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YATES REPORT
1824 LAW
1857 REPORT EXPLANATION
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| YATES REPORT:
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| ANNUAL REPORT of the STATE BOARD of
CHARITIES
p 976-977 |
| A TABLE showing the number of Paupers supported at
the public expense in the county of CLINTON during the twelve months
preceding April 21, 1823, with other particulars, derived from public
documents and reports furnished the Secretary of State. [*** Indicates
"No return (filed)" ] |
| TOWNS |
Total number of paupers
supported during the
whole of the last year. |
Total number relieved
during a part of the last year. |
M
A
L
E
S |
F
E
M
A
L
E
S |
C
H
I
L
D
R
E
N |
Total expenses of supporting and relieving
paupers (including fees and expenses of officers, removals and
appeals) for the last year.
Dolls. Cts.
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Expenses and cost of officers and appeals
during same period.
Dolls. Cts.
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Number of paupers removed during the last
year. |
| Beckmantown |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
45.15 |
6.25 |
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| Champlain *** |
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| Chazy |
3 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
280.90 |
4.00 |
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Mooers
*** |
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Peru
*** |
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| Plattsburgh |
14 |
Not stated. |
6 |
8 |
5 |
720.75 |
97.67 |
3 |
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CHAZY.
There is no poor-house or house of
industry, but the authorities of the town have for four years
past, at the annual town meetings, sold at public sale all the
poor of the town; this mode of proceedings, has been the means
of lessening the expenses for the support of the poor, from the
year 1817, at least two-thirds. For none, except those
that are objects of charity, will apply to the town for
assistance, and be exposed for sale and liable to labor.
The poor in this way are provided for much better, as the person
who bids them in, gives bonds for his faithful
performance. In this way, there is no expense charged to
the town for services, as the poor masters and justices have
nothing to do but make out the bonds. The amount of the
services of the overseers of the poor, charged to the town, does
not exceed four dollars for the last year. The greatest
number of poor on the town and county are foreigners; this part
of the country has suffered from that class of people,
particularly this town, owing to its situation being so near
Canada. [Letterr from the supervisor of Chazy.]
PLATTSBURGH.
We have a poor-house and three
acres of land which was purchased in 1818; there was raised bor
that purpose the sum of $600, and the poor were removed to the
said house in the spring of 1819. The lot is occupied as a
garden, and the male paupers are kept at work in the same, as
far as they are able. The females are employed in
knitting, sewing and any other work which they are able to
do. A female is employed for the purpose of cooking,
washing, &c., and is paid wages for the same. The poor
masters have the whole under their immediate controul (sic) and
superintendence.
It is believed the best mode of
supporting the poor, would be for each county to purchase a farm
and hire a man to take charge of it and the paupers.--As the
number of paupers in each town is so small, that it would not be
advisable to buy a farm and pay the wages of an overseer, but if
each county would do as the above town has thought proper, then
as the number of paupers should increase, the expense
would diminish.
Amount of money expended as
follows, [in Plattsburgh.]
Town paupers in
1817,
$440.56
County
"
448.29
$888.85
Town paupers in
1818,
$483.44
County "
437.65
$921.09
Town paupers in
1819,
$309.48
County
"
573.88
$883.36
Town paupers in
1820,
$270.04
County
"
380.79
$650.83
Town paupers in
1821,
$170.34
County
"
197.72
$368.06
Town paupers in
1822,
$292.16
County
"
428.59
$720.75
[Letter from the supervisor of Plattsburgh.]
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| 1824 LAW (required establishment of poorhouse vs. exempted):
required
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1857 INVESTIGATION:
This house is located four
miles from Plattsburg. The
building is an extremely old one, of stone, sixty by thirty feet, two stories
high. It has been built
twenty-eight years, and is very much dilapidated. Attached is a farm of ninety acres, yielding a gross revenue of $800. The basements are occupied for domestic purposes. In the house are fourteen rooms or wards, indifferently warmed by
stoves, but destitute of ventilation, except what may be afforded by the
cracks and crevices of the walls and ceiling. The ceilings are very low, and the air close and bad. In the winter water freezes in the rooms, and the snow blowing through
the crevices forms banks. Sometimes
twenty paupers are placed in a single room, usually as many as it will hold.
The number of inmates
was forty-eight--thirty-two males, sixteen females. Of these, three-fourths were foreign born, and eleven under
sixteen years of age. The sexes
are not separated either day or night, but mingle promiscuously. There is one keeper assisted by a man who works the farm. The average number of inmates is sixty-five, supported at a weekly cost
of $1.00 each. The males are
employed on the farm, and the women about the house. The supervisors have visited the house once during the year. There is no religious instruction furnished except through an
occasional funeral service, which is performed whenever the dying pauper particularly
requests it: neither is the house furnished with Bibles. There is no provision made for other instruction; the district school
refuses to receive the children, and they were at large. At sixteen years of age they are bound out by the superintendents. The superintendents regulate the government and system of diet, and
furnish supplies. Since the first
of March last, a plain, wholesome diet has been furnished the paupers. At that date the present keeper took charge of the house. Prior to that time their diet is reported to have consisted of pea
and bran soup; Indian pudding and sweetened water. They
used no knives and forks. The new
keeper found every one of the inmates ailing, and most of them confined to
their rooms and beds. Besides
this, the rooms were so filthy, the air so impure, as to immediately sicken a
healthy person entering them. From
the present appearance of the house, improved as the keeper reports it is, the
committee find no difficulty in giving credence to the foregoing statements. The water is obtained from springs located at the foot of a slope,
which is the focus of drains from the barnyards and privies of the
establishment; as a consequence the water is extremely impure and unfit for
use. A physician is employed at a
salary of $75 per annum, who attends whenever called. During the year have occurred three births and six deaths. No pestilential disease has raged. No pest house is provided.
Of the inmates six are
lunatics, one male, five females, and all paupers. Two have been admitted within the year. They have no medical or other special attendance. Two are confined the whole time in cells, chained to the floor, with
straw for a bed. Two others are
confined, but only at night. As a mechanical restraint the ball and chain are used. The cells are without ventilation and exceedingly filthy. One lunatic has escaped since March last, and no intelligence has since
been received regarding him.
The construction of the
house is not such as to allow of classification. The superintendents alone exercise the power of discharge. Ten of the inmates are idiots--eight males, two females. But one is under twenty years of age. There is one blind. As
a means of punishment, paupers are shut in dark cells, and a rawhide
is sometimes used.
Intemperance is here
reported as the direct cause of one-half the pauperism.
This house is a very
poor one, indifferently kept, and a disgrace to the county in which it is
located.
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Transcribed by PHS-Volunteer, Cheramie Breaux in Louisiana
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PERSONAL NOTES FROM READERS:
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LOCAL
NOTES:
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RECORDS:
Poorhouse INMATE REGISTRATION CERTIFICATES
Microfilm Series A1978 Roll
Number(s) 19-21 more information
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CEMETERY:
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We are hoping to build this base of information about the poorhouse in CLINTON county through the helpful participation of readers. All are requested to submit items of interest by sending
e-mail
to The Poorhouse Lady.
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