DEPENDENT AND DELINQUENT CHILDREN.

INSTITUTIONS IN NEW YORK IN 1877.

BY W. P. LETCHWORTH.

ORPHAN ASYLUMS.

THERE was a time in the history of New York State when an incorporated orphan asylum did not exist. When at length, through the noble efforts of Mrs. Isabelle Graham and other ladies of New York city, it came into being in 1807, under the name of the Orphan Asylum Society of the city of New York, its benefactions were restricted to the orphan class only. Soon the word orphan became expanded in its significations to include half-orphans, and later, to embrace destitute children having both parents living, many of whom were in a condition yet more unfortunate than orphanage.

In 1817, a work in the interest of Roman Catholic children of this class was begun under the auspices of what was then known as the Roman Catholic Benevolent Society, which has since attained considerable magnitude, and is at present conducted in three different asylums by the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum Society in the city of New York. An additional branch has within the past few years been established by this society on the Boland farm, at Peekskill, for the older boys.

In 1826, a similar project was undertaken in Brooklyn, under like auspices, which now includes the large establishments for both sexes in that city under direction of the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum Society.

The work thus inaugurated was taken up later in other parts of the State by ladies imbued with an earnest missionary spirit. As early as 1830, Mrs. Sophia D. Bagg of Utica made efforts in this direction, which culminated in the Utica Orphan Asylum; and Mrs. Orissa Healy, in Albany, projected a similar work, out of which was established the Albany Orphan Asylum, in 1831.

In 1833, the Troy Orphan Asylum was organized, and two years later the Protestant Orphan Asylum of Brooklyn. In the same year the Asylum for the Relief of Half-Orphan and Destitute Children in the city of New York commenced operations, since which time an extension of this same work has taken place, resulting in the establishment of the following institutions: The Buffalo Orphan Asylum at Buffalo, in 1836; the Rochester Orphan Asylum, in 1837; the Onondaga County Orphan Asylum at Syracuse, in 1841; the Leak and Watts Orphan House at New York, in 1843; the Hudson Orphan Relief Association in the same

year; the Society for the Relief of Destitute Children of Seamen at West New Brighton, Staten Island, in 1846; the Orphan Home and Asylum of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the city of New York, in 1851; the Oswego Orphan Asylum at Oswego, and the Cayuga Asylum for Destitute Children at Auburn, in 1852; the Poughkeepsie Orphan House and Home for the Friendless at Poughkeepsie, in 1857; the Jefferson County Orphan Asylum at Watertown, in 1859; the Union Home and School for the Benefit of the Children of Volunteers at New York, in 1861; the Newburg Home for the Friendless at Newburg, and the Ontario County Orphan Asylum at Canandaigua, in 1862; the Davenport Institution for Female Orphan Children at Bath, in 1836; the Sheltering Arms, on the family system, at New York, in 1864, and the Southern Tier Orphan Home at Elmira in the same year.

In 1869, a work of great efficiency, though on a small scale, was inaugurated at Cooperstown, Otsego County, by Miss Susan Fenimore Cooper, by the establishment, in the interests of neglected and dependent children, of the Orphan House of the Holy Saviour. In the same year the Susquehanna Valley Home was established at Binghamton, for the special purpose of accommodating the dependent children of Broome and several adjoining counties, by means of which the system of keeping children in the poor-houses of the several counties was done away with. In 1870, the Madison County Orphan Asylum was established, the late Gerrit Smith having donated a site and building to this object. A work on a sinall scale for children of this class is conducted by the Lockport Home of the Friendless, and the Plattsburg Home of the Friendless.

A separate endeavor was made on behalf of destitute German children, by the establishment, under Roman Catholic auspices, of the German Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum in Buffalo, in 1852, the St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum in New York, in 1858, and the St. Joseph's Asylum in Rochester, in 1862. A like work was undertaken by the German Lutheran Church, resulting in the establishment of the Evangelica! Lutheran St. John's Orphan Home at Buffalo, in 1864, which now com prises two departments, one for boys on a large farm at Sulphur Springs, near the city, and one for girls in the city. In 1866, the Wartburg farın school was established for German children at Mount Vernon, Westchester County, also under the auspices of the Lutheran Church.

As early as 1836, the Association for the Benefit of Colored Orphans was formed in the city of New York, and in 1868, the Howard Colored Orphan Asylum was organized in Brooklyn.

In 1855 a work growing out of the missionary labor among the Indians on the Cattaraugus Indian reservation, one which strongly appeals to the sympathy of the benevolent, and based on the principle of justice, was begun under the name of the Thomas Asylum for Orphan and Destitute Indian Children.

In addition to the work already mentioned in New York and Brookly for the welfare of Roman Catholic children, in which should be included

that of the Sisters of Mercy in Brooklyn, organized in 1855, and the Orphan Asylum of the Holy Trinity, Brooklyn, founded in 1861, and, in New York, the House of Mercy, and the St. Stephen's Home for Children; the latter established in 1868, an extensive enterprise has been carried on, mainly by sisterhoods of the Roman Catholic Church in other parts of the State. Under their zealous labors, institutions now in prosperous operation, were established in the sequence here shown: At Utica, the St. John's Female Orphan Asylum, in 1834; at Rochester, the St. Patrick's Female Orphan Asylum, in 1842; at Albany, the St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum, in 1845; at Buffalo, the St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum, and the St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asylum, in 1849; at Troy, the St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum, in 1850; at Syracuse, the St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum, in 1852; at Dunkirk, the St. Mary's Orphan Asylum, in 1857; and at Rochester, the St. Mary's Boys' Orphan Asylum, in 1864. The Troy Catholic Orphan Asylum for Boys was established in 1850, and the St. Vincent's Male Orphan Asylum at Albany was founded in 1854. Both are managed by the Roman Catholic Order of Christian Brothers.

In connection with the charitable labors of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Brooklyn, Utica, Rochester, and Buffalo, a large work on behalf of unfortunate and destitute children is being conducted by the church charity foundations and church homes in these places. An important work, under the auspices of the same church, based on the family system, was established in St. Johnland, Long Island, by the late Reverend Doctor Muhlenberg. The House of the Good Shepherd, in Rockland County, is another fine illustration of this feature of the work of the Protestant Episcopal Church. A work for destitute children under similar auspices is also conducted on a limited scale in Albany.

The sisterhoods of this church are likewise variously engaged in New York in an extensive work for children, in connection with the relieving of general distress. Among the institutions under their charge may be mentioned the Shelter for Respectable Girls, the Babies' Shelter, and the St. Barnabas House. A work of a similar character i conducted by ladies of Brooklyn under the name of the Association for the Aid of Friendless Women and Children. The Sheltering Arms and the Brooklyn Nursery are doing a beneficent work in caring for infants.

In 1860, a grant of property was obtained from the city of New York by the Hebrew Benevolent Society, and a work on behalf of children of Hebrew parentage was successfully undertaken.

INSTITUTION FOR DEAF MUTE CHILDREN.

In 1818 the attention of the benevolent was directed to the education of the deaf and dumb, and an institution for their instruction was established in New York, called the New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb. From 1818 to 1857 this was the only organization in the State devoted to this object. In 1857, the Roman Catholic order of the Sisters of Charity opened an institution at Buffalo, for the

same class, called the Le Couteulx St. Mary's. Since this time the work has been carried on in several other places on a smaller scale, in New York city, in Rome, in Rochester, and at Fordham.

INSTITUTION FOR BLIND CHILDREN.

The New York Institution for the Blind, was begun in 1832, originated in the benevolent efforts of individuals in the city of New York, but receives from the State a stipulated sum for each pupil. The State Institution for the same class, located in Batavia was established in 1865, and is under a board of Trustees appointed by the Government, and is supported entirely by the State.

REFORMATORIES FOR JUVENILE DELINQUENTS.

The New York House of Refuge was established in 1814 by the Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents, in the city of New York, and was removed to Randall's Island, in 1836.

In 1844, the Western House of Refuge was established at Rochester, for boys, but now have a department devoted to girls. In 1851, the New York Juvenile Asylum was established; in 1862, the New York Catholic Protectory was begun in Westchester, and in 1864 a similar institution in Buffalo. In 1869, the ship Mercury was purchased by the municipal authorities and converted into a Training School for refractory boys, but the enterprise was abandoned in 1875.

INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS AND LODGING-HOUSES.

In 1835, the American Female Reform and Guardian Society was established in New York, which was reorganized under the name of the American Female Guardian Society, in 1849, which in 1853 under special powers, established industrial schools for their subjects.

In 1847, the Children's Aid Society was formed for the establishment of Lodging Houses and Night Schools in the west section of the city. In connection with these, for the benefit of homeless children, a system of transplanting was inaugurated, by which means, up to 1875, there were placed in homes, mainly at the West, nearly forty thousand children. This society has also established twenty-one day industrial schools and thirteen night schools, in which an incalculable benefit has accrued to poor street children, who have been partly fed, clothed, and instructed. A peculiar feature of the work of this society, also, is its girls' lodging-house, in which homeless girls are taught to use the sewing-machine, and are helped in various ways to recover the lost threads of a better destiny. About the time that the work of the Children's Aid Society was inaugurated in New York, an undertaking was begun by the ladies of Brooklyn, which led to the organization of the Brooklyn Industrial School Association, under which some four industrial schools, in different parts of Brooklyn, have been established, as also an orphan house, or temporary asylum. In 1866, an association of public-spirited gentlemen established in that city the Children's Aid Society, which comprises two lodging-houses and two industrial schools.

A correspondingly laudable endeavor to save neglected youth of this class, though on a smaller scale, has been put forth by Roman Catholic citizens of Brooklyn and New York; lodging-houses in each city being conducted by the societies of St. Vincent de Paul.

The work of gathering into industrial schools the wretched children from populous centers, washing them, attiring them when needed, instructing them in the elementary branches, giving them a dinner, teaching them sewing, and sending them to their homes at night, with such moral instruction as faithful teachers may impart, has not been confined to the cities of New York and Brooklyn, but it has also been carried on in Williamsburg, Albany, Troy, and Rochester. In New York, too, the Ladies' Home Missionary Society, the Five Points House of Industry, the Wilson's Industrial School, the Howard Mission for Little Wanderers, and others, are engaged in this work.

ASYLUMS FOR INFANTS AND FOUNDLINGS.

In 1852, the St. Mary's Asylum for Widows and Foundlings was organized in Buffalo, by the Sisters of Charity, a benevolent citizen having donated land for that purpose. This was followed by the establishment of the Nursery and Child's Hospital in New York city, in 1854; in 1865, by the New York Infant Asylum, and in 1869 by the extensive Foundling Asylum of the Sisters of Charity in New York City. The Nursery and Child's Hospital has a large country branch at West New Brighton. The Infant Asylum conducts its work in two different localities in New York city, and has likewise a country branch at Flushing.

INSTITUTIONS FOR THE CARE OF IDIOTS.

New York was the second State in the Union to make provision for the instruction of teachable idiots. A private school was opened in 1848, in Massachusetts. This State began the work in 1851, at Albany. The New York State Institution was incorporated and placed under the charge of Dr. H. B. Wilbur, the founder of the private school at Barre, Massachusetts. It was removed in 1855 to Syracuse, its present location. A large school for the instruction of idiots was subsequently opened on Randall's Island.

INDUSTRIAL HOMES FOR GIRLS.

These homes are mainly conducted by Roman Catholic sisterhoods. The first was established in New York city, in 1856, by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, where young girls were taught plain sewing, embroidery, dress and cloak-making, the use of the different sewing-machines, and domestic duties. A like institution was established in Rochester, in 1867, by the Sisters of Mercy, and another in the same place in 1873, by Sister Hieronyma, who took up this work after founding the St. Mary's Hospital in that city. An Industrial Home is also in operation at Albany and at Brooklyn, both managed by the Sisters of Charity, and also the St. Joseph's Industrial School of New York, a branch of the Institution of Mercy.