History of Cincinnati, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 55

Author: Ford, Henry A., comp; Ford, Kate B., joint comp
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Cleveland, O., L.A. Williams & co.
Number of Pages: 666

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The number of overseers' districts ultimately became twelve, with the growth of the city; but in 1880 it was reduced to six, the first district comprising the First, Sec- ond, 'Third, and Fourth wards, and being in charge of Mr. H. H. Goesling as overseer; the Second, being the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eleventh wards, in charge of Frank Rhein; Third-the Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Thir- teenth, and Eighteenth wards-J. F. Leuchtenburg, over- seer; Fourth-the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Nineteenth wards-F. W. Ferris, overseer; Fifth-the Fourteenth and Twentieth to Twenty-third wards, inclu- sive-William C. Hill, overseer; Sixth-Twelfth, Twenty- fourth, and Twenty-fifth wards-Charles Nordeck, over- seer. But one undertaker-John B. Habig, No. 183 West Sixth street-has been provided for some years for the whole city.

Having thus, in a rapid way, brought down the history of out-door relief to the present day, we return to a

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sketch of the infirmary proper. This institution is located near Hartwell, a village on the Cincinnati, Hamilton, & Dayton and the Dayton Short Line Railroads, about eight miles from Fountain Square, in the city. It is re- moved by only little over a mile from the county infir- mary, near Carthage. The city infirmary farm com- prises a quarter-section of. land, in the form of a paral- lelogram, west of the Carthage turnpike, and fronting on the Springfield pike, half a mile from Mill creek. In former days it was the property of Major Daniel Gano. The labor upon the farm is performed by the inmates of the infirmary, and it is made to produce a large part of the supplies needed by the institution for the table. The latest report we have seen of the storekeeper of the infir- mary, that of 1879, exhibits the produce of the farm for that year as amounting in value to seven thousand two hundred and thirty-eight dollars and sixty-seven cents, and of the garden to three thousand eight hundred and forty-one dollars and eighty-eight cents-a total of eleven thousand and eighty dollars and fifty-five cents. In ad- dition, a large number of articles, as brooms, mops, etc., were made by the inmates, and six thousand six hundred and twenty-seven articles of clothing, being almost all that is required by the institution. The farm stock comprised eighty-four animals, with a full equipment of farm tools and necessaries for the dairy. In 1869, the County Agricultural society awarded premiums to the in- firmary farm for one bull and for the best farm team.

The building constructed in 1851 is thus described in the annual report of the superintendent of the infirmary, for the year ending March 1, 1856:

The house is constructed of gray limestone. It is situated seven miles north of Cincinnati, upon a slight eminence, near the Carthage and Hamilton turnpike, and when viewed from this point presents a very beautiful and substantial architectural appearance. The centre and ends of the building are four stories high, while the main or con- necting part is but three. The whole presents a front of three hundred and four and one-third feet in length, with a depth of forty-seven feet. It has a wing extending back from the centre a distance of one hundred and thirty-three feet. This part is only two stories high, and is thirty- two feet in width.

The entire building is divided into one hundred and fifty-five rooms, which are used for the following purposes, viz .: The centre for the officers' apartments, offices, apothecary shop, store-rooms, etc. ; the first story of north and south wings are the male and female sick wards; the second and third stories of the same are the dormitories for the male and female inmates not under medical treatment; the fourth story of the end building is occupied as a basket shop and for store-rooms for the finished baskets; the first story of the rear building is used for the male and female dining-rooms, kitchen, and wash-house; the second story for school-room and chapel, children's dormitories, nursery, ironing and drying rooms. A hall, nine feet in width, runs through the entire length of the front building, in all the stories, dividing the rooms, which are well lighted and ventilated. In connection with the inain building we have an ice-house built with brick, thirty feet square and fifteen feet deep, which is well adapted to the uses for which it was erected. Over the ice-house we have a fine, large room for storing and keeping our fresh meats in summer.

The water supply was at first derived from two wells, about fifty barrels per day, and six cisterns, holding to- gether about six thousand gallons. This supply soon proved insufficient, and has been increased and made permanent by the construction of water works, including, in 1867, a reservoir on the hillside, capable of containing two thousand gallons, and of supplying water to the high- est part of the building. Gas works were added in 1859,

and minor improvements have been made from time to time pretty nearly as needed, including a nursery for the children, built in 1867-8. Certain important depart- ments of the household service remained deficient, how- ever; and in 1880 Mayor Jacob remarked of the infirmary in his message: "It is the only public building under the control of the city not provided with the latest im- provements for heating and washing." This defect has since been partially removed by the introduction of wash- ing machines.

In 1855, the religious opportunities of the infirmary were increased by a donation from the Young Men's Bi- ble society of Cincinnati, of fifty English Testaments and twenty-five English and twelve German Bibles.

An infirmary school was started early after the opening of the institution, and was regularly maintained until No- vember, 1877. For a time it was under the charge of the "board of trustees and visitors of the common schools of Cincinnati," but was generally controlled by the board of directors.

In 1858 an arrangement was made with the authorities of the Catholic orphan asylum at Cumminsville, to take under their charge the eighteen children in the in- firmary from Catholic families, with the promise that they would thereafter take and support all that were of that faith.

When the infirmary was turned over to the directors, in 1852, and opened for the reception of inmates, it had accommodations for only about fifty paupers. These were speedily increased by the supply of iron bedsteads and of bedding sufficient for two hundred and seventy- five persons, and it was calculated that seven hundred inmates could be provided for in the institution. At times, however, of late years, over two hundred more than that number have been crowded within its walls, as many as five or six being compelled to occupy one room in numerous cases; and an addition to the main building was repeatedly and loudly called for by the directors. In their report of 1872 they pressed it with especial force upon the attention of the city authorities; and a grant was made of the credit of the city, and in bonded in- debtedness, to the amount of fifty thousand dollars, which enabled the directors, within a year or two thereafter, to add two wings to the main building, make an alteration of the upper story, repair the roof of the old farm build- ing, which had been in use for many years for colored paupers, and make other needed improvements, together costing about twenty-six thousand dollars. The institu- tion has now abundant accommodations for all present demands.

Under a legislative act of May 17, 1878, passed during one of the spasms of "re-organization" that so often af- flict the general assembly, the control of the infirmary was turned over to the police commissioners of the city --- to whom, after a protest on behalf of the directors, the books and papers of the institution were delivered. The commissioners appointed Mr. John E. McGranahan gen- eral superintendent of the department, and made a thorough change in the official corps of the infirmary. Their reign was short-lived, and March 15, 1880, the

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board of directors was returned to authority, under an- other act of assembly. While the commissioners were in power, however, the infirmary was cleared of debt, with which it had been hampered for a number of years (one year the debt amounted to sixty thousand dollars), and a surplus was accumulated for future use.

The poor authorities of the city and county have always been much embarrassed by the influx of non- resident paupers, natural to a large commercial city and favorably situated county. Especially were unfortunate girls, about to experience the shame and pains of illegiti- mate child-birth, liable to be inflicted upon the public charities of this region, some of them being sent long distances for the purpose, even from Missouri and New York. From New York city numbers of indigent immi- grants were, it is alleged, regularly forwarded to Cincin- nati. In some cases, where betrayed ones were sent to the city with the early prospect of illicit offspring, the responsible parties, being within the State, were prose- cuted by the directors with success, made to pay dama- ges to the city and provide security for the maintenance of their ill-begotten children. In the official year of 1851-2, the total number of non-resident poor relieved at the Commercial Hospital was one thousand nine hun- dred and seventy-nine-nearly seven times as many as the resident paupers relieved, who numbered but two hundred and ninety-five. Under the new administra- tion, in 1852 and subsequently, the directors considera- bly reduced abuses, and the number of non-residents and unknown persons who received indoor relief during the year 1852-3 was but two hundred and eighty-seven, against four hundred and sixty-five residents; while out- door relief was extended to four hundred and seventy- one non-residents and two thousand and forty-six resi- dent paupers. The city council had no power, under the charter, to levy taxes for the benefit of poor not belonging to the city; but nevertheless allowed the directors to grant such relief in cases of severe sickness. March 14, 1853, the county commissioners were em- powered by the legislature to levy a sufficient tax for the relief of this class of beneficiaries, leaving the city coun- cil still no care of non-resident paupers.

The following are the numbers received into the in- firmary from year to year since its opening: 1852-3, 581; 1853-4, 465; 1854-5, 660; 1855-6, 595; 1856-7, 360; 1857-8, 285; 1858-9, 380; 1859-60, 444; 1860-1, 464; 1861-2, 228; 1862-3, 159; 1863-4, 210; 1864-5, 282; 1865-6, 370; 1866-7, 297; 1867-8, 323 ; 1868-9, 290; 1869-70, 257; 1870-1, 245; 1871-2, 228; 1872 (ten months), 179; 1873, 330; 1874, 459; 1875, 3II; 1876, 362; 1877, 245; 1878, 373; 1879, 429. At the close of the last named year there were five hundred and eighty-seven *remaining in the institution. The total number of names upon the register for the year was one thousand and thirty-five; discharged during the year, three hundred and forty-seven; died, one hundred and one; daily average for the year, five hundred and seventy-six. At the close of 1879, one inmate was re- maining for each of the years 1852, 1855, 1856, 1858, 1859, 1860, 1861, as the several dates of their admis-

sion into the infirmary. Out-door relief had been extended during the year to the amount of fifteen thou- sand eight hundred and eighty-eight dollars and eighty- nine cents-provision account, six thousand and seven dollars and eighty-two cents; fuel, eight thousand two hundred and fifty-five dollars and thirty-two cents; wages, four hundred and fifty dollars; transportation, twenty-seven dollars and fifty cents; coffins and inter- ments, one thousand one hundred and forty-eight dollars and twenty cents. Relief had been extended to nearly a thousand more applicants than in any previous year. The institution was out of debt and had a balance to its credit sufficient to meet its running expenses for 1880.

The directors of the city infirmary, from its establish- ment to 1880, have been, at various times, Charles Ross, Gottfried Koehler, Henry Roedter (the first board), Adam Hornung, Jacob Gossin, William Crossman, Arthur Hill, George A. Peter, Joseph Draper, Jacob B. Wyman, George Lindemann, James Ayres, L. L. Arm- strong, M. B. Masson, M. Straub, Henry Weist, Ira Wood, John Martin, W. H. Watters, Charles Zielinski, Henry Zopfi, Jacob Ernst (died in office), John Kirch- ner, Robert Buchanan, George H. Schoonmaker, M. Lichtendahl, George F. Feid, William Ohmann; police commissioners, 1878-C. Kinsinger, J. P. Carbery, Dan- iel Weber, W. W. Sutton, John Dorsch; 1879, S. S. Davis, H. C. Young, Ephraim Morgan, A. R. Von Mar- tels, John Dorsch; 1880, Arthur Hill, George F. Feid, William Ohmann.

Clerks of the Board-William Swift Gossin, Adam S. Hornung, jr., Thomas Winter, Abijah Watson, James F. Irwin (died in office), A. H. Andress, R. M. Court- ney, O. T. Shepard, Charles H. Moorman.

The following named gentlemen have been superin- tendents of the infirmary. It is difficult to fix, in all cases, exactly the year in which each entered upon service, but these dates are believed to be approximately correct, as gathered from the annual reports. Each of the incumbents served until his immediate successor was appointed: 1852, Dr. Nathan B. Marsh; 1855, James McCord; 1856, John Young; 1857, Colonel A. M. Robinson; 1860, Stephen S. Ayres; 1862, Colonel A. M. Robinson; 1865, S. P. Coleman; 1867, Abijah Watson ; 1870, Arthur Hill; 1874, Captain Robinson Whitney ; 1877, John P. Decker; 1879, S. W. Bell and Arthur Hill; 1880, John P. Decker.

The periods of the matrons correspond to those of the superintendents: Mrs. Mary Young, Mrs. Mary Robin- son, Mrs. Elizabeth Ayres, Mrs. Angelina Coleman, Mrs. Phebe S. Watson, Mrs. Matilda Hill, Mrs. Nancy Whit- ney, Mrs. Elizabeth Decker, Mrs. S. W. Bell.

Physicians-Professor James Graham, H. C. Lassing, D. S. Young, T. L. Neal, N. S. Armstrong, A. P. Essel- born, W. H. Bunker, G. W. Highlands, F. 1 .. Emmert.

Teachers-Misses Hannah P. Eaton, Ellen F. Ken- dall, Mollie E. Cox, Sally F. Wyman, Mollie Hoyt, Clara B. Carnes, and Sallie Clarke; Mr. F. W. Hess; Misses Louisa Emery, Katie Whitney, Anna G. Curtis, Mollie Burnett.

While the last named lady was teaching, about the

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middle of November, 1877, all the children of the in- firmary were transferred to the Children's Home, in Cin- cinnati, and the school was closed. The school-room has since been used for holding religious services.

Store-keepers-Charles H. Giller, Albert Denerlich, John C. Hill, Alexander Jacoby, Isaac B. Stevens, F. A. Herbolsheimer, Charles O. Spiegel, William Spiegel, Le- Maire Knotzer.

THE COMMERCIAL HOSPITAL.

This was the creation, on paper, of an act of the legis- lature, bearing date January 22, 1821, and entitled "An act establishing a commercial hospital and lunatic asy- lum for the State of Ohio," its scope then being as stated in the title.

Governor Brown, in his annual message, had recom- mended to the legislature the chartering of such an insti- tution in Cincinnati. Dr. Daniel Drake suggested to the trustees of the township, who were to be in charge of the hospital, the advisability of uniting the State and local funds, and establishing an infirmary for the poor and likewise for the deceased boatmen of Ohio and of such other western States as might similarly afford Ohio boat- men relief. His plan was adopted, and the doctor was made the bearer of an accordant petition to the legisla- ture, in pursuance of which and of the governor's recom- mendation the charter was obtained. Upon Dr. Drake's sole petition, it is said, the proviso for a lunatic depart- ment was added. Besides the ten thousand dollars granted, one-half the auction dues collected in the city were appropriated to the use of the asylum. The finan- cial provisions of the act at once effected a signal reduc- tion in the amount of city taxation for the benefit of the poor.

Very soon after the act of incorporation was obtained, a suitable tract for the site of the hospital was purchased, in the then outskirts of the city, now in its very heart-a tract of four acres, being that upon which the great Cin- cinnati hospital, in part, now stands. Some delay was experienced in putting a building upon it; but in 1823 a brick edifice was erected, of fifty-three feet front by forty- two feet depth, and three stories in height, with a tenanta- ble basement. Ten thousand dollars had been appro- priated by the general assembly toward its erection; which, although received in depreciated bank notes, yielding in specie but thirty-five hundred dollars, was a material and welcome aid to the building fund. In all but seven thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven dol- lars were expended at the time upon the buildings and ward furniture and the improvement of the grounds- about one-hundredth part of the total cost of the mag- nificent institution established upon its site forty-five years later.

Besides the regular wards, the upper story, originally designed for the residence of the superintendent, was re- modeled for a lecture-room, with seats for nearly one hundred students. This was lighted by front windows and rough dormer windows set in a rather pointed roof.

An additional building was erected upon the grounds in 1827, forty-four feet long, twenty-eight feet wide, and

two stories high. It was designed rather as a place of confinement than a hospital for the cure of the insane. The lower story was for male lunatics, the upper for females. Each was partitioned into eleven rooms or cells.

An addition was inade to the main hospital building a few years afterwards, with a capacity for one hundred and fifty patients. The basement was turned into a poor- house, and was also to some extent an orphan asylum.

Still another building was connected with the hospital ; and, being used for contagious diseases, and especially small-pox, it was situated some distance from it, in an isolated spot six or seven long squares west of the hos- pital, in the northwest corner of the then "potter's field," now the beautiful Lincoln park. This was destroyed after a time, and the patients afflicted with infectious dis- eases were treated in a building nearer the hospital, which presently became too small for the purpose, and, after a debate among the hospital authorities, whether patients of this class might not be safely admitted to the main building, the decision was against the proposal, and the late Dr. Wright was made a committee to select a site for another pest-house. His mission became known to the community, and was not received with signal favor in localities eligible for such location. After one excur- sion to the hills to examine sites, he received the follow- ing note:

"DR. WRIGHT :- If you are again seen prowling about our hillsides, you may prepare to have a ball sent through your skull."

The hospital was relieved of its poor-house feature when the county infirmary was established, and by and by the founding of an orphan asylum in the city, mainly by the efforts of a few benevolent ladies, relieved it also of the few destitute orphans it contained.

From the beginning, the Commercial hospital and the Medical College of Ohio were substantially identical. The officers of the one were the officers of the other, and the same building was occupied for both purposes. One important departure taken by the law of 1861, for the establishment of the Cincinnati hospital, was the statutory separation of the two institutions. Instead of appointing physicians to the hospital altogether from the staff of the medical college, they are selected at large by the trustees of the institution, without special reference to their connection with the college.

On the twentieth of June, 1855, the board of direct- ors effected an arrangement with the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, by which sick and dis- abled boatmen could be cared for in the hospital, at the rate of five dollars per week, for board and medical attendance. This arrangement yielded a small revenue the first year; but afterwards the receipts from this source were quite large, one year (1860-61) amounting to eight thousand, five hundred and twenty-two dollars and two cents.

About the same time an arrangement was entered into with the faculty of the Ohio medical college, whereby the directors were allowed to dispose of "hospital tick- ets," or permits for clinical practice, to students of other medical schools, on equal terms with those enjoyed by the students of that college. A fund of some size was

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obtained from this source, also, and turned into the city treasury, for the benefit of the infirmary department.

March 11, 1861, another law of the legislature pro- vided that the public infirmary established in the hos- pital by the law of 1821 should be thereafter called simply "the Commercial Hospital of Cincinnati," to re- main upon the hospital lot before occupied, and to be "used for the reception and care of such sick persons as may by law be entitled to admission therein for treatment as patients." The control of the hospital was transferred from the board of infirmary directors to a board of seven trustees, of which, however, the infirmary directors, to- gether with the mayor of the city, were ex-officio mem- bers. The faculty of the Medical College of Ohio were to attend patients in the hospital without compensation, except in the privilege to introduce their pupils into the hospital, to witness the medical and surgical treatment of patients.

THE CINCINNATI HOSPITAL.

In 1861, soon after the appointment of a new board of trustees, some preparations were made for the erection of a fine new building, to displace the old Commercial hospital, which had become somewhat dilapidated and unsafe, and was no longer adequate to the wants of the great city. Plans had been prepared a year or two be- fore by the most noted firm of architects in the city, and steps had been taken to secure the necessary funds; but the outbreak of the war at once destroyed the hope of consummating the scheme at that time. The old build- ing had long been condemned as unfit for its purposes; but there seemed no choice but to use it while it re- mained upright; so the most urgent repairs were made upon it, and its occupation continued a few years longer. In this year (1861) gas was introduced into the hospital.

By 1864 many cases of sick and destitute persons had to be turned away. March Ist of that year, the hospital was permanently divorced from the city infirmary. The next year, in accordance with a unanimous vote of the city council, supported by the trustees and medical staff of the hospital and other influential citizens, the legisla- ture passed an act authorizing the creation of a munici- pal debt for a new hospital, if the people should approve it by vote. In March, 1865, a branch hospital for female patients was opened on Elm street, above Twelfth, and was soon crowded. About this time the pest-house was removed from the tract now Lincoln park, to Roh's hill, west of the Bellevue house.

On the twelfth of December, 1866, the necessary funds having been voted by the people, the hospital com- missioners notified the trustees of the Commercial hos- pital to vacate that lot and buildings, preparatory to the construction of new edifices. Temporary quarters were secured at the corner of Third and Plum streets, and the demolition of the old structures and erection of the new proceeded rapidly. In 1868, a popular vote authorized the raising of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the hospital, by the issue of bonds. April 3d of that year, the name of the institution was changed by an act of the legislature to Cincinnati hospital. It was occupied in January, 1869. The fame of this great public charity,

as one of the finest institutions of the kind in the world, warrants our use here of the entire description of the hospital, as published annually in its reports :

This institution completely fulfills all the conditions of a general hos- pital to a large city. It is emphatically a city hospital, accessible to all on accommodating terms. Strangers or other persons of means, over- taken by illness, and wishing to avail themselves of the best appoint- ments for proper care, can here find refuge without the sacrifice of any of their liberties. They can not only obtain appropriate private rooms and trained nurses, but they can choose their own medical attendants without being restricted to the medical staff of the hospital. This, to many persons, is an estimable privilege; for, however well chosen the staff of a hospital may be, and distinguished as the visiting physicians and surgeons of most of our hospitals usually are, for superior skill, notwithstanding, many persons so much prefer choosing for themselves as to make the denial of this privilege an inseparable objection to hospital patronage.

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History of Cincinnati, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 55

Author: Ford, Henry A., comp; Ford, Kate B., joint comp Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Cleveland, O., L.A. Williams & co. Number of Pages: 666

Author: Ford, Henry A., comp; Ford, Kate B., joint comp
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Cleveland, O., L.A. Williams & co.
Number of Pages: 666