The History of Cayuga County 1789-1879 page 197

therefore out of the public school fund, in like manner as other teachers are paid; and said board is authorized to supply said asylum with fuel for school purposes, in like manner as other schools are supplied; and the said board shall have the same care, oversight and direction of said school as of the other publis schools of said city; but nothing in this act shall be construed to give the board of education any control over the management of said asylum except as herein provided. the board of mangers of said asylum, with the concurrence of said board of education, may at any time dicontinue such school, in which case the pupils therein shall be entitled to all the privileges of any other of the public schools of said city."

The first meeting of the ladies, on record, was held May 5th, 1852, when the society was organized, and the managers elected as named in the act of incorporation. The asylum was first opened in 1852, in a wooden house on the east side of James street. In 1853 the lot on which the asylum now stands was purchased for $3,500. With the additions subsequently made, at a cost of $3,200, it comprises about two acres. In 1857, the main asylum building, which is a fine, three-story brick structure, was erected at a cost of over $8,000; and in 1858, a rear addition, for school-room and other purposes, was built at a cost of $6,000. In 1870, a flag-stone walk was laid and curb set at a cost of $1,400. In 1871 the main building and fence were repaired and a new and more desirable walk from the street to the front steps laid, at a cost of about $2,000.

From the report of the Secretary for 1877, it appears that the number of children in the asylum during the year was 167; of whom 107 were boys and 60 girls. The number of children the in the asylum was 98. The smallest number in the institution at any time was 78. The number who have found homes was 57. The present number of inmates, (October 1st, 1878) is 95. The receipts from all sources in 1877, including an appropriation of $3,000 from the Supervisors and the balance on hand at the beginning of the year, were $4,937.74; the expenditures, $4,855.89

The board of managers issue monthly a paper called The Orphan's Friend, which is a great assistance to the asylum in enlisting the sympathy and aid of the public, while it gives information to the friends abroad of its management, and the history of the children committed to its care.

On the death of Mr. James S. Seymour, who was the president of the board of trustees of the asylum from its organization, and a liberal benefactor, the asylum received a bequest of $10,000 as a permanent fund, the interest only to be used. It has been the recipient of legacies from other individuals from time to time, among them: $2,700 from Dr. Healy, of Syracuse; $5,000 from Laban Hoskins, of Union Springs; $1,440 from Mr. Baker, of Fleming; $300 from Mrs. Mary Miller, of Auburn; $100 from Mrs. Dr. Rudd, of Utica; $1,059 from Kittlewells; and $1,310 from Hugh McDowell, of Niles; besides innumerable

donations of various sums.

CHAPTER XXVIII

HISTORY OF AUBURN (CONTINUED.)

CHURCHES IN AURELIUS AND AUBURN--EARLY RELIGIOUS TEACHERS--FIRST RELIGIOUS SOCIETY--FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH IN AUBURN--ITS CHANGES AND HISTORY--ST. PETER'S CHURCH--FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH--FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH--OTHER CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS.

Rev. David Thatcher, from Orange, N.J., made , in 1795, a missionary tour throught this region, and held religious services at the scattering settlements. Rev. Asa Hillyer, also from New Jersey, engaged in a similar work at Aurora, in the town of Milton, now Genoa, and at Hardenbergh's Corners, in 1798. Elder David Irish, is said to have preached here in 1794, and if so, his was probably the first sermon to white men at the hamlet.

New Jersey must be credited with the honor of an early religious culture of this wilderness field, and it is worthy of remark, that three young ministers from the State itinerated over this ground, when most of their routes were either well trodden Indian trails, or in the absence of these, the freshly blazed trees of the forest. Their names were Matthew La Rue Perrine, James Richards

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