Sources for searching indigent or poor relatives;
Vital records Tax Lists Census Records Military & Pension records Parochial records Institutions set up by religious groups, government and private organizations set up institutions to care for poor people in the United States before the American Revolution. The term "outdoor relief" referred to relief provided directly to people in need who lived in their own homes. The overseer was responsible for the distribution of aid and documenting such in their records. Almshouses were founded the United States primarily in the 1800s. Other names given to homes for the poor were "county farm," "county poorhouse," "county infirmary," and "house of industry," serving as workhouse, poorhouse, or orphanage. Admission to poor houses could have been voluntarily or involuntary. Temporary relief was provided to individuals who were unable to provide for themselves and their families due to illness or injury for a temporary time. Those who were involuntarily ordered to the county poor house were those guilty of vagrancy, were poor, had a mental disability, or orphans. 1. The most common records available for poor houses or orphanages were admission records which listed the person's name including spouse & children, ages, reason for and date of admission, birthplace, occupation, physical condition, and date of discharge or death. 2. Administrative records had details of daily expenses and sources of income which provided context on the lives of the people. 3. Cemeteries were sometimes attached to poor houses, and burial records provide record of where ancestors' remains were buried. 4. Some poor houses published annual reports. Information about residents appears in the 1880 Supplemental Schedules of the Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes. 5. Records before 1850 can provide genealogical information not found in other sources, filling in gaps in a genealogy history and help answer genealogy questions. County poor farm records may be on line or off line, typically held locally. FamilySearch records for some jurisdictions - search subject "poorhouse" and keyword "United States". FamilySearch Catalog has records listed under subject heading of "poorhouses," poor law,. The place, i.e. keyword, and subject fields help narrow the search results. An alternative way of searching is to search using the town and state names. Then look for the subject heading "Poorhouses", poor law, etc. Some records can be found in local library genealogical collections, i.e. Parke County, Indiana. County archives may hold the records, i.e. Ulster County, New York (https://archives.ulstercountyny.gov/Presto/home/home.aspx) At the end of the 1800s reformers sought more humane treatment of the mentally ill in specialized institutions. New state laws forbid the housing of children under a certain age in a poor house. Poor houses existed into the 1900s. The New Deal gave rise to social federalized safety which provided better alternatives than a poor house. Paupers in Almshouses, 1904 - Census limited to those found in almshouses. The enumeration date for the population in an almshouse was December 31 in order to get population data at its height. Some people resided in the almshouse during the cold months of the year but with the advent of spring, a migration from the almshouse began which brought the population in the institutions to its lowest count in May of each year. There were 3 separate enumerations of an almshouse: One covering all inmates living in the almshouse on December 31st, 1903; A duplicate schedule dealing with all inmates admitted from January 1 - December 31, 1904; A 3rd brief schedule accounting for discharges, deaths and transfers to other institutions during 1904. In most cases, almshouse officials served as enumerators, paid as special agents of the Bureau of the Census. General Table - Texas Total - December 31, 1903 - 913 Males - 554 Females - 350 Admitted during 1904 - 901 Males - 642 Females - 250 Discharged, died or transferred during 1904 - 881 Males - 602 Females - 240 Present, January 1, 1905 - 963 Males - 504 Females - 309 Paupers in Almshouse: Movement During 1904 of Almshouse Population WHITE Enumerated December 31, 1903 - 706 Males - 441 Females - 205 Admitted during 1904 - 785 Males - 642 Females - 250 Discharged, died or transferred during 1904 - 881 Males - 570 Females - 215 Present January 1, 1905 Total - 742 Males - 480 Females - 202 COLORED Enumerated December 31, 1903 - 207 Males - 113 Females - 94 Admitted during 1904 - 116 Males - 72 Females - 44 Discharged, died or transferred during 1904 - 102 Males - 71 Females - 31 Present January 1, 1905 - 221 Males - 114 Females - 107 TABLE 3 - Movement During 1904 of the Population of each Almshouse, Classified by Color and Nativity Enumerated December 31, 1903 - White, Native, Native parentage - 19 White, Native Foreign parentage - 1 White, Native, Mixed parentage - 1 White, Native, Parentage unknown - 3 White, Foreign Born - 7 White, Nativity Unknown - Colored - 9 Admitted during 1904 White, Native, Native parentage - 18 White, Native Foreign parentage - White, Native, Mixed parentage White, Native, Parentage unknown White, Foreign Born White, Nativity Unknown Colored - 9 Discharged, died or transferred during 1904 White - 15 Colored - 5 Present January 1, 1905 White - 31 Colored - 13 Source: "Researching Poor Ancestors: Almshouse Records. April-June 2021 NGS Magazine, viewed May 1, 2021
The History of the Poor House The Overseers of the Poor: Who Were They? Going to the Poorhouse in Texas County Farm History Copyright © 2024, TXGenWeb. If you find any of Grayson County, TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |