trust was formally accepted by the trustees in their letter of December 7, 1870.

The intentions of Mr. Corcoran are clearly set forth in this conveyance. He declares it his desire and intention to establish and maintain in the i city of Washington, D. C., to the extent thereafter provided, and to such extent of endowment as he may from time to time, by gift, devise, bequest, or otherwise determine, an institution for the support and maintenance of a limited number of gentlewomen who have been reduced by misfortune, the propriety of their admission to be first determined by the trustees and a board of directresses provided for in a later clause of the deed, which board, having charge of and supervision over the internal management and government of the establish. ment, consisted of the following ladies designated in the conveyance by the founder, viz: Mrs. Benjamin Ogle Tayloe, Mrs. George W. Riggs, Miss Sarah Coleman, Mrs. Richard H. Coolidge, Mrs. James M. Carlisle, Mrs. John Marbury, sr., Mrs. Beverly Kennon, Mrs. Richard T. Merrick, and Mrs. S. P. Hill, all of Washington City.

Walters, of Baltimore, in whom he vested the title to the property, together with the right to receive the rents wholly unpaid for the eight years during which the building was occupied by the Government, all for the purpose of establishing the Corcoran Art Gallery. To this gift he added his own gallery of art on which he had spent many years of time and a large amount of money. The gallery was chartered by the act of Congress approved May 24, 1870. The act of incorporation required that the Secretary of War, Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of State should ascertain and settle on principles of justice and fairness a just compensation for the use of the ground and buildings while the same were occupied by the United States, and made an appropriation to carry out their findings.

During the period immediately preceding the war Mr. Corcoran enjoyed the friendship of Edward Everett, Daniel Webster, Gen. Winfield Scott, and George Peabody, of London. To Dorothea Lynde Dix, whose work among the insane has been mentioned elsewhere, Mr. Corcoran gave carte blanche to ask for relief for those she might find needing small pecuniary aid, a resource of which she availed herself from time to time. In 1863 Mr. Corcoran visited Europe where he was entertained by his friend, George Peabody, and it was during his stay in Paris that he gave to the Washington Orphan Asylum the lots on which their present building is erected. He also made many other gifts to charitable institutions in the South. To William and Mary College he gave, in 1867, $1,000, for rebuilding, and in 1878 he added $50,000 in bonds of the State of Virginia to endow a chair of natural history in that institution. In February, 1868, Mr. Corcoran returned from his second trip to Europe, bringing with him the remains of his daughter, Mrs. Eustis, who had died at her home in Cannes, and on December 4, 1870, he placed in the hands of the trustees the building and lands which he had devoted to an Asylum for Aged Women, in commemoration of his daughter and his wife.

In 1872 Mr. Corcoran returned from his third visit to Europe and was met in New York by a delegation of the citizens of Washington sent to welcome him home. During this year Mr. Corcoran gave to the trustees of Columbian College, of which body he was president, the valuable tract of land called "Trinidad," north of the city of Washington. From this time on until his death Mr. Corcoran's beneficences were widely scattered both at the North and at the South. Gifts were made not only to institutions, but also to individuals whom the exigencies of war had reduced to poverty. Mr. Corcoran died in Washington February 24, 1888.

REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION.

147

In the same conveyance, the donor provides that the institution shall always be known by the name of "The Louise Home," the name given being that of his deceased wife and daughter.

A conservative estimate of the value of this gift at the time of the organization of the institution would be as follows:

The building, already erected at the time of the gift, and the grounds

embraced in the deed of gift....

An endowment fund well invested..

Making total value of gift..

$200,000

325,000

525,000

The original endowment fund has, from time to time, been increased through gifts from the founder during his lifetime and bequests contained in his will, thus enlarging the capacity of the home for the support and maintenance of a larger number of inmates.

According to suggestions embraced in the original deed of gift from Mr. Corcoran, the trustees applied to Congress and, under an act of Congress approved March 3, 1875, were duly incorporated under the name and style of "The Trustees of the Louise Home," reference being made as to their powers, in the act, to the deed of gift from Mr. Corcoran, and by the same act all the property, real and personal, held by the trustees for the purposes of the trust was declared to be exempt from taxation.

The total number of inmates at the Louise Home at this date is 40, which is the number to which the admission is at this time limited, and all vacancies are filled from a list of applicants, according to the respective needs and merits of those appearing on the list.

Among the principal requirements for admission to the home, the first and foremost is that the applicant must be a woman of culture and refinement, as well as dependent, and having no relative able and willing to furnish the means for her support, it being, however, necessary that she be financially able to provide for herself necessary clothing. It is also necessary that she be in such a physical condition as not to need the care and attention of an attendant. Her conduct after admission is to be always that of a gentlewoman.

The board of directresses having charge of the internal and domestic government of the institution have supervision over all applications for admission, with such letters of indorsement as may accompany the same, and recommend to the trustees the applicant as a proper person for admission, and upon the confirmation of this action on the part of the trustees such admission is ordered; or they may, on the other hand, refuse to make such recommendation, as in their judgment may seem best; and at all times, with the concurrence of the trustees, the directresses have the power to remove any inmate from the home for good and sufficient cause.

No charity could be more complete in its scope than that founded by Mr. Corcoran in the institution of the Louise Home. Every comfort within reason, and in keeping with the social position of the inmates,

is, through the thoughtfulness of the donor, provided, even to the professional care of skilled physicians and the proper medicines during illness; and should death claim them as his subjects, unless otherwise desired by them, they are laid to rest in that other most beautiful gift of Mr. Corcoran to his native town, Oak Hill Cemetery.'

The board of directresses of the Louise Home at the present time is made up as follows: Mrs. Beverly Kennon, president; Miss Jeannie Turnbull, secretary; Mrs. Christopher Thom, Mrs. Margaret Stone, Mrs. Judge Hagner, Mrs. General John Parke, Mrs. Josephine Sowers, Mrs. Calderon Carlisle, and Mrs. Allen McLean.2

The following gentlemen have been successors of the original trustees named in the deed of gift: Charles M. Matthews, William L. Dunlop, Dr. Grafton Tyler, Hon. Walter S. Cox, M. W. Galt, James M. Johnston, and Thomas Hyde, the four last named constituting the present board of trustees.

The following ladies have been directresses: Mrs. Ben. Ogle Tayloe, Mrs. George Riggs, Mrs. Richard H. Coolidge, Mrs. James M. Carlisle, Mrs. John Marbury, sr., Mrs. Richard T. Merrick, Mrs. Stephen P. Hill, Miss Margaret Washington, Miss Mary Blake Jones, and Miss Sarah Coleman.

III.

The Methodist Home of the District of Columbia, located at the corner of Twelfth and N streets NE., was incorporated under the gen eral incorporation act January 21, 1889, to provide a comfortable home for the aged and infirm members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of the Baltimore conference within the District of Columbia, and to render such persons such assistance and relief as may be practicable. The trustees named in the articles of incorporation were William Taylor Birch, Richard H. Willet, Robert Cohen, Henry L. Strang, Andrew B. Duvall, David T. Cissel, George W. F. Swartzell, Benjamin F. Leighton, and William McKendree Clayton.

Admissions to the home are restricted to members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of the District of Columbia. Applicants must not be under 60 years of age, and must be recommended by the pastor and stewards of the church to which they belong, or furnish other satisfactory evidence of good standing as members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the District of Columbia for five years prior to the time of

In 1847 Mr. Corcoran purchased "Parrott's woods," the site of a ropewalk, and afterwards the place of Fourth of July celebrations. After spending $70,000 on the grounds, he gave the cemetery to his native town. In 1848 a corporation was formed for cemetery purposes. The total gifts of Mr. Corcoran on this account amounted to over $120,000.

The editor is indebted to Mr. H. S. Matthews for the sketch of the Louise Home; the biography of Mr. Corcoran was compiled from “A Grandfather's Legacy," a volume prepared by Mr. Corcoran and printed in 1879. The work contains brief sketches of himself and members of his family, and many letters of great interest and historical value.