In doing my research into my family tree I often read a lot of records. The majority of them are census records, but I find all kinds of records . Trying to unlock the past can bring pleasant surprises as well as unpleasant ones.
A very pleasant surprise was finding the name and location of my Great Grandparents on my fathers side. No one in the family knew who these people where. An added bonus was finding living descendants of their relatives IE: my very distant cousins who graciously provided me with a picture of my Great Grandmother Catherine. Turns out she died while still young and my Great Grandfather survived her by many years. In an interesting and unpleasant twist to the story he died in the poor house. Literally in the poor house. These homes were also referred to as Almshouses. Before Medi- care and Social Security large group homes where run by the States to house those that where destitute,ill and homeless. There they where fed,clothed and given medical attention as well as a bed. All those able to work were compelled to do so. Eight hours a day,six days a week. It was a highly regimented life to be sure. I'm quite sure there were abuses. It was a rather sad thing to find my Great Grandfather died in one of those institutions. I haven't fully been able to complete that story. I need to travel to New York state to examine the records on file. Those records will reveal more clues as to the how and why of it all. I was pleased to discover that he was interred with the rest of his family and not buried in potters field at the Almshouse.
While reading what I could find about the Almshouse it struck me how different the times where. First they referred to the people as inmates. And that was when they were being kind, most of the time they called them paupers. They were made to get up at the first crack of dawn, really that is what the regulations state. Make their bed and sweep the floor. They rang bells to inform the inmates when it was time to eat. The whole thing was run with military precision. They had to work a full eight hour day and go to bed at precisely nine o'clock.
I found it disturbing that they referred to those people with mental issues as lunatics. Not only that, they divided them into two categories, mild lunatics and raving lunatics. The raving lunatics were kept in cells in the basement. The mild one were made to do whatever work they were capable off.
There was no leaving these places without court orders. You were placed there by court order. If you were ill or destitute you could petition the court to send you there. You could also just be sentenced there much like being sentenced to prison. There was hope of leaving if your situation changed.
That was the answer the government provided in the late ninth century and into the early twentieth century.
These homes, or Almshouses were ,for the most part,self sufficient. Crops were grown,products manufactured,dairies run etc. The overseers were paid by the state. It was a no nonsense deal. The inmates had few rights. The idea was a good one,on paper. I'm sure the system was full of abuses and the rights of the individual were mostly ignored. A far cry from today's standards. The thinking was just put the paupers and sick that can't afford healthcare in a group home. There they can be cared for. There we can make them contribute to society in a positive way,whether they want to or not. I'm sure the intent was well meaning and in the context of the times the people believed they were doing a great service. It was cost efficient as well.
By looking into the past you can gain an appreciation for what you have. Things like social security that we take for granted. Everyone complains how little it is but it is certainly better than nothing at all. Healthcare is a major topic today as it was back then. What to do. We still have no satisfactory answer to that problem. Not if we wish to maintain our dignity and personal rights. Like most people I started my family research out of curiosity. We all hope to find someone famous,rich or noteworthy in our past. I have found a few that are noteworthy for their accomplishments but no one famous or rich. It was sad to discover Great Grandfather forced to live in such conditions. But what I don't know is was it by his choice ? Could have been. I would think not as there had to be a stigma associated with being in those places. Even when I was a young boy growing up I would occasionally hear someone say, " you'll end up in the poorhouse." I didn't know that these were very real places and not a figure of speech. I never dreamed I would be related to anyone that was in one.
A very pleasant surprise was finding the name and location of my Great Grandparents on my fathers side. No one in the family knew who these people where. An added bonus was finding living descendants of their relatives IE: my very distant cousins who graciously provided me with a picture of my Great Grandmother Catherine. Turns out she died while still young and my Great Grandfather survived her by many years. In an interesting and unpleasant twist to the story he died in the poor house. Literally in the poor house. These homes were also referred to as Almshouses. Before Medi- care and Social Security large group homes where run by the States to house those that where destitute,ill and homeless. There they where fed,clothed and given medical attention as well as a bed. All those able to work were compelled to do so. Eight hours a day,six days a week. It was a highly regimented life to be sure. I'm quite sure there were abuses. It was a rather sad thing to find my Great Grandfather died in one of those institutions. I haven't fully been able to complete that story. I need to travel to New York state to examine the records on file. Those records will reveal more clues as to the how and why of it all. I was pleased to discover that he was interred with the rest of his family and not buried in potters field at the Almshouse.
While reading what I could find about the Almshouse it struck me how different the times where. First they referred to the people as inmates. And that was when they were being kind, most of the time they called them paupers. They were made to get up at the first crack of dawn, really that is what the regulations state. Make their bed and sweep the floor. They rang bells to inform the inmates when it was time to eat. The whole thing was run with military precision. They had to work a full eight hour day and go to bed at precisely nine o'clock.
I found it disturbing that they referred to those people with mental issues as lunatics. Not only that, they divided them into two categories, mild lunatics and raving lunatics. The raving lunatics were kept in cells in the basement. The mild one were made to do whatever work they were capable off.
There was no leaving these places without court orders. You were placed there by court order. If you were ill or destitute you could petition the court to send you there. You could also just be sentenced there much like being sentenced to prison. There was hope of leaving if your situation changed.
That was the answer the government provided in the late ninth century and into the early twentieth century.
These homes, or Almshouses were ,for the most part,self sufficient. Crops were grown,products manufactured,dairies run etc. The overseers were paid by the state. It was a no nonsense deal. The inmates had few rights. The idea was a good one,on paper. I'm sure the system was full of abuses and the rights of the individual were mostly ignored. A far cry from today's standards. The thinking was just put the paupers and sick that can't afford healthcare in a group home. There they can be cared for. There we can make them contribute to society in a positive way,whether they want to or not. I'm sure the intent was well meaning and in the context of the times the people believed they were doing a great service. It was cost efficient as well.
By looking into the past you can gain an appreciation for what you have. Things like social security that we take for granted. Everyone complains how little it is but it is certainly better than nothing at all. Healthcare is a major topic today as it was back then. What to do. We still have no satisfactory answer to that problem. Not if we wish to maintain our dignity and personal rights. Like most people I started my family research out of curiosity. We all hope to find someone famous,rich or noteworthy in our past. I have found a few that are noteworthy for their accomplishments but no one famous or rich. It was sad to discover Great Grandfather forced to live in such conditions. But what I don't know is was it by his choice ? Could have been. I would think not as there had to be a stigma associated with being in those places. Even when I was a young boy growing up I would occasionally hear someone say, " you'll end up in the poorhouse." I didn't know that these were very real places and not a figure of speech. I never dreamed I would be related to anyone that was in one.
Was he at the Yapank 'poor farm'? I wasn't aware that they also called the poorhouse an Almshouse, except in England and Europe. I,too, had heard the term, 'he'll end up in the poorhouse'...and knew there was such a place in Yapank. In EH and other areas, there were people who were called "Overseers of the Poor". If you look back through the old town records, you can find some of their names. *and in the census records.Where was your GrGrandfather located?
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