|
288 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY CHAPTER. XXII THE OHIO SOLDIERS AND SAILORS HOME By J. T. Haynes It was in the year 1885 that Gen. R. B. Brown, of Zanesville, while commander of the Department of Ohio, Grand Army of the Republic, learned through his trips over the state that the county infirmaries were housing a large number of veterans of the Civil war. A complete investigation revealed the fact that at that time there were close to 400 in these county houses. This state of affairs was most distressing to General Brown, and he at once sought aid of the governor of the state, Hon. Joseph B. Foraker, who, in 1886, soon after his inauguration into office, assured General Brown that he would do everything in his power to relieve this condition. Among the leaders of the G. A. R., a movement was at once started for the construction of a State Soldiers Home. At this time there were in the State Legislature two ex :Civil war soldiers, Hon. J. J. Sullivan, of Holmes County, now of Cuyahoga, in the Senate; and Hon. J. L. Cameron, of Union County, in the House. A bill to establish this home was entrusted to these two members of this Legislature, and by them was introduced. The presentation of this bill met with such universal approval that on the 30th of January an act was passed to establish "The Ohio Soldiers .and Sailors Home" for all honorably discharged soldiers and sailors who had served the United States Government in any of its wars, and who are citizens of Ohio at the time of making application for admission. Governor Foraker at once appointed a board of trustees of five members—I. F. Mack, of Sandusky; R. B. Brown, of Zanesville; Durbin Ward, of Lebanon ; W. P. Orr, of Piqua, and Thomas T. Dill, of Mansfield, receiving this honor. Before this -board could meet for organization, Durbin Ward died, and Thomas B. Paxton, of Cincinnati, was oappointed to fill this vacancy. This board organized as follows: I, F. Mack, president, and R. B. -Brown, secretary. The first task for these men was to determine where this institution should be located, and after touring the state in a private car of Jay O. Moss, of Sandusky, Erie County was selected as the most suitable place for the home. It was at a meeting of this board in July, 1886, that the selection of Sandusky was made, and in August of the same year a tract of ninety acres, one mile south of the corporate limits of the city, was selected as the site for the institution. This land was given to the state by the people of Sandusky, and in addition to this the city promised to construct a large stone sewer 289 - PICTURE OF SOLDIERS HOME 290 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY extending from the home grounds to the proper place at the head of the bay, to bring to the institution mains for water, gas and electricity, a switch from the Baltimore & Ohio Railway to the home grounds, and to construct two avenues from the city to the home, each 100 feet wide. It should be stated here that the obligations of the citizens of the county and city have all been carried out to the smallest item. It was then necessary that an architect and a landscape gardener be selected, and for these positions Henry C. Lindsay, of Zanesville, and Herman Haerline, of Cincinnati, received the appointments. The original plans called for buildings sufficient to accommodate at least 1,000 members, and all this required not only sufficient quarters for the housing of this number, but in addition there was a dining room and kitchen building, power house, laundry, bath house, hospital, chapel and administration building. All these buildings are of the best Ohio limestone and sandstone, and from an architectural point of view present a handsome appearance. These buildings are admirably designed, and are thoroughly built. The ground on which these buildings stand lies between fifty and fifty-five feet above the level of the lake, and is the highest point of land for miles around. The work on the buildings was begun in the fall of 1886. The dormitories for the members are designated by letter, the last one in the alphabetical line being Cottage "O." In addition to these, several dormitories bear the name of a member of the board of trustees, these being Cottages Mack, Dill, Cameron and Cline. The stone hospital was early seen to be too small, and a large frame hospital of eight buildings, all connected by corridor, was built directly in front and attached to the old hospital building and annex, thus making it all one large plant with a capacity of more than 300 beds. In connection with this building is the nurses' home, a house with modern accommodations for thirty women nurses. This building, too, is hitched onto the hospital plant, and is a part of the scheme. The home has a beautiful brown stone library building, which contains on its first floor a large collection of well selected books and magazines, while in the library room are files of newspapers from every county in the state. These papers are sent gratis to the home, and come every week, thus keeping each member of the institution in touch with just what is going on in his own home county. On the second floor of this building is the Grand Army Hall, where all the military societies of the home assemble. This home also has another imposing limestone building, known as the Assembly Hall. It contains a tastefully furnished auditorium seating between 600 and 700; is an imposing house with a red tile roof, and is mainly devoted to the holding of religious services, campfires and the presentation of plays and other entertainments for the amusement of the members. On the north side of the grounds is a row of residences, known as Officers' Row, and here reside the adjutant, the chief clerk, the chaplain, the engineer, the inspector and the chef. The commandant, and the matron, his wife, reside in the administration building, the sur- HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 291 PICTURE OF SOLDIERS MONUMENT 292 - HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY geon and his staff residing in quarters in the hospital building. In addition to the eighteen buildings for dormitories, there are the library, power house, bath house, laundry, postoffice, store house, guard house, conservatory, nurses' home, hospital (ten buildings), assembly hall, morgue, interurban station and barn, making in all forty-one buildings now on the grounds. The present officials are Gen. W.. R. Burnett, commandant, and his wife, Mary Burnett, matron; Capt. B. F. Atkinson, adjutant; Capt, Charles Lawrence, chief clerk ; Capt. F. G. Mitchell, chaplain; Maj. C. A. Reeser, inspector ; Maj. J. T. Haynes, surgeon ;.Capt. C. W. Metz, first assistant surgeon; Capt. G. F. Thompson, second assistant surgeon; Anna Archer, superintendent of nurses ; ,Col. A. A. Pomeroy, hospital treasurer ; John G. Horning, engineer. The home was opened on the 19th of November, 1888, and from that time up to the present many changes have taken place. Gen. R. B. Brown, of Zanesville, is the only surviving member of the original hoard of trustees. Gen. Manning F. Force, the first commandant, died in 1889, and was buried in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati. Gen. A. M, Anderson, the second commandant, died in 1901, his body resting in the cemetery at Delaware. Gen. Thomas McAnderson, the third commandant, resigned in 1904 and moved to Seattle, Washington, where he still lives. Gen. J. W. R. Cline, the fourth comm'a'ndant, resigned in 1909 and went back to his native city, Springfield. Gen. W. R. Burnett, the present commandant, has been in command since 1909. Prior to his appointment to his present position, the general was for many years one of the foremost public men in his own city, and spent his entire lifetime in Springfield; was always conspicuous in the politics of the city. He is a Jacksonian democrat of the old type. He was elected mayor of Springfield three times, and served for years on the important public boards of the town. This home has cared for an army of ex-soldiers since its opening, which now has covered a space of more than twenty-six years. Soldiers of the Indian wars, the Mexican war, the Civil war and the Spanish-American war here mingle together and enjoy the blessings and comforts that this good state and nation provide for all these worthy men. Nine thousand veterans, young and old, have been admitted to the open doors of this good home. Of this large number, 2,900 have gone to the eternal camping ground. At least one-half of the dead are shipped away to their old family burying ground. The cemetery here at the home shows that 1,365 Civil war soldiers, 47 Spanish-American soldiers, 8 Mexican war soldiers and 1 Indian war soldier have been buried on these grounds. The hospital of the home is the busy place of the institution, and as the members grow older and more feeble this work will be correspondingly increased. Everything that can be done for the sick and afflicted of the home is given them at this hospital. All the eye, ear, nose and throat work, the surgical work and the medical attention is here conducted. Of late years there has been an arrangement with the manage- HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY - 293 ment of the national homes whereby the members of this home suffering from any serious eye trouble, such as cataract, etc., can be admitted to the hospital of the Dayton home for operation and treatment, as this home employs an experienced oculist to take care of this work. It might be interesting to know that the daily routine in the hospital of the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Home embodies regular visits of the surgeons at least once each day, and that there were in the hospital the past winter 300 bed patients at one time. The records of the hospital further show that since the opening of this home more than 7,000 'members have been cared for in this building. A great many have wondered what these buildings will be used for after the soldier's are gone. That cannot be answered, for the end of the institution as a soldiers home will not be in evidence for some years to come. The ages among the Civil war veterans at the present time range from sixty-five to ninety-five. These grizzled old heroes are just a remnant of the most loyal army of soldiers that ever struggled for the possession of a great and vital principle, and with this army of General Grant, the struggle finally resolved itself, through mortal combat, into one titanic effort for freedom. The nation and state have not forgotten their soldiers, as is evidenced in the many splendid institutions erected and maintained solely for their comfort in afflicted and declining days. Millions of dollars have been given to the veterans of war in the form of pensions, but this amount, large as it may seem to some, is lost to sight when the thousands of young lives, snuffed out on the field of battle or sapped in the prison pens are brought to view. Thousands of wives were thus robbed of their husbands, countless numbers of children were left destitute, and sorrow and mourning was no stranger to any home. All praise to the loyal people of fair Columbia for the manner in which the ante bellum pledges have been redeemed and indelibly stamped upon the pages of her history. She will always have the respect of her children, and in the moment of her trials, their strong arms and hearts will be ever ready to support and defend. To the people of this land let the , motto ever be, "For what he was and all he dared, remember him today." |