Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

to four district representatives; and of representatives of London charitable institutions. This council works through an executive committee. There are thirtyeight district committees, one for each metropolitan poor-law union. As far as possible, these consist of ministers of religion, guardians of the poor, and representatives of the principal local charities. The society comprises the district committees and donors of one guinea or more to the funds of the council, and it meets annually or by special call. District committees are to deal with all cases of alleged want referred to them. The council supervises and assists the district committees, considers questions of principle and general methods, seeks the systematic co-operation of London's larger institutions, and to improve the administration of charity, to suppress imposture; and it corresponds with similar societies elsewhere. The objects of the society are co-operation of all charitable agencies in order to check the evils of "overlapping" relief by independent action; to investigate all applications for relief, however made; to obtain from proper charities or from individuals suitable and adequate aid for deserving cases; to assist, in the absence of other resources, and by loans if possible, cases in which temporary help may tend to permanent benefit; to repress mendicancy by gratuitous distribution of investigation-tickets; to place its investigations at the service of charitable agencies and private persons having a proper claim thereto; to inform the public regarding existing charities; to become a centre of reference and information; to promote social and sanitary_reforms and habits of providence and self-reliance. Its main principles of work are thorough investigation before relief, and procuring assistance adequate to render the applicant independent of future aid. It does not desire to be a relieving agency, but to direct the benevolent forces of the community into efficacious channels. Relief is determined by the district committee after investigation, and is not restricted in character; whatever is requisite is attempted, and all appliances and agencies available are utilized. Investigation becomes a discriminative test between imposture and destitution; it often discloses legitimate resources which render the applicant independent of all charity at once, such as the sympathy of kindred, the means of retrieving a false step, a better domestic economy, a pension due, a chance of employment.

The results of the society's work are to be sought in the abatement of the poor-rate, in the reduced expenditure of other charitable institutions, in diminished number of mendicants, and in the arrest of many a progress toward pauperism and vice. It is estimated that the expenditure of London on the care of its poor has been reduced about 30 per cent. since 1869, and it is stated that one can obtain information concerning almost every applicant for aid who may accost him on the streets or at his door in that city within twenty-four hours. The society has about ninety subordinate or affiliated organizations in the three kingdoms. From 1869 to 1881 the number of paupers in England and Wales receded from 1,079,391, of which one-fifth were able-bodied, to 803, 126, of which one-seventh were able-bodied. Criminal convictions sank from 14,340 to 11,214 in 1880, and the attendance on inspected schools nearly trebled, while the inspections only doubled. In six poor-unions of London pauperism decreased from 1869 to 1879 from 26,289 to 14,181. The coincidence of these facts with the history of charity organization is at least significant of the remedial influence of the new attack on pauperism.

Similar movements have appeared in the United States, avowedly founded upon the English plan. They were preceded by pioneer enterprises, some of which failed from vagueness of aim or inadequate method, and some merged into the organization societies. In 1869 the Hebrews of Philadelphia merged their five leading relief societies into one administration, to secure for their own community the same

ends as are sought by charity organizationists. In 1873 the Germantown Relief Society was started in a suburban ward of Philadelphia. It had a board of seven managers and an auxiliary corps of women visitors. The old borough was districted so as to give but few poor to each visitor; every case was carefully searched out, and the administration was judicial, sympathetic, and firm. Within a few years the society gained such a hold upon the community that the pooguardians of Germantown and its dispensary came into hearty co-operation. This organization is now one of the local branches of the Philadelphia Society for Organizing Charity, which was established in 1878. Since then the city councils have cut off their appropriations for out-door relief, which amounted to $50,000 in 1878, on the ground of the existence of this society. It comprises ward or local branches covering the greater portion of the city, and a central board exercising an advisory supervision over the former. The wards have a local board with a paid investigating and relieving agent, and an auxiliary corps of female visitors. Once a month the entire society is summoned together for conference upon questions of social science.

In Buffalo an organization was made in December, 1877, and the society was very successful from the start in securing the co-operation of the civic authorities and of the leading charitable societies of all denominations. Before its influence the out-relief of the poor-master shrank away by many thousands of dollars. It adheres strictly, except in a very few emergency cases, to the refusal of any relief whatever, but applies itself to investigation, to stimulating provident schemes, and to visitation. In Brooklyn, out-door relief from public funds was abolished in 1878, and in the same year the Bureau of Charities was founded, although it did not begin active operations until three years later. In New York an attempt was made to organize a Board of United Charities for co-operative purposes some years ago, but it fell to pieces, owing to jealousies and misunderstandings not adequately anticipated. For this reason it may be that the metropolis of the country delayed to create a charity organization society until 1882.

In Boston a similar movement takes the name of "Associated Charities." Its initial work was much facilitated by the existence of the Charity Building on Chardon Street, an edifice erected partly by private and partly by civic munificence in order to concentrate under its roof the offices of the municipal and general charities of the city. A certain amount of co-operation was already established, and "The Associated Charities" was able to perfect a very thorough system of registration for the use of the benevolent agencies of the city. The society has created district auxiliaries called "conferences," which are composed of representatives of parishes, of local charities, and of volunteer visitors. No relief is given by the society, as its object and the endeavor of the visitors are to lift each case of distress above dependence on alms.

In all the charity-organization societies there is agreement in aim. They avoid all proselyting on the one hand, and on the other encourage each religious community to provide physical, social, and moral relief for its own members. They are not political, though in some instances, as in Buffalo and Philadelphia, certain civic functionaries, especially those charged with the care of the poor and the criminal, are ex-officio managers. In some instances no relief is given, and in others the auxiliary branches of the society are largely occupied with grants of aid. In nearly all instances some new provident or educational or reformatory agency has been instituted by the organization of charities. Owing as well to the nature as to the newness of these establishments statistics of value are unattainable. The report of the National Conference of Charities held in Boston in July, 1881, presents returns from seventeen cities, having a population of 3,000,000, where charity organization has established

itself. To them New York must now be added. | numbered 1179 sisters, who directed 106 establishments, Eleven of these associations reported a contributing such as schools (for girls only), hospitals, and asylums, and active membership of 13,593, and a cost of ad- in different parts of the United States. ministration, exclusive of relief, in twelve cities, of $28,900.37 for the previous year.

The following is a list of all the charity-organization societies known to exist in the United States in July, 1882, with the dates of their founding:

Name.

When organized.
Charity Organization Society, Dec. 11, 1877.
Board of Associated Charities, June 1, 1878.
Society for Organizing Charity,
Bureau of Charities,
Nov. 26, 1878.
Bureau of Labor and Charities,

Charity Organization Society,
Associated Charities,

[blocks in formation]
[ocr errors]

Taunton, Mass.,

Lowell,

Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Charity Organization Society,

Associated Charities,

[ocr errors]

Indianapolis, Ind., Charity Organization Society,

Baltimore, Md.,
Washington, D. C.,
Milwaukee, Wis.,
New York,

66

Association of Charities,
Society for Organizing Charity,

[ocr errors]
[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

46

[ocr errors]

13, 1878.

1878.

II. NEW YORK SISTERS.-The New York Sisters of Charity adhere to the costume and rules of Mother Seton, and represent the original society as it existed up to the union with the French sisters. Bishop Connolly of New York obtained some sisters from Emmittsburg in 1817, and on Sept. 13 they took charge of St. Patrick's orphan asylum in that city. In 1846 there were fifty sisters in the diocese of New York, and Archbishop Hughes determined to organize a community distinct from and independent of that of Emmittsburg. ThirtyJan. 15, 1879. Feb. 18, 1879. one sisters remained in the old congregation, and on 26, 1879. Sept. 8, 1846, formed a community under the title of June 9, 1879. "Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul." Pope Nov. 18, 1879. Pius IX. approved the new order, and conferred upon its members all the rights and privileges granted to the Sisters of Charity in France. The growth of the new community was rapid, although its members are now only found in New England and the Middle States. They number (1883) 786 members, who conduct 98 establishments of charity and education. The motherhouse, to which are attached the novitiate and an academy for young ladies, is at Mount St. Vincent on the Hudson."

[ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small]

CHARITY, SISTERS OF, IN THE U. S. Among the numerous religious societies of the Catholic Church there are several whose general designation is that of Sisters of Charity." These are all branches of the same parent stock, La Compagnie des Filles de la Charité, established in France in the year 1633 by St. Vincent de Paul, with the aid of a widow lady named Legras. There are several orders of the Sisters of Charity in the United States:

III. MADISON SISTERS.-The Sisters of Charity in New Jersey, with the exception of those attached to St. Mary's Church in Jersey City, are an independent community, although an offshoot from the New York sisters. They were established by Bishop Bayley on Sept. 30, 1857. Their habit differs only in a slight degree from that of the New York community, but their rule is the same. The mother-house is near Madison,

an academy for young ladies. The number of sisters of this branch of the order is 375, who conduct 3 orphan asylums, 48 select or parochial schools, and 1 protectory, all in the dioceses of Newark and Trenton, N. J. (1883).

IV. NAZARETH SISTERS.-These Sisters of Charity were founded by Bishop David in Kentucky. They form an independent community, distinct from any other. In November, 1812, two pious ladies of mature age, Sister Theresa Carico and Miss Elizabeth Wells, began their work of charity in a small log house. On Jan. 21, 1813, another member, Sister Catharine Spalding, joined the young community, and on the same day their founder and superior presented to them the provisional rules which he had drawn up, unfolding the nature, object, and duties of the new society. In June of the same year the community was increased to six members, and two years later the society adopted the rules of the French sisters. The habit of the sisters is a bluish woollen dress and a white cap without the cornettes. The mother-house is at Nazareth, near Bardstown, Ky., which contains the novitiate and an academy for young ladies. There are 338 members in the society, which conducts 1 hospital, 1 infirmary, I orphan asylum, and about 26 schools and academies in Kentucky, besides other establishments in Mississippi and Ohio (1883).

I. EMMITTSBURG SISTERS.-The founder of the Sis-in Morris county, to which are attached the novitiate and ters of Charity in the United States was an American widow lady, Mrs. Elizabeth Seton, a native of the city of New York and a convert of the Catholic Church. Having removed to Baltimore in 1808, she was encouraged to begin a society for the education of girls and for other pious objects. On June 1, 1809, Mrs. Seton and four companions, with the approval of Archbishop Carroll, formed themselves into a religious community, Mother Seton, as Mrs. Seton was now called, bound herself by vow to poverty, chastity, and obedience, and with her associates assumed a uniform habit, which consisted in a plain black dress with a short cape, a white muslin cap with a crimped border, and a black crape band around the head fastened under the chin. In July, 1809, Mrs. Seton and her companions, who now numbered ten, established themselves near Emmittsburg, in Frederick co., Md., on a small property which they called St. Joseph's." As it had been intended from the beginning to affiliate the new institute to the Daughters of Charity in France, measures were taken to procure the rules and constitutions of their society, and to invite some of them to come to America and aid in establishing a branch of the order in this country. Bishop Flaget of Bardstown, Ky., succeeded in obtaining the assent of the society at Paris to the proposed measure, and several sisters were appointed to proceed to the United States, but their departure was forbidden by the French Government. A copy of their rules, however, was obtained in August, 1810, and the new community took the name of Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph. In 1812 there were twenty sisters. After many privations the community became quite flourishing, and before Mother Seton's death, which took place Jan. 4, 1821, sisters had been sent to Philadelphia and New York. St. Joseph's continued to be the mother-house, and comprised the novitiate and a boarding-school or academy for young ladies, and the services of the sisters were extended to many parts of the country. On March 25, 1850, the long-delayed union of the Emmittsburg sisters with the sisters of France was completed. The habit hitherto worn was then exchanged for the bluish-gray woollen dress and white cornette of the French sisters. In 1878 the Emmittsburg community

V. PROVIDENCE SISTERS.-The "Sisters of Charity of the House of Providence were established in Canada. The mother-house is at Montreal. It was founded in the year 1844 by Bishop Bourget. The first superior was Madame Garrelin, who procured a copy of the rules of St. Vincent de Paul, which have been since followed by the community. In 1854 a colony of these sisters was established in Burlington, Vt., at the invitation of Bishop de Goesbriand. There are 10 sisters there, who direct the Providence orphan asylum and hospital; and several houses of the order have been founded in the West and on the Pacific coast-viz., 3 in Oregon, 7 in Washington, 4 in Montana, and 2 in Idaho Territories (1882). The habit of the sisters is a dress and cape of coarse black serge, and a coif of same color and material trimmed with white linen.

The Sisters of Charity of Montreal, commonly called Gray Nuns from the color of their habit, do not follow the rule of St. Vincent de Paul, but embrace works of charity in hospitals, asylums, and poor schools. They were introduced into the United States by Archbishop Williams of Boston in 1866. (R. S.) CHARLEMONT, JAMES CAULFIELD, first EARL OF (1728-1799), an Irish politician, born at Dublin, Aug. 18, 1720, the son of the viscount Charlemont. In early life he travelled extensively on the Continent and in the Levant, making careful studies of the antiquities and the costumes of various countries. Returning he took his seat in the Irish House of Peers, and in 1763 was made an earl in consequence of his activity in putting down a rebellion. He was an early patron and friend of Burke, Flood, and Grattan, and in 1775 sent Grattan to Parliament for the borough of Charlemont. In England he was the friend and associate of Johnson, Goldsmith, Reynolds, and Hogarth. During the American Revolutionary war Charlemont commanded the volunteer army for the defence of Ireland. His Original Letters (1820) are of much historical interest. He wrote some valuable papers for the Royal Irish Academy, of which he was president, and left a History of Italian Poetry (never printed). He died Aug. 4, 1799. Lord Charlemont was a man of amiable character, varied accomplishments, and agreeable manners, and was a liberal patron of art and letters. His conservatism or timidity in conceding the disbandment of the volunteer army is regarded as one of the steps which led to the rebellion of 1798, and the resulting union with Great Britain. CHARLES XV. (LOUIS EUGENE) (1826-1872), king of Sweden and Norway, was born May 3, 1826. He was grandson of Marshal Bernadotte, who was made king of Sweden in 1818, and succeeded his father, Oscar I., July 8, 1859. He was crowned at Stockholm, May 3, 1860, and at Trondhejm, Norway, Aug. 5, 1860. He was greatly beloved by his people, and during his reign many reforms were made both in parliamentary affairs and in the general administration. He was highly accomplished, and was noted for his literary and artistic tastes. He died at Malmö, Sept. 18, 1872, deeply regretted by the whole nation. His fine collection of works of art in the castle of Ulriksdal, including paintings illustrative of Scandinavian history, was bequeathed to the state, as was also his collection of arms, which has been placed in the National Museum at Stockholm.-His only child, PRINCESS LOUISE JOSEPHINE EUGENIE, born Oct. 31, 1851, was married to Christian Frederic, prince-royal of Denmark, July 28, 1869.

CHARLES, ELIZABETH RUNDLE, an English writer, was born about 1826. She was married to Mr. Andrew P. Charles of London. She has written a number of popular stories illustrating important periods in the church history and religious life of modern times. The first of these (Chronicles of the Schönberg-Cotta Family, 1863) gave a vivid sketch of the life of Luther; the Diary of Mrs. Kitty Trevelyan (1864) illustrates the rise of Methodism in England; The Early Dawn (1864) relates the conversion of Britain to Christianity; The Draytons and the Davenants (1866) is a story of the Parliamentary war; and a sequel to this, called On both Sides of the Sea (1867), relates partly to the settlement of New England. Besides these historical stories, she has published various religious books, among which are Mary the Handmaid of the Lord (1865), The Song without Words (1865), Women of the Gospels (1866). Her religious novels include Winifred Bertram (1865), Against the Stream (1873), The Bertram Family (1875), Conquering and to Conquer (1875). One of her most valuable books is The Voice of Christian Life in Song.

CHARLES CITY, the county-seat of Floyd co., Iowa, is on Cedar River and at the intersection of the Iowa division of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad with the Cedar Falls and Minnesota branch

VOL. II.-O

of the Illinois Central Railroad, 90 miles W. of the Mississippi River. It has a national bank, a savings bank, three weekly newspapers, eight churches, and a high school and other good schools. It has good water-power, and steam is also used in its manufactories. It has foundries, machine-shops, planing-mills, plough-factory, tow-mill, creamery, and other industries. It was settled in 1853, and incorporated in 1870. The inhabitants are chiefly from the Eastern States. No liquor is allowed to be sold in the town. Population, 2421.

CHARLESTON, the county-seat of Coles co., Ill., at the intersection of the Indianapolis and St. Louis Railroad and the Toledo, Charleston, and St. Louis (narrow-gauge) Railroad, 144 miles E. of St. Louis. It has a court-house, two national banks, three hotels, seven churches, a fine high school with elegant building and several other schools, a public library, two weekly newspapers, a fair-ground, a stock importing and breeding association, a pork-packing es ablishment, foundry and stove-factory, broom-factor 7, woollenfactory, carriage-factory, two flour-mills, and other industries. It has fine water-works, which supply water from the Embarras River, 24 miles distant. It was laid out in 1831, and incorporated as a city in 1865. Population. 2867.

CHARLESTON, a city and seaport of the United States, the largest town and the commercial emporium of South Carolina, and the county-seat of Charleston county. It stands upon the point of a cape or peninsula having the Cooper River on the E. and the Ashley on the S. W., these two rivers, with the Wando, farther E., having the harbor of Charleston for their common estuary. Lat. of the city, 32° 45′ N., lon., 70° 57′ W. It is 453 miles direct (610 by rail) S. S. W. of Washington, D. C., 130 miles by rail S. S. E. of Columbia, the State capital, and 115 miles by rail N. E. of Savannah, Ga. Its beautiful harbor is one of the most commodious and accessible on the Atlantic coast, the approaches being safe and easy; and the bar (which had a depth of 16 feet at low tide and 22 at average high tide) has been improved by the erection of stone jetties from Sullivan's and Morris Island, so as to increase the depth of the channel to 26 feet. Besides the main or ship channel there are three swash channels or entrances suitable for vessels of light draft only. The harbor-mouth, or seaward entrance of the port, is 7 miles S. E. of the town, and the estuary covers some 15 square miles. The entrance lies between Sullivan's Island on the N. and Cummings' Point (the N. extremity of Morris Island) on the S. The approaches are well buoyed and lighted, and the inner waters are deep and well sheltered. The fortifications are Fort Moultrie, on Sullivan's Island; Castle Pinckney, on an islet called Shute's Folly, in the mouth of Cooper River; Fort Sumter, the principal defence, on a shoal just within the entrance and to the left of the main channel; Fort Ripley, near Castle Pinckney; and an abandoned work called Fort Johnson, on James Island and on the S. side of the harbor. The town is regularly laid out, and in general is well built. Of its 70 miles of streets, more than 9 miles are paved with cobble-stones, and 5 are planked; other parts are macadamized, and there is a shell-road. The sidewalks in the main part of the city are paved with flagstone or brick. There are 5 miles of street railway. The sewers of the city comprise 5 miles of tidal drains, built 20 inches above mean low tide. These and other streetdrains have been found defective, and are now being replaced with iron-stone pipes. Water for drinking and other purposes is obtained from cisterns supplied by rains; but excellent water has been furnished by an artesian well 1970 feet deep, which gives 250 gallons per minute, with a temperature of 99.5 F. The Battery, a massive stone wall on the S. E. front of the city, 10 feet wide and 1500 feet long, furnishes a fine promenade and is bordered by a broad drive; adjoining it are handsome private residences with beautiful gardens.

of $6,628,470, giving employment to 5167 hands and producing goods to the value of $9,010,731. The principal manufacture is that of fertilizers, the phosphate rock so abundant in the vicinity being utilized in this industry. The product was valued at $2,552,000.

The financial receipts of the city for 1882 from all sources were $709,578, and its expenditures were $698,807. The city debt, which in 1870 stood at $5,241,710, had been reduced to $4,229,251, of which $3,413,300 is in four-per-cent bonds, the rest being at higher rates. Rigid laws now restrain the power of increasing the indebtedness. A paid fire department was established in 1882, which consists of 100 men and has 8 steam fire engines, 2 hook and ladder trucks, and other apparatus. The fire-alarm telegraph has 30 miles of wire.

The healthfulness of the city is shown by a deathrate of 22 per 1000 among the whites; but the mortality among the colored population is 41 per 1000. The original settlement, called Charles Town in Carolina, was made on the Cape Fear River, in what is now Brunswick co., N. C., in 1664, under Sir John Yeamans, at or near the mouth of Old-Town Creck, and Yeamans became a landgrave or governor of a colony or county called Clarendon, which then included all South Carolina. Another Charles Town in 1679 was founded by Capt. William Sayle, on the S. W. bank of the Ashley River, 3 miles above its mouth. The settlers of this place had formerly lived at Beaufort or Port Royal. The present site of Charleston was then called Oyster Point, and buildings seem to have been erected there at an early date. In 1680 the authorities sanctioned the removal of the town to its present site, and the new town became the capital of the colony, most of the settlers of the two older Charles Towns removing to it. A colonial parliament was established in 1682. Charleston's history in its colonial period is interesting and eventful, and the town took a conspicuous part in the movements which led to the War of Independence. Prominent events in its history have been the attack by Clinton and Sir Peter Parker on the fort on Sullivan's Island, 1776; Prevost's attempt upon the town, 1779; its siege and capture by the British, 1780; the evacuation by the British troops, 1782; the Nullification movement of 1832; the passage here of the Ordinance of Secession, 1860; the bombardment and capture of Fort Sumter by the Confederate forces, 1861; the subsequent Federal operations against the city; and its evacuation by the Confederates in 1865. The city suffered much during the Civil War, which indeed first broke out here, and in 1861 half the town was destroyed by fire; but since 1865 a good part of the city has been rebuilt.

The environs of the city are pleasant and abound in | ufacturing establishments numbered 273, with a capital points of historic interest. Sullivan's Island, to the E., has many fine cottages and suburban homes. To the N. extends a picturesque and fertile plain, and the whole region is characterized by a profuse half-tropical vegetation. Among the principal buildings and public institutions of interest are the custom-house, the city hall, the academy of music, a fine and spacious theatre, the historic St. Michael's Church, the old and interesting St. Philip's Church, the city, Catholic, and colored orphanages, the arsenal (a fine building now leased in perpetuity for the use of a large orphan school for boys), the Central Presbyterian Church, the court-house, the medical college, and the College of Charleston. The churches are numerous, including 6 Catholic, 10 Episcopalian, 9 Presbyterian, 8 Methodist, 5 Baptist, and 3 Lutheran; also Unitarian, Jewish, and other places of worship. The public and private charitable institutions are numerous and well sustained. The schools, public and private, are of every grade. In 1881 the five public schools had 6 male and 85 female teachers, with 2009 white and 2005 colored pupils. The expense of these schools was $59,320. The high school is supported partly by an appropriation from city council. It has a four years' course, and an average attendance of 150 boys. There are also parochial and denominational schools and excellent private academies for the youth of both sexes. The Avery Normal Institute, under the care of the American Missionary Association, is intended to prepare colored teachers. The College of Charleston is partly endowed and partly supported by the city. Charleston is one of the chief Southern ports, both in the foreign and coastwise trade. The chief articles shipped hence by sea are upland and sea-island cotton, rice, spirits of turpentine, rosin, timber, phosphate rock, manufactured phosphates (fertilizers), fruits, and market-garden products. The phosphate industry and the market-garden business were not carried on here to any important extent before the Civil War. Charleston's commerce is fed by the following important railways: the Charleston and Savannah, the North-Eastern, and the South Carolina. The latter, which has important interior connections, has recently extended its track to wharves on Cooper River, so that vessels may load directly into the cars. The wharves of the city furnish accommodations for 200 vessels. The foreign trade is chiefly with England, Germany, Cuba, and the British West Indies. Before the American Revolution, and even down to 1816, Charleston exceeded New York in the amount of its commerce; but it has long since lost its former eminence. The coastwise trade now far exceeds the foreign in volume and importance. Lines of coast-steamers ply hence on the "inside route" among the sea-islands of this State and Georgia, along channels entirely protected from the winds and waves of the open sea. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 1883, the imports of the Charleston district amounted to $498,891, and the exports to $22,573,167. The chief items of import are soda-nitrate, sulphur (used in the phosphate manufacture), fruits, iron and steel goods, and salt. The direct importations in American vessels are valued at $46,444; in foreign, at $452,447. The chief items of foreign export were sea-island cotton (5160 bales, or 1,754,468 pounds, worth $506,629), other cotton (367,742 bales, or 173,736,398 pounds, worth $20,126,456), fertilizers ($205,417), spirits of turpentine (2,476,830 gallons, worth $1,045,421), rosin and turpentine (234,411 barrels, worth $619,618), oil-cake (1,192,880 pounds, worth $11,740), cotton seed (688,672 pounds, worth $7475), lumber (1,291,000 feet, worth $18,572), besides shingles and shooks to the value of $26,583. Of rice the export was only 7341 pounds.

The population of Charleston in 1870 was 48,956, of whom 44,064 were natives of the United States; in 1880 the population was 49,984-of native birth, 46,034; foreign-born, 3950. In 1880 there were 22,699 white residents and 27,276 colored. Of the American-born residents, 43,845 were natives of South Carolina. Of the foreign-born, 1537 were Germans; 1963 were from the British Islands, and of these 1611 were Irish. There were "engaged in professional and personal services" 10,060 persons, of whom 4632 were males and 5428 females, 9521 being native-born; "the persons engaged in all classes of occupations" were 20,324 in number, 13,280 being males, 7045 females, and 18,379 Americans by birth; "engaged in trade and transportation,' 4639, of whom 4349 were males, and 3754 of American birth; "engaged in manufacturing," 5134 persons, of whom 3905 were males, and 4646 were born in the United States. The census of 1880 reports for the city 11,406 families and 6552 dwellings, or 4'38 perCharleston carries on an active wholesale trade with sons to a family and 7'63 persons to a dwelling. The the towns of the interior. The number of firms en-city ranked as the thirty-sixth in the United States gaged in wholesale and retail trade in 1883 was 924, and their annual sales were estimated at $28,955,000. There were 6 banks, with a total capital of $1,120,000 and a surplus of $637,000. The mechanical and man

according to population.

CHARLESTON, the county-seat of Kanawha co., W. Va., and the permanent capital of the State, is on the right bank of the Great Kanawha River, 60 miles from

its mouth and 130 miles S. of Wheeling. Across the Kanawha, which is here over 200 yards wide, runs the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, with two steam-ferries from the dépôt to the city; the Ohio Central Railroad, which follows the bank of the Kanawha, enters the city by a bridge over Elk River, a branch of the former, and about a hundred yards wide. The navigation of both rivers has been improved by permanent locks and dams erected by the U. S. Government. In the Kanawha salines, which extend about 10 miles on both sides of the river above Charleston, salt water is obtained in abundance by boring at a depth varying from 500 to 2000 feet. For many years from 1,000,000 to 3,000,000 bushels of salt were made annually. Large quantities of bituminous coal are mined in the valley, but little has been done to develop the ironfield. Charleston is the commercial emporium of the valley and carries on considerable trade. Besides the railroads there are weekly packets to Cincinnati and to Pittsburg, a daily packet to Gallipolis, and numerous local packets and tow-boats ply the rivers.

Charleston presents an uninviting appearance on the river-side; there is, however, a spirit of progress and the city is steadily improving. The streets are fairly laid out, adorned in many places with rows of trees, handsome buildings, ncat lawns, and gardens. The principal streets are lighted with gas. In 1882 the city council adopted the Gates pavement, so named from Virgil A. Gates, a prominent citizen, who had laid an experimental section in 1871. The State Capitol is a fine building of stone and brick, 138 feet long, 56 wide, and 140 high; the custom-house is of brick. There are two first-class hotels, besides others of less pretensions, two State banks, an opera-house and several halls, one daily and four weekly newspapers, two monthly periodicals, three public schools, a military academy, and other good private schools. There are eleven churches and chapels, comprising three Baptist, two Methodist Episcopal, one Methodist Episcopal, South, two Presbyterian, one Episcopalian, one Roman Catholic, and one Christian Bride. The industrial works are two foundries with machine-shops, two flour-mills, two planing-mills, seven saw-mills, and a boatyard and docks; also woollen, barrel, handle, pump, hub, and cigar factories. In 1882 the tax valuation of property, real and personal, was $1,663,316.

scene

which his soldiers dug is still in use. In this town John Brown and five of his followers were tried and hung Dec. 2, 1859. The records of this trial and the will of John Brown are preserved in the county clerk's office. During the Civil War this region was the of frequent fierce conflicts, the most noted of which occurred on Oct. 18, 1863, when the Confederate general Imboden surprised and captured the Union troops holding the town, but was driven out a few hours later. CHARLOTTE, the county-seat of Eaton co., Mich., is at the intersection of the Chicago and Grand Trunk Railroad with the Grand River Valley branch of the Michigan Central Railroad, 19 miles S. W. of Lansing. It has a national bank, two weekly newspapers, eight churches, several schools, a public library, and a fire department. It has manufactories of tables, carriages, barrels, etc., and is the trade-centre of an agricultural and lumber region. Population, 2910.

CHARLOTTE, the county-seat of Mecklenburg co., N. C., is 11 miles N. of the South Carolina line and 162 miles W. of Raleigh, on the North Carolina Railroad. The other railroads are the Atlanta and Charlotte Air-Line, the Charlotte, Columbia, and Augusta, the Atlantic, Tennessee, and Ohio, and the Carolina Central. It has a U. S. branch mint, three hotels, three national banks, one daily and three weekly newspapers, twelve churches, three schools, and is the seat of Biddle University (Presbyterian) and a female seminary. It has two machine-shops, a cotton-mill, flour-mill, and two planing-mills. It is incorporated as a city, and has gas- and water-works. It was settled in 1756 by Scotch-Irish emigrants, and claims to be the place where the first Declaration of Independence from Great Britain was made, May 10, 1775. Its property is valued at $2,500,000; its yearly expenses are $20,000, and it is free of debt. Its present population, of various origin, numbers 7094.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, a town of Virginia, countyseat of Albemarle county, near the Rivanna River, and on the Virginia Midland and Chesapeake and Ohio Railroads, 97 miles by rail west-north-west of Richmond. The UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA (which see), one of the leading institutions of learning of the country, is situated near the town. Charlottesville has a secondary school for boys, a school for ladies, several churches, a town-hall, two national banks, three weekly newspapers, several manufactories, and an active trade. Population in 1880, 2676.

Charleston was settled about 1786 by George Clendennin of Virginia, who built a fort of hewn logs, 40 by 30 feet and two stories in height, which remained CHARNOCK, STEPHEN, D. D. (1628-1680), an standing till 1874. In this fort the first county court English divine born in London in 1628. His father was held in 1789. The town was incorporated in 1794 was Richard Charnock, a distinguished solicitor. by the name of Charlestown, which was afterwards Stephen Charnock was at Cambridge a pupil of Sanchanged to Charleston. Charleston was incorporated croft in Emanuel College, where so many of the Purias a city of the second class in 1870. By the census tan divines were trained. It was at the university that of 1880 its population was 4192. In 1869 it was made his interest in the religious life was awakened. He the capital of the State, but in 1875 the seat of gov- became a preacher of Southwark, but in 1649 was made ernment was removed to Wheeling, there to remain for a fellow of New College, Oxford, and in 1652 was apten years, at the end of which time it is to be per-pointed senior proctor of the university, winning great manently located at Charleston.

(T. S.)

CHARLESTOWN, the county-seat of Jefferson co., W. Va., is 65 miles from Washington City and 10 miles W. of Harper's Ferry, on the Winchester and Potomac division of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Shenandoah Valley Railroad. It has six churches, two hotels, two newspapers, excellent private schools, as well as free schools for white and colored pupils, commodious town-hall and other fine public buildings, thirty stores, foundry and machine-shops, sash, spoke-, and rim-factory, planing-mill, flour-mill. and gas-works. The town was named after Charles Washington, a brother of Gen. George Washington. who gave the land upon which the public buildings are erected, and its streets are principally named after the Washington family. Population, 2016.

The county was formed in 1801, but the town existed long before, and is rich in colonial and Revolutionary associations. It was a point on the march of Gen. Braddock to Fort Duquesne in 1755, and the well

applause for faithfulness and ability. In 1653 he went to Dublin and became chaplain to Henry Cromwell. Being deprived by the Act of Uniformity of 1660, he went to London, and thenceforward till 1675 preached to various dissenting congregations, but in the latter year assumed a pastorate. He died in London, July 27, 1680. He was distinguished for learning, dignity, amiability, and wisdom. His Treatise on the Attributes of God has been many times reprinted, and still takes rank among the standard works of its class. His sermons form the bulk of the Complete Works, of which the Edinburgh edition, in five volumes (1864), is the best. His Life was written by Edward Parsons. CHARTER. In the United States the laws of incorporation at first followed closely in the See Vol. V. p. 374 Am. precedents afforded by the English common ed. (p. 431 law. All grants of charters under that Edin. ed.). law proceeded, mediately or immediately, from the king. In early English constitutional history we find the necessity of royal authority for the

« AnteriorContinuar »