Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-08-27
OLD PEOPLES HOME.
DEDICATION AND FORMAL OPENING
OF THE INSTITUTION.
Memorial Tablet Unveiled in Honor of
Mrs. Mary Ann Crocker-Lmpres-
sive Services.


Francisco. to be known as the "Old Peo-
Piles Home" was formally dedicated with
interesting ceremonies on the 22d inst, q
telegraphic account of which appeared in
the RECORD UNION on the following day.
Invitations were extended to the Mayor
and Board of Supervisors and the promi-
nent clergymen of the city. Every de-
nomination was represented. ALI the
prominent Presidents of the various
charitable institutions of the city and the
Governor of the State were invited. Some
six hundred persons were present. The
floral decorations were of the most elab-
crate kind, and were donated from the
Conservatory of Golden Gate Park, the
Hotel Del Monte and Menlo Park. Rev.
0. C. Miller called the assembly to order,
and Rev. J. a. Benton of Oakland offered
the opening prayer. The quartet, consist
| ing of Mrs. Mariner Campbell, Mrs. ]. II
Birmingham, S. D. Mayer and W. c..
| Campbell, sang "Jubilate Deo." Then
| followed the prayer of conservation, by
Rev. o. G. Miller, after which Colonel q.
F. Croeker on behalf of the Mary A.
| Croker trust, delivered to the Trustees the
keys of the building ito be be devoted to
| the honor and worship of Almighty God"
and said:
COLONEL oRocKER's ADDRESS.
In representing the heirs of Mrs. Mary A.
| Croker upon this occasion, am performing a
| solemn but grateful duty. ask you to join me
| in dedicating to public uses this editce, which
| has been planned and constructed under the
personal supervision and cost of our mother. l
stand here in the place of one who, if she had
| lived, would have explained better than l the
high aad generous purposes he had in view
when he first resolved to consecrate portion OF
his means to caring for the aged and unfortunate;
also in the place of her who shared his lofty aims
| and faithfully devoted to their fulfllment her
| time and best thought while she lived among us
| widow.
Those who were intimate with the late Charles
Croker know that when death overlook him
| his mind was full of projects for admitting the
poor. the aged and the sick to participate in the
| means which his energy and his foresight had
| acquired. Among them was the home for old
people. This project was discussed many times
in the presence of their children, but their plans
were still incomplete when death suddenly
overlook the father. During the first sorrowful
weeks of her widowhood she turned with a
resolute purpose to carry out these partly
| matured plans, and assumed only the task
which had devolved upon her. She sought this
lot and negotiated contracts for the construction
of this building Every detail received her per-
should not only be model OF its kind, but an
ornament to the city, and, to the extent of its
| capacity, should guarantee to old people COM
| Portable refuge for their last years.
Unhappily, death once more interfered with
| these purposes, and in the midst of her work
she was summoned to join him who had been
her loving partner through life So unexpected
| was this that no transfer of the property had
| been made by deed or will the title stands of
record in her individual name. Her children
have felt it duy 70 carry out her intentions as
fully as if they had been set forth in a will or
other instrument The construction of the
building has accordingly been pushed forward
| to completion, and il now devolves upon me- as
their representative TO hand it over to the Trus
| tees of the Home, which now do through the
delivery of this letter. A deed conveying the
property will follow after the heirs of Mary A.
Croker have acquired title from her estate
| through the Probate Court.
Upon you, sir and the ladies and gentlemen
| who cooperate with you in the administration
of the Home, will now devolve the duty of
turning to account its increased capacity for
usefulness. You have earned public gratitude
| for the admirable manner in which you have
discharged your trust during the many years of
| the existence of your organization. Your oppor-
| tunities of benefcence will now be enlarged !
am told the greatest number the Home has
hitherto sheltered at any one time has been less
| than 70; now nearly 30 can find comfortable
| and well furnished rooms. wish to congratu-
| late you on the enjoyment of the happy privi-
| lege of guarding the old and needy against the
| sad lot which it chiefly dreads-a homeless end
| ing to life. This city abounds already in adj
| mirabie Institutions of benevolence, where the
hungry are fed, the sick and intrm are tended,
| and the friendless find kindly welcome. Let
| this be one among them, and gather under its
| hOspitable roof old men who have survived
| their ability to work, and aged women bereft oil
| their natural protectors.
| MR.. HANLoN's REPLY.
| Charles F. Hanlon, Vice. President OF
the Board of Trustees, replied. He said
To you. Mrs. Charles Alexander. Colonel C.
| F Croker, George Croker and William II
| Croker, the feelings that rush and mingle in
| my soul at this moment when this dome and
| center of power, respondent with the elegance
| of your family's charity, is thrown open to the
| experienced hands of our lady managers can
only be family expressed when, as the official
! voice OF the Trustees and on their behalf say
| to you thank you. But ii is not so much fol-
myself or the Trustees that l thank you !
| thank you on behalf of the extensive member
| ship of the Old Peoples Home, its lady man.
| ayers and officers, who realize that amid the
| brick and mortar of business, in the environ
ment of large citys seltishness, grief, sin and
| poverty, you have iructified the soil and devel-
| oped the sturdy oak planted by your mother
! hand, till now its branches are towering over
| the length and breadth o. our land. l thank
| you on behalf of the foundIess of the Old Peo
| pies Home, woman whose features have been
| chiSeled by sixteen years contact with the
! cause; whose pursestrings have been opened
! and whose strength has been expended for the
| cause: whose head has grown gray in the cause
| and | merely reeeho the voices of her living
| army of octogenarians at North Beach, and the
| whisperingS OF spirits from the decimated part
| of their ranks, when say they the living as
well as those departed, all rejoice at this crown
| OF glory you have placed on the head of sanity
4 Metha Nelson. / thank you on behalf of bhe
city and county of San Francisco, she, the proud
| mistress of the Pacific seas, who must now per
| force bow her sovereign head before the genius
| of this institution, genius by which the mum
| bers in her municipal almshouses are lessened
| the horrors of her charnel-houses are dispelled
| and the yawning graves in her potter's field:
are closed.
| And now word to the President of the Mary
| A Croker Trust. Colonel Oh lrles +. Croker
| you are the oldest son of Mary A. Croker, who
| breathed the first life into the vast structure
that towers above and around our heads to-day
| You have beea thrice blessed. Your blessing In
| being the master of fortune, the manager o.
| millions and a king-pin in the advancement o.
the states prosperity is great. Your blessingIiI
| reverently taking aud decorously wearing the
! mantle dropped by superb father is greater
but the blessing of being permitted, as a soI
| with daughters, as son with sons hand In
hand. to take up the work fallen from you
beautiful mothers hands, TO tear down the do
minion of death, and wrest from its Shiny, par
alyZing and uncanny fingers this celestial ehal
be youchsafed the clear brain, the loving hear
and the nervous hand to lift up on hign, yea
high above the cold dlstemper of still colder
world. this renascent sanctuary OF materna
love: to hold life communion through this holy
covenant of bread and SALT" wherein you
mortal man. directly communicate with her
immortal spirit, is the greatest blessing of all.
Mrs. Mariner Campbell sang Heaven
ward" Rev. J A. Benton delivered shor
address, Mrs. Birmingham sang Let Thy
Hand Help Me- and then came the fol
lowing
ADDRESS BY W. z. BROWN:
Ladies and Gentlemen: Those of you who wer,
fortunate enough TO be present on this spot ont
year ago to-day, and who participated in tn
quiet and transformations ceremony of laying
the cornerstone of this structure, will be mort
than aratified to find erected here an edifice sc
complete in its design, so thorough in its ap
pointments and so well adapted to carry out TN
hopes and desires of its beneficept founder.
Much care and anxious thought have beer
given, by all concerned, in the planning, ar
ranging and furnishing OF this Old People
Home The President and lady managers o
the association have been untiring in thei
efforts to insure perfect success, and are deter
mined that IL shall occupy a position whlef
will make ii a comfort to those who Will live
within It's walls, an ornament TO the city IL
which il is located and lasting monument U
| the memory of those whose wel-bestowe6
bounty has given such an institution into thei
charge.
1t is satisfaction to know that these com
memorative exercises, taking place in TIM
chapel decorated with flowers, are signalizet
lAa. r