The Inmates of Willard 1870 to 1900 / A Genealogy Resource

1864 Cortland County Poor House

Posted on September 19, 2013 by lsstuhler

“The provision for the care of the insane poor in the county of Cortland is shockingly bad. Of eighty-eight paupers, thirty-one are insane; being more than one-third the whole number. Eighteen are males and thirteen are females. About twenty-four of this number are of American birth. Not a single case has ever been treated in an asylum, although several have been admitted for fifteen or twenty years; fifteen cases are mild, nine are violent, and twelve are excitable. Eleven are filthy, several are not only insane but have become idiotic. None of the males perform any amount of labor, six females perform some indoor labor. There is no system of amusement or light occupation to divert the mind of any. Ten are destructive, nine require occasional restraint; the violent are controlled by close cells and straight-jackets. The house has not a full supply of water. The insane are not all required to wash hands and face daily! The arrangement for cleanliness and ventilation is imperfect; several are confined in cells without the privilege of coming daily to the open air!! The building is a story and a-half wood structure, ill adapted to the purpose for which it is used; the ceilings are low, the bedsteads are wood, and usually two sleep in one bed; in one bed three sleep; in some instances a sane and an insane sleep together. Such as are able, come to a common table, the others have food carried to them; the diet is such as a farmer’s table affords, plain but ample. The rooms are heated in winter with wood and coal stoves, with stove pipes running through the rooms, without attention to uniformity of heat. There is no accommodation for the various grades of insane; but the violent cases are kept in cells in a building off from the main building. In one ward ten are constantly confined. The sexes are not kept entirely separated, and male attendants are employed to care for female insane. The atmosphere in the rooms is generally unwholesome. At this institution recent cases are received! Two cases were received in 1864. Ultimate recovery by management or treatment is not held in view. Dr. H.O. Jewett, who visited this house says, “the edifice is a badly constructed affair. It was originally a farm house, additions having been made to it; the cells are seventeen in number, 5 1/2 x 6 1/2 feet, ten feet ceiling in front, the wall above being finished upon the rafters; there is one window of eight lights to each cell. There are really no means except accidental ones, for ventilating the various rooms; and with the present arrangement of the house uniform or appropriate warmth in winter season is out of the question; neither is there sufficient help employed in the establishment to ensure anything like proper cleanliness of the apartments or persons of the inmates. The common claims of humanity would seem to demand some regulations which will secure more attention to the physical comfort and moral training of each individual, and the special medical treatment of the insane.” What language can be more explicit or more earnest? Is it any wonder that in such want of care the insane become idiotic or demented, and the mild cases incurable?”

SOURCE: Documents of the Assembly Of The State Of New York, Eighty-Eighth Session, 1865, Volume 6, Nos. 199 to 112 Inclusive, Albany: C. Wendell, Legislative Printer, 1865, Pages 188-189.

New York State County Poor Houses.

1864 Columbia County Poor House

Posted on September 19, 2013 by lsstuhler

“It is a sad spectacle to humanity, that which is revealed in the condition of the insane paupers of Columbia county. There are at the poor house one hundred and twenty-seven inmates, twenty-seven of whom are lunatics. They have been admitted to the poor house at various periods since 1840. Sixteen are males and eleven are females. Twenty-one cases are mild in character. Twenty-six are noted as filthy! Only two have ever been treated in an asylum. Eight males and three females are capable of doing some labor. Others have no amusement provided for them. Five require occasional restraint. There is an inadequate supply of water; there is no bath tub; the lunatics are not required to wash hands and face daily. Cleanliness, ventilation and uniformity of heat in winter are not observed to any particular degree. The rooms have not bedsteads in all of them. Twelve sleep on straw without bedsteads. The straw is changed once or twice a week. The building is heated by coal “poorly applied.” Mild cases are put with the sane paupers. There are no accommodations for the various grades of the insane. One assistant keeper is aided by the sane paupers in the care of lunatics. The atmosphere in the rooms was very impure and unhealthy. The county takes recent cases. Several were admitted in 1863 and 1864. The females have a change of under garments every week; the males none. None had had stockings during the winter; all had shoes. There is no convenience for out of door exercise. No provision is made for medical treatment; they do not receive any medical attendance at all, nor care of any sort with reference to ultimate recovery. Confirmed lunacy and hopeless idiocy is the fate that threatens the unfortunate who passes this threshold.”

SOURCE: Documents of the Assembly Of The State Of New York, Eighty-Eighth Session, 1865, Volume 6, Nos. 199 to 112 Inclusive, Albany: C. Wendell, Legislative Printer, 1865, Pages 187-188.

New York State County Poor Houses.

1864 Clinton County Poor House

Posted on September 19, 2013 by lsstuhler

“No report.”

1864 Chenango County Poor House

Posted on September 19, 2013 by lsstuhler

“There are seventy paupers in the Chenango county house. Twenty are insane. Ten are males and ten are females. They have been admitted since 1840. Fifteen of the cases are mild; about one-third have received treatment at Utica, Eight are capable of some labor. Some effort is made to amuse those who do not labor. Three are destructive to their clothing, one requires constant restraint. The leather muff is used for such purpose. The institution has two bathing tubs in the department for the sane poor, with a full supply of water. It is designed that all shall wash every day, hands and face; but the violent do not always. The building is apart from the one used for sane paupers, is a fine building, has sixteen rooms; ten of them are provided with beds; four cells are provided with bunks fastened to the wall and floor; one and two sleep in each bed; the straw in the beds is changed each month, or every year, according to its use. All the inmates go to a common table. The building is heated with stoves, which through ventilators from the halls, warm the rooms occupied. There are no accommodations for the various grades of the insane. A man and a woman are employed by the year to take care of the lunatics. The rooms appear clean, and the air good as can reasonably be expected. The institution receives recent cases, and will accommodate from twenty to thirty, though never more than twenty have been confined at any one time. Two were removed by friends during the year, and one was transferred to the sane department. The lunatics have no regular medical attendance nor care with reference to ultimate recovery.”

1864 Chemung County Poor House

Posted on September 19, 2013 by lsstuhler

“The poor house in the county of Chemung contains forty-eight paupers, eight of whom are insane; just one-sixth of the whole number. Four are males and four are females; all are native born. Two males and one female are capable of doing some out of door labor. Those who cannot work are furnished with neither employment or amusement. They are all represented as being destructive and tear off their clothing; but they require no restraint other than confinement to their rooms. The building is supplied with water from springs at the distance of ten rods off. It has no bath tub or other convenience for bathing, and no special attention is paid to either cleanliness, ventilation, or the uniformity of heat in winter. The building is of wood, two stories high; the height of ceiling being eight feet, and the rooms 8×10. The food for the insane is the same as that for the other inmates of the institution, and served to them by the sane paupers. The lunatics are all confined in one ward, without other than pauper attendants, and without any accommodation for the various grades of their disease. No attention is paid to their ultimate recovery, and a physician only visits them when he is sent for. None of them have shoes, because it is “impossible to keep them on.” As to cleanliness and ventilation, the rooms are bad. Dr. Morse, who made the investigation, adds: “The condition of the insane paupers in Chemung county is deplorable in the extreme; and there is no adequate provision made to remedy the evil.”

1864 Cayuga County Poor House

Posted on September 19, 2013 by lsstuhler

“In the poor house of Cayuga county, situated in the outskirt of Auburn, there are seventy-five paupers, twenty-nine of whom are insane. Thirteen are males, sixteen are females. Eight are natives, seventeen are foreigners, and four unknown. They have been admitted at various periods since 1845. Eleven of these cases are mild, fifteen are violent, sixteen are of filthy habits. Nine of these cases have received treatment at the State asylum at Utica.

Ten are capable of performing labor, the others have no amusement or occupation provided for them; twelve are destructive to their clothing and require occasional restraint; the leather muff and confinement in cells being the form used. The house is supplied with water by a well and cistern, but it has no bath tub, nor have the insane any special time for bathing except when filthy. There is a standing rule requiring the hands and face of the insane to be washed daily. [Is it thoroughly enforced ?]

The building is of brick, three stories with basement of nine feet, other stories twelve feet, with rooms 8×12. There is a bedstead in each room; sometimes two sleep on one bed, but generally only one. The bedding in ticks is of straw and changed as occasion requires, not regularly. The diet is ample in variety and substance. The building is heated by furnaces, and designed to be made comfortable. The mild and inoffensive have the range of the basement and yards together, but the violent are confined in cells. Several mild cases occupy a room together, but the violent are kept in separate cells. They have only such care as can be forced from pauper attendants. The keeper said that vermin were sometimes found on the persons of lunatics. It is designed on the part of the county to send recent cases to the State asylum. The building is designed to accommodate thirty persons. Dr. Sylvester Willard, of Auburn, who made the investigation, remarks: “All the males are kept in the basement which is above ground, where they eat and sleep, and when not in the yard spend their time in the huge hall together, with the exception of the four who labor on the farm. Some cells are especially strong with iron grated doors, for the safe keeping of the violent and destructive. These strong cells being in proximity to the halls may be kept in comfortable temperature in cold weather, but are very deficient in ventilation. They have no windows or other openings and no communication with outer atmosphere, except from the hall through the grated door. At the time of my examination two cells were occupied, with one violent and destructive lunatic in each. Their beds were torn into shreds, and contents scattered over the floor. They were filthy in a superlative degree, and their excrements spread over the floor, on the walls and over their persons; with no means for ventilation or change of air the stench at their cell door was excessively offensive. Under the circumstances it may have been difficult to have had it otherwise. It is due to the keeper to say, that with the exceptions of these cells, the rooms were clean and neat.

The medical treatment is by a homeopathic physician, who visits the house regularly once a week, and oftener if required. No medical treatment is made with reference to their ultimate recovery.”

SOURCE: Documents of the Assembly Of The State Of New York, Eighty-Eighth Session, 1865, Volume 6, Nos. 199 to 112 Inclusive, Albany: C. Wendell, Legislative Printer, 1865, Pages 184-185.

New York State County Poor Houses.

1864 Chautauqua County Poor House

Posted on September 19, 2013 by lsstuhler

“Chautauqua county poor house has one hundred and twenty inmates, twenty-seven of which are insane. They have been admitted at various periods since 1848. Two of these cases have been treated in an asylum. Sixteen of the cases are mild, two are violent, and five are filthy. Ten are confined to the house. Four males and five females are capable of doing some labor. No amusement is provided for any who do not labor. In dry weather the supply of water is insufficient and is brought about a half a mile by teams.

The insane are kept in two buildings; one building is of brick, and the bedsteads in the rooms of this building are of iron, and fastened to the floor. Only one sleeps in a bed, except in one bed, which is occupied by two persons. One sleeps on straw without any bed. The beds are filled with straw, except such as are occupied by the sick, which are of cotton or feathers. The mild cases are kept in one building, and the excitable or violent in another. A man and his wife are jointly employed in the care of the violent cases. The rooms are all heated by a box stove, with wood, from the lower floor, the pipes encased passing through the floor above, it is believed by the overseer that no inmates suffer with cold in the winter.

Paupers arc employed to take care of the mild cases. The rooms are clean and the atmosphere in them is not bad. All are furnished with shoes in the winter, only one would not wear them. The building is designed to accommodate twenty-two, but thirty have at times been confined there. There is no regular medical attendance, nor is ultimate recovery held in view. The duties of the keeper appear to be discharged in a kind manner, and as well as could be done by any one not experienced in the management of the insane. Dr. Barrett observes and justly, “The attendants ought not to be all paupers.” The deficiency in water must be a great drawback to the comfort of the inmates, and the question might properly be raised whether the system of heating is sufficient to warm the building in winter.”

1864 Cattaraugus County Poor House

Posted on September 19, 2013 by lsstuhler

“Cattaraugus county house has forty-nine inmates, seventeen of whom are insane. The lunatics have been admitted at several periods since 1838. Thirteen are of American birth. Thirteen are likewise mild cases; seven are of filthy habits. None have ever been treated in an asylum. Two cases were admitted in 1864, previous to August 12th. Five males and six females are capable of doing some labor. The others have no form of occupation. The violent are restrained by locking them up in a dark room. The house has no bathing tub. Some of the bedsteads are of iron and a part are fastened to the floor. In some of the beds two persons sleep. Straw is used for bedding and is changed as often as it becomes foul. The food is distributed in dishes to each one. No attention is given to free ventilation, nor to uniformity of heat in the winter. When indoors the sexes are kept separately; the keeper and his wife having a general superintendence over them. They have clean clothing once a week and oftener if necessary. One had no shoes during the winter. The building is designed to confine twenty lunatics, but nineteen is the highest in confinement at any one time. The insane are visited by a physician every week, and oftener if they are ill, but circumstances do not allow of any treatment with reference to recovery. They are as clean and comfortable as the system of management is calculated to make them.”

SOURCE: Documents of the Assembly Of The State Of New York, Eighty-Eighth Session, 1865, Volume 6, Nos. 199 to 112 Inclusive, Albany: C. Wendell, Legislative Printer, 1865, Pages 183-184.

New York State County Poor Houses.

Pages 183-184.

1864 Broome County Poor House

Posted on September 19, 2013 by lsstuhler

“In the Broome county poor house there are eighty-five inmates, twenty-one of whom, or one in four are lunatics. Ten are males, and eleven are females. Only four are of foreign birth. One has been in confinement since 1834. Nine of these cases are mild, seven are violent. Seven have been treated in an asylum. Eight of these insane are capable of labor. Four males and two females are destructive to their clothing, and four males and one female are in constant restraint, by hand-cuffs or otherwise. The other forms of restraint are persuasion and confinement. Whipping is seldom resorted to. The house has a full supply of water, but no bath tub. All but three are required to wash hands and face daily. Three are confined in cells above ground, without the privilege of coming daily to the open air. There are wood bedsteads in all the rooms but one. Six sleep on straw without beds or bedsteads; the straw is changed once a week. Part are fed in cells, others at a common table. The building is heated by a coal and wood stove. All the rooms are heated, without observation by a thermometer; it is intended to keep them all comfortable. The sexes are entirely separated at night. None other than paupers arc employed uniformly to administer to the daily wants of the insane. The cleanliness of the rooms is commendable, though they are badly ventilated. Vermin were observed. Recent cases are received; one had neither shoes or stockings during the winter, because he would not wear them. The institution is designed to accommodate only five lunatics. They receive medical attendance only when sick. Each case does not receive care with reference to its ultimate recovery. The buildings of the Broome county poor house are insufficient to meet the wants of the insane, but such as they are, are kept in good order, and the keeper and his family are attentive and humane.”

SOURCE: Documents of the Assembly Of The State Of New York, Eighty-Eighth Session, 1865, Volume 6, Nos. 199 to 112 Inclusive, Albany: C. Wendell, Legislative Printer, 1865, Page 183.

New York State County Poor Houses.

1864 Allegany County Poor House

Posted on September 19, 2013 by lsstuhler

“Of the poor house and its insane inmates in the county of Allegany, Dr. John Norton remarks: “The old block house in which some insane are confined, occupied in part by idiots, is in very bad condition, with no ventilation, old, rotten and filthy, and entirely inadequate for the purposes for which it is used. All the buildings are poorly arranged and badly constructed. Most of the inmates are idiotic, and few are even competent to care for others. With so little help, spite the efforts of the keeper, many must be at times neglected. I found much suffering for want of medical care, as the surgeon employed so seldom visits the institution, and I learned, by those who were competent to speak for themselves, that he gives each case very little attention. I do not think the aged and sick receive proper nourishment. There is but one back yard in which to amuse themselves and get open air, which is entirely insufficient for the variety of cases there represented.” These remarks are based on the facts that the poor house has in it eighty-nine paupers, twenty-one of whom are lunatics or idiots. They have been admitted to the poor house at various periods since 1842. Fifteen are females; six are males; fifteen are natives and sixteen of foreign birth. Eight cases are mild; one has been in State prison; three have been treated in the State asylum; seven are capable of doing some labor. Those who cannot labor have no form of amusement. The house has no bathing tub, and in dry weather the supply of water is insufficient. Thorough ablution is not one of the virtues of the institution. There is no arrangement for uniformity of heat in winter and ventilation. None are without the privilege of coming to the open air every day, unless the keeper is absent. There are rooms without a window opening out of doors. All the looms have bedsteads; one and two sleep in a bed. The beds are ticks filled with straw, which is changed about once a month. There are large stoves in the hall, which are considered sufficient to heat the cells, but no attention is paid to its uniformity or sufficiency. The sexes are partly separated. The keeper has charge of the female insane, and pauper care is the only kind bestowed, beside that of the keeper on the males. As to cleanliness, “some of the cells are quite bad,” and the atmosphere in them “very bad.” Vermin were found in some of the beds. The insane are only partially separated from other paupers. Eight were removed during the year by their friends. A county physician averages a visit to the lunatics about once a month.”

Allegany County Poorhouse – The Art Of Abandonment / Photography by Walter Arnold.

Allegany – Linda Crannell, The Poorhouse Lady.

Allegany County Home Angelica – Louis Q Photography.

Allegany County, NY, Poor House Records.

Angelica, NY, Historical Research Links.

Allegany County NY GenWeb.

SOURCE: Documents of the Assembly Of The State Of New York, Eighty-Eighth Session, 1865, Volume 6, Nos. 199 to 112 Inclusive, Albany: C. Wendell, Legislative Printer, 1865, Pages 182-183.

New York State County Poor Houses.