USA > New York > New York and its institutions, 1609-1871. A library of information, pertaining to the great metropolis, past and present > Part 15
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soldiers lie sleeping here, in a section set apart exclusively for them. About 35,000 bodies have also been transferred to these grounds, from old burying-grounds in New York city and Brooklyn. The Sons of Temperance, the Odd Fel- lows, the Masons, and the Metropolitan Police have set apart sections for the members of their fraternities. Family lots measuring 16 by 25 feet may be secured here on the payment of from $125 to $250, according to location. .
The CEMETERY of the EVERGREENS, situated east and about three and a half miles from Williamsburgh, covers the wes- tern termination of the mid-island range of hills, and affords numerous varieties of surface and natural ornament. The eye of the visitor is greeted with hills, dells, lakes, lawns, in- terspersed with a rich growth of cultivated and forest trees. This cemetery, which is also one of the largest, has not yet become as noted as the two preceding, but is sure to increase in popularity.
CALVARY Cemetery, laid out in August, 1848, and situated in Newtown, Long Island, is owned by and devoted exclu- sively to the Roman Catholic church. The grounds comprise serenty-five acres, and already over 183,000 interments have been made.
WOOD LAWN cemetery, situated in Westchester County, eight miles north of Harlem Bridge, was incorporated December 29, 1863, and contains over 300 acres. The late Rev. Absalom Peters was the chief agent in the laying out of these beauti- ful grounds. The rapid march of the city northward led him to seek the establishment of a large cemetery, which should be to upper New York and Westchester what Green- . wood had long been to lower New York and Brooklyn. This cemetery is easily reached by the Harlem Railroad. It was laid out in 1865, since which over 8,000 interments have been made. The grounds are now being rapidly im- proved, and the last report showed an increase of 65 per cent. over the interments of the previous year. Several other cemeteries are also in use. To these silent monumental cities
f
WILLIAMSINK
THE FOUNTAIN-Greenwood Cemetery.
THE FIREMENS' MONUMENT-Greenwood.
219*
THE CEMETERIES OF NEW YORK.
of the dead, about 25,000 are being annually consigned, whose places in the gay and busy world are filled by others, who, after a brief and uncertain struggle, yield in turn to the great destroyer. An occasional visit to these spots of solemn grandeur, linked so closely to our very being, must be at- tended with the best results, to a reflective mind. One can- not linger amid such scenes, and consider that beneath this surface of exquisite adornment moulder the remains of the brilliant, the wealthy, the good, and the gay, without having his ambitions for worldly advantage greatly sobered, and his whole mind improved.
"Here are the wise, the gen'rous and the brave ; . The just, the good, the worthless, the profane ; The downright clown, and perfectly well-bred ; The fool, the churl, the scoundrel, and the mean ;
- The supple statesman, and the patriot stern ;
The wreck of nations, and the spoils of time."
* The lapse of 60 pages after 219 is accounted for by the omission to number the illustrations in their order.
DEAF AND DUMB ASYLUM, WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, (162d Street and 12th Avenue.)
QUE
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CHAPTER V.
INSTITUTIONS OF NEW YORK ISLAND AND WEST- CHESTER COUNTY.
NEW YORK INSTITUTION FOR THE INSTRUCTION OF THE DEAF AND DUMB.
( Washington Heights, One Hundred and Sixty-second street.)
HAT deaf-mutes have existed in the world since the early ages, is a fact clearly established by both sacred and profane history. Speechlessness appears for the most part to have been the result of deafness ; articu- lation resulting from imitation, a matter to which the mind of the deaf is not naturally directed. For many ages it was confidently believed that these persons were inexorably shut off from all social intercourse with their race, and the idea of restoring these faculties or of repairing their loss by educa- tion seems never to have occurred to the ancients. The civil anthorities in many instances appear to have openly approved of, or connived at, the practice of destroying such children as did not bid fair to be of service to the State. If allowed to live, they were deprived by statute of their inheritance, of all right to buy or sell, make a donation or will, and were classed with the insane and the idiotic. The ameliorating influences of Christianity finally intercepted the blow, and they were no longer murdered as useless incumbrances of society; yet pitiable indeed was their condition through all the medieval ages, locked up to their own untutored musings, and enduring the most cruel neglect. In the seventh century John, Bishop of Hagulstad, is said to have with much pains taught a deaf- mute to speak a few sentences, and in the sixteenth and seven- teenth centuries numerous private efforts were made with some success. A Spanish monk, Pedro Ponce, who died in 1584, was the first teacher of deaf-mutes. Another Spanish monk, named Juan Pablo Bonet, published about 1620 the first treatise on deaf-mute instruction, and is believed to have invented the dactylology, or one-hand alphabet, used so gene- rally in France and America. The numerous treatises on the
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NEW YORK AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
education of deaf-mutes issued in various parts of Europe during this century show a general awakening on the subject among the learned. Dr. John Wallis, mathematical professor at Oxford, deserves the credit of being the first practical in- structor of the deaf and dumb in England. He never had a large number of pupils, but continued it for nearly fifty years with tolerable success. The first school of this kind supported by government was established in Leipsic, in 1778, under the patronage of the Elector of Saxony, which continues to this time. Early in the present century John Braidwood, a mem- ber of a family who for sixty years had carried on a system of instruction for the deaf and dumb in England without dis- closing its principles to the public, came to this country and attempted the establishment of a school. He was warmly supported by several gentlemen of wealth, but the enterprise soon failed through his habitual dissipation.
The year 1816 is memorable for the organization of a so- ciety in New York for the instruction of the deaf and dumb. Samuel L. Mitchell, LL.D., the Rev. John Stanford, and Dr. Samuel Akerly, who at a later period.rendered such efficient service in founding the Institution for the Blind, were its chief promoters. The wisdom of the undertaking was by many questioned, because a similar institution was just then being opened at Hartford, one being supposed amply suffi- cient for the whole country. An inquiry, however, soon dis- closed the fact that over sixty deaf mutes were then living . in the city of New York, and subsequent investigations have proved that while one in twenty-three hundred of the general population is blind, one in about two thousand is deaf and dumb. The act of incorporation bears date of April 15, 1817, and in the following May the school was formally opened in one of the rooms of the City Hall, with four scholars. During the first eleven years of its operations the society had no building of its own, but in 1829 the school was removed to East Fiftieth street, to the grounds now occu- pied by Columbia college. The success of the system of in- struction led to an annual increase of students, and made necessary the enlargement of the building, which was three times accomplished during the quarter of a century spent at this location. The prudent sagacity of the board of manage- ment secured the title of two entire blocks of ground, lying between Forty-eighth and Fiftieth streets, Fourth and Fifth avenues. This valuable property, purchased at different
NEW YORK INSTITUTION FOR THE DEAF AND DUMB. 253
periods for about $54,000, was afterwards disposed of at about $325,000. The rush of the rapidly expanding city now began to disturb the operations of the Institution, and the managers began to cast about in quest of moro eligible quarters. Fan- wood, at Washington Heights, nine miles north of the City Hall, was finally selected, and thirty-seven and one-half acres of ground purchased in 1853, at a cost of $115,000. The buildings, which are the largest and finest in the world for the instruction of the deaf and dumb, cover about two acres, are . of brick, with basement, copings, and trimmings of granite, and have cost several hundred thousand dollars. A mortgage of $175,000 has just been removed by the sale of nine and one-half acres of the land for $263,000, leaving a balance to complete other needed improvements. The front walls, which are panneled, are faced with yellow Milwaukie brick, to save the expense of painting. The main edifice, which contains the apartments for the officers and teachers, the re- ception-rooms, offices, the library, and mineralogical cabinet, etc., is flanked by two vast and well-arranged wings, one of which is devoted to the male, and the other to the female pupils. A central building, separated in construction from the others, but united to them with covered passageways, contains in the basement kitchen and appendages, on the first floor the dining-room, and on the next the chapel. The sexes are carefully separated, and meet only for meals, instruction, and divine worship, under the oversight of their instructors. The buildings are capable of accommodating over five hundred pupils, and are about equal to the demands of the deaf and dumb of this State, which are believed to amount to about two thousand one hundred of all ages. They occupy one of the most commanding locations on the entire island, overlooking the beautiful Hudson, and have been universally admired for their beauty and exquisite arrangement.
This Institution was at first designed for a private charity, but the good sense of the public soon awoke to the fact that the State owed the means of instruction to all its children, whether blind, deaf and dumb, or possessed of all the five senses. As these unfortunates are widely scattered, and to enjoy the advantages of an institution are compelled to reside far from home in an expensive city, it becomes the duty of the State to provide for their maintenance during the period of their instruction. From these considerations it was early taken under State patronage, which has since formed its principal
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NEW YORK AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
support. The annual cost of the Institution amounts to about $300 per inmate, exclusive of permanent improvements. Application for admission as a State pupil must be made to the Superintendent of Public Instruction at Albany, accom- panied by a certificate from the Overseer of the Poor in the town where the applicant resides, certifying that his parents or guardian are unable to pay for his board and tuition. State pupils must be between the ages of twelve and twenty- five. Pupils are admitted at the charge of counties between the ages of six and twelve. Pay pupils are also received from families of means. The regular course of instruction lasts eight years, with three years additional for those selected for good conduct and capacity for higher studies. An un- taught deaf-mute is the most ignorant creature in the human family. To him all the past is a blank, all the present an inexplicable mystery, and all the future a profound uncer- tainty. He has no proper conceptions of the Supreme Being, which affords one of the clearest evidences of the necessity of a Divine revelation. There have been three principal systems employed in their instruction: 1. Articulation, or the theory that articulation is indispensable to the clear com- prehension of thought. This system is believed to have been founded by Pedro Ponce, long practised by Wallis, Pereira, and the Braidwoods, has been for a century the common system taught in Germany, but has not been much practised in this country until quite recently. 2. Gesticulation, or the theory that every idea of which the mind is capable may be expressed by signs. This was taught by Sicard, Bebian, and others. 3. The American system, which combines the best fundamental principles of the two preceding, with practical additions. The language of gestures is clearly the only uni- versal channel of intelligent communication in the world, and . savages from all countries have in this way been able to hold some conversation. This can be learned by deaf-mutes spon- taneously, and in all systems is more or less employed. At . the New York Institution the beginner, when introduced into the class-room, finds placed before him cards containing the printed names of objects. Either the object or its picture is placed by the side of the card. The teacher points first to the name and next to the object, and thus the connection between names and things soon becomes familiar. They are then taught to spell with their fingers by the Manual Alpha- bet a few short words, and the names of familiar objects.
NEW YORK INSTITUTION FOR THE DEAF AND DUMB. 2-3
When about fifty words have been thus learned, embracing all the letters of the alphabet, short phrases containing an adjective and a noun are formed, which they are required to write on large stationary slates, placed all around the class- rooms, and thus they are advanced until able to transfer their knowledge of signs to the printed page. The progress made by these hitherto untaught children of silence is surprising. and those who complete the full course attain to high scholar- ship. The language of signs is much more definite than many suppose, and these speechless brethren are here taught to discern between the things that differ. At a recent exami- nation, with no previous intimation, a class was called upon, in sign language, to write and explain the difference between the nearly synonymous terms of "conceal and dissemble," " antipathy and hatred," " courage and fortitude." In every instance the proper English word was instantly written on the slate by each member of the class in answer to the sign, and the nice distinctions of signification made. Several years since the more advanced students organized themselves into the "Fanwood Literary Society," which now numbers over one hundred members. The society meets every Saturday evening, and is characterized by animated discussions and lectures in the pantomime of the Institution.
The three last days of August, 1867, will long be remem- bered by these silent brethren as the national convention of deaf-mutes, held at the New York Institution. Four hun- dred of the former pupils of the Institution, and over one hundred graduates of others, assembled, and took part in the interesting exercises. Seven of these national conventions have now been held. More attention than formerly has recently been given to the matter of articulation. This, the Principal believes to be an accomplishment, and a matter of decided value in certain cases, though of little service to most congenital mutes, and a system that can never super- sede the more enlarged and cultivated language of signs. To keep the Institution, as it has long been, in the forefront of this benign movement, Mr. Engelsman, a German expert in this system of instruction, has been employed, and such semi-mutes and others as by experiment exhibit talent for articulation are placed under his instruction. This class at present numbers over fifty students.
A new brick building, one hundred feet by thirty, and three stories high, has just been erected for the better accommoda-
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NEW YORK AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
tion of the mechanical department. In addition to a good education, the students, unless wealthy, are taught trades, so that maintenance will not be a difficult problem when they return to the outside world. Shoe-making, cabinet-making, tailoring, dress-making, printing, bookbinding, and engraving, have been taught with success, in addition to horticulture and gardening.
Less than twenty per cent. of the whole number, but nearly forty per cent. of the adult deaf mutes of the State, marry and rear offspring, not more than one in twenty of whom inherit the infirmities of their parents. The Institution is free from sectarian bigotry, the minds of the pupils being wisely directed to the Bible, without which there can be no complete culture of mind or heart. Prayer is offered by one of the teachers in the sign language every morning and even- ing in the chapel before the whole school. On the Sabbath a sermon suited to their capacities is delivered in the same manner.
At table, when all are seated, one tap of the drum, the vibrations of which none hear but all feel, calls the vast family to silence, after which a blessing is invoked with signs by a teacher standing in one of the aisles, and at the close of this another tap is the signal for turning plates and beginning the dinner.
The sanitary condition of the Institution is all that can be secured in our day, less sickness and fewer deaths occurring in it than among the more hardy population around it.
The library contains about two thousand volumes, three hundred of which are rare books on deaf-mute instruction. About two thousand two hundred pupils have been edu- cated since the opening of the Institution. The professors have always ranked among the best educated men of the State. Half of those now employed are graduates of the Institution. Dr. Harvey P. Peet was called to the office of Principal in 1831, and filled this position with great ability for thirty-six years. He is the author of many of the text- books in this and other American institutions. Weary with the toil of years, he resigned his position at the close of 1867, and was succeeded by his son, Isaac Lewis Peet, A.M., who had been the Vice-Principal for fifteen years, and who bids fair to attain to the celebrity of his excellent father.
INSTITUTION FOR THE IMPROVED INSTRUCTION OF DEAF MUTES.
(Broadway, between Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth streets.)
IFFERENT systems for the instruction of deaf mutes have been adopted in different countries. The French have practised upon the sign language, while the Ger- mans have long made a specialty of the system of articulation. Several years ago, Bernhard Engelsman, a learned German skilled in the art of teaching deaf-mutes in this latter system, came to New York, and on the organization of this Institution was appointed its Principal, and thus became the founder of this system of deaf-mute instruction in this country. The new Institution was opened March 1, 1867, with ten pupils, at No. 134 West Twenty-seventh street. The building soon became too small for the increasing number of scholars, so that in May, 1868, the school, having nineteen pupils, was removed to No. 330 East Fourteenth street. The number of students steadily increased, amounting in 1869 to about thirty-all the building could accommodate. The society was incorporated under the general act of Legislature in 1868, and on the 12th of April, 1870, the Legislature, by special act, placed it on a level with the New York Institution at Washington Heights, so that indigent students, if they pre- fer, may be instructed here, as at the other institution, at State expense. The sum of $10,000 was also given by the State for the establishment of the Institution, and several thousand had previously accumulated in the treasury of the society, from the donations of its friends. The demand for increased accom- modations led the trustees to lease two large and eligible houses on Broadway in the summer of 1870, where the school is at present conducted.
A desire existing in many minds to obtain from the city a site on which to erect buildings, a formal application was ac- cordingly filed in June, 1870, with the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund of the city of New York, asking a grant of land for the purpose above named ; and accordingly, on or about August 1st, 1870, the president had the gratification of re- ceiving the deed of a grant of land, situated on the westerly side of Lexington avenue, and extending from Sixty-seventh
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NEW YORK AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
to Sixty-eighth streets, a distance of two hundred feet and ten inches, being the entire front of a block, consisting of eight lots, besides four lots on the rear of these, being two on Sixty- seventh and Sixty-eighth streets, respectively, and forming one plot, at the annual rental of one dollar, for the period of ninety-nine years. "This land to be devoted to the purposes of this Institution, and for such purposes only."
Plain and substantial buildings are to be erected on these grounds as soon as possible.
The Institution is supported and directed by an association of several hundred gentlemen, mostly of the Hebrew faith, who are annual contributors. On the 15th of July, 1869, Mr. Engelsman, who had been engaged for five years, as Principal, by the officers of the society, severed his connection with the Institution, and has since connected himself with the New York Institution at Washington Heights, carrying the prestige of his name and merit, as the chief expert of this system of instruction in America, to that old, time-honored college of deaf-mutes, the largest and best arranged of its kind in the world. The society, however, has not faltered in its enter- prise.
Professor F. A. Rising, A.M., a graduate of Williams Col- lege, who had been employed seven months in the Ohio Institution, two years in the New York Institution at Wash- ington Heights, and had been for some months the Vice- Principal with Mr. Engelsman, was appointed to take charge of the Institution.
Ile is a young man of talent and energy, entirely devoted to his calling ; but it remains to be seen whether, with his limited experience in this particular and difficult system of instruction, he can successfully compete with those who have made it a life-long specialty. Previous to the removal to Broadway, the names of thirty-four pupils had been on the register, about half of whom had been boarded in the Insti- tution. At their last anniversary, May 11, 1871, the managers reported fifty-one pupils in attendance.
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4
THE NEW YORK INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND.
(Ninth avenue and Thirty-fourth street.)
A striking exhibition of the wisdom and benevolence of the Creator is seen in his raising up, from time to time, agen- cies to guard and foster every interest of society. . For many ages the blind remained wholly untaught, and sat mournfully, Bartimeus like, along the crowded thoroughfare of human life. Nothing was undertaken in America to ameliorate their condition, until within the last half century. Dr. Samuel Ackerly, Samuel Wood, and Dr. John D. Ross have the honor of being chiefly instrumental in inaugurating a move- ment for this long-neglected class, which will crown their memories with undying renown. Early in 1831, through their influence, a society was organized in New York, for the purpose of founding an institution for the education of the blind, and on the 21st of April, the same year, the State Legis- lature passed an act incorporating the society, with the title of ", The New York Institution for the Blind.". A school with six pupils was opened May 19, 1832, at 47 Mercer street, under Dr. Russ, which was the first of its kind on the conti-
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NEW YORK AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
nent. By the aid of fairs and donations, a piece of ground and buildings on Eighth avenue were obtained of James Boorman, at a nominal rent, with covenant to sell. An in- structor in the mechanic arts was procured, and on December 2d, 1833, their first public exhibition was held in the City Hall. The proficiency of the sixteen pupils present, in reading from raised letters, their knowledge of geography, arithmetic, of music, and the skill of their workmanship in mats, mattresses, and baskets, excited great interest.
In the inception of the movement, the managers only con- templated the instruction of the blind of their own city; but as applications continued to pour in from abroad, they soon felt the necessity for enlarged and better accommodations. The present site of the Institution was obtained of Mr. Boor- man at a reduction of $10,000 below its market value. On the 30th of April, 1836, $12,000 were given by the State, on condition that $8,000 more would be raised by the managers ; and in 1839 another grant of $15,000 was made, to assist in erecting the buildings. When the site was originally ob- tained, it was far outside of the improved portions of the city, but is now in the midst of a densely-populated section. It is situated between Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth streets, fronting on Ninth avenue, is two hundred feet wide and eight hundred feet deep. The building was originally a three-story, constructed of Sing-Sing marble, strongly but- tressed and surmounted with turrets, presenting an imposing façade of one hundred and seventy-five feet, with a north and a south wing one hundred and twenty-five feet each. The building has been greatly improved during the last year by the addition of a mansard story, enlarging the accommoda- tions, and enhancing its general appearance.
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