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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:
NOTE: Orleans County was not created until 1825. For that reason, it
was not represented in the Yates Report (which was done in 1823) or the law
which was passed in 1824. PHL
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| 1824 LAW (required establishment of poorhouse vs. exempted):
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1857 INVESTIGATION:
This house is built of
brick, forty by eighty feet, three stories high, connected with which is a
farm of one hundred and seven acres, yielding an annual revenue of $721. The house is not ventilated. No
provision for bathing except a shower bath. The basement, to a limited extent, is occupied by the paupers, but
mostly for domestic purposes. It
is warmed by stoves. The number
of inmates was forty: twenty males and twenty females, of whom sixteen were
foreign and twenty-four native born, including eight children. Twenty-six rooms are appropriated to the use of the paupers in which as
many as eight are sometimes placed in a single room. This house is under the care of a keeper, aided by an
assistant. The keeper is also
superintendent of the poor, who purchases supplies for the house, prescribes
rules regulating the diet, which are submitted to and have received the
sanction of the county court. During
the past year he has bound out sixteen children, leaving only one of suitable
age to be bound out, in the house. The
paupers labor in the house and on the farm to the extent of their ability. The average number supported is fifty-nine, at a weekly cost
of $1.15 each. The house is
supplied with Bibles and religious services are maintained every Sabbath. The children of suitable age are sent to the district school. The supervisors have visited the house once this year.
A physician is employed
by the year at a salary of $100. There
have been five births and three deaths the past year. Of the inmates seven are lunatics; two male and five female,
and all paupers. Two have been
received, and one recovered and has been discharged. Three of the lunatics are confined in a hall opening into a yard; one
is restrained by wearing mittens and one muffs. They are looked after by a pauper attendant, but receive no special
medical attention. There are two
idiots, both females; and one deaf and dumb.
Four-fifths of the
whole number come to want consequent upon habits of inebriation.
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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) 164-165 more information
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| CEMETERY:
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POORHOUSE BURIAL
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Submitted by: Sharon
A. Kerridge samk@mfi.net
Orleans County Coordinator
GenWeb |
We have a burial ground that belonged
to our old County Home (AKA Alms House).
It is really not accessible to the public. It is now an abandoned field
and wooded area.
It is unknown exactly how many burials there are. Any record of that
cemetery has been
lost. I was able to put together a partial list of the burials there by
going through the old
town meeting books and getting what I could from the Alms House death
report giving
yearly listings.
How they did the actual burials was
rather sad. Each burial was given a cement marker
about 6 inches square with a number chiseled into it. That number was
the only
identification of that person. As I said earlier, the burial book that
showed which number
belonged to which burial has been lost. So even if someone did find the
old burial ground
-- all they would find was crumbling numbered markers.
You can find what we do have at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyorlean/cemcohom.htm |
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| We are hoping to build this base of information about the poorhouse in ORLEANS 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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