Roberts Vaux was requested to act as Secretary. The Board being unable to transact business, there being no quorum :

It is agreed that Thomas Stewardson, the President, with Thomas Morris, be requested to take legal advice of Charles Chauncey Esquire, and report

thereon.

Opinion of At a meeting held March 1, 1828, the following opinion was Charles presented :

Chauncey,

Esq.

Acting on
Advice of
Counsel.

Centennial

Washington.

On the 25th of the present month, five of the Managers of the Pennsylvania Hospital communicated their resignation, in writing, to the Board and retired. The number of the Managers remaining is seven and they have requested legal advice as to their powers and as to the Measures proper to be pursued by them.

On the whole my advice is that the remaining Managers proceed without delay to fill the vacancies which have occurred in the Board, by the nomination of other Contributors, which Measure, I think is to be preferred to their undertaking to act without a full Board, because neither the labor nor the responsibility of this Trust, ought to rest upon so small a number of Managers.

PHILADELPHIA, February 29th, 1828.

CHARLES CHAUNCEY.

The following resolution was then unanimously adopted: Whereas by the resignation of Thomas P. Cope, Joseph Johnson, Joseph R. Jenks, Israel Cope and Matthew L. Bevan which was made to this Board on the 25th instant, the said persons having refused to act as Managers and retired from the office and five vancancies thereby exist, the rest of the Managers think fit to nominate others of the Contributors to supply the place of said persons; and will therefore proceed to such nomination and appointment.

Joseph Price, Alexander W. Johnston, Mordecai Lewis, John J. Smith and Bartholomew Wistar were appointed in the place of the persons resigned.

The first official recognition and celebration of the birthday of Celebration Gen. Washington, occurred during his lifetime, in 1788, when the of the Birth of Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania ordered salutes of artillery to be fired in his honor, but his friends and admirers had, previously to this, met and informally established a custom, which was so well sustained by public opinion that it subsequently received the sanction of the City authorities. After his death, the celebration was distinguished by special enactment of Congress, then holding its closing session in Philadelphia. It was recommended by appropriate resolutions, that the 22d of February, 1800, should be observed throughout the United States as a day set apart for exercises manifesting the popular esteem for the character of Washington. In Philadelphia, there was a public procession under the direction of the Society of the Cincinnati and also a parade of the Masonic fraternity and of the Military, and appropriate addresses were delivered.

In the year 1832, occurred the centennial anniversary of Washington's birthday, and it was celebrated with special distinction. A

Washington's

large civic parade was a prominent part of the proceedings. In the ceremonies the Firemen's and Odd Fellows' organizations appeared for Centennial the first time in public procession. Every interest in the city was Anniversary, sought to be enlisted in this immense display, and the peace-loving Birthday. Managers of the Hospital were even invited to participate, as will be seen in the following formal invitation which was inserted in the minutes, but the action taken by the Board upon the matter is not recorded.

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.

SIR,-The Committee of Arrangement, appointed by the Citizens of the City and County of Philadelphia, beg leave to

address you as Chief Officer of Pennisgloame Not?

the

The Committee some time ago appointed on the subject of the Mortgage unacknowledged against the Estate of the Hospital reported having conferred with Charles Chauncey thereon and he having prepared an essay of a memorial to the Legislature asking relief in the premises, it was read February 25, 1833, and approved, as follows: To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The petition of the Managers of the Pennsylvania Hospital respectfully sheweth.

Opinion of
Mr. Chauncey
on State

Claim.

That by an Act of Assembly passed the eleventh day of April one thousand Petition for seven hundred and ninety-three entitled "An Act for extending the benefits Relief. experienced from the institution of the Pennsylvania Hospital" there was granted

Mortgage on

to the Contributors to the Pennsylvania Hospital the sum of Twenty-six thousand six hundred and sixty-six dollars and sixty-seven Cents out of the principal and interest due to the Commonwealth in pursuance of an Act passed the 26th of February, 1773. And by the said Act it was provided that such sufficient security as should be approved of by the Governor should be given by the Managers on behalf of the institution with condition that they and their successors should use their utmost endeavours to collect the Monies due on the securities and should within three years pay to the Treasurer of the Commonwealth such surplus as might remain in their hands, beyond the said sum of twenty-six thousand six hundred and sixty-six dollars and sixty-seven cents, together with interest thereon from the time of their receiving the same.

That in conformity with the provision in said act Security was given with the the Hospital. approbation of the governor by a Mortgage of the Corporate estates to Thomas Mifflin, esquire, Governor of the State of Pennsylvania dated May 7th, 1793.

Satisfaction

That the Managers entered upon the performance of their duties under the said Act of Assembly and recovered and received the sum so granted by the Legislature and applied the same agreeably to the directions of the said Act; and thereafter applied to the Legislature to be discharged from the other duties assigned to them by the said Act; and on the 4th day of April one thousand eight hundred and five an Act of Assembly entitled "A supplement to the Act entitled an Act for extending the benefits experienced from the institution of the Pennsylvania Hospital was passed by which it was enacted That whenever the said Managers should transfer and deliver to the State Treasurer all the Bonds, Mortgages and Securities assigned to them in pursuance of the Act before mentioned and give him all the information they possessed, all the Trusts and duties assigned by the said Act should cease and determine

That the said Managers did agreeably to the provisions of said Act transfer, of Mortgage assign and deliver to the State Treasurer all the said bonds, mortgages and not Recorded. securities and give him all the information they possessed and were thus by virtue of the said Act discharged from the said trusts & duties.

That the said Mortgage hereinbefore mentioned of the Corporate estates still remains on record to the inconvenience of said Institution, satisfaction thereof having never been acknowledged; as the same of right should have been when the Managers were in conformity with the last mentioned Act of Assembly discharged from the duties and trusts aforesaid.

Your petitioners therefore respectfully ask that authority may be given by law to the Recorder of deeds for the City and County of Philadelphia or to some other officer of the State to acknowledge satisfaction on the record of said Mortgages.

Two copies of the above memorial were ordered to made signed by the President and Secretary on behalf of the Managers and forwarded to the Senate and House of Representatives at Harrisburg.

The Committee appointed for the purpose reported that:

Hospital An Act to provide for entering satisfaction on a certain Mortgage against the
Released. Pennsylvania Hospital has passed the Legislature and become a law.
The following is an Extract from this law relating to the
Mortgage:

An Act Supplementary to act entitled, "An act to enlarge the buildings of the State
Penitentiary for the Eastern District, and for other purposes," passed the
twenty-eighth day of March, Anno Domini, one thousand eight hundred and
thirty-one, and for other purposes.

Section 6. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the recorder of deeds for the city and county of Philadelphia be, and is hereby authorized and required to acknowledge satisfaction of record of a Mortgage executed by the Contributors to the Pennsylvania Hospital to Thomas Mifflin, Esquire, Governor of the State of Pennsylvania bearing date the seventh day of May, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three, recorded in the office for recording deeds, &c., in and for the city and county of Philadelphia in Mortgage book Number nine, page three hundred and thirty-five, &c.

Approved the ninth day of April, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three.

GEORGE WOLF, Governor.

Hospital.

During the years from 1833 to 1840, the Managers performed Continued their duties regularly, the physicians were recorded as being attentive Growth of to the patients, and the routine work of the Hospital continued without special incident and without interruption. It was found, however, that the reputation of the institution was attracting to it a constantly increasing number of patients, making it necessary to provide greater accommodations, especially for the insane. Accordingly the Contributors authorized the Managers to sell some of the lots in the city, and buy ground in West Philadelphia, and to erect thereon the Department for the Insane, which was opened in 1840. As the records of the two departments thenceforward became distinct and independent, the account of the Insane will be taken up for consideration later on.

On May 26, 1794, the Building Committee proposed the erection Ice Houses. of an Ice House which was approved and they were instructed to build one of such dimensions as they deem proper. On December 30, 1811, "$100 was paid towards building a New Ice House, offered by Robt. Field." December 17, 1819, "The Steward is directed to fill the old Ice House, when suitable Ice can be had, but to omit filling the New One. It is understood that ice is not to be as heretofore supplied from this Institution to the citizens." The winter of 1838, however, was of such unusual mildness that very few ice houses were filled, and the Pennsylvania Hospital again sold ice to its neighbors.

On the removal of the Insane patients to West Philadelphia, in Extensive Repairs. 1841, the western wing of the buildings, and two-thirds of the grounds which had been formerly occupied by them in the Hospital at Eighth and Pine Streets, were at once made available for the needs of the sick and injured, but quite extensive repairs were necessary in order to adapt the building for the purposes of a General Hospital.

From the Minutes it is learned that this work now engaged the attention of the Managers.

Plans for

On May 10, 1841, the best manner of improving the Hospital came up for consideration, but it was not until December, 1844, that action was taken as follows:

Whereas, since the Pennsylvania Hospital was erected experience has pointed Improvement out many improvements in the construction of hospitals whereby the comfort of considered. patients is increased and their more certain and speedy recovery promoted; and whereas it is proper that such improvements should be introduced into the Hospitals so far as circumstances will permit and a prudent and economical administration of the funds of the Institution will warrant it, and whereas the present Building will soon require extensive repairs which may be more economically and conveniently effected in conjunction with the desired improvements than if both should be carried on separately from each other; and whereas it is presumed that

the Physicians and surgeons of the house can give the Managers important and valued advice on the subject, therefore,

Resolved, that they be respectfully requested to furnish the Board as soon as they can conveniently do so, with a detailed plan of such alterations in the Hospital Buildings as in their opinion will best promote the object in view together with their reasons therefore.

The Medical Staff having been duly consulted, the work was commenced early in 1845. In March, 1847, the Committee reported completion of improvements which cost $15,500, in addition an expense of $5,000 for warming the house. Among the many changes. made, the report stated that there had been a change in location of the Medical Library.