History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 142

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992

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" The Edwin Forrest Home may also, if the revenue shall suffice, em- brace in its plan lectures on science, literature, and the arts, but prefer- ably erstory and the histrionic art, in manner to prepare the American citizen for the more credituble and effective discharge of his public duties, and to raise the education and intellectual and moral tone and character of actors, that thereby they may elevate the drama, and to cause it to subserve its true and great mission to maukind as their pro- foundest teacher of virtue and morality.

"The Edwin Forrest Home shall also be made to promote The love of liberty, uur country, and ber institutions; to hold in honor the nume of the great dramatic hard, as well as to cultivutr a taste and afford oppor- tunity for the enjoyment of social rural pleasures. Therefore there shall be read therein to the inmates and public by an inmate or pupil thereof the immortal Declaration of Independence as written by Thomas Jefferson, without expurgation, on every fourth day of July, to be fol- lowed by an oration under the folds of our national flag. There shall be prepared and read therein before the like assemldluge on the birth- day of Shakespeare, the 23d of April in every year, an eulogy upon his character and writings, and one of his plays, or scenes from his plays, shall on that day be represented in the theatre; and on the first Mon- day of every June and October the Edwin Forrest Home und grounds shall be opened for the admission of ladies and gentlemen of the theat- rical profession and their friends, in the manner of social picnics, when all shall provide their own entertainment."

Mr. Forrest recommended that application should be made to the Legislature for a charter to trustees, with authority to conduct the affairs of the institu-

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tion in accordance with his plans. Application was accordingly made, and on the 7th of April, 1873, James Oakes, of Boston; James Lawson, of New York ; Daniel Dougherty, John W. Forney, James H. Castle, John H. Michener, and the mayor of Philadelphia for the time being, were made a body politic by the name of the Edwin Forrest Home, with authority to carry out the designs of the donor. The estate which Mr. Forrest left was largely in real property, land and houses, some of it unproductive and waiting for a market, so that there was no product from it. In addition there was a claim on behalf of his wife, who had been separated from him for years, which seemed to affect his property. She had been divorced in the State of New York. The court al- lowed her as alimony, under the laws of that State, three thousand dollars per year, and this claim it was thought was good against Mr. Forrest's estate during the entire period of her life. The executors were embarrassed in consequence, and restrained by the existence of the claim from advantageous sales of the real estate. Finally a compromise was arrived at by which a release was given by the lady, then calling herself Mrs. Catharine Sinclair, upon payment of a large sum of money, by which the aggregate fund for the support of the home was considerably diminished. The executors were not able to open the building until about 1876, when it commenced with four in- mates, William Lomas, George G. Spear, Mrs. Rhoda Wood, and Mrs. Burroughs. To these old actors and actresses was shortly after added Jacob W. Thoman, who made his first appearance at the Chestnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia, in 1834. For several years there was little change among the beneficiaries, and the number of twelve, on the attainment of which Mr. Forrest directed that the inmates should have a vote on the admission of new companions, had not been obtained. There was much criticism after Mr. Forrest's death as to the propriety of the location of the home, and its comfort, in the estimation of the inmates. Actors and actresses who have spent the high day of their youth in the theatre, amidst the excitements of city life, would prefer to spend their old age in cities, near the theatres, which they might visit when desirable, and with opportunity to renew their acquaintance and friendship with old compan- ions on the stage. Mr. Forrest's Home was placed far out in the country. It was a fine house, and capable of being made comfortable, but the direction that actors and actresses should cultivate the farm and garden, pursuits for which they might have no taste, was considered objectionable. Practically, it may be presumed, this direction is not strictly enforced. 1

Relief for the Blind .- The condition of the blind did not seem to attract the attention of benevolent persons until other sufferers by personal misfortune had been attended to. James Wills, who died in 1825, was apparently the first Philadelphian who thought anything on the subject. The sum of money which he left to the city of Philadelphia in trust, in 1825, was intended to be " for the relief of the indigent blind and lame." The fund has never been put exactly to the use mentioned by the donor. Wills Hospital has paid no attention to the lame, and very little to the blind. The objects of the trust have been somewhat anticipated by an establishment under the manage- ment of the Wills Hospital for diseases of the eye, most of those which precede blindness.

The Pennsylvania Institution for the Blind owes its foundation to the exertions of Julius R. Treidlander, who had opened a school for the instruction of the blind before the institution was

gallery of art without having the appearance of being overcrowded. On either side are busts of Buros, Forrest, Milton, Napoleon I., and one exquisite life-size statue of the great actor, executed in marble, the work of Ball Hughes, considered to be the finest statne in the country. It is a representation of Mr. Forrest in the character of Coriolanus. Portraits and paiotings lios the walls at agreeable distances. At one end there is hung a full-size photograph of Forrest taken in sections, a portrait of him in ' Lear,' paintings of Frederick the Great, John Philip Kemble, George Frederick Cooke, and along the walls and niches which point the way of the staircase are portraits of James A. Caldwell, For- rest's first theatrical manager; paintings,-life-size of the Saviour, the Madonna, by a careful copyist of Angelo, and steel engravings of Forrest in 'Ths Broker of Bogota' and the ' The Gladiator' of Dr. Bird ; also paintings of Forrest as he appeared in Claude Melaotte, Damon, and Hamlet twenty-five years ago. Here and there through the upper halls appear portraits of Forrest as Metamora and Othello, some interesting play-bills of his early performances, a portrait of David Graham, for- merly the light of the New York bar, and always a warm friend of For- rest. Excellent pictures too of the elder Conway, Macready, Miss O'Neil, John Greene, the great Irish Comedian, 'Old Jim' Wallack, George Frederick Cooke in the character of lago, are to be seen on the third floor, together with very bandsome engravings (three in all) represent- ing ' The Plains of Heaven,' 'The Last Day of Judgment,' and ' The Day of Wrath.' Oo these floors and in the bedrooms are several old trophies of the stage, among which are recalled the sword of the elder Kean, the original bowie-knife, and the sword of Talma, the once famons French tragedian. In the bedrooms, all of which are commodious and inviting, are high-post bedsteads, some a century old, and others older ; ancient types of bureaus and dressing-cases, and all alone in the glory of its autiqnity a settee, which was carved in 1620. The library and parlors are on the first floor, and here, as almost every where in the curi- ous building, hang costly works of art. Io the centre of the library stands the desk, a plain, oil-cloth covered affair, which Forrest used for many years. In the capacious book-case are intelligently arranged some eight thousand volumes, embracing the classics, treatises upon art, and interesting histories of the stage. In niches of the walle are busts of Jackson, Jefferson, Calboun, Patrick Henry, and Napoleon. Over the misutel is a handsome painting of Forrest's mother, and wherever space could be impressed have been placed rich engravings of distinguished men. . . . In one position in the grand old parlors, where it can be examined with the greatest advantage, hungs the famous paint- Ing by Slengeveyer, 'The Christian Martyr,' a painting which is effect- ively designed to demonstrate the grandeur of religion and the weakness of nnjust persecution. In another end of the parlor Is a painting, co- titled " Chil Iren at the Brook,' the work of Meyer von Bremen. Before this picture Mr. Forrest was wont to sit when in his study for hours, in silent contemplation of its surpassing beauties."

The farm attached to the fine mansion contains one hundred and eleven acres. It was sold in 1868 by Caleb Cope to George H. Stuart, ood purchased in 1865 by Edwin Forrest.

1 The following description of the Edwin Forrest Home was published about the time when the building was first opened for the reception of actors and actresses :

"The mansion is an old-style, exceedingly comfortable-looking struc- ture, three stories high, skirted by broad, pillared porticoes, tastefully decorated with vases of flowers and evergreens. The first floor is divided by a wide hall-way. This is richly carpeted, sod made to look & perfect 93

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formed. The latter was founded in 1833, and liberally endowed under the will of William Young Birch, one of the managers. The society was incorporated by act of January 24th, under the title of the Pennsyl- vania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind, and the following officers were named in the charter : Patron, the Governor of the State; President, Wil- liam White, D.D. ; Vice-Presidents, Peter S. Du Pon- cean, Roberts Vaux, William Y. Birch, and Edward Coleman ; Treasurer, John Vaughan; Corresponding Secretary, Francis Fisher ; Recording Secretary, Jacob Snider, Jr. ; Consulting Physician, Philip S. Physic ; Visiting Physicians, William Gibson and Caspar Morris ; Managers, Nathan Dunn, Joshua Lippincott, John K. Mitchell, Richard Price, Alfred Elwyn, John A. Brown, Robert Maxwell, Alexander Dallas Bache, Charles D. Meigs, M.D., Benjamin W. Richards, John Miller, Jr., and John U. Fraley. Ten thousand dollars were appropriated toward the support of every indi- gent pupil of this commonwealth taught in said school. No one scholar to be taught at the expense of the State for more than six years, and no more than nine thousand dollars per year to be drawn for such tuition. To aid the institution it was provided that ten thou- sand dollars should be appropriated toward the ex- pense of erecting a building, but the same not to be paid unless the managers should raise twenty thou- sand dollars within two years. They did so. A lot was purchased at the northwest corner of Schuylkill

Third [Twentieth ] and Race Streets, where lofty and . land and to Edinburgh in October, 1826, and back extensive buildings with workshops, etc., were erected. The institution has been maintained with great suc- cess ever since. The pupils generally had a taste for music, and educated several excellent vocal and in- strumental performers. The weekly concerts at the Blind Asylum were for many years very attractive.

Officers .- Patron, His Excellency Robert F. Pattison, Governor : Presi- dent, Alfred L. Elwyn, M.D .; Vice-Presidents, Thomas S. Kirkbride, M.D., Caspar Morris, William R. Lejee, and Edward Townsend ; Corres- ponding Secretary, John J. Lytle; Recording Secretary, J. Sergeant Price : Treasurer, Robert Patterson : Consulting Physician, J F Meigs, M. D. ; Consulting Surgeon, Thomas J. Morton, M.D .; Managers, Edward S. Whelen, James 11. Hutchinson, M. D., John Cadwalader, Edward Coles, Charles W. Wharton, George ('. Morris, G. Harrison Fisher, A. C. llarrison, Oliver A. Judson, M.D., J. D). Lippincott. Henry Haines, Gal- loway C. Morris, S. F. Corlies, William M. Meigs; William Chapin, principal.

Dudley, daughter of Rev. Samnel Dudley, the first minister who settled at Exeter, N. H., in 1643. John Langdon married, Feb. 3, 1777, Elizabeth, only daughter and second child of John, son of Henry and Dorothy (Wentworth) Sherburne, intermarried with a daughter of John Moffat, a wealthy merchant of Portsmouth, N. H. John Langdon, in 1775, was a delegate in the Continental Congress at Philadel- phia, a Speaker of the House of Representatives of New Hampshire, a Governor of that State, a United States senator, and the first presiding officer of the United States Senate when Washington was first in- augurated President in April, 1789. He was a great man and distinguished patriot, and died Sept. 20, 1819, at Portsmouth, N. H., leaving but one child, Elizabeth, married to Thomas Elwyn. The latter died many years before his wife, who deceased at Philadelphia, Aug. 8. 1860, having had nine chil- dren,-Catharine Cecilia, Elinor Elizabeth, John Langdon, Emily Sophia, Alfred L. (subject of this sketch), Charles Henry, Emma Matilda, Thomas Octavius, and William Octavins.

Alfred L. was born July 9, 1804, in Portsmouth, N. H., where he went to school under the noted Deacon Tappan. In 1816 he went to Exeter Acad- emy, and there remained three years. In 1819 he entered Harvard University, from which he was graduated in 1823. He read medicine in Boston with the celebrated Dr. Gorham. He went to Eng- to London in April, 1827. Then passed one year in Paris, and in summer of 1829 returned to America, having in the course of his sojourn abroad visited his father's relatives in England, and kept up a contin- uous course of study. In 1831 he graduated at the University of Pennsylvania, and received his diploma as M.D. He was married, Jan. 31, 1832, to Mary Middleton, daughter of Dr. James Mease and grand- daughter of Hon. Pierce Butler, of South Carolina, by whom he has one living child,-Rev. Alfred Elwyn. His daughter, Mary Middleton Elwyn, married Dr. G. W. Mitchell, and died in 1861, leaving two sons, both living. In 1845, Dr. Elwyn, who has always resided in Philadelphia, but has never prac- ticed medicine, purchased property in East Bradford township, Chester County, Pa., where he has had a summer residence ever since. He was one of the founders of the State Agricultural Society in 1850, and has been largely identified with its progress and Farmers' High School. He was connected with the establishment of the Institution for the Blind of Philadelphia, and was the originator of the training- school for feeble-minded children located at Elwyn, and fostered and built by the State of Pennsylvania. He has taken the greatest interest in philanthropic them. He is now the oldest living member of the American Association of Science. He belongs to the Academy of Natural Sciences, was a director for

Alfred L. Elwyn, M.D., the president of this insti- tution, was born in Canterbury, England, graduated at Oxford in 1794, and came in 1795 to America. Ile came of a family old and honorable in British history, and married in Portsmouth, N. H., July 16, 1797, Elizabeth Langdon, born Dec. 4, 1777. She was the daughter of llon. John Langdon, born December, 1739, on the Piscataqua. She was a de- scendant of the famous Sherburne Wentworth fami- lies, which, with that of Langdon, dates far back into England's brightest annals. John Langdon's mother institutions, and aided in the creation of many of Mary Hall) was a great-granddaughter of Ralph Hall, a signer of the Exeter "Combination" of 1639, and a daughter of Kinsley Hall, whose wife was Elizabeth

Alfred Langdon Chron

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many years in Girard College, long time an officer in the Historical Society, and a member of the American Philosophical Society. He served as presi- dent of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and was president of the old Agricultural Society of Philadelphia. He was one of the Philadel- phia board of three for licensing taverns under a spe- cial act of the Legislature, in which he acquitted him- self with honor and to the credit of the city. His farm in East Bradford originally belonged to Philip Price. The first guano put on lands in Chester County was by Dr. Elwyn on his farm in 1846. He has given much attention to the natural sciences, philosophical in- quiry, and political economy, and contributed largely to the press, reviews, and magazines with his able pen. His varied learning and versatile genius has made him one of the most pointed and incisive of our educated men. He still pursues his studies with the ardor of his youth unabated, and is a zealous worker in the canse of humanity.

The Pennsylvania Working Home for Blind Men .- After the establishment of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Blind, nothing more was done for the release of those unfortunates for years. The Pennsylvania Working Home for Blind Men was es- tablished in 1874, for " the organization of workshops and a home for homeless blind mechanics, teaching useful trades to blind men, giving employment also to those blind men who have homes, and the selling of the manufactures of the corporation for its benefit and advantage." The principal objects of care of this institution are " homeless blind mechanics," of whom seventy or eighty can be accommodated in the buildings erected by the society. These are situated on a lot of ground fronting on Lancaster Avenue below Thirty-sixth Street, one hundred and fifty feet front and extending back one hundred and ninety feet to Warren Street. An old mansion upon the ground is fitted up for the use of the homeless. On the Warren Street front is a long narrow building, running the whole front of the lot. It is intended for manufacture, and is on week-days the scene of busy industry. An additional four-story building is used for the same purposes. The articles manufac- tured are carpets and brushes, mattresses, and other articles at which the blind can work; the reseating of chairs, the sewing of harness, and other things. In 1877 there were eighty-nine inmates, eleven of whom were outside workmen.

Officers .- President, Caleb J. Milne ; Vice-Presidents, William Chapln, A.M., E. P. Borden; Treasurer, Levi Knowles; Secretary, Charles D. Norton ; Superintendent and Financial Agent, H. L. Hall. Managers, B. B. Comegys, Joseph K. Wheeler, Theodore H. Morris, George B. Collier, James T. Shinn, Alexander C. Fergusson, James Spear, James Hutchinson, M.D., Henry C. Townsend, 1. Layton Register, George Burnham.

The Industrial Home for Blind Women was organized at a meeting of ladies held at the house of Miss O'Neill, 1408 South Penn Square, by the election of the following officers: President, Miss

O'Neill; Treasurer, Miss Fanny N. Stevenson! Corre- sponding Secretary, Miss A. M. Smart; Treasurer, Miss F. Knowles; Surgeon, Dr. Caleb W. Hornor. The managers located the home at No. 1817 Lom- bard Street, which was formally opened on the 14th of June, 1869. It remained there scarcely two weeks. A better house was obtained on Locust Street below Fortieth, West Philadelphia, which was opened on the 1st of July. The work-room is used by women of various ages, making cane-seats for chairs, bead- work, knitting, making willow baskets, tidies, rag carpets, and other articles. At a later period the society erected a handsome building for the purposes of a home at the corner of Powelton and Saunders Avenues, West Philadelphia.

Officers .- Board of Council, President, James Pollock ; Vice-Presi- dent, William Chapin ; Secretary, C. W. Hornor, M.D .; Treasurer, Levl Knowles. Board of Officers, President, Miss S. P. Lloyd ; Vice-Presi- dents, Mrs. S. B. Rowley, Miss H. A. Dillaye, Mrs. A. F. Lex, Mrs J. Harper ; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. H. G. Wilson ; Treasurer, Miss E. E. O'Brien ; Recording Secretary, Mrs. J. Ward Atwood.

The Pennsylvania Retreat for Blind Mutes and Aged Infirm Blind Persons was incorpor- ated April 13, 1882, and is intended for a home " for such respectable blind persons as have, after a life of patient industry, failed to secure a support for their old age." In his address, Bishop Stevens, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, said, " It is not too much for them to ask that after sixty or seventy years of darkness passed in a continuous struggle with poverty, the last few years of their lives should be a time of rest." This institution had not yet got into practical operation by the establishment of a home building.

Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb .- In 1820, David G. Seixas, an Israelite, set up a private school for the education of the deaf and dumb in Market Street, the third brick house west of Schuylkill Seventh [Sixteenth ] Street. There was a good deal of interest in the education of deaf mutes at this time, and Seixas' plan attracted much atten- tion. Many citizens assisted him, and finally it was resolved that a society should be formed to support a public institution for the instruction of deaf and dumb persons. A meeting of citizens was held for the purpose at the hall of the American Philosophical Society, April 20, 1820. Seixas was present, with some of his pupils, and it was shown that he had in- structed ten or twelve of them without remuner- ation. The conclusion arrived at was that an institu- tion was necessary, and a society was formed, entitled "The Pennsylvania Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb."

Seixas gave an exhibition with his pupils at Wash- ington Hall on the 24th of May. The society was incorporated Feh. 8, 1821, as the Pennsylvania Insti- tution for the Deaf and Dumb. The society occupied Seixas' house for some time, and afterward went to the building formerly the Mansion House Hotel, at the southeast corner of Eleventh and Market Streets. Under the charter the Legislature provided for the

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payment of one hundred and sixty dollars per year for the support of every indigent mute child of suitable age in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania which shall be admitted to the institution, provided that the annual payment should not exceed eight thousand dollars. The system of education adopted was that of the Abbé de L'Epee and Sicard, which had been successfully practiced in Europe. When the society was ready to build an asylum, a lot was purchased on the west side of Broad Street, extend- ing from Pine Street northward and toward Schuyl- kill Eighth |Fifteenth] Street. The corner-stone of the principal building was laid in May, 1824. The design was by Haviland. The centre building was fifty feet front by sixty-three feet deep. The walls were constructed of granite. A wing of two stories, each twenty-five feet wide, extended at right angles with the centre ninety-two feet, making the depth of each ninety-six feet six inches. In the basement were dining-rooms, workshops, baths, kitchens, and offices. On the second floor were parlors, offices, and a chapel, and in the upper story school-rooms and chambers. The intention was to teach the mutes trades and manufactures, in which instruction was given in the workshop. There was not much profit by this to be expected at first. In 1829 the managers congratulated themselves that by the labors of the seventy-five pupils the profits during the year were $285.63. This institution remains at the same place in 1884. It has been greatly enlarged by the addition of spacious buildings on the west, extending to Fifteenth Street, in which the manu- facturing operations are principally carried on.

St. Andrew's Society .- Among the earliest char- itable societies were those established by natives of foreign countries for the benefit of their countrymen who might emigrate to Pennsylvania. The report that America was a land flowing with milk and honey, that the soil was fertile and kind, the woods filled with game and the waters with fish, that living was cheap, and wealth and comfort sure to follow, spread over Europe and excited the adventurous, while it gave hope to the poor. Large numbers of the early emigrants had spent the greater portions of their years in the struggle for existence in the Old World, and when they came they brought scarcely anything with them but their health, strength, and the skill acquired in their occupations. With few clothes, with stores scarcely sufficient to last them during the voy- age, and with little money, perhaps, they landed on these shores. Many had not even the means to pay their passage, and were brought in bond to the cap- tains of the vessels or consignors with undertaking to serve at labor for periods of years in payment of their passage-money. Frequently sick and miserable, generally poor, and, with those from the Continent, unable to speak the English language, they were ! naturally objects of commiseration of their own coun- trymen who had gone through the same experience.

The earliest society for the assistance of emigrants in distress probably grew out of the experience of set- tlers who had gone through the hardships and priva- tions of long sea-voyages. Naturally they would be interested in the new-comers of their own race, and soon learned how much they were in want of assist- ance. This thought led to the formation of the St. Andrew's Society in 1749. The constitution and rules provided for a social, as well as a charitable society. There were to be quarterly meetings, at which there was a repast, and in order to govern the character of the feast the following rule was adopted :

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History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 142

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 992

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992