Show bachelor s coins will pay for one more free school pinch penny stipulates in in will that penniless be provided education NEW ORLEANS they used to call john mcdonogh a pinch penny I 1 in the when he corn cam muted to mew new orleans in a battered old skiff and then walked miles into town rather than spend a pica tor for horse drawn transports tran tion but when he died in 1850 the lone some old bachelor left all of his large fortune in real estate to ue tte cities of new orleans and bald more tor for the establishment of tree free public schools the fund which has financed be tween 30 and 36 schools here has dwindled now and when one more school has been constructed the money will all be gone construction of a new gentilly lake area school with the remain der of the fund has been authorized by the commission council in an ordinance which will convert se curi curit ties les to be used for the new school at the he height ight of his business career mcdonogh was the largest individual land owner in the united with vast acres of waste and suburban land under his name his holdings included squares and lots in new orleans proper warehouses stores residences land in 18 16 par ashes of louisiana and enormous tracts in florida mississippi and texas mcdonogh a will divided hia his estate equally between new or leans eans and baltimore for the lish ment of schools tor for children un able to pay their way the legacy however became the subject of much contention litiza tion and the civil war caused the amount to diminish when the su preme court finally passed upon the will new orleans as its par tion received most of the exten sive properties the vagueness which surrounds the history of the earliest me mc donogh schools was increased by the disappearance ot of the minutes of the old board which administered the school fund francis P burns former city at torney said that the records disappeared in 1927 during reh abill tation and rearrangement of the city hall burns said it was sup posed that from the fund was contributed in aid of defense of the city in the war between the states available records show evidence that 28 schools in new orleans and two in jefferson parish were con strutted ted from the fund although all of the schools that remain in existence are now under the con arol of or operated by the orleans or jefferson parish school boards 19 of them still bear mcdonogh s name McDono mcdonogh gb no I 1 con strutted ted shortly after the will was probated Is the oldest mcdonogh was born in baltimore dec 29 1779 but took up residence here in 1817 he devoted his en tire life to the acquisition of wealth for the establishment of philan pies to be carried out after his death A bronze statue of john me donogh stands in lafayette square facing city hall here and every year on his birthday the children gather to shower the monument w th flowers out in the world are thousands of teachers authors doctors and businessmen who learned to read and write because of the generosity of a man who in life was known as a tight man with a nickel nicke |