USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884 Volume I > Part 111
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The 20th of March, 1839, the Rules and Regulations of the Board of Superintendents, directed to be made by the act of 1838, were submitted. They were in- cluded in cight distinct articles.
The third article provided that the Superintendent shall keep a register of the names of all the applicants for temporary relief, with their place of residence, oc- cupation and employment ; the number of persons com- posing each family, their ages, places of nativity, and amount of relief granted to each applicant.
Article fourth provided that no temporary relief should be granted to any person not known to one or more of the Superintendents.
By article fifth, repositories were to be established for the relief of indigent persons, to be kept open from the 1st day of May, in each year, at such hours and at such places as the Superintendents shall designate.
The following provision of the Superintendents, made under their enlarged powers, is worthy of insertion here : " That the said Board will provide coffins and other facilities for the interment of all such destitute poor of the county whose friends are unable to bear the expense ; and also for the interment of all such strangers as Providence may, from time to time, cast upon our hands, and which both Humanity and Chris- tianity dictate should receive the rights of sepulture."
Among other provisions made by the aet referred to, the Superintendents of the Poor were given a Clerk, to be appointed by them ; and, on the 20th of March, 1839, Michael Schoonmaker was appointed for that po- sition.
We have seen (page 466) that, at a meeting of the Board of Supervisors, held January 20, 1836, measures were taken to procure an act of the Legislature by which two additional Superintendents of the Poor werc to be elected.
The Legislature, on the 18th of April, 1838, passed the required act; and, on August 6th, 1839, the Super- visors, in annual meeting, elected five Superintendents. This Board, thus elected, consisted of Losee Van Nos- trand and John Dimon, of Brooklyn ; Chauncey L. Cook, of Bushwick; John Emmens, of New Utrecht ; and Michael Schoonmaker, of Flatbush.
At this meeting the Board for the preceding year submit- ted their Annual Report, with the report of Dr. Zabriskie, Physician for the Poor-House and Lunatic Hospital, by which it appears that the whole number of paupers relieved or supported during the year ending August 7th, 1839, was 1,666. Of the whole number thus relieved or supported, 520
were county paupers in the Poor-House. The number of all such persons as were temporarily relieved, was 1,146. The aggregate expense of relieving and supporting all such per- sons was $12,521.09. By an estimate made by the Superin- tendents, it cost 81} cents a week for the actual expense of keeping each pauper, crediting the actual value of the labor of each pauper performed on the farm and otherwise during the year.
It will be remembered that the first cost of the land and Poor-House establishment in 1830, was $3.000 ; the estimated value of the whole establishment in August, 1839-about ten years later-was $24,500.
Of the whole number remaining in the Poor-House on the 7th of August, 1839, there were 157 persous, 85 foreigners, 9 lunatics and 2 idiots. The whole number of persons re- ceived into the Poor-House during the year was 360. There were 10 births, 48 deaths, 3 foundlings. There were 154 discharged, 106 ran away, 42 bound out, or out on trial.
Dr. J. B. Zabriskie, Physician to the Poor-House and Lunatic Hospital, reported 572 cases of disease, 48 of which proved fatal.
There were received into the Lunatic Hospital during the year ending August 8th, 1849, fourteen lunatics, nine of whom were cured, one died.
On the 4th of August, 1840 , Adrien Emmens, Alex- ander Newman and John Dimon, of the City of Brooklyn, and Alfred Hodges, of Williamsburg, Rem Hegeman, of Flatbush, and Samuel S. Stryker, of Gravesend, were elected Superintendents of the Poor, for the ensuing year.
The Annual Report of the Superintendents, submitted to the Board of Supervisors on the 11th of August, 1840, shows the whole number of paupers relieved or supported during the year ending August 1st, 1840, to be 2, 726. The whole num- ber thus relieved, who were inmates of the Poor-House, was 737. The aggregate expense of relieving and support- ing all such persons was $10,357.36. The Poor-House ex- penses in all were $9,213.28. The average number of persons provided for in the house during the year was 245, and the sum applicable to the support of these was $8,567.74, which divided by the average number of paupers, gives the sum of $36.45 a year, or 70 cents a week, as the actual cost of sup- porting each pauper. The estimated amount earned by the paupers was $800. The number of persons in the Poor-House on the 1st of August, 1840, was 237.
The Physician of the Poor-House and Lunatic Asylum re- ported 811 cases of disease in the County Poor-House during the year 1840, of which 49 proved fatal, two fatal cases of delirium tremens, and ten of consumption. Sixteen per- sons were admitted to the Lunatic Hospital, one of whom died, nine were cured, leaving six still in the Hospital.
The Superintendents having recommended that a new building be erected "for the accommodation of paupers laboring under sickness and disease, or other- wise," the Board of Supervisors, on the 16th day of October, 1840, " Resolved to apply to the Legislature at the next session for the passage of an Act to Author- ize the Board of Supervisors to raise, by tax, the then next year, a sum not exceeding $3,000, for the purpose of erecting the buildings heretofore referred to, on the County farm, and also such other and additional build-
469
SUPERINTENDENTS OF THE POOR.
ings as might from time to time be required for the accommodation of the poor."
October 24th, 1840, the Superintendents informed the Board that the increase of paupers had become so great that the present buildings in the County were inadequate, particularly those for the sick, the rooms of the Hospital being small, and over-crowded; and that a Hospital having been recently established in the City of Brooklyn with more rooms than the requirements of the city demanded, it being principally for injured per- sons, arrangements had been made with the managers of the City Hospital to receive from the County Poor- House a portion of the sick paupers during the ensu- ing fall and winter.
December 5th, 1840, the Board of Supervisors set apart the further sum of $5,000 for the use of the poor, in the discharge of their duties.
On the 16th of June, 1841, in accordance with an Act of the Legislature of this State, entitled "An Act Authorizing the Supervisors of the County of Kings to make further provision for the County Poor," pass- ed May 26th, 1841 (on the petition of the Superintend- ents), an order was made directing the erection on the County Farm, during the year, of two buildings for the better accommodation of the poor of the County; the expenses not to exceed $3,000; one of the said buildings to be for the accommodation of the poor generally. The other for the accommodation of such paupers sent to the Poor-House as were afflicted with contagious diseases.
The Board of Supervisors, August 3d, 1841, ap- pointed a committee of three to occasionally examine the Poor-House establishment of the County, as to its internal and external regulations; and, from time to time, to give such instructions to the officers and agents of the establishment, as to them seemed best calculated to perfect the pauper system, and to report thereon to the Supervisors. David Coope, Andrew Emmens, and Nicholas Wyckoff, were the committee.
At this, it being the Annual Meeting of the Board, Alexander Newman, Jacob Dey, of Brooklyn ; Alfred Hodges, of Williamsburg ; Rem Hegeman, Flatlands; Samuel S. Stryker, Gravesend, were elected Superin- tendents for the ensuing year.
The Report of the Superintendents, and the Physi- cian, on the 25th of August, 1841, were taken up, ex- amined and favorably reported upon.
The report showed that the whole number of paupers re- lieved or supported, during the year ending August 1st, 1841, was 3,098. Of the number thus relieved, the number of County paupers was 923. The aggregate expense of reliev- ing them was $16.359.80. The total expenses of the Poor- House (separate from the foregoing amount), were $13,050.56. The average number actually provided for in the house during the year was 284; and the sum applicable to their sup- port was $11,215, giving the sum of $39.48 per year, or 75 cents per week, as the actual cost of supporting each pauper.
From the report of Dr. F. F. King, who had been appointed in place of Dr Zabriskie, Physician to the Poor-House and Lunatic Hospital, it appears that, during the year end- ing August 1st, 1841, 1,430 cases of disease had been under medical treatment; 86 of which proved fatal. There were at that time 46 under treatment. During the year 1,298 had been discharged; there were 31 births in the institution dur- ing the year.
There were 17 lunatics received in the Lunatic depart- ment, 10 of whom were discharged. The School in the establishment continued to be very prosperous and satisfac- tory.
Measures were taken to have divine service regularly performed every Sabbath hereafter in the establish- ment, the pastors of the different denominations in the County having offered to officiate gratuitously.
November 18th, 1841, a report submitted by the committee in charge of the erection of the two build- ings on the Poor-House Farm (referred to June 16th, 1841), showed that they had completed the said build- ings in accordance with the directions of the Board, at an expense (including a vault for the preservation of meats) of $2,664.27. The sum of $6,000 was set apart for the support of the poor for the current year; and the salary of the Superintendents was fixed at the sum of $125 each.
February 23d, 1842, the Supervisors directed the Superintendents to render to the Board of Supervisors, at their Annual Meeting, in addition to their usual report, an account of the monies paid by them for debts contracted by them prior to the 1st Tuesday in August, 1831, by their predecessors in office; an ac- count of monies paid by them for debts during their own term of office, and for all monies paid out by them. Also, to state what sum in their opinion would be necessary for the support of paupers in the County Poor-House during the ensuing year.
On the 2d day of August, 1842, the Board of Super- visors of the County elected as Superintendents of the Poor of the County for the ensuing year, S muel Dox- sey, Joshua Rogers, of Brooklyn ; Chauncey H. Cook, Williamsburg ; Isaac L. Schenck, Flatbush, and John A. Emmens, New Utrecht.
The Annual Report of the Superintendents of the Poor and that, also, of the Physician, for the year ending August 7th, 1842, were presented to the Board, by which it appeared that the whole number of paupers relieved or supported, during the year, was 2,964; all such persons temporarily relieved, was 2,305; and an aggregate expense of $13,786.44; the aver- age number of paupers provided for in the house during the year was 290, and the sum applicable to their support, was $9,221.24, giving the sum of $34.21 per year, or 66 cents per week, as the actual cost of supporting each pauper. There were 33 births in the house during the year; 88 deaths, 318 discharged, and 39 absconded.
The Physician reported 896 cases treated during the year, 88 of which were fatal ; 16 lunatics in the hospital August 1, 1841, of whom 4 died. Since that date, there had been 43 lunatics, of whom 3 died, 8 were relieved, and 18 cured ; 14 now remain.
470
HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.
$2,000 was set apart for the use of the Superinten- dents of the Poor for the current year.
April 18, 1839. An act entitled, " An Act to extend the benefit of instruction to the blind," and for other purposes, was passed by the Legislature of the State. At that time, one Margaret Denny, an orphan, was a beneficiary of the Orphan Asylum of Brooklyn. L. Van Nostrand, one of the Superintendents of the Poor of the county, selected the said Margaret Denny as a State pupil in the New York Institution for the In- struction of the Blind, giving his certificate. to the Su- perintendent of Common Schools for that purpose. Under the provisions of said Act, the Superintendents of the Poor, by resolution, directed the sum of $20, to be paid annually, to suitably clothe the said Margaret, for a period of five years, from the 1st day of October, 1843, the term of her pupilage in the said institution. This is the first step taken in the County of Kings to- wards the support and education of the blind.
In 1840, a Hospital had been established in the city of Brooklyn, and on the 13th of January, 1844, Joseph Sprague, Esq., Mayor of the city, sent a communication to the Board of Supervisors and the Superintendents, in which he stated that the expense of supporting patients therein, amounted to several thousand dollars, which was, in fact, chargeable to the county ; and re- quested that provision be made by the said Boards for the re-imbursement to the City of the monies so paid, and that hereafter the whole expenses of the said Hospital be paid by the county. A committee, ap- pointed from each Board, subsequently reported favorably, in regard to making the Hospital a county charge. The further sum of $3,000 was set apart for the use of the Superintendents of the Poor in their official capacity.
March 7, 1844. The subject of erecting a new Lu- natic Asylum on the County Farm was brought before the Board, and plans submitted, by a committee ap- pointed at a previous meeting. They recommended a building of wood, filled in with brick, and covered with shingles 110 feet in length, 33 feet in width, three stories high, with a basement underneath ; calculated to meet, not only the present, but the future wants of the county, and accommodating about 60 patients. The cost was estimated at between $8,000 and $9,000. The report, together with a plan of the proposed building, drawn by Asa Stebbins, was placed in the County Clerk's office for public inspection.
The committee to which had been referred the pro- priety of erecting a County Work-House, reported favorably.
On the 20th of March, 1844, the further sum of $2,000 was set apart for the use of Superintendents.
May 15, 1844, the Board of Supervisors received a communication from Hon. Jacob Rapelje, one of the Members of the Assembly from Kings county, inform- ing them of the passage of an Act, by the Legislature,
providing for the erection of a new Lunatic Asylum ; whereupon a resolution was adopted that the said Asylum be commenced with all convenient dispatch ; that it be located on the land attached to the County Poor-House, situated on the west side of the highway leading from Brooklyn to said Poor-House, and placed about 75 feet from said highway, fronting said Poor- House. It was further ordered that the building be constructed under the plan of Mr. Stebbins, heretofore described ; and that Tunis G. Bergen, Daniel A. Rob- bins, Wm. M. Udall, and John A. Voorhees, be the building committee to superintend the erection of the Asylum. On the 5th of June, 1844, the Supervisors de- cided to reduce the length of the building to 86 feet, the width being 36 feet. The building committee, after ad- vertising for sealed proposals, let the building of the Asylum to Stephen Haynes, Esq.
An act of the Legislature, passed April 22d, 1844, provided that the Superintendents of the Poor, in and for the County of Kings, should hold their office for three years, and until others shall be appointed in their place ; and that, immediately after their first appoint- ment, under the said act, the Supervisors shall, by lot or otherwise, divide the Superintendents of the Poor, so first appointed, into three classes, numbered one, two and three ; those of the first class, holding office for one year ; those of the second class, for two years, and those of the third class, for three years, to the end that the third part of the said Superintendents may be, as nearly as possible, annually appointed.
Under the provisions of this act, John B. Hendrick- son, of Flatlands, was on the 6th of August, 1844, ap- pointed Superintendent of the Poor of the 1st class ; Losee Van Nostrand, of Brooklyn, and John A. Em- mens, of New Utrecht, Superintendents of the 2d class, and Samuel Doxsey, of Brooklyn, and C. Le Cook, of Williamsburg, Superintendents of the 3d class.
At this meeting, under an act to provide for the er- ection of a new Lunatic Asylum for the County of Kings, on the County Farm, passed April 26th, 1844, the Supervisors directed that the sum of $6,000 be bor- rowed on the credit of the county, and be placed in the hands of the Superintendents, to be used for the erec- tion of a new asylum.
On August 13th, 1844, the Superintendents reported rapid progress in the erection of the said building.
The annual report of the Superintendents of the Poor, presented on the same day, gives the disbursements for Poor- House expenses in all, during the year ending August 7th, 1844, as $13,585.71 ; debts unpaid, $1,200.66, making house expenses in all, $14,786.37. There were credits which re- duced this sum to $12,822.57.
There was received, during the same time, by the Superin- tendents of the Poor, $20,062.71, as follows :
County Treasurer, $17,898.39 ; board of lunatics, $651.25 ; in support of foreign paupers, $494.21 ; bastardy cases, $450,- 75 ; produce sold, $425.84 ; old iron and bones, $71.35 ; from former Superintendents, $70.92 ; making, $20,062.71.
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SUPERINTENDENTS OF THE POOR.
Of this sum, $5,448.30 was paid for the relief of indigent persons. Addition to old hospital, which with the amount for the support of Poor-House, $14,114.32, makes the amount $20,062.71.
The average number of paupers, actually supported in the Alms-House, was 288, at a cost of $10,624.65, which gives $36.89 per year, or 10 cents per day, as the cost for the sup- port of each pauper. The amount saved by their labor was $1,200.
The Physician of the Poor-House reported 484 cases of dis- eases, of which 45 were fatal ; and 19 births during that year ; 24 patients being admitted into the Lunatic Asylum, of whom 12 were cured.
The school in the Poor-House was reported to be in a flourishing condition.
November 21st, 1844, $2,000 more was placed at the disposal of the Superintendents, to be expended on the new Lunatic Asylum, then in process of erection ; also a further sum of $2,000, for the Poor-House establish- ment.
August 5th, 1845, at the annual meeting of the Super- visors, John B. Hendrickson was appointed a Superin- tendent of the Poor, for the 1st class, for the term of three years, from the 1st Tuesday of August, 1843, and until another should be appointed in his place ; James Faiel, Wm. H. Campbell, and Eusebius Hopkins were appointed a visiting committee of the Poor-House.
This committee subsequently recommended the mak- ing of a school-room and chapel in the old Lunatic Asylum; and also the planting of a large number of or- namental shade trees and shrubbery around the Poor- House, Lunatic Asylum, and other buildings on the County Farm. The pay of Superintendents of the Poor was increased to the sum of $450 each.
The Annual Report of the Superintendents, pre- sented August 5, 1845, shows that the whole number of paupers relieved or supported during the year end- ing July 31, 1845, was 4,698; the number temporarily relieved, 3,884. The actual expenses of the Poor- House and temporary relief was $18,139.55. The amount expended on the new Asylum was $1,888.67. The actual number supported in the Poor-house was 299, the whole cost of which was $9,547, which gives $35.27 per year, or 68 cents per week for the support of each pauper. The value of the labor of the paupers was $1,200 ; the produce of the farm had gradually increased, so that at this time, almost every kind of produce grown in this climate, was produced thereon, going very far towards the support of the paupers.
The Physician reported 1,189 cases during the said year, 61 of which were fatal ; 4 of thesc were caused from delirium tremens, 25 were consumption.
It is a singular fact that, since the first existence of the Board of Superintendents of the Poor, the average yearly deaths in the Hospital from consumption was, down to this time, 25.
The new Lunatic Asylum, having been completed since the last Annual Report, the physician in charge says of it, in his report :
"The good effects of the facilities afforded by the new buildings, are very manifest in the conduct and in the feelings of the patients. The want of room in the old buildings, and the restraint upon the patients occasioned thereby, led them to suppose they were prisoners instead of patients, especially those who were inclined to be furious and destructive."
He also speaks of the healthful effects of the exten- sive bathing-rooms, and apparatus for bathing.
The Report of the physician is lengthy and exceed- ingly instructive.
On November 7, 1845, measures were taken by the Board of Superintendents to purchase a plot of land in Greenwood Cemetery, or elsewhere, for the burial of the poor of the county, and strangers dying there- in, at an expense not exceeding $8,500. A proposition was made to purchase, or lease for a term of years, about 43 acres of land adjoining the County Poor- House farm, on the estate of Isaac Cortelyou, de- ceased.
November 11, 1845. The Superintendents were au- thorized to draw from the County Treasury the sum of $3,000 towards defraying the current expenses of the poor for the ensuing year.
On March 25, 1846, the Supervisors directed that the sum of $10,500 be set apart for the Poor-House estab- lishment, to be disbursed by the Superintendents in the discharge of their duties.
May 12, 1846. The attention of the Supervisors and the Superintendents of the Poor was called to an Act, which had then recently become a law, providing for the purchase of land and the erection thereon of suita- ble buildings, for a Work-House and Penitentiary; and it was proposed to inquire whether lands for that pur- pose could be obtained in the rocky hills in the 9th Ward of Brooklyn. A resolution was adopted to erect such Penitentiary and to purchase land therefor, not to exceed 40 acres. A building committee was ap- pointed and directed to proceed forthwith.
On August 4, 1846, an election of two Superinten- dents, to fill two vacancies (2d class), occasioned by the expiration of Losee Van Nostrand's and John A. Emmens' terms, took place. John S. Folk, of Brook- lyn, and Stephen W. Stilwell were elected for the term of three years, from the 1st Tuesday of 1846.
A committee reported that the following pieces of land could be purchased for the site for a Penitentiary, viz .: 9 acres from Samuel Smith, at $200 per acre ; 9 acres from Cornelius Van Cleaf, at $200 per acre ; 5 acres from Ralph Malbone, at $180 per acre; and 14 acres from Jonathan Trotter, at $180 per acre. A reso- lution was adopted, that the lands be purchased at prices not exceeding those named above, provided the title thereto is perfect.
From the Annual Report of the Superintendents and Physicians to the Poor-House, August 22d, 1846, it appeared that the Superintendents, during the year ending July 31, 1846, from all sources, exclusive of their salaries, received
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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.
for the benefit of the Poor-House establishment of the county, the sum of $23,146.52 ; and expended, for the support of the inmates of the Alms-House and Lunatic Asylum, the sum of $16,462.60g. They have expended for temporary relief of indigent persons out of the Poor-House, the sum of $6,534.55, making their total expenditures, $22,997.154.
The sum of $25,000, for the support of the poor for the coming year, for discharging present indebtedness, and for alterations and improvements necessary on the county premises, was directed to be raised ; also, that $50 be raised for purchasing books for the Alms- House.
The whole number of poor persons relieved or sup- ported preceding July 31, 1846, was 6,556. The esti- mated amount saved in the expense of the support of paupers by their labor, was $3,000.
The Physician of the Alms-House reported, during the year aforesaid, 1,302 cases, of which 62 proved fatal. In the Lunatic Asylum there were 39 cases. On the 1st of August, 1846, there had been 82 ad- mitted to the Asylum during the year. The whole number of lunatics admitted into this Asylum from May, 1838, when it was first established, down to Au- gust 1, 1846, was 237, of whom there had been dis- charged 158 ; died, 28. The greatest deficiency in the Asylum was the want of sufficient sources of amuse- ment, and reading matter for the moderately insane patients.
We have already referred to the action of the Board of Supervisors and Superintendents had at the Annual Meeting in August, 1846, in regard to purchasing certain pieces of land for a new Penitentiary. Octo- ber 10th, 1846, it having been ascertained that the titles of the said lands were perfect, a contract was made with the owners, duly ratified by the Board, and a sur- vey and map of the same made, by which it appeared that they purchased said lands as follows :
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