Franklin County, Ohio - Chapter 40: State Benevolent Institutions, 1858

Chapter 40: State Benevolent Institutions

On the 38tli of January, 1827, an act was passed to " establish an Asylum for the education of deaf and dumb persons/' and Hon. Gustavus Swan and Rev. James Hoge, of Franklin, Hon. Thomas Ewing, of Fairfield, Rev. William Graham, of Ross, Rev. William Burton, of Pickaway, John James, Esq., of Champaign, Wm. D. Webb, Esq., of Trumbull, and Sampson Mason, Esq., of Clark, were appointed b}^ said act, together with the Governor, who was, ex officio, President of the Board, the first Trustees.

They procured the services of H. N. Hubbell, Esq., to take charge of the school, which opened on the IGth of November, 1829, and at first consisted of only three pupils. At the close of the term, July, 1830, the number had reached nine, and it soon after filled up to the number twent}^ or thirty. A son of Captain George W. Williams and a son of Judge Flennikcn were among the first.

For some two or three years the school was kept in a rented room - part of the time on the lot now occupied by Dr. Gay, on Front street, north of Broad. Mr. Ilubbell was then a young man, and had been engaged for some time in teaching a common school in Columbus, but had, during the agitation of this asylum enterprise, left his school and gone to the East and spent some eighteen months at the American Asylum, Hartford, Connecticut, qualifjdng himself for a teacher of the language of signs, in which he succeeded admirably ; and he made both an efficient teacher and a popular Superintendent.'^"

In the years 1833 and 1834, the original part of the present asylum buildings was erected, and the institution removed thither. The building has been several times enlarged, and the number of pupils has increased with the capacity of the building to accommodate them. For the last few years the number has generally ranged at from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty.

Successive Superintendents Lunatic Asylum

At the Legislative session of 1834-5, an act was passed to establish a Lunatic Asylum for the State of Ohio, and Dr. Samuel Parsons and Dr. William M. Awl, of Columbus, and Gen. Samuel F. McCracken, of Lancaster, were appointed Directors under the law for the erection, etc., of the necessary Buildings. And on the 30th of November, 1838, the buildings were so far completed as to admit the first patient.

Pursuant to an act of the 13th of March, 1838, Dr. Samuel Parsons, Gol. Samuel Spangler, Adin G. Hibbs, Esq., N. H. Swayne, Esq., and Dr. David L. McGugin, were appointed Directors, whose duty it was to appoint a Superintendent, etc., and Dr. Wm. M. Awl received the appointment.

In the years 1844, 1845 and 1846, the additional wings to the building were erected and completed. Dr. Awl, in his report of December 1, 1846, thus describes the whole structure :

" It is a stupendous pile of brick and stone work, which presents an imposing appearance. The structure faces the south. It is a quadrangular, and measures 376 feet in front, by 218 feet in depth. The buildings cover just one acre of ground, and enclose an area of 1864 square ^^ards. The main center building is three stories and an attic in height above the basement. The wings and new buildings are each three stories ; and a walk through all its different passages and galleries exceeds one mile. It contains rising 5,200,000 bricks, and something like 50,000 feet of cut stone. The entire cost to the State was about $150,000, including tlie amount of work done by the convicts of the Ohio Penitentiary, which constituted a large item in the account."

Blind Asylum

Ttev. Dr. Iloge, N. II. Swayne, Esq., and Dr. Wm. M. Awl, were appointed the first Board of Trustees, to carry the provisions of the law for organizing and opening the school, into effect. They first secured the services of Mr. A. W. Penniman as a teacher, and rented rooms in the Eight Buildings, so called, on Town street, west of High ; and in July, 1837, the school was opened. It contained at first but five scholars, but they increased during the year to eleven. Measures were then soon taken to obtain a suitable site and buildings for the permanent location of the Institution ; and the citizens of Columbus purchased and donated for that purpose the site, consisting of nine acres of land, about one mile east of High street, on which the Institution was established ; and the main building was erected in 1838 and '39, at a cost of about $28,000, including furniture, fixtures, etc., and was first occupied in October, 1839, with seventeen pupils. The following year, the number increased to thirty-six, and the next year to fifty. Since which the number has generally ranged from fifty to seventy.

Idiot Asylum

This Institution was established by an act of the Legislature, passed April 17, 1857, entitled, "An act to establish an asylum for the education of idiots and imbecile youth." It is governed by a Board of three Trustees, appointed by the Governor, They organized in the spring of 1857, and procured and fitted up buildings on the national road, opposite the Blind Asylum, .and opened their school there in the f;ill of the same year. On the first of November, the Trustees reported sixteen pupils already received ; of whom seven pay wholly or in part, and nine have been received as State pupils.