In 1838, a bill for the establishment of an asylum was passed and the long struggle of more than six years was over. This bill was in the form of a charter to establish a corporation known as the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane. The corporation had power to hold real and personal property for any amount necessary for its support, provided that this income from real and personal estate should not exceed $30,000. There were 39 incorporators. The institution was placed under the management of a board of 12 trustees, three of whom should vacate their office yearly and eight of these trustees were elected by the corporation and four by a Board of Visitors. It was further provided that the sum of $15,000 should be secured to the institution by individuals before any money should come from the state. If these conditions were met 30 shares of New Hampshire bank stock, worth about $18,000, were to be given to the institution. As might have been anticipated, difficulties arose almost at once in the corporation between the subscribers to the voluntary fund and the trustees appointed by the state. It accordingly became necessary for the Legislature to act and provide that the direction, management and control of all the property and concerns of the asylum should be vested in trustees without power of interference on the part of the corporation. It was finally in 1840 deemed best to put the whole institution under the control of 12 trustees, to be appointed by the Governor and council. The Legislature also provided at the same time that all the contributions by private individuals, previously made, should be returned to them if claimed before a certain time.
The asylum was located in 1841 in the Town of Concord, because the town had given the sum of $9500 to secure the location. Private individuals also contributed in addition to this sum. The Building Committee entered upon its duties at once and n October, 1842, procured the completion of a portion of the present center building with accommodations for 96 patients. The whole amount expended for the farm of 121 acres, the erection of the hospital and outbuildings, furniture, stock, etc., was $36,277.70. Of this sum $19,000 had been paid by the state, the balance being received in contributions by the town and citizens of Concord, the Society of Shakers and other benevolent individuals.
The asylum was opened for the reception of patients on the 29th day of October, 1842, under the superintendency of Dr. George Chandler, who in June following reported to the trustees the admission of 76 patients during the previous seven months. Dr. Chandler remained at the head of the institution for about three years, and to him it is largely indebted for the initiation of a wise routine of management. He was succeeded in 1845 Dv Dr. Andrew McFarland, afterwards superintendent of the Illinois Asylum for the Insane, who discharged the duties of superintendent for about seven years and resigned in the summer of 1852. In 1849 the Chandler wing was built, named in honor of Dr. George Chandler.
Dr. McFarland was succeeded by Dr. John E. Tyler, who held the office for a period of about four years and a half. During his superintendency the first portion of the Peaslee building was erected in 1854; steam fixtures for warming the halls and other parts of the house were introduced in 1855; and in consequence of increasing applications for admission, the Rumford wing was erected the same year, thereby increasing the limit of accommodations to 225 patients.
In consequence of impaired health Dr. Tyler resigned in 1857 and was succeeded by Dr. Jesse P. Bancroft. Dr. Bancroft's period of service was a long one, extending from 1857 to 1883. It was also an active one, during which no less than seven important buildings were added to those previously in use. The first of these, in order of construction, was the Kent building, erected in 1867. This is the corresponding building, on the female side of the asylum, to the Peaslee building, on the male side. It embodies most of the advanced ideas pertaining to the custody of highly excited patients prevailing at the time of its erection, and is still well abreast of the present period in this respect.
The greatly enlarged number of patients in 1868 rendered necessary a new kitchen, bakery, cellar, dining room for employees, sewing room and chapel. These wants were all supplied in the present chapel building, which was built that year. The ventilation of the buildings proved more and more defective as time elapsed and numbers increased. To remedy this defect, Dr. Bancroft devised a new system for the halls and rooms in 1869. The enlargement of the asylum structure on the south brought into very objectionable contiguity the barn and stable of the institution. The necessity for larger structures of this character, better planned and more remotely located, was met in 1871 by the removal and reconstruction of the barn and stable upon the sites which they now occupy.
In 1874 the Peaslee building was beyond capacity and lacking important conveniences. Its accommodations having become insufficient rather than unsuitable, it was enlarged to double its size and furnished with additional conveniences as the most advanced treatment of highly excited patients required.
Three years later it became apparent that the asylum had outgrown its boiler house and repair shops, and that a new structure to meet these wants had become imperative. A new boiler house and work shops were accordingly constructed in 1877.
The central building of the asylum had been enlarged twice. Its accommodations were first increased, in 1860, by an addition of some 36 feet upon the west; an additional story was put upon it in 1879. These additions have doubled its original capacity.
The Bancroft building was erected in 1882. This was suggested partly by the need of additional room on the female side of the asylum and partly by a desire on the part of the friends of a somewhat limited class of patients in the state for more ample accommodations and a more private life than is usually found practicable at institutions for the insane.
In its plan of construction this was an advance on all the others. Previously the more agitated and irresponsible classes had been amply provided for in the older buildings, but not so the convalescent and those not needing restraint. The partially self sustaining patients had been associated with more or less incompatible classes for lack of sufficient variety in apartments. So, also, persons with ample means and needing no other than moral restraint had not found, in the older buildings, sufficiently liberal accommodations to satisfy their habits and tastes. Both these classes have been provided for in the construction of this building.
Then followed the Twitchell building for convalescent and appreciative men patients, the summer cottages at Lake Penacook, constituting a beginning of a colony four miles distant from the hospital itself, the north pavilion and the south pavilion for chronic men and women patients, the additions to the Kent and Peaslee buildings for the more disturbed patients of either sex, the hospital building for the admission of new patients and the care of such as need hospital nursing; and, lastly, a group in process of erection for the care of quiet patients of either sex of the industrial class.
The New Hampshire Hospital is located in the very heart of the City of Concord, upon a tract of ground of about 125 acres. Some 25 acres of this are occupied by the various buildings and airing courts; the remainder by the pond, farming areas, groves, avenues and paths. In addition to the ground about the house, the asylum owns a pasture of 50 acres about half a mile distant.
One of the greatest boons enjoyed by the institution is that of an unlimited supply of purest water. This comes from a well sunk by Dr. Bancroft upon the premises in 1880, which has a diameter of 50 feet and a depth of 15. It is drawn upon daily for about 50,000 gallons, and is capable of yielding a much larger supply.
In 1855, as before stated, the furnaces which had been previously employed were discarded and appliances for warming the buildings by steam were introduced. Up to 1870, wood was the fuel used, but this growing more and more dear in price and its supply more and more uncertain, it gave way to coal, which has been the fuel used for the last 15 years.
After an active service of 25 years Dr. Bancroft resigned the superintendency in 1882, and was succeeded by his son, Dr. Charles P. Bancroft
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