History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York, Part 57

Author: Peirce, H. B. (Henry B.) cn; Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Ensign
Number of Pages: 1112

USA > New York > Chemung County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 57
USA > New York > Schuyler County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 57
USA > New York > Tioga County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 57
USA > New York > Tompkins County > History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York > Part 57

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

# Chapter XX., Part First, Title 21, General Statutes. .

215

AND SCHUYLER COUNTIES, NEW YORK.

ing on the site of the court-house grounds, and thereupon more plans were presented. Mr. Thomas said his plans were for a fire-proof, and Mr. Perry made a similar declara- tion, and added it would cost just $20,000 to build it ; Kingsbury's plan would close out $22,600; Mr. Hayes' plan, once before adopted and again rejected, fire-proof throughout, would cost $20,000. The committee again reported, recommending Mr. Thomas' plan "as now under- stood," and were discharged, and then more balloting on the question of adopting the report and other plans was had. Finally, the Thomas plan was adopted by a vote of 11 to 7, and a committee appointed to receive proposals and get working plans, consisting of Supervisors Reynolds, Van Duzer, Kingsbury, Arnot, and Beach. The county treasurer was authorized to borrow $20,000 for the work as it progressed.

The" contract for the clerk's office was awarded by the Board of Supervisors, at a special meeting held Feb. 4, 1875, to Gerity & French, for $19,274, by a vote of 12 to 4, several other bids being received. The building commis- sioners were the last committee named, except Mr. McHenry took the place of Mr. Arnot. The treasurer was authorized to issue bonds for $22,500, payable four years after Feb. 1, 1875; the additional sum of $2500 to be expended for furniture and fixtures.

The building was completed in 1875, and cost, complete, ready for occupancy, $21,890.85, and was admitted by all parties to be an excellent piece of work.

It is constructed of red brick, with rock-dressed lime- stone for trimmings and corners, and presents a very pleas- ing and attractive appearance. It is about 45 by 72 feet on the ground, two stories in height, and is considered fire- proof from top to bottom. The ceilings are formed of iron beams, from which spring brick arches, and between the brick and the floors eement is filled in. The floors are conerete tiling. The wear of this material is so rapid, however, that it has been covered on the lower floor with linoleum. The roof is of galvanized iron. The lower floor is occupied by the clerk's office and the recording- room, and the upper floor by the supervisor's room and two committee-rooms. The former is furnished with black walnut furniture, and presents a very neat and tasty ap- pearance. The room is about 28 by 44 feet, and 12 feet in the clear between joints. An iron stairway leads from the lower floor in the southwest angle of the building to the second floor, and corrugated iron shutters close all of the windows.

The basement is light and dry, affording ample storage for old documents and records not in use, and contains a furnace, by which the office on the lower floor is warmed, stoves doing that service on the upper floor. The outside plan of the building is similar to that of the court-house, as will be seen by the sketch. The angles project into tower-like proportions, the main one (the southwestern) forming the entrance, and rising above the roof, with heavy stone eoping.

In 1875 an appropriation was made for repairing the old clerk's office, and fitting it up for the office of the district attorney. The work was done in 1876, and since that time the building has been occupied by that official. It

stands next north of the court-house, and is built of brick, and has a tin roof.

In 1866 a fire damaged the court-house and jail to some considerable extent, but after some delay and discussion, the insurance companies carrying risks on the buildings repaired them as the cheaper method of paying their losses.

TIIE COUNTY POOR-HOUSE.

An act of the Legislature was passed by that body April 18, 1829, authorizing the (then) county of Tioga to raise by tax the sum of $3000, in each of the two jury districts into which the county was then divided, with which to build a poor-house in each district, the sum raised in either district to be exclusively used in that district. This tax, however, was not levied, but a farm was leased for poor- house purposes, and in 1836, on the erection of the western jury district of Tioga into the new county of Chemung, the property on the farm owned by the county of Tioga was sold, and the proceeds divided equitably according to the valuation of the jury districts, by order of the boards of the two counties in joint session assembled. The funds and debts of the poor-house were also divided and assumed according to the same rule.

At a special meeting held Oct. 21, 1836, at Speneer, the Board of Supervisors of Chemung County directed the superintendents of the poor to ascertain and fix upon a site for a county poor-house, and report at the annual meeting in November following. At this meeting the superintend- ents were directed to purchase a farm at a cost not exceed- ing $3000, and to borrow the amount at six per cent. for a period not to exceed six years, which the superintendents proceeded to do,* and purchased 183 acres in the town of Horseheads, on what is known as lot 2, in the Gore, so called, in the southeast section of town 4, and the south half of lot 42, southwest section town 5, of Watkins and Flint purchase, 1022 acres of Henry Remsen for $440, and 76-12 acres of John Livingston (the last described lot) for $304, the re-survey disclosing the surplus land. Eighty acres of the farm was cleared only, and susceptible of culti- vation.

In April, 1839, the question of a new poor-house was agitated, but the Board of Supervisors voted it was inexpe- dient to build a house at that time, and authorized repairs on the old house to the amount of $100. In December, 1841, a committee was appointed to report on the poor- house system, the present location of the farm, and on the subject of a poor-house ; and on the report of the commit- tee, made Feb. 22, 1842, the Board voted it was inexpedient to exchange or sell the farm, and authorized the superin- tendents to build a new house on the farm, at a eost not exceeding $1500. One was accordingly erected costing $1490.09, but it was so poorly constructed it was con- demned by a committee of the Board, who were instructed by the Board to reconstruct it. The committee reported it " worse than worthless." In 1844 it was voted to lease the poor-farm and paupers together. Committees have been appointed and votes passed at divers times to sell the

# The loan was made by act of Legislature of the school fund for four years, but it was not paid until 1867.

216

HISTORY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS,

poor-farm or exchange it for a smaller one, but to no pur- pose. The original farm bought in 1837 is yet owned by the county, unshorn of a single acre of its original propor- tions. A new building was crected on the farm in 1854, costing $500.

In 1860 the Board appropriated $1000 for repairs on the poor-farm buildings, but the sum was exceeded by the super- intendent and committee by considerably more than double the amount. The buildings erected were a barn 30 by 40 by 16 feet ; a cow-house, 20 by 60 by 16 feet, with loft for hay ; sheds 16 by 40 by 12 feet, with loft for storage and fowls ; a wagon-house, stable and granary, 30 by 60 feet, a hog-house and wood-house, 24 by 100 feet, with bakery and washing- roomns below, and sleeping-rooms above. The cost up to the

date of the report of the committee, in November, 1861, had amounted to $2025.60, and the main house was yet un- finished. In 1862 the main building was completed at a cost of $3564.81, which was reported by the committee to be built substantially and conveniently arranged. The old building was removed, but fitted up as an addition to the new buildings. The new building was 41 by 61 feet on the ground, with 26-feet posts, and contained cells for the insane, strongly built of oak plank, and had a cellar under the whole house. The additional building expenses for the year 1863 were $1741.63. The value of the property at that time was estimated as follows : land, $3500; buildings, $7200; live- stock, $508.75 ; produce on hand, $1470.20 ; farming uten- sils, $272.55; furniture, $1166.34 ; miscellaneous, $363.82 ; total, $14,481.66. An appropriation of $400 was made for a lunatic asylum in November, 1863, but it was not built until 1865, when $300 were also expended for new fences.

In 1871 the distinction between county and town poor was revived, and each town in the county and the city of Elmira was required to support its own poor. Such paupers as had not gained a residence in any particular town were deemed county charges. The temper of the Board of Su- pervisors has been tried several times since then to reverse this method and remand the poor and their care to the county as at first, but without effect. In 1876 a committee on the public buildings, consisting of Messrs. John D. Wil- liams and M. McHenry, reported on the poor-house as fol- lows: "The idea of having a superintendent of the poor who is expected to devote a good portion of his time to the interests of the county for the paltry sum of $300 per annum is indicative of 'a cat under the meal' somewhere. The whole system of poor and poor-house, as demonstrated in this county, seems to your committee to be radically Wrong. The farm, for the best interests of the county, should be sold and a smaller one procurcd, better adapted to utilize a portion of the pauper labor."

An investigation into the management of the poor-house by the superintendent of the poor for 1870 was ordered, and the committee subsequently reported charges of gross malfeasance in his office and corruption. These charges were preferred against the superintendent to the Governor by the Board, who petitioned also for the removal of the superintendent, whereupon that official tendered his resig- nation, and his place was filled by another. He was sub- sequently arrested on a charge of forgery, on which he was

tried, and sentenced to State's prison for a term of years. He was in collusion also with another party, who made good his escape from the clutches of the law, as will be seen by a reference to the records of the Board of Supervisors of November, 1876, the report of the committee reciting the facts in full.

A committee was appointed to arrange a system of book- keeping for the superintendent, and also a more satisfactory method of payments and drafts. This system was inaugu- rated for the years 1877-78. In 1877 a committee of the Board of Supervisors visited the Willard Insane Asylum, and from what they saw and learned there of the treatment of that unfortunate class, were convinced, and so reported, that " any movement looking to the confinement of the insane poor in the poor-house, or anywhere else but in a well-regulated insane asylum, was a step backward in the march of humanity and philanthropy ;" and the committee, therefore, recommended no additional provisions for the keeping of the insane on the poor-farm.

During 1877, the sum of $2049 was spent for cows, furniture, fixtures, improvements, and repairs on the farm. The salary of the superintendent was increased to $500 per annum, on the election of John P. Brees, Jan. 24, 1877.

The inventory of the poor-farm property filed November, 1876, estimated the value of the property as follows :

Real estate and buildings. $12,810.00

Personal property, including supplies. 5,316.68

Improvements were made on the property in 1876,

$18,126.68

valued at.

$1541.75

The expenditures from Feb. 1, 1877, to Nov. 1, 1877, on the farm were as follows :

For paupers' support .... $2439.93

For stock, furniture, etc .. 2049.00

For old bills allowed of the year before. 1066.80

Salary of commissioner 458.34

Total $6014.07

The whole number of paupers cared for from Feb. 1, 1877, to Nov. 6, 1877, were 400; discharged, died, and sent to Orphans' Home and insane asylums, 340,-leaving 60 in the poor-house at the end of the year. An average of 67} were kept during the year, at an average cost of 99g cents per week. There was paid for the care of insane paupers, in the Willard and New York State Insane Asy- lums, the sum of $7032.73 and $3943.02 respectively,- making a total of $10,975.75. There was paid by the county for the same time, for the support of children in the Orphans' Home, the sum of $3774.99,-making the total sum paid for the year from the public treasury for the care and support of the poor, exclusive of the amounts paid by the different towns and the city of Elmira out of their individual treasuries at home, $17,190.67. Of this amount, $768.98 were the charge against the county treas- ury proper, and $10,236.84 the amount charged to the city of Elmira. The total amount paid for charity by the county treasurer for the period of the civil history of Chemung as a county, from 1836 to date, 1878, aggregates the magni- ficent sum of $332,742.56, and more. From 1857 to 1870 the cxcise funds received by the county treasurer

217

AND SCHUYLER COUNTIES, NEW YORK.

were appropriated to the support of the poor, and amounted to over $50,000, including the fines assessed under the ex- cise law.

Beside this magnificent charity are the untold gifts and donations to private charities of church and city, the Or- phans' Home, as will be seen, being largely supported by private gifts. Verily, the people of Chemung realize to a commendable degree the saying of One of old, who incul- cated charity as a grace, "The poor ye have with you always."

THIE INVESTMENT

in public buildings and institutions for the benefit of Che- mung County is as follows :

Old elerk's office, 1837

$2,000

Poor-farm, 1837

$3,000

Interest on the loan

4,230

Poor-house building, 1842

1,500

additions and new buildings

8,130

Interest on account of samne

525

Jail, 1849.

$6,000

Interest paid on the loan

8,640

Jail, 1872

$57,728

Interest paid on honds.

7,033

Repairs, 1874.

9,000

Interest to Feb. 1, 1878.

2,739

Court-house, 1861.

$20,458

Interest to Feb. 1, 1878

25,200

45,653

Clerk's office, 1875.

$21,891

Interest to Feb. 1, 1878

2,962

24,853

Repairs on court-house and jail at sundry times Additions to eourt-house grounds :

William Street school lot.

$5,000

Interest paid on bonds

1,050

Additions south

15,660

Interest on bonds.

2,375

21,085

Interest yet to be paid on outstanding bonds :

Clerk's office, $5,000.

350

Jail repair bonds, $9,000.

915

Court-house loan, $20,000.

1,400

Total puhlie buildings. $214,986

State fair grounds, 1872.

$50.000

Interest to Feb. 1, 1878.

15,750

Feh. 1, 1882.

3 500

69,250

$284,236

Principal paid and to fall due on public buildings

157,567

On State fair honds.

50,000

$207,567

Interest paid and to he paid :

Publie buildings

$57,419

State fair bonds

19,250

76,669

$284,236

THE SOUTHERN TIER ORPHANS' HOME.

This institution, one of the noblest charities of the Southern Tier, had its inception in the necessities ercated by the war for the Union. In the latter part of the year 1864 the ladies of Ehnira, whose hearts had burned with the fires of patriotism and charity, seeing the wives and chil- dren of many of the soldiers for the Union and the discharged soldiers themselves suffering for the necessaries of life, con- eeived the plan of affording relief to the needy and destitute

by a joint and systematie effort. Their thoughts and com- munings took practical shape, and erystallized in the " Elmira Ladies' Relief Association" on Oet. 12, 1864, and was duly incorporated December 28 following. Prominent among these merciful ministrants were Mrs. David Decker, Mrs. Richmond Jones, the Misses Tyler, Mrs. A. Frisbie, Mrs. Andrew Hathorne, Mrs. George Steele, Mrs. R. Badger, Mrs. Cottrell, and Mrs. L. N. Murdock. The Association was organized by the choice of the following officers : President, Mrs. David Decker; Secretary and Treasurer, Mrs. R. Jones ; Secretary of Receiving Committee, Mrs. A. Frisbie ; Secretary of Industrial Department, Mrs. A. Hathorne; Cutting Committee, Mrs. George Steel, Mrs. R. Badger, Mrs. Cottrell, Mrs. Murdock.

Its object was declared to be " the care of needy soldiers, and soldiers' wives and children." The industrial depart- ment supplied sewing for soldiers' wives. "To carry out the objects in view, there was a place needed to take the sick women and little children where proper attention could be given. To this end efforts were inade to raise money by subscription for the erection of a building where cheap rent and employment might be given to soldiers' families, while their husbands and fathers were periling their lives in the serviee of their country. A sum of $2000 was raised for this purpose, but proved much too small, and a building was procured of John Reynolds, Esq., at a low rent, on the northwest corner of Magee and Third Streets, where for nearly two years the charities of this institution were dis- pensed." Thousands of soldiers now living can attest to the deeds of humanity here performed.

After the close of the war the Association purchased of Mr. Holdridge a building in the Fifth Ward, for which $2500 were paid, and possession taken Jan. 1, 1866. On the 15th January two women with their children, who had been dependent on the Association for support, were placed in this building to take care of the sick adults and the little children with whom the house was soon filled. Applica- tions were so numerous, and the accommodations so con- tracted, the number of admissions at one time were limited to twenty. The war having closed and the relatives of soldiers having received pensions and bonnty from the government, the Association decided to exclude adults and admit - children only, and thus the home was changed to an orphan asylum. Feb. 14, 1868, the Legislature of the State changed the name of the institution to the Southern Tier Orphans' Home, by which title it has sinee been known.

The first board of officers of the Home was as follows, viz. : President, Mrs. David Decker ; Vice-Presidents, Mrs. P. A. La France and Mrs. A. Robinson ; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Luther Caldwell; Recording Secretary, Mrs. J. B. Dunning ; Treasurer, N. P. Fassett.

In 1867 the house was enlarged for the accommodation of thirty children, and in 1868 an addition to the grounds was made, the lot on which the Home is located containing at the present time between two and three acres. The present building, which was completed in 1877, is an im- posing brick edifice of three stories, admirably arranged for the purpose it is designed for. The ceilings are high, the rooms capacious, the halls wide, the dormitories well ven- tilated, and the windows large. The whole house is kept

# The outstanding bonds fall duc as follows : Clerk's office, Feh. 1, 1879; jail repair bonds, Fch. 1, 1879 and 1880, one-half each year; court-house loan fell duc 1870, hut is held hy the State, and will run as long as the county chooses to pay interest. The State fair bonds fall due $5000 per annum, the last hond becoming payuble Feb. I, 1882.

17,385

14,640

76,500

7,200

218

HISTORY OF TIOGA, CHEMUNG, TOMPKINS,

in a remarkably neat and wholesome condition. A branch of the public schools of the city is taught in the institu- tion, Miss Carrie F. Searles being the present teacher. Thirty-five pupils attended the present term, just closing (June 27). While the children are not apprenticed, so to speak, to any special industry while in the Home, yet are they inculcated in the habits of industry so far as is com- patible with their age and physical condition. The girls are taught to do the lighter duties of the housework and sewing, and the boys saw wood, bring up coal, tidy up the lot, and in a very unique manner do the scrubbing of the halls, using their feet for mop-sticks, and by a shuffling back and forward step perform a very neat and satisfactory piece of work. Children from the various almshouses of Broome, Tioga, Tompkins, Chemung, Schuyler, and Steu- ben Counties find a home here, the law of the State making it obligatory upon the Boards of Supervisors to maintain the pauper children at other institutions than the alms- houses. If any one is skeptical concerning the benefits of this Home, let him go to its sunny and well-ordered rooms and see the devices arranged to bring joy and gladness into the lives of the waifs thrown upon the sea of humanity by misfortune and vicc. Let him look in upon the school- room and sec the cager looks that arc bent upon the books or blackboard, as the rudiments of a good English educa- tion are placed within their reach. Let him listen to their songs of praise and faith and trust, and then ask himself, Is this not worth what it costs ? The institution is man- aged by a board of trustecs selected from each of the Prot- estant churches of the city of Elmira, of which the presi- dent is always one from her own church. Once each month the ladies of the city to a considerable number gather at the Home, on the morning of the day appointed, bringing their baskets of provisions for a picnic dinner, and engage in sewing all the day for the Home, in whose wardrobe their handiwork is stored for use as wanted. Each child who leaves the Home is provided with two good suits com- plete of clothing, and busy fingers are needed to keep the stock on hand well filled. At other times, too, the ladies of the city come in and do the same work. Mrs. R. H. Close is at present filling the position of matron and super- intendent, and manages the institution in-doors and out, having one male and cight female assistants, besides the teacher of the school. She buys in all supplies, hires and pays all help, and is general manager. Her fitness to hold this responsible and delicate situation is guaranteed by the fact that eleven orphans of no kith or kin to her have been cared for by her, have grown up in her own sheltering arms, and gone out therefrom into respectable and honorable po- sitions in the world ; and if further proof was wanted, her motherly care and solicitude as she walks amid the tender fledglings of her trust would stop all cavil.

Seven hundred and forty-six children have been received into the Home since its establishment, of whom 25 werc half-orphans. There are 60 in the Home at the present time, within eight of as many as have ever been inmates at one time; 46 are males, and 14 females; 48 white, 12 colored ; native born, 38; foreign, 6; unknown 14. The Home would accommodate 200 children easily, if circum- stance should require such effort.

The early history of the Home was one of struggle and determined effort, but illy seconded. The funds were raised by various make-shifts, such as concerts, tableaux, ete. The citizens donated clothing, provisions, furniture, and some moncy. The Legislature made some appropriations later, as did the Board of Supervisors; and now the Home, though not endowed, is so firmly established in the hearts and gen- erous impulses of the citizens of Elmira, its foundations may be said to have been laid in enduring brass.

From the report of Hon. N. P. Fassett, treasurer of the Home since 1866 to the present, made June 18, 1877, on the completion and dedication of the building now occupy- ing the corner of Franklin and Fulton Streets, and before described, we gather the following financial statistics :

The receipts from Nov. 16, 1864, to Jan. 1, 1866, were but $874.80; but from Jan. 1 to April following the ac- tivity and success were marked. An appropriation from the State was secured of $1912.97, and a subscription for a building of $1461.85, amounting in all to $3377.82. Twenty-five hundred dollars were paid towards the grounds of the Home, and after other payments, $511.31 were paid to Mr. Fassett, as the incoming treasurer, May 1, 1866. The amount received by Mr. Fassett for the current ex- penses of the Home, in the eleven years of his stewardship, has been $44,730.81, from the following sources :

From Chemung County, voluntary appropriations .. $2,500.00

From Chemnng County for board of children ....... 3,600.00 From the State appropriations .. 6,867.44 From individuals for board of children, about. ...

1,000.00 From voluntary gifts and contributions of citizens .. 26,118.57 From Hon. H. Boardman Smith, donation. 4,664.80

Total $44,730.81

Paid from this fund for current expenses 42,601.31

Leaving a balance June 18, 1877. $2,129.50

The building fund has been created as follows :

1871 .- Appropriation by State. $5.000.00

1872 .- Appropriation by State. 5,000.00

1873 .- Avails of fair, three days 5,354.40

1875 .- Avails of fair No. 2 3,111.92

Individual donations 71.00

Interest to May 1, 1876 1,431.10

1876 .- Individual subscriptions. 4,568.35

Borrowed by the Home 2,000.00

$26,536.77

Paid for lands, fences, and new barn. $5,473.46

Paid for new building. 21,136.87

$26,610.33

Overdrawn 73.56

RECAPITULATION.

Total receipts. $71,267.58

Total expenditures 69,211.54

Balance in Treasury. $2,055.94

Less note outstanding. 2,000.00

Net balance

$55.94

ASSETS.

Land and buildings. $30,000.00

Personal property ... 1,000.00

Legacies ..... 3,500.00

Total .$34,500.00

Amount of receipts from June 18, 1877, to April 1, 1878

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History of Tioga, Chemung, Tompkins and Schuyler counties, New York, Part 57

Author: Peirce, H. B. (Henry B.) cn; Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Ensign Number of Pages: 1112

Author: Peirce, H. B. (Henry B.) cn; Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Ensign
Number of Pages: 1112