USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Dayton > History of the city of Dayton and Montgomery County, Ohio, Volume I > Part 79
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The walls are of brick, stone and terra cotta. The inner partitions are of hollow tile, long span, and are of steel and thoroughly fire-proof. The floor and stairways are entirely of armored concrete. The roof of the main auditorium is entirely of tile. A sense of absolute safety will make the use of the building, by the public, most satisfactory. The architectural style of the building is in con- formance with that adopted by the national government and is a modern Ameri- canized version of French Renaissance. This is the style in which all new public buildings of the government, such as postoffices, custom houses, United States court houses, the great office building of the house and senate at Washington, and the new government building there, are being executed.
The structure provides the following accommodations :
The main entrance to the building is through Memorial hall, which is designed to serve the practical purpose of an immense vestibule, and the commemorative purpose of a Hall of Fame wherein exhibits of a memorial nature are to be suit- ably housed. These exhibits are statues, bronze tablets, mural decorations, etc. This hall is forty by eighty feet in size, two stories high, and the interior is fur- nished entirely in Caen stone and a choice selection of marbles.
On the right and left of the Memorial hall, are the meeting rooms of the soldiers' societies, consisting of two society rooms with their anterooms, coat rooms, toilet rooms, and so forth. Each of these society rooms will accommodate from one hundred to two hundred. On the first floor in the front portion of this building is also located the custodian's reception room and office. Over the two
T
Courtesy of Albert Kern MONTGOMERY COUNTY MEMORIAL BUILDING
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society rooms are the historical library, historical museum, ladies' parlor and reading rooms, the purpose of which are sufficiently explained by their title.
To the rear of this portion of the building lies the auditorium. This auditorium consists of a main floor and gallery, and their appropriate adjuncts, namely a foyer extending entirely around same, coat rooms, toilet rooms, committee or dressing rooms, etc. The auditorium will be seated for upwards of three thousand peo- pie, although its capacity is such that in cases of conventions this seating can with- out crowding be increased to four thousand or four thousand five hundred. The aim is to keep the permanent seatings extremely liberal, while the seating for con- ventions will not be any more crowded than that ordinarily provided for in the- aters which are of course on a commercial basis. The stage alone will accommodate three hundred people. This auditorium has been planned for conventions of all kinds, concerts, lectures, chorus concerts such as those held by singing societies and other like uses.
In time it will also, no doubt, be equipped as other soldiers' memorial buildings in Columbus and elsewhere have been equipped, with a fine organ, with pianos and with lanterns of the most approved kind, so that the building may become a most useful and most effective center for the education and culture of the people of our county and city and in this way be much more than a merely monumental memorial. In addition, it might be mentioned that the first floor has been kept level so that it can be devoted to exhibits. The committee rooms are fitted up throughout for use as dressing rooms or for the use of committees during conventions.
In the basement of the auditorium there is space provided where exhibition of manufactured or technical devices can be had. The floor space given over to this purpose is one hundred by one hundred and fifty feet. This space is also ar- ranged and fitted for use as a banquet hall, the kitchen and service capacity being adequate for one thousand covers. In this arrangement it will be seen that a convention can be held in the auditorium, exhibits placed in the basement and a banquet for the convention be given, without any feature lapping on the premises of another.
In the basement in the society portion of the building are also provided a small dining hall and meeting place. The meeting places are for other societies, as for instance those of an agricultural nature.
The usual designation of the county name on the front of similar buildings has been omitted. The inscriptions on the stone panels read :
"To those who in the hour of their "To those who gave much and to country's danger tendered their lives." those who gave their all, 1861-1865."
BATTLE PANELS.
(West side) Carnifex Ferry Logan's Cross-Roads Fort Donelson Shiloh Vicksburg Stone River Corinth Perryville
(East side) Manassas
The Seven Days Cedar Mountain
Groveton South Mountain
Antietam
Fredericksburg Chancellorsville
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(West side)
Chickamauga
(East side) Gettysburg
Lookout Mountain
Brandy Station
Missionary Ridge
Kernstown
Knoxville
Winchester
Rocky Face
Cedar Creek
Reseca
Spottsylvania
Peachtree Creek
Mobile Bay
Allatoona Pass
Cold Harbor
Kenesaw
Fisher's Hill
Franklin
Monocacy
Nashville
Petersburg
Jonesboro
Five Forks
Bentonville
Appomattox
The main expenditures from the fund were as follows :
Purchase of site
$ 52,500.00
W. F. Stillwell, general contract 155,491.00
Hatfield Electric Co., lighting
2,469.00
M. J. Gibbons Co., heating
9,985.00
Weber Concrete Chimney Co., smoke stack
1,250.00
Zanesville Brick Co., face brick
977.00
Plastering (ornamental)
7,500.00
Bronze work
1,95.00
Standing marble
2,475.00
Sidewalks, etc.
2,200.00
Geo. W. Tischer, hardware
1,500.00
W. H. Behrens & Co., wall decoration
4,225.00
The A. Schachne Co., draperies
1,352.00
David J. Braun Co., light fixtures
1,500.00
Ware & Moodie, toilet room fixtures
168.50
Flag staff pole
275.00
CHAPTER V.
NATIONAL MILITARY HOME
STATE SOLDIERS' HOME AT COLUMBUS- FIRST ATTEMPT TO ESTABLISH NATIONAL MILITARY ASYLUM-CHARTER FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL HOMES- BOARD OF MANAGERS ORGANIZED-DAYTON CHOSEN AS SITE FOR CENTRAL BRANCH-BEGINNINGS OF DAYTON HOME-GROUNDS LAID OUT-FIRST BUILD- INGS-EXTENSION OF PRIVILEGES AND REGULAR APPROPRIATIONS-CONTINUED IMPROVEMENTS-SOME INCIDENTS-OFFICERS OF THE HOME-THE HOME TO-DAY.
In the final stages of the Civil war, under the strong motives of patriotism and sympathy, many agencies for aiding the soldiers and lessening their hard- ships sprang into existence. Among the greatest of these were the Sanitary commission and the Christian commission. When the terrible war was over, great attention was paid to soldiers' graves and cemeteries. Liberal provisions were made for widows, orphans and dependent relatives of soldiers. A spirit of justice as well as sympathy led to the establishment of many hospitals and homes for those who by wounds or exposure in the service of their country, had become unable to provide for themselves.
STATE SOLDIERS' HOME AT COLUMBUS.
Through the efforts of Gov. John Brough, the federal government donated to the State of Ohio, Tripler Military hospital, near Columbus for a soldiers' home. The donation was accepted by Gov. Charles Anderson. The hospital stood near where the insane asylum now stands on ground known as the state quarry land. The home was opened October 17, 1865, with seventeen inmates. It was supported by the Cleveland and Cincinnati branches of the sanitary com- mission and other benevolent societies and individuals until the state legislature could make the necessary appropriations. In this time, the number of inmates came to be nearly two hundred. In March, 1866, the state assumed charge and continued to care for the home about one year. March 26, 1867, it was trans- ferred with appropriate ceremonies by the state to the national government and thus became a national home. In consequence of the unhealthy location at Co- lumbus, it was transferred to the present location, near Dayton, where it was opened for the reception of members September 1, 1867. The transfer of head-
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quarters, however, did not take place until late in November. We may now look back and notice the steps leading up to the establishment of the system of soldiers' homes.
FIRST ATTEMPT TO ESTABLISH A NATIONAL MILITARY ASYLUM.
March 3, 1865, an act was passed by the national congress to incorporate a national military and naval asylum for the relief of the totally disabled officers and men of the volunteer forces of the United States. One hundred of the most noted persons of the United States of all professions and pursuits were con- stituted a body corporate. It was further provided that there should be a board of twelve directors having authority to establish a national military asylum. This board was not appointed and nothing was done under this act. Five un- successful efforts were made to get the one hundred distinguished gentlemen or fifty-one of them together.
CHARTER FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL HOMES.
March 21, 1866, an act was passed to amend the act of the preceding year. The act which was substantially a new document became the charter on which the first four military homes were established.
Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the United States of America in congress assembled, That the president of the United States, sec- retary of war, chief justice of the United States, and such other persons as from time to time may hereafter be associated with them, according to the provisions of this act, are hereby constituted and established a board of mana- gers of an establishment for the care and relief of the disabled volunteers of the United States army, to be known by the name and style of "The National Asy- lum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers," and have perpetual succession, with pow- ers to take, hold and convey real and personal property, establish a common seal, and to sue and be sued in courts of law and equity ; and to make by-laws, rules and regulations for carrying on the business and government of the asylum, and affix penalties thereto; Provided that such by-laws, rules, and regulations are not inconsistent with the laws of the United States.
Section 2. And be it further enacted, That the business of said asylum shall be managed by a board of twelve managers, who shall elect from their own number a president, who shall be the chief executive officer of the board, two vice-presidents and a secretary ; and seven of the board, of whom the president or one of the vice-presidents shall be one, shall form a quorum for the tran- saction of business at any meeting of the board.
Section 3. And be it further enacted, That the board of managers shall be composed of the president and secretary of war and chief justice of the United States, ex-officio, during their terms of office, together with nine other citizens of the United States, not members of congress, no two of whom shall be resi- dents of the same state, but who shall all be residents of states which furnished organized bodies of soldiers to aid in the late war for the suppression of the rebellion (no person being ever eligible who gave aid or countenance to the
MEMORIAL HALL AT SOLDIERS' HOME
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rebellion), to be selected by joint resolution of the senate and house of represen- tatives immediately after the passage of this act. The term of office shall be for six years, and until others are appointed in their places, after the first elec- tion, which shall be of three for six years, three for four years, and three for two years, to be determined by the order in which they shall be named in the reso- lution. New elections shall be made by joint resolutions of congress, and vacan- cies by death, resignation, or otherwise, to be filled in like manner. No member of the board of managers shall receive any compensation as such member; but his traveling and other actual expenses while upon the business of asylum may be paid. But any member of the board having other duties connected with the asylum, may receive a reasonable compensation therefor, to be determined by the board.
Section 4. And be it further enacted, That the board of managers shall have authority to procure for early use, at suitable places, sites for military asylums for all persons serving in the army of the United States at any time in the War of the Rebellion not provided for by existing laws, who have been or may here- after be disqualified for procuring their own maintenance and support by reason of wounds received or sickness contracted while in the line of their duty during the present rebellion, and to have the necessary buildings erected, having due regard to the health of location, facility of access, and capacity to accommodate the persons provided for in this act.
Section 5. And be it further enacted, That for the establishment and sup- port of this asylum, there shall be appropriated all stoppages or fines adjudged against such officers and soldiers by sentence of court-marshall or military com- mission, over and above the amounts necessary for the reimbursement of the government or of individuals; all forfeitures on account of desertions from such service ; and all money due such deceased officers and soldiers, which now are or may be unclaimed for three years after the death of such officers and soldiers, to be repaid upon the demand of the heir or legal representatives of such de- ceased officers of soldiers. And the said board of managers are hereby author- ized to receive all donations of money or property made by any person or per- sons for the benefit of the asylum, and to hold or dispose of the same for its sole and exclusive use.
Section 6. And be it further enacted, That the officers of the asylum shall consist of a governor, a secretary, and a treasurer, and such other officers as the board of managers may deem necessary, to be appointed from disabled soldiers serving as before mentioned, and they may be appointed and removed from time to time, as the interests of the institution may require, by the board of managers.
Section 7. And be it further enacted, That the following persons shall be entitled to the benefits of the asylum, and may be admitted thereto, upon the recommendation of three of the board of managers, namely : all officers and soldiers who served in the late war for the suppression of the rebellion, and not provided for by existing laws, who have been or may be disabled by wounds re- ceived or sickness contracted in the line of their duty; and such of these as have neither wife, child nor parent dependent upon them, on becoming inmates of this asylum, or receiving relief therefrom, shall assign thercunto their pensions
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when required by the board of managers, during the time they shall remain therein or receive its benefits.
Section 8. And be it further enacted, That the board of managers shall make an annual report of the condition of the asylum to congress on the first Monday of every January, after the passage of this act; and it shall be the duty of the said board to examine and audit the accounts of the treasurer and visit the asylum quarterly.
Section 9. And be it further enacted, That all inmates of the asylum shall be, and they are hereby, made subject to the rules and articles of war, and will be governed thereby in the same manner as if they were in the army of the United States.
Section 10. And be it further enacted, That the managers of the asylum shall have power and authority to aid persons who are entitled to its benefits by outdoor relief in such manner and to such extent as they may deem proper, provided such relief shall not exceed the average cost of maintaining an inmate in the asylum.
Section II. And be it further enacted, That so much of the act to which this is an amendment as provides for the establishment of a naval, in connection with a military asylum, and so much of said act as provides that all stoppages of fines adjudged against naval officers and seamen by sentence of court-marshal or mili- tary commission, all forfeitures on account of desertions from the naval service, and all moneys due to deceased naval officers and seamen which are or may be unclaimed for three years after the death of such officers or seamen, shall be oppropriated for the establishment of the asylum contemplated and provided for by this act and the act of which it is amendatory, be, and the same is hereby repealed.
Section 12. And be it further enacted, That all the property of the United States now at Point Lookout, St. Mary's county, Maryland, shall be and become the property of the asylum so soon as a title to the satisfaction of the board of managers shall be made to the asylum of at least three hundred acres of land, in- cluding that on which said property of the United States is now built and main- tained or held.
Section 13. And be it further enacted, That congress may at any time alter, amend or repeal this act.
BOARD OF MANAGERS ORGANIZED.
A joint resolution of congress, appointing managers for the National Asylum, was approved April 21, 1866. These managers were as follows: Richard J. Oglesby, of Illinois ; Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts ; and Frederick Smyth, of New Hampshire, of the first class, to serve six years. Lewis B. Gunckel, of Ohio; Jay Cooke, of Pennsylvania ; and P. Joseph Osterhaus, of Missouri, of the second class, to serve four years. John H. Martindale, of New York; Hora- tio G. Stebbens, of California; and George H. Walker, of Wisconsin, of the third class, to serve two years.
The first meeting of the board of managers was held, pursuant to a call made by Maj .- Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, at the office of the surgeon-general of the United States, in the city of Washington, May 16, 1866. At the meeting, Maj .-
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Gen. B. F. Butler was elected president, Maj .- Gen. P. J. Osterhaus, first vice- president ; Hon. George H. Walker, second vice-president, and Lewis B. Gunc- kel, secretary.
DAYTON CHOSEN AS SITE FOR CENTRAL BRANCH.
Proposals for sites for the asylum were required by the board to be sent to its president on or before June 20, 1866, and on the 13th of July, an executive committee was appointed, whose duties included the making of a report on the selection of a site or sites for one or more asylums. On September 6, 1866, it was decided by the board of managers to establish three branches of the asylum, and the Togus Springs property, near Augusta, Maine, was selected for the eastern branch. Mr. Gunckel offered a resolution in this meeting to the effect that, in the opinion of the board, the central branch of the asylum should be lo- cated in the state of. Ohio, but a substitute was presented by Edwin M. Stanton, instructing the executive committee to make further examination for a suitable site for the central branch. On the 7th of November, 1866, Gov. Frederick Smyth, Lewis B. Gunckel, and Dr. Wolcott were appointed a committee to make a selec- tion of a site for the northwestern branch of the asylum in the vicinity of Milwau- kee, and they were also constituted a committee on the location of the central branch. The southern branch at Hampton, Virginia, was the fourth home estab- lished under the act of March 21, 1866, all beginning operations in 1867.
As may readily be imagined, the question of the location of the central branch of the asylum was of great interest in many parts of the country at that time, and nowhere more than in Dayton and vicinity.
When it became fully known that the building of the Soldiers' Homes had been definitely decided upon, the question at once arose as to whether Dayton had the requisite advantages to offer. The attention of the board of managers was directed to the fertile valley of the Miami, and they, on their visit to the northwest and Ohio, made an investigation of its merits. On the IIth of April, 1867, the committee reported to the board of managers, that the committee had also visited Ohio, and carefully examined the sites offered at Columbus, Dayton, and White Sulphur Springs, and come to the conclusion that, all things considered, the site of Dayton was most suitable, and therefore, recommended its purchase as the site of the central branch.
The board, upon the consideration of this part of the report of the select committee, after a lengthy discussion, adopted the following resolution :
"That a committee be authorized to negotiate for the purchase of the White Sulphur Springs property ; provided they can arrange for permanent railroad accommodation to the same, at least once a day each way by a responsible railroad company, at their own expense, and at the usual fare and freight ; and if such ac- commodation cannot be obtained, then to make the purchase at Dayton, according to the proposition made by Mr. Gunckel, to-wit: The land named by the commit- tee, four hundred acres at one hundred and thirteen dollars per acre. less a do- nation by the citizens of Dayton." The committee appointed under this resolu- tion was composed of Gen. J. H. Martindale, Gov. Frederick Smyth, and Gen. John S. Cavender. The White Sulphur Springs location is ten miles southwest of
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Delaware on the Scioto and eighteen miles above Columbus. The people of Day- ton have never been sorry that the Delaware county competitor could not con- ply with the conditions named. In July, 1869, the site was bought by the state and on it was located the Girls' Industrial Home. The Dayton lands referred to were at that time about three miles west of the city. At the time of the purchase, it was in the ordinary condition of farm lands throughout the state, but possessed great natural beauty, and several springs of excellent water.
Great credit is due Hon. Lewis B. Gunckel in securing the National Sol- diers' Home for Dayton and also in superintending as local manager, the trans- fer of the home as previously existing, from Columbus to Dayton. The citizens of Dayton contributed as an inducement in securing the home, twenty thousand dollars, an amount at that time thought to be very large.
The statements of different writers as to land purchased do not agree, but the following from the published report of the home may be taken as authentic : 1867, three hundred and fifty-five and one-quarter acres, fifty-five thousand, seven hundred dollars; 1869 thirty acres three thousand, six hundred dollars ; 1873, one hundred and one and seven one-hundredths acres, nineteen thousand, one hundred and ninety dollars; 1879, forty-four and forty-five one-hundredths acres, eight thousand dollars; 1880, thirty-one and ninety-four one-hundredths acres, four thousand, seven hundred and ninety-one dollars; 1881, thirteen and forty-one one-hundredths acres, three thousand and eighty-four dollars and thirty cents ; 1886, one and thirty-five one-hundredths acres, one thousand and eighty dollars; 1894, seventy-six one-hundredths acre, two thousand dollars ; total acres five hundred and seventy-eight and twenty-three one-hundredths. total cost, ninety-seven thousand, four hundred and forty-five dollars and thirty cents.
The land is mostly in section I of Jefferson township with a small triangle from section 36 of Madison township, cut off from the rest of the township by the Dayton and Western pike. This is the tract with its undreamed of possi- bilities that have been transformed into the most marvelous retreat known to the world.
BEGINNINGS OF DAYTON IIOME.
The beginnings, however, in the establishment of the home were marked by weakness and uncertainty. The members of the board of managers were chosen for their patriotism, large-heartedness and business ability and they nobly justified all that was expected of them. They were, however, without precedents, and must run some hazards. Said Gen. Butler, "We read the charter and ordinances of the Greenwich hospital. They gave us no light. We sent and got the envoi of the Hotel des Invalides at Paris where Napoleon put his veterans, and that gave us no light. The soldiers' regular home at Washington gave us little be- cause it was simply almost a toy."
At the dedication of the new hospital in May, 1870, Mr. Gunckel thus de- scribed the beginning : "A little over two years ago the managers of the National Asylum purchased these grounds and authorized me to commence work. Winter was approaching, and hundreds of sick and disabled soldiers-homeless, penni- less, and almost friendless,-were applying for admission. We could not wait
SOLDIERS' HOME LAKE
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for plans or for an architect. In one week we put up out of Camp Chase lum- ber, donated by congress, the first of the one-story barracks, and it was filled on the very day it was completed. The next week we put up another, and it was immediately filled. So we went on, summer and winter, adding building to building, and filling each as soon as it was completed. First, we used an old barn for a dining-room; becoming too small we added a wing; then another, and then still another ; finally took up and threw out the old barn, raised the whole a story and a half, and so made the dining hall as it now stands. The first winter we cared for some seven hundred and fifty disabled soldiers; the second winter one thousand; the last winter our rolls showed thirteen hundred, and to-day we celebrate the completion of another building, adding to our capacity three hun- dred more beds, every one of which will be filled during the coming winter. Look- ing at these buildings and grounds to-day we are painfully sensible of the fact that the work could have been better done. We can only plead that under many embarrassments and difficulties we did the best we could. Had we thought only of architectural and landscape effect, we could, perhaps, have done better our- selves. But our constant aim has been to take care of the disabled soldiers, and provide for them a home-a pleasant, comfortable home-and if we have suc- ceeded in that our dearest wishes have been realized and our highest ambition has been gratified."
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