Hayward’s New England Gazetteer (1839) page 189
Click on the image to view a larger, bitmap (.bmp) image suitable for printing.

HOME PAGE ... REFERENCE PAGE ... THIS GAZETTEER’S PAGE



Click on the image above for a larger, bitmap image suitable for printing.


NEW ENGLAND GAZETTEER.

the Asylum four or five years, in
which time an intelligent child will
acquire a knowledge of the common
operations of arithmetic, of geogra-
phy, grammar, history, biography,
and of written language, so .as to
enable him to understand the Scrip-
tures, and books written in a famil-
iar style. He will of course be able
to converse with others by writing,
and to manage his own affairs as a
farmer or mechanic. There are
workshbps connected with the in-
stitution, in which the boys have
the opportunity of learning a trade,
and many of them, by devoting four
hours each day to this object, be-
come skillful workmen, and when
they leave the Asylum find no dif-
ficulty in supporting themselves.
The annual charge to each pupil is
one hundred dollars.

“ The department of instruction
is'under the control of the principal
of the institution, who has also a
general oversight of the other de-
partments. The pupils are distrib-
uted into eight or nine classes, the
immediate care of which is com-
mitted to the same number of as-
sistant instructors. When out of
school, the pupils are under the care
of a steward and matron.”

Retreat for the Insane. “ This
institution is situated on a command-
ing, eminence, at the distance of a
mile and a quarter, in a southwest-
erly direction, from the State House
in Hartford. It was opened April
1, 1824. The elevation overlooks
an ample range of fertile country,
presenting on every side a most in-
teresting landscape, adorned with
every beauty of rural scenery,
that can be found in rich and culti-
vated fields, arid meadows of unri-
valled verdure ; in extensive groves
and picturesque groups of forest,
fruit and ornamental trees; and
above all, in Hie charming diversi-
ty of level, sloping and undulating
surfaces, terminating by distant
hills, and more distant mountains.

“ This site was selected as one
pre-eminently calculated to attract
and engage the attention, and soothe
and appease the morbid fancies and
feelings of the patient whose fac-
ulties are not sunk below or raised
above the sphere p£ relations that
originally existed. And if he is
not beyond the reach of genial sen-
sations, connected with external
objects, he will undoubtedly feel the
conscious evidence that this situa
tion most happily' unites the tran-
quilizing influence of seclusion and
retirement, with the cheering effect
of an animated picture of active
: life, continually passing in review
before his eyes,- while himself is
remote, and secure from the annoy-
ance of its bustle and noise.

“The edifice for the accommoda-
tion of the patients, and those who
have the care of them, is construct-
ed of unhewn free-stone, covered
with a smooth, white, water-proof
cement. Its style of architecture
is perfectly plain and simple, and
interests only by its symmetrical
beauty, and perhaps by the idea it
impresses of durability and strength,
derived from the massy solidity of
its materials. Yet notwithstanding
these, its general aspect is remark-
ably airy and cheerful, from the
amplitude of its lights, and the briL
liant whiteness of its exterior. The
whole building is divided into com-
modious and spacious apartments,
adapted to various descriptions of
cases, according to their sex, nature
and disease, habits of life, and the
wishes of their friends. The male
and female apartments are entire-
ly separated, and either sex is com-
pletely secluded from the view of
the other. Rooms are provided in
both male and female apartments
for the accommodation of the sick,
where they are removed from any
annoyance, and can continually re-
ceive the kind attentions of their
immediate relations and friends.
Attached to the building are about
seventeen acres of excellent land,






PREVIOUS PAGE ... NEXT PAGE

This page was written in HTML using a program written in Python 3.2 and image-to-HTML text generated by ABBYY FineReader 11, Professional Edition.