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Postcard Caption: Cheshire County Farm,
Westmoreland, NH
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HISTORY:
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Here is the New
Hampshire excerpt from a U.S. Government REPORT
summarizing various state poor laws in 1904.
Click on the links above for more information. |
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HISTORIC FIRE -- Strafford County Poor Farm -- Newspaper
Article 
Warning: This is gruesome
reporting! Includes a list of those who died. |
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From
“The County Almshouse” in The History of Strafford County New
Hampshire and Representative Citizens by John Scales, c. 1914. |
This section from the history book
provides a much more sedate account of the fire and the subsequent
investigation. It also tells a comprehensive history of the poor
farm.
It is located on the fine website of the Dover Public
Library.
PHL |
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LOCAL NOTES:
"Grasmere [Hillsboro County] is a small dot on
the map on Locus Hill Rd. 0ff Route 114 near Goffstown, NH. It is so listed
in the New Hampshire Atlas and Gazeteer. Whether or not it is an official
township or not is not clear to me. I have driven Route 114 many times and
seen the sign pointing to Grasmere and the County Farm. Locally going to the
County Hospital or Poor Farm has been in my lifetime known as "going to
Grasmere."
George D. Chapman gdchapman@monad.net
"Both captions [for the 2 photos above for Hillsboro
County] are correct because the Hillsborough County Farm was indeed located
both towns. The original farm in Goffstown burned in 1846 and the
county commissioners purchased the Whiting Farm in Wilton, taking possession
in April, 1867. This farm remained in operation until the early
1900's when the farm again moved back to Grasmere (Goffstown) where it
remains through today. The account of the move from Goffstown to Wilton is
recounted in the Wilton Town History."
Richard Putnam Ptmclothes@aol.com
http://www.seacoastnh.com/blackhistory/blacks2.html
The First Blacks of Portsmouth
(excerpt re: poorhouse)
"Housing possibilities were scarce for blacks; combinations of families and single people often shared households. The
Portsmouth almshouse sheltered some free blacks who were unable to escape poverty. A man identified only as Quint died there at age 70, while Mrs. Silvia Gerrish was living at the almshouse when she and her three children were baptized. Dinah Wallis and her son also were baptized there. Violet Freeman died at the almshouse at age 75. Free blacks were unwelcome in other communities because the towns did not
want to provide them with food and housing if they could not become self-supporting. Ultimately, the most horrifying risk facing a free black person was the possibility of being kidnapped at any time and being sold into slavery as a supposed runaway."
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NOTES FROM READERS:
"In my home county of Coös, New Hampshire, the poorhouse
was called the Coös County Farm located in Sterwartstown. Hope this helps in
your research!"
Mariana Bean Ruggles
pnt@chesapeake.net
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LINKS:
http://www.heritagephotographs.com/zhemgang/poorhouse.html
women residents riding in a sled --poorhouse in Washington, NH (photo)
http://www.christmas-tree.com/real/nh/hopkinton/
Christmas tree farm -- former Poor Farm -- Hopkinton, NH
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| RECORDS:
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Much fascinating information about the Sullivan County Poor Farm may
be found in the Annual Report (ending December 31, 1899) of the
County Commissioners, Treasurer, and other Officers
Note: The information in these Annual Reports dealing with the county poor
farm provide genealogical information far beyond simply that of the names of
inmates. Because the local government was responsible for accounting for any
funds spent on the poor farm, the names of people who provided any goods or
services to the farm are also listed. |
| Title
Page |
| County Farm Superintendent's
Report from the 1899 Annual Report of Sullivan County, New Hampshire
From: Liz Tattersall (email: liztatt@hotmail.com
) |
| Commissioners'
Report [with poor farm remarks] from the 1899 Annual Report of
Sullivan County, New Hampshire Submitted by: liztatt@hotmail.com |
| List
of County Farm People from the 1899 Annual Report of Sullivan County,
New Hampshire From: Liz Tattersall (email: liztatt@hotmail.com
) |
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STRAFFORD COUNTY POOR FARM Records Recently Rediscovered
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Volume 1 |
Volume 2 |
Volume 3 |
Volume 4 |
Volume 5 |
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1883 |
1886 |
1903 |
1904 |
1935
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Sample
(First Page) |
Sample
(First Page) |
Sample
(First Page) |
Sample
(First Pages) |
Sample
(First Pages)
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NOTE: Click on any small photo
above to see larger image.
They are HUGE ... So they may take quite a while to open.
Thanks to Dave Bedard dbedard@co.strafford.nh.us
for having scanned and shared them with us |
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These records are
currently in the temporary custody of Dave Bedard
while the County Administrator determines the best place to archive
them.
For further information researchers may contact
Dave or contact the County Administrator, Ray Bower, at
603-742-1348 to make arrangements. |
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List
of Residents of the Strafford County Asylum/County Farm from the 1880
Census
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CEMETERIES:
A monument was erected in Strafford
County in memory
of the victims of the poor farm asylum fire. (See above.)
The inscription reads:
In memory of those who lost their
lives
by the burning of the Strafford County Asylum
Feb. 9, 1893
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The names of those
lost are listed on the monument.
Spellings are somewhat different from the list in the
newspaper article. |
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photo by
Dave Bedard |
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