Elkhart County, Indiana - Chapter 15: The Churches I, 1881 (part 7 of 7)

Indiana State Universitt

So early as 1802 the U. S. Congress granted lands and a charter to the people of that portion of the iSTorthwestern Territory residing at Vincennes, for the erection and maintenance of a seminary of learning in that early settled district; and five years afterward an act incorporating the Vincennes [Jniversity asked the Leo-islature to appoint a Board of Trustees for the institution and order the sale of a single township in Gibson county, granted by Congress in 1802, so that the proceeds might be at once devoted to the objects of education. On this Board the following gentlemen were appointed to act in the interests of the institution: William H. Harrison, John Gibson, Thomas H. Davis, Henry Vanderburo-h, Waller Taylor, Benjamin Parke, Peter Jones, James Johnson, John Rice Jones, George Wallace, William Bullitt, Elias McNamee, John Badolett, Henry Hurst, Gen. W. Johnston, Francis Vio-o, Jacob Kuykendall, Samuel McKee, Nathaniel Ewing, Georo-e Leech, Luke Decker, Samuel Gwathmey and John Johnson.

The sale of this land was slow and the proceeds small. The members of the Board, too, were apathetic, and failing to meet, the institution fell out of existence and out of memorv.

In 1816 Congress granted another township in Monroe county, located within its present limits, and the foundation of a university was laid. Four years later, and after Indiana was erected into a State, an act of the local Legislature appointing another Board of Trustees and authorizing them to select a location for a university and to enter into contracts for its construction, was passed. The new Board met at Bloomington and selected a site at that place for the location of the present building, entered into a contract for the erection of the same in 1822, and in 1825 had the satisfaction of being present at the inauguration of the university. The first session was commenced under the Rev. Baynard R. Hall, with 20 students, and when the learned professor could only boast of a salary of $150 a year; yet, on this very limited sum the gentleman worked with energy and soon brought the enterprise through all its elementary stages to the position of an academic institution. Dividing the year into two sessions of five months each, the Board acting under . his advice, changed the name to the " Indiana Academy," under which title it was duly chartered. In 1827 Prof. John H. Harney was raised to the chairs of raatliematics, natural philosophy and astronomy, at a salary of $300 a year; and tlie salary of Mr. Hall raised to $100 a year. In 1828 the name was again changed by the Legislature to the " Indiana College," and the following professors appointed over the different departments; Rev. Andrew Wylie, D. D., Prof, of mental and moral philosophy and belles lettres; John 11. Harney, Prof of mathematics and natural philosophy; and Rev. Bayard R. Hall, Prof, of ancient languages. This year, also, dispositions were made for the sale of Gibson county lands and for the erection of a new college building. This action was opposed by some legal difliculties, which after a time were overcome, and the new college building was put under construction, and continued to prosper until 1854, when it was destroyed by fire, and 9,000 volumes, with all the apparatus, were consumed The curriculum was then carried out in a temporary building, while a new structure was going up.

In 1873 the new college, with its additions, was completed, and the routine of studies continued. A museum of natural history, a laboratory and the Owen cabinet added, and the standard of the studies and Tjiorale generally increased in excellence and in strictness.

collegiate Gotliic style, simply and truly carried out. The building, fronting College avenue is 145 feet in front. It consists of a central building 60 feet by 53, with wings each 38 feet by 26, and the whole, three stories high. The new building, fronting the west, is 130 feet by 60. Buildings lighted by gas.

The faculty numbers thirteen. Number of students in the collegiate department in 1S79-'S0, ]83; in preparatory, 169; total, 349, allowing for three counted twice.

The university may now be considered on a fixed founaation, carrying out the intention of the President, who aimed at scholarship rather than numbers, and demands the attention of eleven professors, together with the State Geologist, who is ex-officio member of the faculty, and required to lecture at intervals and look after the geological and raineralogical interests of the institution. The faculty of medicine is represented by eleven leading physicians of the neighborhood. The faculty of law requires two resident professors, and the other chairs remarkably well represented.

The university received from the State annually about $15,000, and promises with the aid of other public grants and private donations to vie with any other State university within the Republic.

Purdue University

This is a " college for the benefit of agricultural and the mechanic arts," as provided for by act of Congress, July 2, 1862, donating lands for this purpose to the extent of 30,000 acres of the public domain to each Senator .and Representative in the Federal assembly. Indiana having in Congress at that time thirteen members, became entitled to 390,000 acres; but as there was no Congress land in the State at this time, scrip had to be taken, and it was upon tlie following condition (we quote the act):

" Section 4. That all moneys derived from the sale of land scrip shall be invested in the stocks of the United States, or of some other safe stocks, yielding no less than five per centum upon the par value of said stocks; and that the moneys so invested shall constitute a perpetual fund, the capital of which shall remain undiminished, except so far as may be provided in section 5 of this act, and the interest of which shall be inviolably appropriated by each State, which may take and claim the benefit of this act, to the endowment, support and maintenance of at least one college, where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such a manner as the Legislatures of the States may respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions of life.'

" Sec. 5. That the grant of land and land scrip hereby authorized shall be made on the following conditions, to which, as well as the provision hereinbefore contained, the previous assent of the several States shall be signified by Legislative act:

" First. If any portion of the funds invested as provided by the foregoing section, or any portion of the interest tliereon, shall by any action or contingency be diminished or lost, it shall be replaced by the State to which it belongs, so that the capital of the fund shall remain forever undiminished, and the annual interest shall be regularly applied, without diminution, to the purposes mentioned in the fourth section of this act, except that a sum not exceeding ten per centum upon the amount received by any State under the provisions of this act may be expended for the purchase of lands for sites or experimental farms, whenever autiiorized by the respective Legislatures of said States.

-' Second. No portion of said fund, nor interest thereon, shall be applied, directly or indirectly, under any pretence whatever, to the purchase, erection, preservation or repair of any building or buildings.

" Third. Any State which may take and claim the benefit of the provisions of this act, shall provide, within five years at least, not less than one college, as provided in the fourtli section of this act, or the grant to such State shall cease and said State be bound to pay the United States the amount received of any lands previously sold, and that the title to purchase under the States shall be valid.

''Fourth. An annual report shall be made regarding the progress of each college, recording any improvements and experiments made, with their cost and result, and such other matter, including State industrial and economical statistics, as may be supposed useful, one copy of which shall be transmitted by mail free, by each, to all other colleges which may be endowed under the provisions of this act, and also one copy to the Secretary of the Interior.

"Sixth. No State, while in a condition of rebellion or insurrection against the Government of the United States, shall be entitled to the benefits of this act.

"Se%'enth. !N"o State shall be entitled to the benefits of this act unless it shall express its acceptance thereof by its Legislature within two years from the date of its approval by the President."

The foregoing act was approved by the President, July 2, 1862. It seemed that this law, amid the din of arms with the great Rebellion, was about to pass altogether unnoticed by the next General Assembly, January, 1863, had not Gov. Morton's attention been called to it by a delegation of citizens from Tippecanoe county, who visited him in the interest of Battle Ground. He thereupon sent a special message to the Legislature, upon the subject, and then public attention was excited to it everywhere, and several localities competed for tlie institution; indeed, the rivalry was so great that this session failed to act in the matter at all, and would have failed to accept of the grant within the two years prescribed in the last clause quoted above, had not Congress, by a supplementary act, extended the time two years longer.

March 6, 1865, the Legislature accepted the conditions ot the national gift, and organized the Board of " Trustees of the Indiana Agricultural College." Tliis Board, by authority, sold the scrip April 9, 1S6Y, for $212,238.50, which sum, by compounding, has increased to nearly $±00,000, and is invested in IT. S. bonds. Not until the special session of May, 1869, was the locality for this college selected, when John Purdue, of Lafayette, oflered $150,000 and Tippecanoe county $50,000 more, and the title of the institution changed to " Purdue University." Donations were also made by the Battle Ground Institute and the Battle Ground Institute of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

The building was located on a 100-acre tract near Chauncey, which Purdue gave in addition to his magnificent donation, and to which 86-^ acres more have since been added on tlie north. The boarding-house, dormitory, the laboratory, boiler and gas house, a frame armory and gymnasium, stable with shed and work-shop are all to the north of the gravel road, and form a group of buildings within a circle of 600 feet. The boiler and gas house occupy a rather central position, and supply steam and gas to the boardinghouse, dormitory and laboratory. A description of these buildings may be apropos. The boarding-house is a brick structure, in the modern Italian style, planked by a turret at each of the front angles and measuring 120 feet front by 68 feet deep. The dormitory is a quadrangular edifice, in the plain Elizabethan style, four stories high, arranged to accommodate 125 students. Like the other buildings, it is heated by steam and lighted by gas. Bathing accommodations are in each end of all the stories. The laboratory is almost a duplicate of a similar department in Brown University, K. I. It is a much smaller building than the boarding-house, but yet sufficiently large to meet the requirements. A collection of minerals, fossils and antiquities, purchased from Mr. Richard Owen, former President of the institution, occupies the temporary cabinet or museum, pending the construction of a new building. The military hall and gymnasium is 100 feet frontage by 50 feet deep, and only one story high. The uses to which this hall is devoted are exercises in physical and military drill. The boiler and gas house is an establishment replete in itself, possessing every facility for supplying the buildings of the university with adequate heat and light. It is further provided with pumping works. Convenient to this department is the retort and great meters of the gas house, capable of holding 9,000 cubic feet of gas, and arranged upon the principles of modern science. The barn and shed form a single building, both useful, convenient and ornamental.

In connection with the agricultural department of the uniTcrsitv, a brick residence and barn were erected and placed at the disposal of the farm superintendent, Maj. L. A. Burke.

The buildings enumerated above have been erected at a cost approximating the following: boarding-house, $37,807.07; laboratory, $15,000; dormitory, $32,000; military hall and gymnasium, $6,410.47; boiler and gas house, $i,814; barn and shed, $1,500; work-shop, $1,000; dwelling and barn, $2,500.

Besides the original donations, Legislative appropriations, varying in amount, have been made from time to time, and Mr. Pierce, the treasurer, has donated his official salary, $600 a year, for the time he served, for decorating the grounds, - if necessary.

The opening of the university was, owing to varied circumstances, postponed from time to time, and not until March, 1874, was a class formed, and this only to comply with the act of Congress in that connection in its relation to the university. However, in September following a curriculum was adopted, and the first regular term of the Purdue University entered upon. This curriculum comprises the varied subjects generally pertaining to a first-class university course, namely: in the school of natural science - physics and industrial mechanics, chemistry and natural history; in the school of engineering - civil and mining, together with the principles of architecture; in the school of agriculture - theoretical and practical agriculture, horticulture and veterinary science; in the military school - the mathematical sciences, German and French literature, free-hand and mechanical drawing, with all the studies pertaining to the natural and military sciences. Modern languages and natural history embrace their respective courses to the fullest extent.

There are this year (ISSO) eleven members of the faculty, 86 students in the regular courses, and 117 other students. In respect to attendance there has been a constant increase from the first. The first year, lS74:-'5, there were but 64 students.

Indiana State Noemal School

This institution was founded at Terre Haute in 1870, in accordance with the act of the Legislature of that year. The building is a large brick edifice situated upon a commanding location and possessing some architectural beauties. From its inauguration many obstacles opposed its advance toward efficiency and success; but the Board of Trustees, composed of men experienced in educational matters, exercised their strength of mind and body to overcome every difficulty, and secure for the State Normal School every distinction and emolument that lay within their power, their efi'orts to this end being very successful; and it is a fact that the institution has arrived at, if not eclipsed, the standard of their expectations. ISTot alone does the course of study embrace the legal subjects known as reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, geography. United States history, English grammar, physiology, manners and ethics, but it includes also universal history, the mathematical sciences and many other subjects foreign to older institutions. The first studies are prescribed by law and must be inculcated; the second are optional with the professors, and in the case of Indiana generally hold place in the curriculum of the normal school.

The model, or training school, specially designed for the training of teachers, forms a most important factor in State educational matters, and prepares teachers of both sexes for one of the most important positions in life; viz., that of educating the youth of the

State. The advanced course of studies, together with the higher studies of the normal school, embraces Latin and German, and prepares young men and women for entrance to the State University.

The efficiency of this school may be elicited from the following facts, taken from the official reports: out of 41 persons who had graduated from the elementary course, nine, after teaching successfully in the public schools of this State from two terms to two years, returned to the institution and sought admission to the advanced classes. They were admitted; three of them were gentlemen and six ladies. After spending two years and two terms in the elementary course, and then teaching in the schools during the time already mentioned they returned to spend two and a half or three years more, and for the avowed purpose of qualifying themselves for teaching in the most responsible positions of the public school service. In fact, no student is admitted to the school who does not in good faith declare his intention to qualify himself for teaching in the schools of the State. This the law requires, and the rule is adhered to literally.

The report further says, in speaicing of the government of the school, that the fundamental idea is rational freedom, or that freedom which gives exemption from the power of control of one over another, or, in other words, the self-limiting of themselves, in their acts, by a recognition of the rights of others who are equally free. The idea and origin of the school being laid down, and also the means by which scholarship can be realized in the individual, the student is left to form his own conduct, both during session hours and while away from school. The teacher merely stands between this scholastic idea and the student's own partial conception of it, as expositor or interpreter. The teacher is not legislator, executor or police officer; he is expounder of the true idea of school law, so that the only test of the student's conduct is obedience to, or nonconformity with, that law as interpreted by the teacher. This idea once inculcated in the minds of the students, insures industry, punctuality and order.

This institution was organized Sept. 16, 1S73, with 35 students in attendance. The school occupied the building known as the Valparaiso Male and Female College building. Four teachers were employed. The attendance, so small at first, increased rapidly and steadily, until at the present writing, the seventh year in the history of the school, the yearly enrollment is more than three thousand. The number of instructors now employed is 23.

From time to time, additions have been made to the school buildings, and numerous boarding halls have been erected, so that now the value of tlie buildings and grounds owned by the school is one hundred thousand dollars.

A large library has been collected, and a complete equipment of philosophical and chemical apparatus has been purchased. The department of physiology is supplied with skeletons, manikins, and everything necessary to the demonstration of each branch of the subject. A large cabinet is provided for the study of geology. In fact, each department of the school is completely furnished with the apparatus needed for the most approved presentation of every subject.

There are 15 chartered departments in the institution. These are in charge of thorough, energetic, and scholarly instructors, and send forth each year as graduates, a large numberof finely cultured young ladies and gentlemen, living testimonials of the efficiency of the course of study and the methods used.

The Commercial College in connection with the school is in itself a great institution. It is finely fitted up and furnished, and ranks foremost among the business colleges of the United States.

The expenses for tuition, room and board, have been made so low that an opportunity for obtaining a thorough education is presented to the poor and the rich alike.

All of this work has been accomplished in the short space of seven years. The school now holds a high place among educational institutions, and is the largest normal school in the United States.

This wonderful growth and development is wholly due to the energy and faithfulness of its teachers, and the unparalleled executive ability of its proprietor and principal. The school is not endowed.

Denominational And Pkivatb Institutions

Nor is Indiana behind in literary institutions under denominational auspices. It is not to be understood, however, at the present day, that sectarian doctrines are insisted upon at the so-called " denominational" colleges, universities and seminaries ; the youth at these places are influenced only by Christian example.

Notre Dame University, near South Bend, is a Catholic institution, and is one of the most noted in the United States. It was founded in 1842 by Father Sorin. The first building was erected in 1843, and the university has continued to grow and prosper until the present time, now having 35 professors, 26 instructors, 9 tutors, - 213 students and 13,000 volumes in library. At present the main building has a frontage of 224 feet and a depth of 155. Thousands of young people have received their education here, and a large number have been graduated for the priesthood. A chapter was held here in 1872, attended by delegates from all parts of the world. It is worthy of mention that this institution has a bell weighing 13,000 pounds, the largest in the United States and one of the finest in the world.

The Indiana Ashicry University, at Greencastle, is an old and well-established institution under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church, named after its first bishop, Asbury. It was founded in 1S35, and in 1872 it had nine professors and 172 students.

Howard College, not denominational, is located at Kokomo, and was founded in 1869. In 1872 it had five professors, four instructors, and 69 students.

Union Christian College, Christian, at Merom, was organized in 1S5S, and in 1872 had four resident professors, seven instructors and 156 students.

Moore'' s Hill College. Methodist Episcopal, is situated at Moore's Hill, was founded in 1854, and in 1872 had five resident professors, five instructors, and 142 students.

Earlhani's College, at Richmond, is ainder the management of the Orthodox Friends, and was founded in 1859. In 1872 they had six resident professors and 167 students, and 3,300 volumes in library.

Wahash College, at Crawfordsville, was organized in 1834, and had in 1872, eight professors and teachers, and 231 students, with about 12,000 volumes in the library. It is under Presbyterian management.

Hanover College, Presbyterian, was organized in 1833, at Hanover, and in 1872 had seven professors and 118 students, and 7,000 volumes in library.

Northwestern Christian University, Disciples, is located at Irvington, near Indianapolis. It was founded in 1S54, and by 1872 it had 15 resident professors, 181 students, and 5,000 volumes in library.

Benevolent And Penal Institutions

By the year 1830, the intlnx of paupers and invalid persons was so great that the Governor called upon the Legislature to take steps toward regulating the matter, and also to provide an asylum for the poor, but that body was very slow to act on the matter. At the present time, however, there is no State in the Union which can boast a better system of benevolent institutions. The Benevolent Society of Indianapolis was organized in 1843. It was a pioneer institution; its held of -work was small at first, but it has grown into great usefulness.

Institute For The Education Of The Blind

In behalf of the blind, the first effort was made by James M. Ray, about 18-46. Through his etibrts William II. Churchman came from Kentucky with blind pupils and gave exiiibitious in Mr. Beecher's church, in Indianapolis. These entertainments were attended by members of the Legislature, for whom indeed they were especially intended; and the effect upon them was so good, that before they adjourned the session they adopted measures to establish an asylum for the blind. The commission appointed to carry out these measures, consisting of James M. Ray, Geo. W. Mears, and the Secretary, Treasurer and Auditor of State, engaged Mr. Churchman to make a lecturing tour through the State and collect statistics of the blind population.

The " Institute for the Education of the Blind " was founded by the Legislature of 1847, and first opened in a rented building Oct. 1, of that year. The permanent buildings were opened and occupied in Eebruary, 1853. The original cost of the buildings and ground was $110,000, and the present valuation of buildings and grounds approximates $300,000. The main building is 90 feet long by 61 deep, and with its right and left wings, each 30 feet in front and 83 in depth, give an entire frontage of 150 feet. The main building is five stories in height, surmounted by a cupola of the Corinthian style, while each wing is similarly overcapped The porticoes, cornices and verandahs are gotten up with exquisite taste, and the former are molded after the principle of Ionic architecture. The building is very favorably situated, and occupies a space of eight acres.

The nucleus of a fund for supplying indigent graduates of the institution with an outiit suitable to their trades, or with money in lieu thereof, promises to meet with many additions. The fund is the out-come of the benevolence of Mrs. Fitzpatrick, a resident of Delaware, in this State, and appears to be suggested b}^ the fact that her daughter, who was smitten with blindness, studied as a pupil in the institute, and became singularly attached to many of its inmates. Tlie following passage from the lady's will bears testimony not only to her own sympathetic nature but also to the efficiency of the establishment which so won her esteem. " I give to each of tlie following persons, friends and associates of my blind daughter, Marg;iret Louisa, tlie sum of $100 to each, to wit, viz: Melissa and Plicebe Garrettson, Frances Cundiif, Dallas INewland, Naomi Untiiunk, and a girl whose name before marriage was Kachel Martin, her liusband's name not recollected. The balance of my estate, after paying the expenses ot administering, I give to the superintendent of the blind asylum and his successor, in trust, for the use and benefit of the indigent blind of Indiana who may attend the Indiana blind asylum, to be given to them on leaving in such sums as the superintendent may deem proper, but not more than $50 to any one person. I direct that the amount above directed be loaned at interest, and the interest and principal be distributed as above, agreeably to the best judgment of the superintendent, so as to do the greatest good to the greatest number of blind persons."

The following rules, regulating the institution, after laying down in preamble that the institute is strictly an educational establishment, having its main object the moral, intellectual and physical training of the young blind of the State, and is not an asylum j for the aged and helpless, nor an hospital wherein the diseases of

3. Imbecile or unsound persons, or confirmed imraoralists, cannot be admitted knowingly; neither can admitted pupils who prove disobedient or incompetent to receive instruction be retained on the roll.

4. jMo charge is made for the instruction and board given to pupils from the State of Indiana; and even those without the State have only to pay $200 for board and education during the 40 weeks' session.

7. In cases of extreme indigence the institution may provide clothing and defray the traveling expenses of such pupil and levy the amount so expended on the county wherein his or her home is situated.

8. The pupil, or friends of the pupil, must remove him or her from the institute during the annual vacation, and in case of their failure to do so, a legal provision enables the superintendent to forward such pupil to the trustee of the township where he or she resides, and the expense of such transit and board to be charged to the county.

10. Letters to the pupils should be addressed to the care of the Superintendent of the Institute for the Education of the Blind, so as the better to insure delivery.

11. Persons desirous of admission of pupils should apply to the superintendent for a printed copy of instructions, and no pupil should be sent thereto until the instructions have been complied with.

Institute Fok The Deaf And Duiib

In 1843 the Governor was also instructed to obtain plans and information respecting the care of mutes, and the Legislature also levied a tax to provide for them. The first one to agitate the subject was William Willard, himself a mute, who visited Indiana in 1843, and opened a school for mutes on his own account, with 16 pupils.

The next year the Legislature adopted this school as a State institution, appointing a Board of Trustees for its management, consisting of tlie Governor and Secretary of State, ex-officio,and Revs. Henry Ward Beecher, Phineas D. Gurley, L. H. Jameson, Dr. Dunlap, Hon. James Morrison and Kev. Matthew Simpson. They rented the large building on the southeast corner of Illiuois and Maryland streets, and opened the first State asylum there in 1844; but in 1846, a site for a permanent building just east of Indianapolis was selected, consisting first of 30 acres, to which 100 more have been added. On this site the two first structures were commenced in 1849, and completed in the fall of 1850. at a cost of $30,000. The school was immediately transferred to the new building, where it is still flourishing, with enlarged buildings and ample facilities for instruction in agriculture. In 1869-'70, another building was erected, and the three together now constitute one of the most beneficent and beautiful institutions to be found on this continent, at an aggregate cost of $220,000. The main building has a facade of 260 feet. Here are tlie oflices, study rooms, the quarters of officers and teachers, the pupils' dormitories and the librarj'. The center of this building has a frontage of eighty feet, and is five stories high, with wings on either side 60 feet in frontage. In this Central structure are the store rooms, dining-hall, servants' rooms, hospital, laundry, kitchen, bakery and sevei-al school-rooms. Another structure known as the " rear building " contains the chapel and another set of school-rooms. It is two stories higli, the center being 50 feet square and the wings 40 by 20 feet. In addition to these tiiere are many detached buildings, containing the shops of the industrial department, the engine-house and wash-house.

The grounds comprise 105 acres, which in the immediate vicinity of the buildings partake of the character of ornainental or pleasure gardens, comprising a space devoted to fruits, flowers and vegetables, while the greater part is devoted to pasture and agriculture.

The first instructor in the institution was Wm. Willard, a deaf mute, who had up to 1844 conducted a small school for the instruction of the deaf at Indianapolis, and now is employed by the State, at a salary of $800 per annum, to follow a similar vocation in its service. In 1853 he was succeeded by J. S. Brown, and subsequently by Thomas Mclntire, who continues principal of the institution.

Hospital Fok The Insane

The Legislature of 1832-'3 adopted measures providing for a State hospital for the insane. This good work would have been done much earlier had it not been for the hard times of 1837, intensified by the results of the gigantic scheme of internal improvement. In order to survey the situation and awaken public sympathy, the county assessors were ordered to make a return of the insane in their respective counties. During the year 1842 the Governor, acting under the direction of the Legislature, procured considerable information in regard to hospitals for the insane in other States; and Dr. John Evans lectured before the Legislature on the subject of insanity and its treatment. As a result of these efforts the authorities determined to take active steps for the establishment of such a hospital. Plans and suggestions from the superintendents and hospitals of other States were submitted to the Legislature in 1844, which body ordered the levy of a tax of one cent on the $100 for the purpose of establishing the hospital. In 1845 a commission was appointed to obtain a site not exceeding 200 acres. Mount Jackson, then the residence of Nathaniel Bolton, was selected, and the Legislature in 1846 ordered the commissioners to proceed with the erection of the building. Accordingly, in 1847, the central building was completed, at a cost of $75,000. It has since been enlarged by the addition of wings, some of which are larger than the old central building, until it has become an immense structure, having cost over half a million dollars.

This hospital was opened for the reception of patients in 1848. The principal structure comprises what is known as the central building and the right and left wings, and like the institute for the deaf and dumb, erected at various times and probably under various adverse circumstances, it certainly does not hold the appearance of any one design, but seems to be a combination of many. Notwithstanding these little defects in arrangement, it presents a verv imposing appearance, and shows what may be termed a frontage of 62i feet. The central building is five stories in height and contains the store-rooms, offices, reception parlors, medical dispensing rooms, mess-rooms and the apartments of the superintendent and other officers, with those of the female employes. Immediately in the rear of the central building, and connected with it by a corridor, is the chapel, a building 50 by 60 feet. This chapel occupies the third floor, while the under stories hold the kitchen, bakery, employes' dining-room, steward's ofiice, employes' apartments and sewing rooms. In rear of this again is the enginehouse, 60 by 50 feet, containing all the paraphernalia for such an establishment, siich as boilers, pumping works, fire plugs, hose, and above, on the second floor, the laundry and apartments of male employes.

The State Peison South

The first penal institution of importance is known as the "State Prison South," located at Jefiersonville, and was the only prison until 1859. It was established in 1831. Before that time it was customary to resort to the old-time punishment of the whippingpost. Later the manual labor system was inaugurated, and the convicts were hired out to employers, among whom were Capt. Westover, afterward killed at Alamo, Texas, with Crockett, James Keigwin, who in an atfray was fired at and severely wounded by a convict named Williams, Messrs. Patterson Hensley, and Jos. E. Pratt. During the rule of the latter of these lessees, the attention of the authorities was turned to a more practical method of utilizing convict labor; and instead of the prisoners being permitted to serve private entries, their work was turned in the direction of their own prison, where for the next few years they were employed in erecting the new buildings now known as the " State Prison South." This structure, the result of prison labor, stands on 16 acres of ground, and comprises the cell houses and workshops, together with the prisoners' garden, or pleasure-ground.

It seems that in the erection of these buildings the aim of the overseers was to create so many petty dungeons and un ventilated laboratories, into which disease in every form would be apt to creep. This fact was evident from the high mortality characterizing life within the prison; and in the efibrts made by the Government to remedy a state of things which had been permitted to exist far too long, the advance in prison reform has become a reality. From 1857 to 1871 the labor of the prisoners was devoted to the manufacture of wagons and farm implements; and again the old policy of hiring the convicts was resorted to; for in the latter year, 1871, the Southwestern Car Company was organized, and every prisoner capable of taking a part in the work of car-building was leased out. This did very well until the panic of 1873, when the company suffered irretrievable losses; and previous to its final down-fall in 1876 the warden withdrew convict labor a second time, leaving the prisoners to enjoy a luxurious idleness around the prison which themselves helped to raise.

In later years the State Prison South has gained some notoriety from the desperate character of some of its inmates. During the civil war a convict named Harding mutilated in a most horrible manner and ultimately killed one of the jailors named Tesley. In 1871, two prisoners named Kennedy and Applegate, possessing themselves of some arms, and joined by two other convicts named Port and Stanley, made a break for freedom, swept past the guard, Chamberlain, and gained the fields. Chamberlain went in pursuit but had not gone very far when Kennedy turned on his pursuer, fired and killed him instantly. Subsequently three of the prisoners were captured alive and one of them paid the penalty of death, while Kennedy, the murderer of Chamberlain, failing committal for murder, was sent back to his old cell to spend the remainder of his life. Bill Eodifer, better known as "The Hoosier Jack Sheppard," effected his escape in 1875, in the very presence of a large guard, but was recaptured and has since been kept in irons.

This establishment, owing to former mismanagement, has fallen very much behind, financially, and has asked for and received an appropriation of $20,000 to meet its expenses, while the contrary is the case at the Michigan City prison.

Tue State Prison North

In 1859 the first steps toward the erection of a prison in the northern part of the State were taken, and by an act of the Legislature approved March 5, this year, authority was given to construct prison buildings at some point north of the National road. For this purpose $50,000 were appropriated, and a large number of convicts from the Jeffersonville prison were transported northward to Michigan City, which was just selected as the location for the new penitentiary. The work was soon entered upon, and continued to meet with additions and improvements down to a very recent period. So late as 1875 the Legislature appropriated $20,000 toward the construction of new cells, and in other directions also the work of improvement has been going on. The system of government and discipline is similar to that enforced at the Jefferson ville prison; and, strange to say, by its economical working has not only met the expenses of the administration, but very recently had amassed over $11,000 in excess of current expenses, from its annual savings. This is due almost entirely to the continual employment of the convicts in the manufacture of cigars and chairs, and in their great prison industry, cooperage. It differs widely from the Southern, insomuch as its sanitary condition has been above the average of similar institutions. The strictness of its silent system is better enforced. The petty revolutions of its inmates have been very few and insignificant, and the number of punishments inflicted comparatively small. From whatever point this northern prison may be looked at, it will bear a very favorable comparison with the largest and best administered of like establishments throughout the world, and cannot fail to bring high credit to its Board of Directors and its able warden.

Female Prison And Reformatory

The prison reform agitation which in this State attained telling proportions in 1S69, caused a Legislative measure to be brought forward, which would have a tendency to ameliorate the condition of female convicts. Gov. Baker recommended it to the General A-Ssembly, and the members of that body showed their appreciation of the Governor's philanthropic desire by conferring upon the bill the authority of a statute; and further, appropriated $50,000 to aid in carrying out the objects of the act. The main provisions contained in the bill may be set forth in the following extracts from the proclamation of the Governor:

" Whenever said institution shall have been proclaimed to be open for the reception of girls in the reformatory department thereof, it shall be lawful for said Board of Managers to receive them into their care and management, and the said reformatory department, girls under the age of 15 years who may be committed to their custody, in either of the following modes, to-wit:

"1. When committed by any judge of a Circuit or Common Pleas Court, either in term time or in vacation, on complaint and due proof by the parent or guardian that by reason of her incorrigible or vicious conduct she has rendered her control beyond the power of such parent or guardian, and made it manifestly requisite

" 2. "When such infant has been committed by such judge, as aforesaid, upon complaint by any citizen, and due proof of such complaint that such infant is a proper subject of the guardianship of such institution in consequence of her vagrancy or incorrigible or vicious conduct, and that from the moral depravity or otherwise of her parent or guardian in whose custody she may be, such parent or guardian is incapable or unwilling to exercise the proper care or discipline over such incorrigible or vicious infant.

"3. When such infant has been committed by such judge as aforesaid, on complaint and due proof thereof by the township trustee of the township where such infant resides, that such infant is destitute of a suitable home and of adequate means of obtaining an honest living, or that she is in danger of being brought up to lead an idle and immoral life."

In addition to these articles of the bill, a fonnal section of instruction to the wardens of State prisons was embodied in the act, causing such wardens to report the number of all the female convicts under their charge and prepare to have them transferred to the female reformatory immediately after it was declared to be ready for their reception. After the passage of the act the Governor appointed a Board of Managers, and these gentlemen, securing the services of Isaac Hodgson, caused him to draft a plan of the proposed institution, and further, on his recommendation, asked the people for an ap]5ropriation of another ^50,000, which the Legislature granted in February, 1873. The work of construction was then entered upon and carried out so steadily, that on the 6th of September, 1873, the building was declared ready for the reception of its future inmates. Gov. Baker lost no time in proclaiming this fact, and October 4 he caused the wardens of the State prisons to be instructed to transfer all the female convicts in their custody to the new institution which may be said to rest on the advanced intelligence of the age. It is now called the Indiana Reformatory Institution for Women and Girls."

This building is located immediately north of tlie deaf and dumb asylum, near the arsenal, at Indianapolis. It is a threestory brick structure in the French style, and shows a frontage of ITi feet, comprising a main building, with lateral and transverse wings. In front of the central portion is the residence of the superintendent and his associate reformatory officerg, while in the rear is the engine Iiouse, with all the ways and means for heating the buildings. Enlargements, additions and improvements are still in progress. There is also a school and library in the main building, which are sources of vast good.

October 31, 1ST9, there were 66 convicts in the " penal" department and 147 in the '' girls' reformatory " department. The " ticket-of-leave " system has been adopted, with entire satisfaction, and the conduct of the institution appears to be up with the times.

Indiana House Of Eefuge

In 1S67 the Legislature appropriated $50,000 to aid in the formation of an institution to be entitled a house for the correction and reformation of juvenile defenders, and vested with full powers in a Board of Control, the members of which were to be appointed by the Governor, and with the advice and consent of the Senate. This Board assembled at the Governor's house at Indianapolis, April 3, 1867, and elected Charles F. Coffin, as president, and visited Chicago, so that a visit to tlie reform school there might lead to a fuller knowledge and guide their future proceedings. The House of Refuge at Cincinnati, and the Ohio State Reform school were also visited with this design ; and after full consideration of the varied governments of these institutions, the Board resolved to adopt the method known as the " family " system, which divides the inmates into fraternal bodies, or small classes, each class having a separate house, house father and family offices, - all under the control of a general superintendent. The system being adopted, the question of a suitable location next presented itself, and proximity to a large city being considered rather iand a most picturesque situation, and possessing streams of running water, was purchased, and on a plateau in its center a site for the proposed house of refuge was fixed.

The next movement was to decide upon a plan, which ultimately met the approval of the Governor. It favored the erection of one principal building, one house for a reading-room and hospital, two large mechanical shops and eight family houses. January 1, 1868, three family houses and work-shop were completed; in 1869 the main building, and one additional family house were added; but previous to this, in August, 1S6T, a Mr. Frank P. Ainsworth and his wife Avere appointed by the Board, superintendent and matron respectively, and temporary quarters placed at their disposal. In 1S69 they of course removed to the new building. This is 64 by 12S feet, and three stories high. In its basement are kitchen, laundry and vegetable cellar. The first floor is devoted to offices, visitors' room, house father and family dining-room and storerooms. The general superintendent's private apartments, private offices and five dormitories for officers occupy the second floor; while the third floor is given up to the assistant superintendent's apartment, library, chapel and hospital.

The family houses are similar in style, forming rectangular buildiiio's 36 by "58 feet. The basement of each contains a furnace room, a store-room and a large wash-room, which is converted into a play-room during inclement weather. On the first floor of each of these buildings are two rooms for the house father and his family, and a school-room, which is also convertible into a sittingroom for the boys. On the third floor is a family dormitory, a clothes-room and a room for the " elder brother," who ranks next to the house father. And since the reception of the first boy, from Hendricks county, January 23, 1868, the house plan has proved equally convenient, even as the management has proved efficient.

State Capitol

About 1832, at the suggestion of the architect who was to build the State House, with the concurrence of the commissioners, the block north of the State House square was reserved for sale, to^ await the determination of the Legislature as to the propriety of adding it to the public ground, making it an oblong square correspondtng to the form of the edifice to be erected. The plan drawn by Mr. Town, the artist, was adopted by the Legislature, and he was to complete the building by November, 1837, for $58,000. The building erected in pursuance of this contract served the State until within a few years; and now Indiana has a new, beautiful capitol, equal in proportions, style, etc., to those of her sister States, under headway.

Territorial Delegates

Wra. H. Harrison, delegate from the" Territory Northwest of the Ohio River;" resigned in 1800, succeeded by Wm. McMillan, who took his seat Nov. 24, 1800.