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Caption: Erie County Almshouse and Insane
Asylum,
Wm. Wischerath Keeper, Buffalo Plains, N.Y. |
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The notes below have been abstracted from the following reports.
To obtain further information on these reports click on the appropriate button.
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YATES REPORT
1824 LAW
1857 REPORT EXPLANATION
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YATES REPORT:
| ANNUAL REPORT of the SECRETARY OF STATE
p 987-988 |
| A TABLE showing the number of Paupers supported at
the public expense in the county of ERIE during the twelve months
preceding April 21, 1823, with other particulars, derived from public
documents and reports furnished the Secretary of State. |
| 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. |
| Note:
*** indicates "no return' |
| Amhurst |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
29.37 |
7.00 |
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Aurora
*** |
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Alden
*** |
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| Boston |
Not stated. |
Not stated. |
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30.00 |
30.00 |
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Buffalo
*** |
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Clarence
*** |
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| Collins |
Not stated. |
Not stated. |
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20.25 |
3.25 |
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| Concord |
Not stated. |
Not stated. |
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8.25 |
8.25 |
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| Eden |
Not stated. |
Not stated. |
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3.50 |
3.50 |
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| Evans |
0 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
73.00 |
14.70 |
3 |
| Erie |
0 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
44.00 |
13.00 |
3 |
Hamburgh
*** |
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| Holland |
Not stated. |
Not stated. |
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Sardinia
*** |
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| Wales |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
17.00 |
Not stated. |
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In the town of Amherst there is on hand a fund $113.08, for
the support of the poor. In the town of Boston, a like fund of
$205. In the town of Concord, a like fund of $140. In the
town of Evans, a like fund of $56.13. In the town of Holland, a
like fund of $54.86; and in the town of Wales, a like fund of $200.40.
CONCORD
There is one
important fact, that has come within my knowledge, as supervisor of this
town, that is, poor persons have been and yet are confined by their
creditors in the county gaol, under the control of the sheriff of the
county, who is bound to keep them; and such persons have been in a very
poor and suffering condition. These persons are of course
then, paupers of some town in the county; but the town where they
belong, has no authority to take them from the hands of the
sheriff. Neither does the act for the relief and settlement of the
poor, oblige the overseers of such town, to support them in gaol in
another town, nor will any law draw from the state or county, any funds
for the support of such poor persons; nor does the board of
supervisors of the county, think itself justifiable in auditing or
allowing accounts for such support. [Letter from the supervisor of
Concord.]
EDEN
I will answer the
eighth question by asking one. Please to set down in your mind the
number of paupers generated by spirituous liquors in this state, and
then combine all the misfortunes that human nature is subject to, and
see what they will produce. Strike the balance and see which is
the most prolific in creating paupers. I think it is a fact also,
that there is a needless expense in examining paupers, as to their
residence. [Letter from the supervisor of Eden.]
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1824 LAW (required establishment of poorhouse vs. exempted):
required
[Note: Despite the fact that Erie had only been formed as a state in 1821]
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1857 INVESTIGATION:
This house is located within
the limits of the city of Buffalo, but about six miles from the port, in a
northerly direction. There are
two buildings, one designed for use as the poor house proper, and the other
for accommodation of the insane. They
are constructed of limestone, quarried on the farm. The main structure is sixty-five feet front, octagonal in
shape, with wings extending 225 feet. Attached
is a farm of 153 acres, yielding a revenue of $2,700. The basements of the building are occupied only for domestic
purposes. In the house are
thirty-four rooms, or wards, occupied by the paupers, well warmed by stoves
and partially ventilated. In some
apartments as many as thirty are lodged. The number of inmates was 225, 150 males and 75 females. Of these eleven-twelfths are reported as of foreign birth. There is a partial separation of the sexes during the day, and a
complete one at night. There are
six keepers, three males and three females. The average number of inmates is 300, supported at a weekly cost of
$1.00 each. The paupers who are
able are employed on the farm and about the house. The house has been inspected twice during the past year by the
supervisors. It is supplied with
Bibles, but no provision is made for religious instruction. For the instruction of the young a teacher is employed the whole year. The school averages forty-five children. On arriving at the age of sixteen years they are bound out by
the superintendents of the poor. There
are now at the house, below that age, seventy-five children. The superintendents prescribe rules regulating their government and
system of diet and furnish supplies which consist of plain, wholesome food. For medical
attendance a physician is employed at a salary of $400, who
visits the house twice each week. A
student remains at the house and is in constant attendance. No arrangements are had for bathing. During the year there have occurred in the house thirty-four
births and eighty-three deaths. No
contagious diseases have prevailed. There
is a pest-house connected with the establishment. Of the inmates seventy-one are lunatics, twenty-six males and
forty-five females. All but four
of these are paupers. Twelve of
these lunatics have been treated at the Utica Asylum. Forty
have been admitted within the year.
Apart from the main
building has been erected one of limestone, sixty by thirty feet, two stories
in height, devoted to the insane. Attached
are ample yards for their use, and special attendants are provided. In the asylum are seventy-two cells opening on four halls. The structure seems well fitted for its designed purpose. Of the
lunatics five only are of native birth. But one is constantly
confined; the rest spend the day in the halls and yards, and at night are
placed in separate cells. As a
means of restraint they are often confined in a chair, and sometimes shackles
and hand-cuffs are used. Six
within the year have been improved and five recovered. They receive only such medical attendance as is provided for the other
paupers. They receive their
discharge from the superintendents, who are guided by the advice of the
physician. This asylum is
commodious, cleanly and well kept. The
insane receive good care and are classified according to their different
stages of insanity.
In the poor house are
eleven idiots, four males and seven females; three are under sixteen year of
age; there are also three blind. It
is estimated by the keeper that three-fourths of the paupers are brought here
as the result of intemperate habits. Two
years since the cholera visited the house and large numbers of the paupers
were carried off. There was
then no sewerage about the premises; the house was an old structure, and there
were large and offensive accumulations of filth. Since that time all this has been remedied. The old house was burned down shortly after, and the present one,
erected in its place, was completed only during the last year. This is kept in a clean and orderly condition.
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Transcribed by PHS-Volunteer, Cheramie Breaux in Louisiana
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| LOCAL
NOTES:
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Click here to read an excerpt
about the history of the poorhouse 
from
Our County and It's People; a descriptive work on Erie County New
York,
Thomas C. White, 1898 |
J.M. Kraus, M.D. was the informant who signed a Certificate
of Death for an inmate who died in the poorhouse in January of 1890; and
the doctor's residence or office was also listed as the Almshouse.
(Submitted by Nancy and Ron Rose)
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RECORDS:
Poorhouse INMATE REGISTRATION CERTIFICATES
Microfilm Series A1978 Roll
Number(s) 26-34 more information
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| CEMETERY:
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| We are hoping to build this base of information about the poorhouse in ERIE 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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