A HISTORY OF RECORD STREET HOME FOR THE AGED
Gleaned from Annual Reports of the Board of Managers by Nancy Lesure,
April 2004
Part 1 - The Beginning
In the 1890s, "a small band of women" recognized an unmet need in
Frederick: some provision for "persons of respectable parentage and good
character, who, in advanced age, by reason of the death of their natural
protectors, by loss of fortune, by physical infirmity, or other inability to care
for themselves, are unprovided with the means of obtaining the comfort and
security so necessary for the repose of mind and body which should ever
attend the declining years of life." In their hearts they cherished a desire
"that an independent, wholly nonsectarian home might be established for the
relief of such cases."
On January 5, 1892, they met together at the home of Mrs. Ann
Grahame Ross on Record Street and began to formalize their dream. A large,
handsome home on Record Street was offered by Mr. Charles Worthington
Ross and Mrs. Cornelia Ringgold Ross, his wife, and Mrs. Ann Grahame
Ross, "the latter lady adding to her generous gift the sum of $2,500 toward
an Endowment Fund. With this auspicious start, they organized into a
"corporate body" as The Home for the Aged of Frederick City, Md. A Board
of Managers consisting of 20 women and a Board of Trustees composed of
six well-known business men were chosen, and a Charter was prepared. It
was passed by the Md. State Legislature during its January session 1892,
whereupon officers were chosen by the Managers. Ann Grahame Ross,
widow, was elected president and Mrs. James Hood (Margaret E. Scholl
Hood), vice president.
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Part 2 - How the Finances and the Facilities Grew
Start-up money was needed. First, the ladies sent out notices to clergy
and the press, and a Soliciting Committee was appointed to receive
subscriptions from members of the community. So successful were they that
they had "the pleasant duty of handing to the Treasurer a very handsome
sum of money to be used in defraying the expenses of necessary alterations
and repairs," and helping to equip and support the home for the first year.
Near-neighbor Dr. William Crawford Johnson agreed to serve as Home
Physician, a role he was to play for 50 years. Donations of furniture by the
first two residents "enabled them to furnish the back parlor, dining room,
kitchen and three bed rooms," and other rooms were furnished by various
donors as memorials to loved ones.
A gift most touching in its significance is that of a
handsome bronze clock surmounting a marble pedestal, which
was bought with the treasured savings of James Gittinger, a
bright and beloved little child who was 'called home' in
September 1892, aged 7 years.
A Harvest Home festival on Oct. 25 began many years of annual Donation
Days:
Here again tender chords were touched as we saw how
fraternally the hand of young and old; rich and poor; men and
women; Jew and Gentile; Protestant and Catholic, had joined in
the blessed work. No less touching had been some of the other
gifts of treasures long-hoarded, and sanctified with memories of
dear ones long gone. One daughter gave a gold half-eagle, the
last gift of a beloved mother; an aged lady sent a handsome
quilt, the work of her own hands; another quilt ...was sent as the
last labor of a dear grandmother long with God.
The next day, two so-called "inmates" moved in, together with a
"Matron." It had been decided that all fees and all donations over $100
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should be added to an Endowment Fund, the residents to have the interest on
all money donated by them for their private expenses. Mrs. Margaret
Delaplaine and Miss Hester A. Posey thus added $1500 to the Endowment
Fund. Miss Posey would live in the home for the next 24 years, almost
reaching her 94th birthday.
At the end of 1892 the Endowment Fund totaled $4,650, including a
donation of $2500 from Board President Ann Grahame Ross. Most of it was
invested in 3% certificates at Frederick Town Savings Institution; the rest in
a mortgage. Other contributions totaling about $1500 were all spent.
A Committee of 12 Monthly Visitors, each to act at least two months
a year, was established by the 1892 by-laws. They were to visit each week,
be a liason with the matron, and "provide all food, fuel, lights, and domestic
service required during their period of care." Monthly donations of supplies
and money from many individuals were listed in the Annual Reports for
many years.
Antiques were donated for the Home to sell. In 1894 a "tasteful
cabinet" was presented by an All Saints' Sunday School class for the express
purpose of exhibiting articles to be sold for the Home's benefit.
The Home continued to depend on Annual Subscriptions, Donations
for the Month, and, as decreed by the by-laws, Donation Day, or Harvest
Home Day, the end of October. Donations of food, supplies, and services as
well as money were forthcoming. In 1897, for example, the monthly list
included: 1 chamber set, 9 thermometers, a screw driver and hammer, 1
gallon of oysters, 2 shad, 1 doz. window chinks, 1 doz. white aprons,
kindling wood, 41 cents, a rocking chair, and Pon hoss. [Does anyone
remember Pon hoss?] Donation Day gifts included 13 yards of towelling,
milk for 6 months, and drugs for the year. Later there were bushels of
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potatoes and pears; pounds of sugar, coffee, and other staples; chickens and
hams; and all manner of canned goods. (In 1917 a Dr. Greenawalt gave
Dandelion pills & peroxide.) Donation Day would continue into the 1960s.
In February of 1894 a committee of Managers, accompanied by Mr.
Charles Ross, visited Annapolis to ask the Legislature of Maryland for an
Improvement Fund for the Home. "In April we received the welcome
announcement that an appropriation of $1,500.00 per year for two years had
been made," strictly for improvements to the grounds and building. In 1896
the State money was used for a first-class hot water heating apparatus, "a
means of comfort and luxury throughout the building."
In 1896 there was an anonymous gift of $200 for entrance money "for
some destitute person of Protestant Episcopal Church affiliation." By this
time, the endowment fund was $6,850. The next year the fund received a
significant boost when Mrs. Eliza McGowan Nicholas left a "most
munificent legacy" to enhance it. Mrs. Nicholas, born in 1814, had grown up
in Frederick but lived her married life in Geneva, NY. Long a childless
widow, she had traveled extensively but returned to her roots. She died in
1896 at the Carlin House (on the corner of Court and West Church Streets),
was buried in the Reformed graveyard, and was later moved to Mt. Olivet.
The Trustees of the Home for the Aged were the residual legatees of her
large estate; the newspaper estimated that the legacy would be more than
$25,000. It was. The Home received over $2,000 in cash and $45,000 in
securities, including railroad and gas company bonds [Admin. Accts. JKW#2,
p. 477 & #3, p. 61]. As a tribute, the Home paid $100 for a portrait of Mrs.
Nicholas, which was hung in the parlor. Her executor was one of the original
Trustees of the Home, Edward S. Eichelberger. On his death in 1914, the
Managers recorded their gratitude to him:
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"The crowning work that he accomplished for us was the
obtaining of the Eliza McGowan Nicholas Endowment Fund,
this being the result of his professional advice as solicited by
Mrs. Nicholas. Mr. Eichelberger's name is, therefore, very
closely bound up with the prosperity and beneficence of this
Home and must ever be held in grateful remembrance by all
who have its interests at heart."
.
Also in 1897, on the May 17 birthday of deceased Board President
Ann Grahame Ross, a portrait of her was presented and hung in a
"conspicuous place." Later, in 1906, a large picture of the second Board
President, Mrs. Caroline (Delaplaine) Markell (served 1897-1905), was
presented by her sons. It was she who presided over the expansion of the
Home and staff made possible by Mrs. Nicholas' generosity.
In 1899 the Cemetery Company gave the Home two lots in Mt. Olivet,
and two more were purchased. By then there were 11 inmates and many
applications. The need to enlarge had been recognized the previous year,
when the adjoining Wolfe property was purchased and then rented. It was
renovated and rented again in 1903, but in 1906 the Board decided it would
cost too much to annex it and it should be sold, which was done in 1907.
There was another way to enlarge. They owned a vacant lot north of
the Home. A new Annex was built there, ready for occupancy in 1899, a 3story structure adjacent to and conforming with the main building and
containing 6 new rooms, bathrooms on each floor, and an elevator.
In 1900 there was a waiting list and there were still several vacant
rooms, but there were not enough funds to fill them. In 1902, the yard was
graded and an orchard was set out.
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By 1905 the Home accommodated 16 inmates but had more than 100
applicants, some from as far away as NC and KY. The next year a large
room on the third floor was made into two rooms.
In 1911 the coffers were enriched by two "noble benefactors." Board
President Mrs. Joseph Baker gave $5,000 for the Frances L. Trail
Endowment Fund in memory of her aunt, and a board member, Miss
Virginia Brunner, bequeathed $3,000. The following year Mrs. Baker gave
two handsome parlor chandeliers.
In 1913 Mrs. Margaret E. S. Hood died, leaving the home $5,000,
restricted to the use of members of her own communion. Mrs. Hood was a
charter board member, serving as Vice President under Ann Grahame Ross.
The Woman's College had been renamed Hood in her honor. A room on the
ground floor of the Annex was named the Hood Room. Endowed rooms
were marked in 1914: Ann Grahame Ross, Mr. & Mrs. Charles W. Ross, Sr.,
Mrs. Nicholas, Mrs. Hood, Mrs. Baker in memory of her aunt, Miss Frances
Trail.
Other Funds began to be established. The most enduring of all was the
Stout Fund. In 1919 Miss Julia Stout of NYC gave $25 for desserts and
other special treats for the residents. She must have continued to make
contributions. (Louise Talley remembers that she gave Worthington Pump
stock.) By 1921 the fund was also giving each of the ladies $1.00. Miss
Stout died in 1927, and in 1930 the Home began celebrating her April
birthday with a party. The Stout Fund bought 25 tons of coal in 1942. In
1948 it provided each resident with $2 at Christmas and $1 on Miss Stout's
birthday. The Stout Fund is still used today "for the enjoyment of the ladies."
In 1924 the Virginia Markell Baker Fund was created by a gift of
$5,000 from her husband, Mr. Joseph Dill Baker, for repairs and
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maintenance, and the Laura Yerkes Lewis Fund was established to buy
dainties for the very sick. Mrs. Baker had been President of the Board of
Managers since 1906 and would continue in that role until 1934 and as
Honorary President until her death in 1941--a span of 35 years. Her husband
was a prominent Frederick banker and philanthropist. Mrs. Lewis was the
wife of a Trustee of the Home, R. Rush Lewis.
In 1925 Mr. & Mrs. Baker gave $50,000 to be used in enlarging the
usefulness of the home. A building committee was formed to decide the best
way to use it. The following year they decided to build an annex facing
Bentz St. connected by a long hall-way extending direct to the dining room
and also through a lovely sun parlor and other important additional rooms. It
was also necessary to enlarge the dining room, make changes in the Matron's
room, and place stationary wash-stands in all of the old bedrooms and
closets in many of them. Ultimately the Baker Wing would have 12
bedrooms, 2 of them for nurses, 2 large bathrooms, and porches overlooking
the park and the mountains.
The Bakers found that more money was needed, and "with
characteristic generosity they immediately gave another $50,000 to complete
the work and add to the endowment fund." Rooms in the annex were to be
furnished by donors, who would also supply towels, sheets, and pillows.
[Mr. Baker took a further step in the Home's interest. In June of 1926
he offered to reimburse the City $13,825, the purchase price of two
properties on Bentz Street next to the Armory, with the stipulation that the
buildings would be demolished and the ground made part of a municipal
park, and "with the further provision that no buildings shall ever be built
upon this park," leaving "an unobstructed view of the park for the Home for
the Aged." He also asked that the stone material from the buildings be
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delivered to the grounds of the Home "for their use if they so desire it,
without charge."]
The Baker Wing was finished in 1927, increasing the capacity of the
Home to 31. By 1928 it was full, with 29 women and 2 men, leaving no
room for an infirmary. Mr. & Mrs. Holmes Baker presented pictures of the
Joseph Bakers to be hung in the new sun room, which was furnished with
green wicker.
The Depression took its toll, and early in 1933 the financial condition
of the Home became serious. Housekeeping checks were reduced, salaries
cut, menus simplified. An appeal was made to Women's Rural Clubs of the
county. There were 27 inmates, and a waiting list of seven. A room in the
Baker wing vacated by a death was designated the infirmary.
Due to financial need, fund raisers were planned. In 1936 a June
garden party and cake sale was "literally blown indoors" but still raised
enough to be helpful. A card party in 1938 netted $200 and another in 1940
brought $276.50. A gift of $25,000 in 1938 from the Etzler Estate was most
timely.
Virginia Markell Baker, a widow since 1938, died in 1941. The
following February, as "an outward sign of an inward affection," the Board
presented the Home with a picture of her and a memorial plaque in a
ceremony attended by the Board members, Trustees and their wives, Mrs.
Baker's daughter and family, and the Home doctors and their families. A tea
in the sunroom with all the residents followed.
Ill health forced Dr. Johnson, the Home Physician, to retire in 1942,
after 50 years of service. Succeeding him was Dr. Charles H. Conley, Sr.,
who had been assisting since 1926 as Examining Physician for admissions.
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World War II brought more uncertainty about the financial status, and
consequently there were no new admissions in 1943. The Purchasing
Committee had to work out rationing points for the family. To help out, the
Matron and ladies canned 249 quarts of vegetables and 148 pints of jellies
and preserves. Dr. Conley's services as Home Physician were free. Dr.
Everhart offered to do dental work free of charge, too, but died the following
year.
In 1944 The Buckingham School Board gave a generous supply of
processed foods, plus $2,000, creating a fund to be used for maintenance of
the Home. Joseph Dill Baker and his brothers had established this industrial
school for underprivileged boys in 1898. Long a trustee of the Home for the
Aged and "our greatest benefactor," he had died in 1938, leaving a quarter of
his estate to the school. The Buckingham School Fund was certainly
established to honor him. Annual gifts of $2,000 to $4,000 were repeated
for 10 years. The fund provided much-needed money for on-going
maintenance and repairs until 1954, when it was closed and the balance
transferred to a Joseph D. Baker Fund, opened 16 November 1954 with a
donation of $1,000. This Baker Fund, added to frequently by the Baker
family, continues to be an invaluable source of support.
In 1945 an Infirmary Fund was started. A large card party held in June
of 1947 raised over $1,000 for this fund. The public bought tickets and
donated prizes, and "even the draymen and auctioneers gave their services
without cost. The members of the family contributed their handiwork... 48
tables of card players enlivened the occasion." Two years later, a tea and
sale benefited the same fund.
Monthly donations and Donation Days continued, but help with food
came from other sources as well. In 1947, 100 cases of cereal were sent by
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Mr. Charles Birdsong of General Mills Corp. In 1948 tomatoes were raised
in the garden along with the flowers. In 1949 the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture
came on the scene, donating food through the Md. State Dept. of Budget and
Procurement. This supply of so-called "donable food" continued through
1961. Most of it was delivered by the Md. School for the Deaf. The fare
varied but included such items as honey, orange juice, dried milk, frozen
turkeys, beef, butter, cheese, potatoes, beans, shortening, cranberry sauce,
cottonseed oil, and fresh eggs.
Fire escapes were installed in 1950 and a sprinkler system in 1954.
Heating coal was stored in the basement--in 1952, we are told, the year's
supply was bought in May and packed in the cellar. The Home switched
from a gas to an electric stove in 1951 and was required by the Health
Department to buy a commercial dish washer.
Also in 1951 the Home inherited "Windswept," a cottage on the ridge
at Braddock overlooking Middletown Valley, from Miss Elizabeth Hall, to
be used for a summer vacation residence. Upkeep of this property added
another financial consideration, and The Hall Cottage Fund was started with
$2,000. By 1953 all residents who were able were given at least 2 weeks at
Windswept over the 3-month period when it could be open. Entertainments
and picnics were held there, and one Board meeting. With the coming of airconditioning to the Home, interest waned, but upkeep remained a drain, and
in 1974 the cottage and some of the acreage were sold. The Home still owns
a few acres on the ridge.
Donations continued to come in. Regular gifts of flowers from
Zimmerman's Florist and of ice cream from Eberts were enjoyed for many
years. Dr. Marmor of Modern Pharmacy supplied medicines free in the
1950s. An Annual Bazaar in 1956 brought in $1,410. The newspaper
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reported that about half of the total was made from antiques, including a
brocade chaise longue, Adam and Windsor chairs, marble-top tables, vases,
pictures, jewelry, and china. Also sold were "fancy work" and homemade
soups, cakes, jellies, and pickles.
In 1954 there were many illnesses. As a temporary measure, the sun
parlor was converted into an infirmary "until the dream of a proper building"
could be realized. The Infirmary Fund received a boost in 1955, when Mrs.
Robert E. Delaplaine retired as president of the Board after 21 years. Her
husband gave $10,000 toward the infirmary, to be called the Ruth M.
Delaplaine Infirmary.
In the same year Dr. Charles H. Conley, Jr., joined his father as Home
and Examining Physician. The following year his father died. The son
remained Physician until 1974, when the Board noted that together the
Conley doctors had devoted 48 years of selfless service to the Home without
remuneration.
The year 1957 saw the permanent conversion of the Baker sunroom to
use as a four-bed infirmary section. This involved a new bathroom,
partitioning, and a ventilating fan, along with the addition of larger doors to
two rooms in the area to accommodate hospital beds. The Conley family
gave four new hospital beds with matching cabinets for the remodeled
infirmary in memory of Dr. Conley, Sr. Meanwhile, the Infirmary Fund
continued to grow.
When residents needed hospitalization, certification from the Welfare
Board was necessary. This system seems to have worked well until 1964,
but Passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (concerning Non-Discrimination
in Public Welfare Programs) meant the Home was no longer eligible for this
type of welfare. In 1965 unnamed specialists donated medical and surgical
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services. Enrollment in the new Medicare program was underway, and the
following year the Home had Medicare and group medical insurance with
Blue Cross & Blue Shield for the family and staff.
In the spring of 1958 a ginko tree was planted in front of the building
to replace a dead maple. Also in that year, the room south of the parlors
(now Kevin's office), which in 1947 had been made into an office for the
Matron, was converted to a "sitting room" to replace the sunroom. Later it
was called a "reading room." A first-floor suite of rooms to the north became
an office (the present conference room) and bedroom accommodations
(Brenda's office) for the Matron. Also in 1958 the Home received two more
legacies, one from the estate of Mrs. Dorothy Wareheime Lewis, and the
other, 20 acres of land given by the late Mr. R. Rush Lewis, a Trustee from
1921 until 1957.
As another fund-raiser, an old-fashioned strawberry festival was held
in the Garden in May of 1961. Ice cream & strawberries, cakes, cookies,
candies, home canned goods, white elephants, and "the famous attic
treasures" were for sale, netting $867.63. The festival was continued in later
years. Now, of course, it is strictly for fun, not funds. The same year the
Board purchased a two-story dwelling on West Second Street, to be used in
connection with the Home operation, probably for live-in staff. Apparently
the venture was not altogether successful.
In 1962 a master TV antenna was installed. Also in that year Mrs.
Robert Delaplaine, on retiring from the Board, established a trust fund at
Farmers and Mechanics Bank for the benefit of the Board of Managers. She
remained an Honorary Board Member for the rest of her life.
Even though the infirmary was well established in the former
sunroom, the fund bearing Mrs. Delaplaine's name and intended for building
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a new infirmary continued to grow. In 1972, however, a large part of the
Delaplaine Infirmary Fund, which by then had reached $38,754, was
transferred to the General Operating Account to help cover extensive Staterequired modifications to the Home. The fund was closed the following year.
"A permanent brass plaque honoring the memory and generosity of Mrs.
Robert Delaplaine" was placed in the Infirmary hallway.
In 1963 paint was removed from the eastern and southern sides of the
building, leaving the original brick facade. Brass fixtures were added,
including a new door knocker.
Another major construction project took place in 1965. A sitting
room-bedroom combination for the matron was created on the south side,
replacing the reading room. A new bath and dressing room were added,
thereby closing off an outside window in the parlor. A garden entrance was
provided, and also a new iron fire-escape stairway from the rooms above.
Later, a brick terrace was built around the fire escape. The matron's former
bedroom on the north side became a reception room, a place where ladies
could telephone, read, do puzzles, or watch TV. In the same year an elevator
was added to the infirmary section of the Baker wing.
In 1966 a modern stainless steel kitchen was installed, with new
equipment. A large gas stove replaced two smaller electric ranges, and the
very popular ice maker was purchased. The kitchen was further improved in
1969, when the Baker Fund provided it with an air-conditioning system.
Also in 1969 electric heating was put under the front brick walk.
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