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Caption: NIAGARA COUNTY INFIRMARY, LOCKPORT,
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:
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| 1824 LAW (required establishment of poorhouse vs. exempted):
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1857 INVESTIGATION:
This consists of a
stone building seventy-five by forty feet, three stories; another thirty by
forty feet, two stories; connected with a a farm of one hundred and twenty
acres, yielding an annual revenue of $1,000. The basements are used for domestic purposes. There is no ventilation. It is heated by furnace and stoves. Shower bathing is practiced to a moderate extent. The number of inmates was seventy-eight--forty males and thirty-eight
females; of these sixty-six were foreign and twelve native born, embracing
forty children. The sexes are
kept separate. They are under one
keeper, who employs three assistants--two male and one female. On an average three paupers are placed in a room.
The average number of
inmates is ninety-five, supported at a weekly cost of 50 cents, in addition to
the products of the farm. The
males who are able, work on the farm ten hours a day; the females are engaged
in domestic matters. The house
has been visited once during the year by the board of supervisors. It is also supplied with Bibles, and a Sabbath school is
maintained during the summer. A
teacher is employed most of the time to instruct the children, who also
exercise a general and constant supervision and control over them, as to
cleanliness, behavior & etc. The
superintendents of the poor, through the keeper, procures the supplies,
prescribes rules regulating the diet, binds out the children, and exercises
the power of discharging lunatics. The
fare of the paupers consists of plain wholesome food. A physician is employed to visit the house three times a week, at a
salary of $250. Another physician
is also employed, who gives special attention to lunatics. During the last year there have been five births and thirteen deaths.
The measles has
prevailed among the children, three or four of whom died. This establishment is one of the few that has a pest house. Of the inmates nineteen are lunatics--six male and thirteen
female---and all but three are paupers; of those three, one is a man worth
from $6,000 to $7,000 placed here by his friends because they were denied
admission into the State Asylum; another, a lady worth still more, placed here
by her friends; and a third, a girl, placed here by her father. Thirty lunatics have been admitted during the year. They are under the care of a young physician, assisted by a female
attendant. None are confined
unless at night, and only one restrained (a negro) by shackles to keep him
from running away; he is constantly employed on the farm, and is an efficient
hand, and seemed happy. During
the year five have been cured and
discharged, and two much improved. It
will be observed that in this house, as in all others where any proper
attention is bestowed upon the insane, happy results follow. Four of the inmates are idiots, all males, two boys 12, and two 16
years of age; two are blind.
The house is well kept,
and by the results proves, that as a question of economy merely, it is less
expensive to maintain a good poor house than it is a poor one. The only form of punishment employed is the shower bath. The keeper says, "I know intemperance
brings one-third of the inmates here, and I should think more than two-thirds.
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Transcribed by PHS-Volunteer, Cheramie Breaux in Louisiana
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PERSONAL NOTES FROM READERS:
I grew up in Lockport NY and the Niagara County Infirmary on Davison Road was
always referred to as "the Poorhouse" when I was a child in the
1950's. It did indeed house the poor as well as give medical assistance.
I don't believe anyone was there for medical care unless they were
indigent. They were often very elderly people.
I have always been curious about what happened to the
records for the small burial ground that was located at the Infirmary. Were
those bodies relocated? 
Sharon
Poole Sherrick Spsherrick@aol.com
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LOCAL
NOTES:
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| RECORDS:
List
of Residents of the Niagara County Poorhouse from the 1860 Census
Poorhouse INMATE REGISTRATION CERTIFICATES
Microfilm Series A1978 Roll
Number(s) 143-150 more information
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CEMETERY:
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| We are hoping to build this base of information about the poorhouse in NIAGARA 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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