The following is a schedule of monthly wages for employees at the Oregon State Insane Asylum (OSIA).  The schedule was adopted by the Board of Trustees of OSIA, April 1, 1903.

[1]  For a little perspective, the average household income in the U.S. in 1901 was $62.50 a month [2] and $1.00 in 1903 is worth $25.20 in today’s money.[3]

Laundry workers at OSIA, Oregon State Archives OSH0012

 

Bookkeeper 100.00 Stableman 35.00
Stenographer 50.00 Musicians Left to Superintendent
Steward 80.00 Engineer 100.00
Dept. Overseer 75.00 Asst. Engineer 35.00
Commissary 60.00 Carpenter 60.00
Basementman 45.00 Asst. Carpenter 45.00
Supervisor 60.00 Plumber 55.00
Night Watchman 60.00 Blacksmith 45.00
Porter 35.00 Tinner 45.00
Portress 30.00 Mason Plasterer 50.00
Chief Cook 75.00 Painter 40.00
Cook & Baker Cottage Farm 70.00 Shoemaker 45.00
1st Asst. Cook 40.00 Tailor 45.00
2nd Asst. Cook 35.00 Seamstress 30.00
Baker 60.00 Laundryman 45.00
Can Washer 35.00 Asst. Laundryman 37.50
Table Girl 25.00 Laundress 37.50
Farmer 60.00 Druggist 50.00
Gardner, Farmer 50.00 Matron 50.00
Gardner, Landscape 40.00 Night Attendants (male) 40.00
Farm Help 25.00 Night Attendants (female) 40.00
Dairyman 40.00 Attendants (Male) 42.50
Hackman 35.00 Attendants (Female) 40.00

 The salaries of the attendants in the main building (J-Building) were also split up by ward:
Male Wards 1, 5, and 8:  1st Attendant: $2.50; 2nd Attendant $40.00; 3rd Attendant $37.50
Male Wards, all others: 1st Attendant $40.00; 2nd & 3rd Attendant $37.50.
Female Wards, 10, 13, 17: 1st Attendant $40.00.

It should be noted, too, that the above list does not include the physicians nor the superintendent.

[1] Payroll Register 1902-1906, Oregon State Archives (2/10/07/04).
[2] U.S. Department of Labor & US Bureau of Labor Statistics.  100 Years of U.S. Consumer Spending: Data for the Nation, New York and Boston, May 2006. (http://www.bls.gov/opub/uscs/report991.pdf) lists the average yearly household income in the U.S. in 1901 as $750.
[3] Samuel H. Williamson, “Seven Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount, 1774 to present,” MeasuringWorth, April 2010. www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/