave the outfit, including full equip- ment as well as horse and carriage. Later an- other wagon was purchased and other additions
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HISTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
were made by the hospital. During 1906 the number of calls was 832. In 1896 also Dr. A. W. Henckell presented the X-ray apparatus. In 1899 and again in 1902 the hospital bought improved machines. The Parent Stem began to sew for the hospital in 1887. Since then, with its nineteen offshoots com- prising 500 members, it has furnished many thou- sand articles. In 1906 alone the number was 4,000. Furthermore at the donation these associations netted $3,933 in sales at its tables, an abnost in- credible achievement for a single year ! About 400 garments also have been received annually from the Needlework Guild during the last few years, In 1875 young ladies of St. Luke's church formed a flower mission, and each week since that time have brought bouquets to the hospital. The Hos- pital Review, started in 1864, is still published each month. It contains hospital news and statis- ties and appropriate reading matter and is an ad- mirable means of communication with the public. A full and instructive history could be compiled from its well-edited pages.
The training school for nurses was one of the first in the country. Projected in 1879, it was opened in December of the next year and gradu- ated its first class of four in 1883. It has granted diplomas to 266 young women. There is a rigid course of three years, including the preliminary and probation periods. The instruction covers every phase of hospital experience, also cookery and district nursing. The number of pupils is sixty. The hospital has, each year since it was established, offered a public entertainment or hel.3 a donation for the formal replenishment if its depleted treasury. There have been concerts, plays, fetes, fancy dress parties, dancing, the sale of in- numerable articles, the serving of substantial meals, all involving much labor by those planning and executing. Children and older persons alike have gladly participated. These affairs long since took on a distinctive character, becoming a sort of social function, drawing crowd- of people whose charitable intentions were thus consolidated and directed. To diminish the work, much of it neces- sarily falling on a few, efforts have been made. but nn-necessfully, to devie less ardnous methods for raising money. There seems. however, to be a persistent public demand for the confinnance of these annual festivals.
When the hospital opened its doors the only phy- sicians needed were Drs. H. F. Montgomery ani H. W. Dean. Dr. C. E. Rider was the first house officer. Since 1866, when four doctors were addel. the visiting staff has been cularged from time to time, to meet the increasing demands of general and specialized work. It now consists of seventeen physicians, who are assisted in various departments by a junior staff of thirty-five. There are four house officers, the successors of one hundred and twelve young men who have resided in the house, to complete their experience before entering prac- tice for themselves. Besides these, thirty or more other physicians have attended their personal pa- tients in private rooms the past year.
While the hospital depends for support on gifts of the charitably disposed, it repays to the entire community this obligation in generous measure. It has eighteen free beds. Nearly one-third of the patients receive gratuitous service. Many others can pay only a part of the cost, but the hospital gladly receives all these, to the limit of its re- sources.
Since the institution began its work, forty-three years ago, 33,000 patients have been registered, be- sides the other thousands visiting the out-patient department. The average work'regularly done in the hospital proper is shown by the record of the last year. The number of admissions was 2,180, including 149 infants born and 457 transient pa- tients. The days of treatment amounted to 35,- 370, of which 10,500 were full charity days. The number of operations performed by sixty-one sur- goons was 1,257, not counting the transient cases mentioned. The running expenses of the year were 859,778. In addition to the nurses there is a permanent family of forty-two persons, engaged in many kinds of work. The hospital can accommo- date 150 patients.
The various buildings, aside from furnishings and the hospital grounds, are appraised conserva- tively at $230,000. There is an interest-bearing fund of $126,000, and other funds produce a smail income. The cost of maintaining the hospital during the forty-three years of its existence would approximate $1.500,000. Furthermore the ex- pense of renovations and minor improvements is constant and considerable. The large sums named, with the exception of a small cash donation at the beginning by the city and early appropriations of
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HISTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
about $30,000 by the state, have come mainly fro:n the residents of Rochester, but partly from those of other places. There have been many friends in neighboring towns. The hospital has had a ver- itable army of supporters among rich and poor, young and old. If space could be spared, it would gladly publish the long list of those who, in various positions and in manifold ways, have rendered con- spicuous service. Its confidence in its benefactors has always been justified, and to them it belongs in a very real sense. Its history if adequately writ- ten would reveal much self-sacrifice as well 98 generous giving of money and labor. Such a his- tory would present interesting details where this brief account hardly sketches the outlines. It would show also in general how the hospital, though established before the great discoveries and inventions which since 1870 have revolutionized the science and practice of medicine and surgery, nevertheless has kept abreast of and contributed to this marvelous progress.
The directory of the hospital in May, 1907, was as follows :
DIRECTORS .- Henry G. Danforth, president ; J J. Bausch, vice-president ; H. S. Hanford, treas- urer; Wm. S. Morse, secretary ; Chas. F. Pond, L P. Ross, A. S. Hamilton, Max Landsberg, Erick- son Perkins, W. Bartholomay, H. C. Kimball, J. C. Powers, George Wilder, Edward G. Miner, jr., C. M. Everest, G. D. B. Bonbright, L. L. Allea, George Roth, W. E. Sloan, A. H. Harris, Geo. C. Buell, Wm. A. E. Drescher ; executive committee, J. M. Wile, M. A. Stern, H. G. Danforth, H. P. Brewster, C. J. Brown, Wm. S. Morse. Managers, Mrs. Arthur Robinson, president; Mrs. Oscar Craig, and Mrs. F. P. Allen, vice-presidente; Mra. H. G. Danforth, treasurer ; Mrs. F. S. Macomber, recording secretary ; Mrs. W. E. Hoyt, correspond- ing secretary; Mrs. Edward A. Webster, assistant treasurer ; Mrs. Max Landsberg, Mrs. I. S. Chapin, Mrs. Arthur S. Hamilton, Mrs. C. H. Angel, Mrs. Henry F. Huntington, Mrs. R. H. Hofheinz, Mrs. H. B. Hooker, Mrs. J. L. Garson, Mrs. H. I .. Og- good, Mrs. Warham Whitney, Mrs. W. E. Werner, Mrs. Joseph Farley. Miss Ruth Quinhy, Mrs. Percy R. McPhail, Mrs. T. B. Dunn; executive commit- tee, all the officers, er oficio, Mrs. Wm. If. Perkins, Mrs. John HI. Brewster, Mrs. Robert Bartlett. Miss Mary L. Weith, superintendent ; Miss E. T. Jones, assistant.
PHYSICIANS .- Consulting staff, C. E. Rider, D. Little, E. V. Stoddard; visiting staff, medical, W. S. Ely, C. A. Dewey, secretary, C. E. Darrow, R. M. Moore; surgical, J. W. Whitbeck, president; H. T. Williams, E. W. Mulligan, F. W. Zimmer; specialists, W. Rider, R. R. Fitch, J. L .. Roseboom, E. B. Angell, J. O. Roe, W. M. Brown; executive committee, J. W. Whitbeck, W. S. Ely, C. A. Dewey; junior staff, assistants in the house, S. W. Little, C. D. Young, D. G. Hastings, M. C. Potter, L. W. Rose, S. L. Elsner; other assistants, R. G. Cook, R. L. Carson, J. M. Ingersoll, L. W. Howk, A. W. Thomas, J. Roby, Evelyn Baldwin, C. O. Boswell, F. D. Andrew, C. R. Witherspoon, MI. I .. Casey, C. W. Thomas, E. G. Nugent, W. Mulligan, W. V. Ewers, F. P. Lcadley, A. C. Snell, M. B. Palmer, W. D. Ward, W. H. Sutherland, N. D. Mc- Dowell, J. K. Quigley, C. N. Jameson, Haydon Rochester, W. F. Plumley, Sarah G. Pierson, George A. Engert, Milton Chapman, John C. O'- Connor.
ST. MARY'S HOSPITAL.
This noble institution was established in 1837, by Sisters of Charity who came to Rochester fromn Emmettsburg, Md. The real founder was Mother Hieronyino, who by her personal efforts collected thetuoney necessary for its beginning and its main- tenance and who remained at its head till 1870. The doors were opened for patients on September 8th, 1857, though the hospital was not incorpo :- ated till the 19th of that month, the trustees for the first year being Francis Burlando, Michael Les- ter, Hieronymo O'Brien, Martha Bridgman and Felicia Fenwick, of whom Mr. Lester remained a member of the board till 1873. In 1858 the quar- ters became too small to accommodate the pa- tients, and the buildings were enlarged, althoughi the main edifice was not erected till 1862 and the farm purchased in 1873. The fame of the insti- tution spread and patients were numerous. Dur- ing the war the hospital was occupied by sick and wounded soldiers, the government having desig. nated this as one of the institutions at which sold- iers of the Union could be cared for, and 3,000 soldiers were received during that time. February 15th, 1891, the institution was nearly destroyed by fire, the damage to the building being $40,000. There were 250 people in the hospital at the time
"This sketch was prepared by Rev. Edward J Hanna, D. D.
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HISTORY OF ROCHESTER AND MONROE COUNTY.
of the fire, but all escaped. The building was in- sured for only $21,000, and the loss was heavy. On the evening after the fire a public meeting was held at the Chamber of Commerce rooms, where measures were devised by which a fund was raised to restore the hospital to as good a condition as before the fire. The damage was quickly repaired and the institution was reopened for patients in the following September. Since then the contag- ious pavilion was enlarged and improved in 1896, the present operating pavilion was added in Janu- ary, 1899, the fifth floor was renovated for nurses in 1901, and a beautiful new chapel was built in 1905 at a cost of $60.000. The institution will now accommodate 270 patients and is in charge of Sister Marie as superior, assisted by twenty Sisters of Charity.
The following is a list of the attending physi- cians and surgeons :
STAFF, president, J. W. Casey ; vice-president. T. A. O'Hare; secretary, Jos. R. Culkin; surgienl staff, E. M. Moore, HI. T. Williams, E. W. Mulli- gan. W. B. Jones, J. A. Stapleton; medical staff, J. W. Casey, Jos. R. Culkin, T. A. O'Hare, A. W. Henckell, N. W. Soble; oculist and aurist, l'hilip Conroy : diseases of the throat and nose, J. M. Ingersoll : diseases of the nervous system. R. G. Cook : X-ray operator, C. A. Green- leaf; assistant physician and X-ray operator, E. C. Boddy ; pathologist, M. L. Casey; obstetrician, Kathleen Buck ; assistant surgeons, O. E. Jones, Thos. Jameson, I .. W. Howk, T. T. Mooney, J. P. Fleming; assistant physicians. M. I .. Casey, J. P. Brady, Geo. A. Marion ; house staff, house surgeon, W. A. Smith; house physician, John V. Reilly ; ambulance surgeon, H. W. Barber; second house surgeon, A. J. Price.
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