Appendix
What first comes to mind when someone mentions the year 1836? For me, it's the Battle of the Alamo, but never mind. Forget the Alamo, so to speak.
If you're reading this, you definitely should remember that Samuel Jones wrote his will in 1836. If you have also read last month's article, you might recall that the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum Society of Brooklyn was founded around that time (precisely when it was founded seems difficult to determine; I've seen both 1836 and 1838 given as the year). If you majored in English Literature, you may know that in 1836, Charles Dickens was preparing the chapters of Oliver Twist for serial publication. The first chapter would be published in February 1837.
What do these three things have in common? All of them reflect something about the 1830s, an era that witnessed a groundswell of social reform in English-speaking society, specifically with regard to the victimization of the poor, whether children or otherwise.
Dickens was just starting his dual careers as an author and social activist. Oliver Twist was the first salvo he would fire in his war against the hypocrites who ran orphanages and schools for personal gain, pretending to shelter and protect the children they often abused. Brooklyn's Orphan Asylum Society was completely in step with him.
Samuel Jones? He, too, concerned himself with needy people, albeit primarily those who were nearing the other end of life. He wanted them to have what we today call "dignity and respect" - as well as clean beds, food for their bellies, and good health. But he also recognized that evil and temptation can arise when one is the custodian of funds intended to help the poor. Jones built safeguards into his legacy, rules that had to be followed, rules that prevented the diversion of charitable donations into the pockets of those who someday would operate the Jones Institute.
Looking back at what Jones wrought, I am surprised by the fact that it survived so long - no, not because I think that it had some inherent fatal flaw. Rather, I am surprised because it was dropped newly-born into a young, fast-growing, and fast-changing country, and at the worst possible time. It never got the chance to function without taxpayer support, but it adapted as well as it could, and it survived, even as America kept changing at a hectic pace. By the end, the Jones Fund had housed and looked after poor people, without profit, for almost 180 years.
Despite the Fund's ultimate demise, I suspect that Mr. Jones would feel very good if he knew how far his $30,000 went.
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