“The population of Montgomery county poor house is eighty-three, ten of whom are lunatics. None of them are capable of labor. Nine are males and one female; seven are of native and three of foreign birth. Eight of this number have been treated in the asylum. They have been severally admitted since 1849. Five of the number are under thirty years of age. Three are destructive and one requires occasional restraint by muff and strap, or cold bath. The house has a supply of water, but no bath tub; the hands and face are “partially” washed daily. The bedding is straw in ticks on bedsteads, one sleeping in each bed. One sleeps on straw without other bedding. The diet is plain and substantial. The rooms are heated by a stove in the main hall. The rooms are generally clean, and the atmosphere of the rooms good. Their garments are changed every week; three had shoes and one had neither shoes or stockings during the winter. Fourteen can be accommodated in separate cells, but thirteen is the greatest number confined there. One escaped during the year who was not returned. The institution receives recent cases but they do not receive care 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 201-202.

New York State County Poor Houses.