“Putnam county has but one insane person in its alms house. This one can do no labor, she is a female and was admitted about 1854. The case is a mild one, but has never received treatment in an asylum, or with reference to ultimate recovery. One case was discharged from the alms house in March, 1864, having been but a short time in confinement. The case confined is not required to wash hands and face daily, and is cared for by the keeper and his wife. The county take recent cases; some are provided for in private families, but the returns do not indicate what number. The county house was not designed for the care of the insane, but can accommodate three or four.”

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 209.

New York State County Poor Houses.