Have you found an ancestor living in the poorhouse? Have you wondered how they got to that point in their lives? Most often, early on, it was simply an inability to support themselves and their families for a time, perhaps through sickness or hard luck. Longer, even life long residency was many times a physical or mental disability. Occasionally they actually were “sorry, no count, good for nothin’, wouldn’t hit a lick at a snake” characters.
They could still own a home, but be in the poorhouse temporarily until they could get back on their feet. Later on, it was declared that they couldn’t have more than $10 in worldly goods to live in the poorhouse. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they acted as a nursing home as much as anything.
When I found my husband’s ancestor living in a poorhouse in 1920 at the age of 84, it made me wonder about the history of poorhouses. This most excellent site came up in my search and I wanted to share it with you. The Poorhouse Story. It gives a clear, concise and interesting history of the evolution of our nation’s efforts to take care of the poor and indigent. There are links to other articles of the history as well as first account stories from people who grew up in the poorhouse, not as an inmate, but as a child of the caretaker. They give us insight as to what life was like living in these group homes. Two I found most interesting are The Poor Farm Revisited and Cass County (Texas) Poor Farm Both these articles are first hand accounts, which I find so fascinating. If you’re a hopeless romantic like me, the Cass County article is a must read.
Hope you enjoy the site and now I think I’ll try to learn why my husband’s ancestor’s children didn’t take him in.
