Page:Portland, Oregon, its History and Builders volume 1.djvu/626



prices have ranged down to nothing. I have taken care of many who have never reimbursed me in any way, and where a patient dies penniless, I see that a decent burial is given,

"So far, the sanitorium has never paid expenses, and I have kept it up with my own money. At present I have twelve patients. To assist me, I have an- other sister, two trained nurses, two men and a cook. The grounds are ideal for a tuberculosis sanitorium, and I am willing to give what financial aid I can to anyone who will promote the establishment of such an institution."

THE "'HOMES."''

The Children's Home, familiarly called "The Home" by all old Portlanders, by general consent stands at the head of all the charities of this city, not only in point of age, but also in point of general interest. The Ladies' Relief Society, which holds the trust ownership of the home, and manages its activities, was organized March 20, 1867; so it is now forty- four years old. More than a whole generation of average lives has been born into the world, grown up, run its race, and passed into the great beyond since the good women of Portland first opened the doors of this noble charity to the orphans, and many times worse than orphaned children of the city and state. How much of heavenly blessing these women have thus accomplished, how many lives they have directed into paths of honor and usefulness, and how much of real benefit to the city and state they have thus wrought can never be estimated.

After four years' work and experience in helping the poor of the city, the society found that the demands for assistance and protection to abandoned chil- dren required a suitable building in which to gather these children, and take proper care of them. It was then decided to incorporate the society under the laws of the state, and accordingly articles of incorporation were drawn up by Judge William Strong, and executed by W. S. Ladd, Henry Failing, D. C. Lewis, Thomas L. Eliot, and J. C. Ainsworth. And at the same time, and by the same instrument, the following named persons, members of the Ladies' Relief Society, were declared to be members of the corporation, and entitled to elect its board of trustees, its members and officers, to wit:

Mrs. G. H. Atkinson, Mrs. E. Ainsworth, Mrs. J. C. Ainsworth, Mrs. E. B. Babbitt, Mrs. C. W. Burrage, Mrs. M. S. Burrell, Mrs. Lloyd Brooke, Mrs. E. R. S. Canby, Mrs. C. M. Carter, Mrs. J. H. Couch, Mrs. J. B. Couch, Mrs. T. L. Ehot, Mrs. J. R. Foster, Mrs. Thomas Frazer, Mrs. H. D. Green, Mrs. E. L. Griffiths, Mrs. C. H. Hopkins, Mrs. M. R. Hawkins, Mrs. A. Hurgren, Mrs. Amory Holbrook, Mrs. C. H. Lewis, Mrs. A. L. Lindsley, Mrs. W. Jackson, Mrs. George W. Murray, Mrs. P. J. Mann, Mrs. D. MacLeay, Mrs. S. G. Reed, Mrs. W. Morton, Mrs. R. R. Thompson, Mrs. A. E. Wait, Mrs. W. Wadhams, and Mrs. S. M. Smith — thirty-two ladies, all of whom have passed on but seven.

The first purchase of ground for a building is described in the minutes of the society as "two lots and a small house across the creek, have been ofifered for two thousand dollars, which business men think cheap and most desirable for our purpose." This property is now occupied by the Portland Women's Union, and the two lots without the buildings thereon, at the corner of F. and 14th streets, is now worth about fifty thousand dollars. After discussing the matter, the ladies decided to make the purchase, "the society paying down the thousand dol- lars we have at interest, and borrowing the other thousand until we can make it, either by working for it, or by begging." At the next regular meeting August I, 1871, the committee reported "that twelve gentlemen had contributed one hundred dollars each toward the purchase of the lots ; thus setting us entirely free from debt, with a surplus of $200 to carry on our work." And that was the start of the Children's Home.

The little house was too small to provide for the children already on the hands of the society; so Rev. T. L. Eliot was again set to work to raise money