Emily E. Flinn Home for Aged Women
The Emily E. Flinn Home for Aged Women is a monument to the Twentieth Century Club, organized in 1889 by Mrs. Nancy Ellis Jay Helm, and when the home was finally open she became its matron. The Twentieth Century Club was limited to widows, philanthropic women who wished to bend their energies to some good purpose, and for a decade they were active along charity lines, cooperating with others and finally an industrial school was organized early in the new century -a most useful work in behalf of young girls with busy mothers. Saturday afternoons were devoted to these girls, and they were taught sewing, making garments for themselves which, when completed, were given to them. These classes were taught by members of the club, and by other charitably inclined persons under their direct supervision, and the women of this club always agitated the question of a rest room in the basement of the court house.
Later it was decided to discontinue the industrial school, and all energies were bent toward securing a club house in the shape of a home for women. On February 21, 1899, with no money in sight except club dues and sustained only by the courage of their convictions, the work was undertaken. The ambition of the club was to provide a home for deserving women who would spend their declining years there. Its location was determined by a gift of five acres of ground on West Twelfth Street by the late Peter G. Flinn, and the building was erected largely from funds from the Flinn estate, on condition that the home bear the name of his wife, Emily E. Flinn, who was a woman loved by all who knew her. Ground was broken in October, 1904, the home was occupied the following August, and was formally opened October 13, 1905, when a great many people were in attendance.
"The women of the Twentieth Century Club have given freely of their time, and so far as possible of their means to the work, but the great need of the home is an endowment fund that will furnish a regular income for its maintenance, and solve the problem of the future. We read of large sums of money given by men of wealth to endow a chair, or build a chapter house for their alma mater, while somewhere, perhaps, somebody's mother, old and worn with the trials and conflicts of the world, is in sore need of the simple home comforts........Surely in Grant County there are generous, warm hearted people on whom fortune has bestowed with lavish hand who could help the home cause, and make all the rest of life a blessing to themselves. It is the ultimate purpose of the board to make the home not only a refuge for aged women, but in its truest sense a home where they may not miss the quiet and cheer, and touch of refinement," and in a published pamphlet the club acknowledges many courtesies from the community.
The Marion daily papers have always been delivered free and have kept the members in touch with the outside world, thus helping them to pass many pleasant hours. So many donors ask that their bequests be kept secret, and while Grant County women must pay an entrance fee of $400, and those coming from outside the county pay $600, it is after all a charity. The age limit of entrance is seventy years, and from fifty to seventy years is a time in the lives of many women when there is none upon whom they may lean for support. There are rules and regulations, and yet there is seldom cause for discipline, only women being admitted who are law abiding and peaceable citizens. There had been eight deaths from 1905 to 1912 and as soon as a room is vacant there are applications for it. There are several endowed rooms, the matron's own room being the gift of her children, either of whom would afford her shelter were she inclined to give up life's activities, but she comes of hardy pioneer stock that does not lay down the struggle until the end. Mrs. Helm is a daughter of Robert and Anna Ellis who came to Jonesboro early in town's history.
The first woman to apply for membership in the Emily E. Flinn Home was Miss Hannah Bond, who declares she had not outlived her usefulness, but the fortune of her family was such that she was alone in the world and she simply sought friendly shelter and society. Miss Bond has been a resident of the county since 1864. She belongs to a Quaker family and was not a dependent woman at all. Although she is entitled to support, according to the conditions of entrance, she has always earned money with her needle, and all of it goes into the home treasury. Miss Bond soon bought a cow that was the property of the institution, and with the assistance of the matron and other members who sometimes spend a little time quilting, this fund has reached almost $2,000, and not a cent has she claimed for herself. She has revenue sufficient for her individual needs -pin money for herself -and she will leave additional property to the institution. While each member has an interesting life history, the first woman to become a member has set all of them a pattern in industry. If Peter G. Flinn had left all his money to this home it would have been ell expended, as the crying need is for extension. It is a monument more enduring than granite to the memory of the woman, who was loved by all who knew her. Mrs. Flinn died in Marion, May 9, 1892, when only a little past sixty years old. She was a sister of S.M. Grandy. No children were born to Mr. and Mrs.. Flinn, and the Flinn estate is perpetuated by trustees.
Centennial History of Grant County, Indiana 1812-1912
The Lewis Publishing Co., 1914.