Ann Arbor Yesterdays ~ "Not An Institution, But A Home"

Ann Arbor Yesterdays -- ‘Not An Institution, But A Home’

By Lela Duff

Sixty years ago last Oct. 16, a group of 23 kindly people met in Newberry Hall to discuss the possibility of founding in Ann Arbor a special kind of home. As active workers in the “Charitable Union” — an amateur organization of the day to do work of a varied nature as emergencies arose — they had often been called upon to assist elderly women who had no relatives to help them. They were aware that “as times were changing there was less and less place for old people.” At this meeting $400 were subscribed, with promises of furniture, linens, etc.

Within a month two more meetings were held. The project was presented next to the State Federation of Women’s Clubs, and groups were soon formed in other cities from which small sums of money were occasionally sent in. Mrs. W. W. Wetmore was elected president for the first year, but in 1901 Mrs. Anna Botsford Bach, a woman of great courage and initiative, became president of the struggling organization and held that office until her death in 1915.

During the years of hoping and planning, ideas changed from time to time. For a while “Aged People's Home” was the accepted name so that a couple might be received now and then, though “marriage between inmates” was not to be countenanced.

A desperate effort was made to raise $10,000 before buying a house. Several canny men pledged $500 if $20,000 could be raised within two years, but in spite of hard work, entertainments, and gifts, only $847.53 had been accumulated in the specified time. Meantime letters of inquiry were coming in from every direction, and by Oct. 31, 1903, forty applications had been received. In 1905 incorporation was determined upon, although only $2,000 was in sight. Articles of Association were signed by 14 brave Ann Arbor women. The purpose given was the “establishment and maintenance of a home for aged people, and to conserve their health, comfort and happiness.”

Four more years of strenuous effort followed. Mrs. Eli Moore, for instance, undertook the collection of “a mile of pennies” — and seems to have accomplished it. By 1909, however, people were saying that the home would never be opened. Spurred on by this rebuff, the group voted to purchase a house on the northeast corner of Lawrence and State Sts. which Miss Ellen Morse was offering them for $1,000 down payment and a $3,800 mortgage. Through gifts of furniture and a siege of personal labor, the house was quickly made ready. The first permanent resident, Mrs. Lucy Shadona, the widow of a doctor, moved in on Nov. 9, and Nov. 16 the doors were thrown open for a gala reception.

The method of payment then established, and still followed, was the “buying in of rooms,” the “prices” of rooms at first ranging from $500 to $1,000 but since gradually increased to the present figures of $4,000 to $6.500. On entering, the resident also turns over in trust all other property she then possesses, the interest on it to be paid to her during her life and the sum to become a part of the permanent endowment when she passes away. If anyone should have no other property than the payment for her room, her personal needs were to be cared for with privacy and tact out of the general fund. Gifts and bequests have since added materially to the backlog.

Since age 70 was the minimum for admission, the earlier residents had all been born in the 1830's or before. It soon became apparent that when freed from worry and labor the women lived much longer than they might have been expected, some of them rounding out a period of 20 happy years in the Home. In a little red leather notebook, Mrs. Bach kept her own record of the vital statistics of each one, often adding a personal note—as the fact that Mrs. Sarah Warren “bore her long and serious illness with much Christian patience.” Though, most of the women were able to meet the financial requirements themselves or through relatives, a few less fortunate were helped out by subscription among friends. For one prominent nurse the funds were raised largely among the medical profession. The Congregational Church people provided for one through Prof. Goddard's efforts, and Zion Lutheran members for another, while a Musical Sorority contributed $500 for some gifted lady.

At the end of a decade the Home had outgrown its first residence, and for $7,000 the corporation purchased a larger one just down the block, the house on the corner of Kingsley which had recently been left behind by St. Joseph’s Mercy Hospital. At this time too, through the urgent suggestion of Mrs. S. W. Clarkson, the name was changed to the Anna Botsford Bach Home in honor of its most influential founder and early guiding spirit.

By 1927 the Home had again outgrown its quarters and with the help of gifts was able to purchase the beautiful MacKenzie property at 1422 W. Liberty. At first the ladies themselves were not happy at this change, for the elegance of the building, the 41 acres of lovely gardens, and the vistas of open country were a poor substitute for the throngs of people they had watched on N. State St. going to and from the railway station. This complaint has long since been forgotten as the city spread out around them.

In their determination to keep it "a home and not an institution,” the board has held the number admitted to the 19 who could each have a private room, even though it has meant the sacrificing of Community Fund benefits. No attempt has been made, either, to introduce crafts or other organized means of keeping the women occupied. They are merely free to come and go about town in pursuit of their personal interests as they would be if still living in their private homes.

Throughout the years a succession of intelligent and able women have availed themselves of the security and comfort of this haven. To local historians, one of the most interesting names on the list is that of Mrs. Mary C. Wood, granddaughter and last Ann Arbor descendant of our town's founder, John Allen.