Page:Portland, Oregon, its History and Builders volume 1.djvu/615



CHAPTER XXII.

i860 — 1910.

The Kind Hearts and Willing Hands — Portland's Benevolences — Hospitals, Homes, and Noble Women.

"Think not, the good,

The gentle, deeds of mercy thou hast done,

Shall be forgotten all ; the poor, the pris'ner

The fatherless, the friendless, and the widow,

Who daily own the bounty of the hand.

Shall cry to heav'n, and pull a blessing on thee."

"To the blind, the deaf, the lame.

To the ignorant and vile. Stranger, captive, slave, they came.

With a welcome and a smile. Help to all they did dispense.

Like the gifts of Providence, To the evil and the good."

If there is one thing more than another out of a multitude of distinguishing characteristics that the people of Portland may be justly proud of, it is the abounding charities of the city, and the noble women who manage them.

The two great hospitals were founded practically about the same time, both being commenced in 1874. However, Bishop Morris, the founder of the Good Samaritan Hospital, purchased the site and commenced raising funds to build the hospital in 1873. And assuming that to be a commencement of the good work, the Good Samaritan will be noticed first.

THE GOOD SAMARITAN HOSPITAL.

An official report states that the Good Samaritan Hospital of Portland, Ore- gon, was founded in 1874 by Rt. Rev. B. Wistar Morris, then missionary bishop of Oregon and Washington territory. In 1873, three and a half acres of land were purchased from Dr. R. Glisan for $1,500, the remaining portion of an acre from B. Goldsmith for $800. In 1875 another block was purchased from Capt. Flanders ; this was bought on the installment plan, and when the bishop found that the increased expenses of the place made the payments a burden, Capt. Flanders, with a ready mind to give, and always at the Bishop's right hand, gave the hospital the rest of the money due him.

An old receipt shows that the fence cost $92, $4 of which was for the foun- dation of the arch at the entrance of the grounds on 226. and Lovejoy streets.