“While in several counties the ratio of insane to the paupers is one in four, in Warren county it is but one in seventeen and a fraction. There are fifty-four sane and three lunatics in the county house. The number is so small that they receive no particular care, nor is any special provision made for them; they do not labor; they are locked in cells if violent; they sleep on bunks; their diet is pork, potatoes, bread, beans, &c., and milk once a day; two eat at the table; to one the food is carried. They are cared for by paupers only. In the female apartment the atmosphere was bad. The county takes recent cases. No provision is made for medical treatment, and they receive none.

In short, the insane take their chances, and receive no care worthy that name.”

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 221.

New York State County Poor Houses.