Buchanan County bulletin and guardian. (Independence, Iowa) 1866-1869, 1868-04-24

as nothing more ,aan HedianS and"mad-
houses Sach asylams were solely for the
protection ofthose who were unable to pros
iect themselves. and rot tor the beneti, o.
those whose mind aud hope hal gone apd
where instead % kind words and constant
care heading them. back to restoration Of
reason. thew received nothing bu, chains,
cells. aud ofieaiimes poison.
The arrangement Of George III, first
aroused the people of England to = recog,
milton the necessity for the establishment;
of asylur, homes for the insane. consem>
porsneouslv With that movement in England.
q like work was Instituted in this country
and the first American Insane ASYLUM was
erected q, Philadelph ia in l.5l, and opens
ed for the reception Of patients in 1852.
The mex. successful effort was that which
resulted in the binding OF one at Williams
burg. Va. in liza. In I'LL a charter was
granted for the New York Hospital. into
which patients were not received until 1871.
The same hospital has since passed through
several remodelinrs ard rsnsmings and is
now known as the celebrated BloomingiSle
.Asvlum. situated in the northern par; OF
New York Citv. These three ASylnms were
the only ones erected in the eighteenth ccn-
tsrr. In the beginning OF the present century,
Gern1anv SAa other European countries took
up with the glorious work, and it has now
spread un,i there IS no; al Empire, Kings
dom. or Republic. ard scarcely a State.
Drchv or Prircipality, which is not suppl
ca ani honorei With its Insane Asylum.
The initial step taken in the erection Of
THE IOWA RoscrraL ros raE INSANE,
y. l. n 4
a. message 10 the Fifth General Assembly
Of tie State. This was written in 1854, and
the clause referred % read thus;
'The General Assembly canao, BE too ur-
gently called on 10 take immediate steps 70
establish charitable Institutions. Accord.
ing to mos. reliable information. there are
now mere than one hundred pspper insane
persons in the State. One half Of these are
confined in tie common jsils, and are thus
placed beyond reasonable expectation Of
recovery The other nloieiy are remaining
a, large. terror 20 their friends and neigl>
bors. and bv exposure 10 exciting causes.
rendering their disease hopelessly iacurable.
Every dictate Of Humanity, every principle
If sound policy. demands iha, the State
shoHii make immediate provision for the
CA[E ANt1 -lNatfHc.4E % luis
al orr seiiow-citizens.r
The Legislature to which this noble APP
peal was made. responded hy appropria,ing
$4,000 for that purpose. and the appoints
nens Of committee of three 10 determine
upon plan and location of building-Gov.
Grimes, Ei. johnson Of Lee county, and
Or. Chas. 5. Clark. of Henry county, cons
prising that committee. The sixth section
Of the !. sc. to establish an Insane Asylum
stipulated positively: That he cost Of the
building contemplated bv this act shall not
exceed $50. 600. b1, j: is advised that the
plan determined OF b. the Board shall be
one ths. mar admi: OF fa;are enlargement
In l.55--oa the i7th Of March-the To-
cation was chosen in the suburbs of Mt.
Pleasant. Henry county. One hundred and
ssvsaiy-three aeres u beautiful upland prai.
rie were purchased at cost OF SIS per
acre. Son afterwards the Committee made
tour Of the Eastern and Middle States and
visited al the principal Hospitals and AVS
iums in the Union. They finally settled up.
on the Mclean Asylum. al Somerville,
Massachusetts. which plan was sabstan>
tally foliowed-many important improve
meats and features being added thereto
After visiting the asyl1Es Of other States the
Commissioners plainly saw that $50 600 was
a sun entirely inadequate to erect suitable
building: and therefore determined to step
over the instruction ofthe Legislature. aban>
don the $4,000 plan. and proceed a. once
10 tie erection e a building Of dimensions
and cspaci.v sufficiently generous to NEE,
the requirements Of the future. Ii thus
Transforming ihes- instructions. they relied
upon The peaTle ard The Legislature fer APP
prevail, AMI, Is was afterwards proven, their
confidence vas 70. misplaced.
eosxESoIxrsT Of rnE week.
On the 2sl Of October. 1855, Henry WINS
low, formerly er II. Insane Hospital Of
Maine, ras appointed superintendent OF the
Asylum, and work was begun. From that
time on, labor on the building ven. steadily
forward, ami hai so far progressed sha,
the FIRST patient was admitted on the 27th
Of Februarr, ls6l. The Hospital was form
ally opened for the reception of patients,
March 6. lssa-but the building was not
faily completed and furnished until the year
ls64.
The frs. meeting Of the Board Of Truss
tees,-appointed By the Legislature-was
held July 6, 1850. and was composed of the
following named gentlemen:
Maturin L. Fisher. President, Farmers
burg, Iowa: F. w. Kincaid. Muscatinc, To-
wa: p. l.. McGugin, Ksokuk. Iowa; J. d.
Ebert. Keesarera, Iowa: John B. Lash,
Mt. Pleasant. Iowa; Harpin Riggs. Mt.
Pleasant, Iowa: Samuel Mcfarland, Secre>
tary, NJ. Pleasant Iowa.
At which time the following resi3en. off,
GERS were chosen, Superintendent, Richard
j. Patterson Assistant Physician, Dwight
G. Dewey Steward. Henry Winslow; Ma
tron, Mrs. Catharine Winslow.
At this meeting. the Board formally an
nouncsi 70 al the county Judges of the
State that the Hospital was ready for the
reception Of patients. This announcement
carried glad tiainys Of great JOY" with il
into every community Of the State. Pre-
vious 70 that time TIE insane Of Iowa had
no hospitals but the county jail or the near
| " as bad county poor honse. A few bad
| been sent 10 the asylums u o.her States, bu;
the expense was necessarily so great tina:
ii wa. hurthensome 10 all, and could not be
borne BY ran7. Private families were bur.
dened aud their safety put in extreme and
harrassing peril, by the presence of ravine
maniacs: while others Of the unfortunate
class were crually thrown into the felon',
| cell. where iLsv were compelled to sHffel
unsn the grave kindly closed them il. Tbs
| long .looked for relief came at last, and e
| great was the desire on the part Of citizens
TO obtain admission for their afflicted friend,
that more than one hundred patients wer.
admitted during the first three months
Many Of these poor sufferers, had been u
long subjected TO the discipline-nos TO sa,
brutality. Of prison, tina. Only ten cut Of 4
| hundred ever recovered their reason, the re-
lnainder being doomed to life Of blank ant
bowling misery. From the time the build
ing was FIRST opened, up to the present ds,
il has been filed to its utmost capacity, ant
the noble work conducted in . manner ant
with . success gratifying and honorable 4
the noble Young commonwealth which ha,
the courage and charity and wealth to es
tablisb suxh home for its unfortunate PEG
| pie.
To give correct, and at the same time
plainly painted
DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING
il almost impossible. The plan ofthe build
ing was conceived CT scale Of philanihro
py worthy Of noble and wealthy younj
State: and was designed TO be as perfect q
that Of any similar Asylum in this country
This object has been attained and we A.
not speaking in false srperlasiveness whel
| wa stata that IL il now reeopnized as hem,