USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > History of the city of Cleveland : its settlement, rise and progress > Part 23
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An additional acre was afterwards purchased by the asylum. For the first ten years the institution was dependent mainly upon contributions, most of which were personally solicited by the ladies. A small permanent fund was donated by benevolent gentlemen of the city. In 1853 the bequest of Captain Levi Sartwell, who had bequeathed his entire property to the asylum, placed the institution upon a surer footing. In 1877 and '78 Mr. Leonard Case donated a valuable tract of land, four and one-fourth acres, on St. Clair street, as a site for a new building, but the officers were unable to use it until the generous donation of Mr. J. H. Wade, forty thousand dol- lars, made the new building a reality. Another generous gift from Dr. Alleyne Maynard, in memory of his wife, fitted up and maintains the hospital department of the
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asylum. It is now as it stands, one of the handsomest and best appointed buildings of the kind in the West. The earlier bequests and donations form a permanent fund, the interest of which only is expended for the sup- port of the asylum. The aim of the institution is to care for orphan children during their helpless years and to find homes for them, where they will be carefully reared and educated. Under the present careful management it is one of the important safeguards of society. The present offi- cers are: Mr. Douglas Perkins, president ; Dan. P. Eells, treasurer; A. H. Shunk, superintendent; Mrs. Julia W. Shunk, matron. Of the Board of Managers: Mrs. R. P. Wade, president; Mrs. S. L. Severance and Mrs. Henry Chisholm, vice-presidents; Miss Anne Walworth, secre- tary.
In the spring of the same year that originated the Prot- estant Orphan Asylum, Rt. Rev. Amadeus Rappe, Bishop of Cleveland, by personal exertion established a small hos- pital for the care of the sick and injured of the city, on Monroe street, on the West Side, and for several years the sisters in charge cared for all who came. The civil war, however, sent so many sufferers home for care that the accommodations were wholly inadequate, and the Bishop appealed to the public to come to his aid in building a hospital suitable to the needs of the city. The citizens, without reference to creed or nationality, responded lib- erally, so that in the spring of 1865 the spacious building on Perry street, between Garden and Marion, streets was open to the public. It had cost seventy-five thousand dollars. The care of patients and the general management
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of the institution was confided to the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, and under their faithful care and the skill of the able staff of physicians, the hospital soon took a high rank among institutions of the kind in the country. In 1873-1874 additions were made under the auspices of Bishop Gilmour, costing forty-seven thousand dollars, so that in point of comfort, convenience and medical appli- ances the hospital is second to none in the country. The superior is Sister Thomas, the medical staff are: Drs. W. J. Scott, G. C. E. Weber, J. Bennett, H. J. Herrick, Proctor Thayer, D. B. Smith, B. W. Holliday. Consulting physi- cians, Drs. H. W. Kitchen, Geo. C. Ashmun, Dudley P. Allen, H. J. Lee, M. L. Brooks, Jr., R. D. Fry. Visiting physicians, Drs. W. J. Scott, D. Milliken, and H. H. Powell.
The autumn of 1852 saw also the beginning of another worthy institution-St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, and also inaugurated by Bishop Rappe.
The Sisters of Charity (Mother Ursula being superior) promised to take charge of the orphan boys. The Cath- olics of the diocese responded to the call for means, and a two story frame house was soon erected. Four years later this had become so much too small that a large brick building was commenced on the same site, although it was not completed for some years. It has sheltered and cared for a large number of boys. Sister Mary Alexis is the present superior.
There have since been established St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum on Woodland avenue, Sister Ann Hogan, superior, and St. Mary's Female Orphan Asylum, 103 Harmon street, Miss Mary LeMasson, superior.
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The Jewish Orphan Asylum, I. O. O. B., was opened Sep- tember 29, 1868, in a building on Woodland avenue, pur- chased at a cost of about thirty-two thousand dollars, but it became necessary to enlarge the buildings in a short time. Thechildren received during the first year numbered one hundred and thirty-three. They came from many and distant States.
The institution has been ably managed and its financial record has been creditable to the officers. A school building was erected in 1879 at cost of twenty thousand dollars. The present management consists of A. Hart, president ; D. Adler, vice-president; J. Rohrheimer, treasurer; S. Wolfenstein, secretary and superintendent ; M. Buchanan, finance secretary ; Mrs. C. Steiner, matron.
The Young Men's Christian Association was organized in 1866 and at once became one of the leading organiza- tions of the city. In 1872 the association purchased the building, 79 Public Square, where its headquarters remained until 1881. It is neatly furnished with chapel, reading and music rooms, parlors and committee rooms. This union was the first to engage in special work for railway employés, and for several years conducted a pleasant reading room in the Union depot. It has also given special attention to the newsboys and boot-blacks, lodging them and teaching them in Sabbath and night schools. In 1881 the headquarters were removed to 64 Euclid avenue. The present officers are : George W. Stockley, president; E. C. Pope, vice-president ; F. S. Goodman, general secretary ; N. K. Caskey, assistant secretary; N. F. Lyman, record- ing secretary ; James B. Paskins, finance secretary ; Chas.
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W. Chase, treasurer. Railroad branch, T. H. Wells, secre- tary. Newburg branch, J. H. Jones, secretary.
The Home for the Aged Poor was founded by Bishop Rappe in 1870. It is conducted by the members of the society of the Little Sisters of the Poor. Every day the sisters solicit alms and collect old clothing and food for the aged inmates. Sister Noel, of St. Louis, is the present superior.
The House of Maternity, located on Marion street, is conducted by the Sisters of St. Augustine.
The society of the Cleveland Bethel Union was first in- corporated in 1867 for the purpose of carrying on benevo- lent and mission work in the lower part of the city, and of establishing a home for seamen, railroad men and other transient sojourners, where reasonable accommodations could be offered at very moderate rates; and in 1868 the building at the corner of Superior and Spring streets was purchased for $60,000 and $3,000 improvements were added-$20,000 being paid down and the balance, $53,000, paid in installments. The relief work of the Bethel first included only the lower part of the city and provision for transient cases at the Home, but in 1873 it was made to embrace the whole city. At the Home, rooms have been prepared for the distribution of clothing and supplies, and for furnishing nourishing food to the destitute poor during the winter. An employment office has been opened, a tem- porary home for women and girls, and free lodgings for men worthy of assistance. A large Sabbath school and sewing school are features of the mission department. The reve- nue from the Home department is used for the purpose of
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the Union. In relief work about ten thousand articles of clothing and kitchen utensils and $10,000 in money have been furnished to the poor during the past year. In con- nection with the building is a wood-yard, where oppor- tunity is found to test the industrial desire of the appli- cants.
The Society for Organizing Charity was instituted in 1882, with the object of investigating, relieving and re- ducing the pauperism of the city by systematic and dis- criminate giving, which should insure the relief of the worthy and prevent fraud. This was accomplished by the concerted action of the principal benevolent societies in the city in a system of registration and investigation which revealed the unworthy. About thirty-three hundred dollars was judiciously used by the society in its first year. In No- vember, 1884, nine directors of this society and nine direc- tors of the Bethel united to negotiate terms of union be- tween the two organizations. It was agreed that they should cooperate for two years, and that if the union proved satisfactory it should become permanent. Accordingly, in 1886 this was effected, under the name of the "Bethel Asso- ciated Charities." The joint work does not change the atti- tude of either society, as the Bethel Associated Charities continues wholly unsectarian, and the Bethel Union remains Protestant in its proclivities. The present officers of the Bethel Union are: B. L. Pennington, president ; Thomas West, secretary; W. S. Jones, treasurer; W. E. Pence, superintendent of Bethel Home; Mrs. W. E. Pence, matron. The present officers of the Bethel Associated Charities are. James Barnett, president; H. R. Groff, W.
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H. Harris, T. H. Graham and Mrs. W. C. North, vice- presidents; Walter S. Collins, secretary; J. H. Wade, Jr., treasurer ; H. N. Raymond, superintendent.
The most comprehensive of the benevolent enterprises of the city is the Women's Christian Association. It was organized in 1868 in response to a call from H. T. Miller, asking that a women's society should be formed, cor- responding to the Young Men's Christian Association. A large meeting responded, and the Women's Christian As- sociation was formally organized, and articles of incorpora- tion were secured the following April. Committees for missionary work were immediately appointed, and their labors commenced. The first work consisted of Sabbath visitations at the hospitals, the work-house and the in- firmary, making garments to be sold to the poor at a nominal price, and instructing women in the art of house- hold economy. A small boarding home for young working women was maintained until November, 1869, when the late Stillman Witt gave the building and land at 16 Walnut street for that purpose. So great was the need of a homefor working girls that should come within their earnings, that four years later Mr. Witt purchased the adjoining lot and enlarged the building to its present dimensions, while the rooms were furnished by friends and by church societies.
The Association founded the "Retreat " for the reclama- tion of fallen women, and conducted it until Leonard Case donated a large lot on St. Clair street, and Mr. Joseph Per- kins gave ten thousand dollars to start a building fund, which ultimately reached $31,000. In 1883 Mr. Perkins added a hospital and nursery department, costing $10,000,
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thus completing the convenient and handsome structure of to-day.
The Home for Aged Women on Kennard street was erected and given to the association in 1876 by Mr. Amasa Stone. It will accommodate thirty-five inmates, but is continually besieged by applicants that it cannot receive.
The Educational and Industrial Union, under the man- agement of Miss Mary Sherman, is a new branch of the association, designed to supplement the defective education of young working women, by giving specific instruction in industrial arts at a nominal cost.
The Young Ladies' Branch of the Association has turned its attention extensively to the necessities and suffering of the neglected children of the poor. With the object of caring for the little ones of working mothers, two pleasant day nurseries are conducted-one, the gift of Mr. Perkins, at the corner of St. Clair street and Sterling avenue, the other at the corner of Case avenue and Orange street. The flower mission is also one of the beautiful charities of these young ladies.
Another much needed branch of this work is the Home for Incurable Invalid Women and Children, now being erected on a handsome tract of land on Detroit street, both land and building being the gift of Mrs. Eliza Jennings. Several other smaller enterprises are conducted by this noble charity, which include nearly all the vicissitudes that can befall women in this age of widening social standards, and all periods of life from infancy to old age. In 1874 the Earnest Worker was established as the organ of the asso-
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ciation and has been of great assistance in the prosecution of work.
The present officers of the association are: Miss Sarah E. Fitch, president; Mrs. William M. Merriam, correspond- ing secretary; Mrs. H. M. Ingham, recording secretary ; Miss C. M. Leonard, treasurer. President Young Ladies' Branch, Mrs. M. E. Rawson; corresponding secretary, Mrs. L. M. Davis ; receiving secretary, Mrs. W. E. Cushing; treasurer, Mrs. D. B. Chambers.
The Industrial School and Farm on Detroit street is one of the ornaments, architecturally and ethically, of thecity, being one of the most important of the preventive measures whose need is now recognized by both State and society. Like all the other great and successful institutions, it orig- inated in a small way. In 1854 a few Christian people, moved by the ignorance and destitution of the children in the vicinity of Canal and Water streets, organized a Sun- day-school for their benefit. Food and clothing were dis- tributed to the attendants of the school which was known as the "Ragged School," but the supplies were exhausted at the end of two years, and the school was discontinued. The condition of the children thus returned to their former neglect excited the compassion of Robert Waterton, who brought the matter to the attention of the City Council. In response to his efforts the old Champlain street school- house, which was no longer used as a public school, was appropriated to the use of the waifs as an industrial school and home. It was opened in 1857 with an attend- ance of twenty-five pupils. Robert Waterton was ap-
Enga by J. Rogers
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pointed superintendent, and to him is due the efficiency of the school in the nineteen years following.
The Children's Aid Society was organized in 1857 and received the general management of the school.
A branch school was established at the corner of Bridge and York streets. These were public schools with an en- rollment of two or three hundred, in which common English branches and a few industrial arts, as sewing, knitting and brush making, were taught There was also the nucleus of a home department in which several small, homeless children found a temporary lodging until they could be otherwise provided for. In 1865 the Children's Aid Society was incorporated, and two years later it rented the Jennings farm, on Detroit street, to give the children instruction in farming. Mrs. Eliza Jennings became interested in the school and in 1868 donated the entire property on which the school was located to its use.
This gift included ten and a half acres of land and atwo story brick dwelling. In the following September, Leonard Case, Jr., donated twenty-six acres adjoining, and this with twenty-six acres purchased by interested friends, made an aggregate of more than sixty acres. In 1876 the City Council discontinued the Champlain Street school, as the establishment of a House of Refuge had taken its place. During the nineteen years of its existence it had instructed and almost supported five thousand children. The home department was transferred to the Detroit Street Home, and Rev. William Sampson and his wife were appointed superintendent and matron. In 1881 the present imposing edifice was erected and presented to the society by Mr.
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Amasa Stone, at a cost of $37,000. Since 1876 two hun- dred or more waifs have been annually received by the Insti- tution, and nearly a hundred a year have been placed in good families. Of these fully ninety-five per cent. are developing into good, useful citizens. Some are liberally educated by their foster parents, and others have become prominent citizens.
The Women's Christian Temperance Union (non-parti- san), was organized on March 13, 1874, by a number of philanthropic ladies, who thus undertook by systematic organization and cooperation, to alleviate the misery en- tailed by intoxication, to reform the lives of those who are addicted to drink, and to discourage in every possible way the manufacture, sale and use of distilled liquors. The work, commenced in so noble a spirit, has broadened until it includes much of the misery of extreme poverty. Not only men are urged to reform and assisted by friendly in- terest, but the homes of the poor are visited, the mothers taught, encouraged and assisted; they are gathered into helpful meetings and carry away the strength and comfort there gained. The neglected little ones are gathered into Sabbath school, sewing school and boys' reading room, where they are amused, instructed and elevated by the tire- less patience of the ladies in charge.
The erring and fallen are given a helping hand, and the destitute and sick are relieved. Theinstitutions owned and carried on by the Union-and their departments of useful- ness-are: three free reading rooms well furnished, two drinking fountains kept in order, twenty bands of hope conducted each week, two sewing schools held each week,
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and large classes of boys taught regularly in common English branches four nights each week, two Sunday schools regularly maintained, seventy-five visits at work- house, jail and police station, including personal interest in the girls thus met, which has in many cases followed them until they were reclaimed. Twenty-six meetings held with the women at, the work-house, five hundred and sev- enty-six gospel meetings held at the two missions, Central Friendly Inn and Detroit Street chapel, and twelve in the open air at the Haymarket, fourteen mothers' meetings at Willson Avenue Reading Rooms, mission work at the Open Door, including much personal effort in finding places for the 231 inmates of that institution, during the past year.
A vast amount of literature circulated upon temperance and social purity work, the Central Place Friendly Inn has maintained at an expense of over twenty-two hun- dred dollars, and the widening circle of the ennobling in- fluences there exerted would be difficult to measure. The Detroit Street chapel has also been a source of much good in its province. The coming year will probably see the comple- tion of a long cherished plan of the faithful workers-a new Friendly Inn-for which the sum of fifty thousand dollars has been raised. The building will be erected upon a lot fronting on Broadway and Ohio streets. The plans include a pleasant chapel for gospel services, with additional rooms for Bible class, mothers' meetings, etc., an attractive read- ing room for men and one for boys, with facilities for in- struction, a coffee room, lodging and bath rooms, laundry, drying and ironing rooms for the convenience of destitute women, kitchen garden, sewing and cooking school rooms
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for girls, a day nursery for the little ones of working mothers.
These features combine more varied means of doing good than are presented by any other institution of the kind. A specialty will be made of the instruction of young girls in all the arts that tend to home-making and self sup- port, in the conviction "that no human element more surely tends to strict morality in the lives of both men and women than respect for labor and the ability to do some things well." The principal donors of the new build- ing are: J. D. Rockefeller, $10,000; Mrs. and Mrs. Alva Bradley, $13,500; Ahira Cobb, $5,000; Joseph Perkins, $10,000.
The officers of the Union are: Mrs. J. S. Prather, presi- dent, Miss Mary E. Ingersoll and Mrs. E. J. Phinney, recording secretaries; Miss F. Jennie Duty, corresponding secretary; Mrs. N. W. Orton, treasurer, and H. N. Ray- mond, auditor.
The Central Cleveland Women's Temperance Union was originally connected with the non-partisan Union, but in the summer of 1885 separate organizations were formed. The Union is engaged in general temperance and philan- thropic work, and has organized several departments of specific work. There are also two branch unions, one in the East End and one on Madison avenue. The officers of the main Union are: Mrs. T. K. Doty, president; Mrs. I. H. Amos, vice-president ; Mrs. S. M. Perkins, recording secretary ; Mrs. G. P. Oviatt, corresponding secretary; Mrs. Geo. Presly, treasurer.
The Dorcas Society was organized about 1866, for the
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purpose of a relief society. Its main object is the assist- ance of widows and children, furnishing clothing, paying rents, and caring for the sick who fall outside the city work. A great deal has been done in the years of its existence. The most important mission of the society is the Invalids' Home, which is conducted under its auspices and for which its members solicit the rent and part of the support. The Home is delightfully situated at 1643 Euclid avenue, and is intended for incurable invalids, none others being re- ceived. The officers of the society are: Mrs. B. D. Bab- cock, president; Mrs. H. Gerould, secretary; Mrs. J. H. Rhodes, treasurer. The officers of the Invalids' Home are Mrs. M. C. Worthington, president and treasurer; Mrs. L. A. Castle, secretary.
The Trinity Church Home for the Sick and Friendless is situated at the corner of Euclid avenue and Perry street. The officers are Mrs. Philo Schovill, president; Mrs. E. C. Pechin, secretary and treasurer; Mrs. F. H. Fairfield, matron.
The Aged and Infirm Israelites' Home, O. S. K. B., is on Woodland avenue at the corner of Willson avenue. Jacob Mandelbaum, president; Jacob Cohen, secretary; Adolph Freund, Detroit, treasurer ; Dr. Friedman, superintendent. The Convent of the Good Shepherd was founded July 8, 1829, and was established as a generalship by the Pope, July, 1875. The Cleveland Convent was founded by Bishop Rappe in July, 1869, and in 1875 the large convent build- ing on Sterling avenue was completed and occupied. The institution is intended as a reformatory for women and a protectory for children.
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The Cleveland Humane Society was organized in 1873 as the "Cleveland Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals," the name embodying the purpose of the organization. It was found that another field lay so manifestly in its path, that to avoid it was impossible. The voice
"Of the children weeping, The young, young children weeping, In the play time of the others, In the country of the free,"
was an appeal so piteous as to demand a response. This mission was also included, and the general work of the society is not limited to these two branches, but responds to any suffering of sentient creatures. The history and character of the society is embodied in that of its general agent, the late David L. Wightman, who died July 18, 1887, to whose ability in this field the society owes its general usefulness. His experience, his deep knowledge and keen detection of human nature, in which he was rarely mistaken, his tact, skill, discrimination, good policy, together with his truly kind heart and remarkable industry, and all combined in a Christian gentleman, have made his death an irreparable loss to the society of which he represented the executive agency for fifteen years. Mr. E. C. Parmelee is his worthy successor, having ob- tained much experience in the Bethel work.
The Infants' Rest, at 1416 Cedar avenue, is an out- growth of the needs of the society, which fills a need not covered either by city or private charities. Mrs. Christine
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Stadler is the matron. The present officers of the society are: President, James Barnett; secretary, Andrew Squire; corresponding secretary, Mrs. F. A. Sterling; treasurer, B. L. Pennington.
In addition to the institutions enumerated above are upwards of fifty benevolent societies organized for relief work in special lines, exclusive of the very large number of mutual benefit associations. The extent, number and excellent record of these branches of work tell their own story in the simple statement. Comment upon their motive and usefulness is not needed, for both their personal and social benefit can never be estimated and, viewed in the broader light of history, the aggregate of effects increase. History has told us that nations perish because of the widening distance between castes, the increasing wealth of the rich and poverty of the poor making it impossible for them to join hands across the separating breach for the preservation of their common country.
But in this country, whose organic law is so imbued with the spirit of humanity as to base its constitution upon the political equality of all men, the growth of an- tagonism between capital and poverty is met by a coun- ter current of Christian sympathy. In these enterprises rich and poor meet upon an equal plane and recognize their common humanity, while the patient hands that are striving to protect the good in human character and eliminate the evil, are building, stone by stone, the founda- tion of a citadel whose battlements will stand firm under any possible shock of insurrection, communism or anarchy.
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