“Schoharie county poor house has eighty-one inmates. It has three insane. These are not separated from the sane paupers, but live and mix with them. The mechanical restraint used to control one is to TIE HER TO THE BED WITH A ROPE. The house has not a supply of water. It has no bathing tub; the insane are not required to bathe. The rooms are only ventilated by the windows. The sexes are not separated; they have only the care which paupers give them. The county receives recent cases. In a word, no possible provision is made for or care given to the insane of Schoharie county; and it is most fortunate that there are only three of 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, Page 215.

New York State County Poor Houses.