By the year 1830, the inflnx of paupers and invalid persons was so great that the Governor called upon the Legislature to take steps toward regulating the matt,er, 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 field of work was small at first, but it has grown into great usefulness.

In behalf of the blind, the first effort was made by James M. Ray, about 1846. Throngh his effbrts William H. Churchman came from Kentucky with blind pupils and gave exhibitions 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 thern 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 February, 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 outfit 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 by 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. The 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 the following persons, friends and associates of my blind daughter, Margaret Louisa, the sum of $100 to each, to wit, viz: Melissa and Phoebe Garrettson, Frances Cundiff, Dallas Newland, Naomi Unthunk, and a girl whose name before marriage was Rachel Martin, her husband's name not recollected. The balance of my estate, after paying the expenses of 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 for the aged and helpless, nor an hospital wherein the diseases of the eye may be treated, proceed as follows:

1. The school year commences the first "Weduesday after the 10th day of September, and closes on the last Wednesday in June, showing a session of 40 weeks, and a vacation term of 84 days.

2. Applicants for admission must be from 9 to 21 years of age; but the trustees have power to admit blind students under 9 or over 21 years of age; but this power is extended only in very extreme cases.

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

4. No 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 4-0 weeks' session.

5. An abundant and good supply of comfortable clothing for both summer and winter wear, is an indispensable adjunct of the pupil.

6. The owner's name must be distinctly marked on each article of clothing.

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.

9. Friends of the pupils accompanying them to the institution, or visiting them thereat, cannot enter as boarders or lodgers.

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.


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 the Governor and Secretary of State, ex-officio,and Revs. Henry Ward Beecher, Phineas D. Gurley, L. H. Jameson, Dr. Dunlap, Hon. James Morrison and Rev. Matthew Simpson.   They rented the large building on the southeast corner of Illinois and Maryland streets, and opened the first State asylum there in 1844; but in 1846, a site for a permanent building just eastof 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 the offices, study rooms, the quarters of officers
and teachers, the pupils' dormitories and the library.   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 several school-rooms.   Another structure known as the " rear building " contains the chapel and another set of school-rooms.   It is two stories high, the center being 50 feet square and the wings 40 by 20 feet.   In addition to these there 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 ornamental 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 Win. 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.

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.

The wings of the main building are four stories high, and entirely devoted to wards for patients, being capable of accommodating 500.

The grounds of the institution comprise 160 acres, and, like those of the institute for the deaf and dumb, are beautifully laid out.

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. Not-withstanding these little defects in arrangement, it presents a very imposing appearance, and shows what may be termed a frontage of 624 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 office, employes' apartments and sewing rooms. In rear of this again is the engine-house, 60 by 50 feet, containing all the paraphernalia for 6nch an establishment, such as boilers, pumping works, fire plugs, hose, and above, on the second floor, the laundry and apartments of male employes.


The first penal institution of importance is known as the " State Prison South," located at Jeffersonville, and was the only prison until 1859.   It was established in 1821.   Before that time it was customary to resort to the old-time punishment of the whipping-post.   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 affray was fired at and severely wounded by a convict named Williams, Messrs. Patterson  Hensley, and Jos. R. 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 o'f ground, and comprises the cell houses and work-shops, 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 unventilated 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 efforts 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 6ome 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 1874, 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 Rodifer, 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 tor and received an appropriation of $20,000 to meet its expenses, while the contrary is the case at the Michigan City prison.


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 Jefiersonville 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 Jeffersonville prison; and, strange to say, by its economical working has not only met the expenses of the administration, bat 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.