HARTFORD CT INDUSTRIALIST SOCIAL WELFARE ACTIVIST INSANE DOCUMENT SIGNED 1824 VF

Description

Here’s An 1823 Hartford, Connecticut Document Signed by
DAVID WATKINSON
(1778 – 1857)
EARLY 19
th
CENTURY HARTFORD CONNECTICUT INDUSTRIALIST, ENTREPRENEUR, SOCIAL WELFARE ACTIVIST, FOUNDER OF CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS PHILANTHROPIST, ETC.,
PROMINENT WEST INDIES TRADE HARTFORD BUSINESSMAN – A GENERAL WHOLESALE DEALER OF GOODS, NAVAL STORES, IRON and STEEL AT 350 FRONT STREET 1801-1841,
VICE PRESIDENT, DIRECTOR and TREASURER OF THE “RETREAT FOR THE INSANE” IN HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT,
OFFICER OF THE UNION COMPANY CHARTERED IN 1800 TO REMOVE OBSTRUCTIONS TO THE NAVIGATION OF THE CONNECTICUT RIVER,
DIRECTOR IN THE CONNECTICUT STEAMBOAT COMPANY, THE ENFIELD CANAL IMPROVEMENT CO., THE NEW HAVEN & SRINGFIELD RAILROAD Co., and THE PROVIDENCE, HARTFORD, & FISHKILL RAILROAD Co., HARTFORD BANK, HARTFORD FIRE INSURANCE CO., THE CONNECTICUT RIVER BANKING CO.,
INCORPORATOR and CHARTER TRUSTEE OF WASHINGTON COLLEGE (TRINITY COLLEGE),
CHARTER MEMBER OF THE HARTFORD LINNAEAN BOTANIC ASSOCIATION IN 1825,
FOUNDER and VICE PRESIDENT OF THE WADSWORTH ATHENEUM,
EARLY MEMBER OF THE CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
CO-FOUNDER OF THE YOUNG MEN’S INSTITUTE IN 1839
&
VICE PRESIDENT and DIRECTOR OF “THE AMERICAN ASYLUM FOR THE DEAF and DUMB,”
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HERE’S A DOCUMENT SIGNED BY DAVID WATKINSON AS TREASURER OF THE RETREAT FOR THE INSANE IN HARTFORD CT, 1p., DATED AT HARTFORD, 8 MARCH
1823
– A RECEIPT FOR A SUBSCRIPTION DONATION TO THE ORGANIZATION.
The document measures
6” x 3” and is in very good condition, with some edge foxing.
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BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF DAVID WATCKINSON
WATKINSON, David, philanthropist, born in Lavenham, Suffolk, England, 17 January, 1778; died in Hartford, Connecticut, 13 December, 1857. His education was partly conducted by Mrs. Anna Letitia Barbauld, and he came to this country with his parents in 1795, settling in Middletown, Connecticut He was employed in a counting-house in New York city, and in 1800 began business with his brother, William, in Hartford. In 1841 he retired with a fortune. By his will he gave ,000 to the Hartford hospital, ,000 to the orphan asylum, ,000 for the foundation of a juvenile asylum and farm school for neglected and abandoned children, and 0,000 for a library of reference in connection with the Connecticut historical society, also making the trustees of the library of reference residuary legatees of his estate.
Source:
Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography
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NOTES re RETREAT FOR THE INSANE
.
In the center of Hartford Connecticut’s 4th ward is the space that housed the
Retreat for the Insane
(now the Institute of Living at Hartford Hospital), from Charter Oak Avenue to the north, the Connecticut River to the east, Bond Street to the south, and the South Fork of the Park River to the west.
In 1821 a committee of the Connecticut Medical Society recommended the creation of an asylum for the insane. Agents were sent to every town in the state collecting money for the Connecticut Retreat for the Insane. A donation provided membership in the Society for the Relief of the Insane. Donations of 0 provided the status of Director for life. Vice President for Life came with a
donation of 0. By October 1822, ,000 had been raised. That month the Society met to elect officers. Nathaniel Terry served as President; the Right Reverend Thomas C. Brownell became Vice President;
Treasurer was David Watkinson
; Samuel Tudor was selected as Auditor; and Jonathan Law held the position of Secretary. Today the Retreat for the Insane is part of Hartford Hospital, and is known as the Institute of Living.
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