N.H. Asylum, undated

Collection Name:

George W. Perry Scrapbooks

Title:

N.H. Asylum, undated

Creator:

Perry, George W., 1891-1971

Creator Role:

Collector

Accession / Call Number:

1974.045

Object ID:

1974.045.22.003

Type of Material:

graphic material

Physical Description:

1 photograph

Language:

English

Scope and Content:

Undated photographic print of the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane in Concord, NH. The caption states, "Asylum grounds, looking from main building to Pleasant street. House on the left a the cornor [corner] of Pine street was the home of David E. Clarke, dry good, shoes and rubbers business in 1864; building on the right was the home of George Kent, cashier Concord Lower Bank. Mr. Kent once offered to Concord a park of five acres, bounded by Rumford, School, Merrimack and Pleasant streets. He formerly kept deer within the enclosure. It was to have been named Rumford Park. George Kent bought the estate from Judge Samuel Green estate, for about five thousand dollars. It was an imposing mansion in its day noted for its distinguished guests and refined hospitality. over In 1846 Miss Susan A. Ela purchased the Kent house, described at that time as a 'Country residence overlooking the main village' it was then the most stately and imposing residence in town. Miss Ela moved her school from the Charles Walker house corner of Franklin and North Main streets, it was a boarding school, to Kent house which she has purchased. The grounds were spacious, handsomely laid out, and beautifully shaded; while well back from the street, embosomed among the trees, was the old mansion house, three stories high. The premises were enclosed by a tall and pretentious-looking fence, with an arched gateway, over which, in semicircular form, were the words 'Home Boarding School.' It was an ideal place, and here, for a decade, were gathered in the pursuit of knowledge many of the daughters of this and other New Hampshire towns. The beauty of this delightful spot, in the early fifties, lingers in one's memory like a pleasant dream; and on summer afternoons when the young ladies were engaged in out-of-door pastimes, youthful and admiring eyes oft surveyed the charming scene with envious longing divided between the quiet elegance of the place and the beauty of its occupants. In 1854 Miss Ala [Ela] married, the school was given up, and the property sold Amos Dodge. Twenty-two years later, 1876, the old residence, including a considerable portion of the grounds was purchased for the establishment of a 'Home for the Aged.' As the needs of the latter increased, the old building was removed in 1892, and a new erected in its place. A few years after Miss Ela's marriage and departure, sad tidings came of her death in Lynn, Mass. by being thrown from a carriage in a runaway accident."

Subjects:

Hospitals , Asylums , Dwellings

Locations:

Concord, NH

People:

Perry, George W., 1891-1971

Organizations:

New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane

Terms of Use:

For permission to reproduce or publish material from this collection, please contact the New Hampshire Historical Society. Researchers are responsible for following all copyright and intellectual property laws.

Credit Line:

Gift of May Nutter.

Restrictions:

Available for research.

Level Description:

Item

Box Number:

5