The Poorhouse Story  
NEWSLETTER   

5/23/04
(25th issue)

Click on his flower photo (above) 
to read a great article -- 
The Hidden Harvest
-- by my friend, Ira Kennedy

LOOK!  It's SPRING at last!
 
Greetings!

As I began to prepare this newsletter, something rather remarkable became apparent.  There were noticeably fewer archival additions to the website to list below.  Yet I knew I had been really busy.  Finally  I realized that I had spent most of my time working on "the poorhouse story" (the mission) rather than "The POORHOUSE STORY" (the website).

But I guess my job as The Poorhouse Lady has undergone a "sea change" lately.  Perhaps we should celebrate!  One of the primary objectives in creating this website was to "raise consciousness" about poorhouse history. Judging from how much time is now devoted to reporting on poorhouse stories -- rather than writing them -- that is happening.  

Instead of simply getting "tips" or "tidbits" of information from readers, I am now being referred to stories that are being published in genealogy or history magazines or journals, local newspapers, or even whole books devoted to the history of specific poorhouses.  We are receiving more notices of local radio and television coverage of the subject.  And I am getting more and more frequent notice of newly already created and organized projects to save or preserve local poorhouse buildings or cemeteries ... instead of simply receiving shocked complaints and requests that we organize such a project! 

It's really nice to teach myself right out of the job of primary advocacy ... because such advocacy is so much more effective at the local level!  But we will always be happy to publicize such efforts!  (And if you feel like a lone voice out there ... we will always be happy to counsel and advise.) 

And we will always celebrate your efforts here in the Poorhouse Story Newsletter and on the website.

THANKS!

Linda  

REFLECTIONS

   Memorial Day Special -- What my father did in the war.

     You know that "great" idea that's been knocking around in the back of your mind, on the back burner for years?  Well, I finally got mine done; and I highly recommend making your own one-of-these-days-I-really-ought-to project happen.  It feels great!
     When my dad died, 33 years ago, we found in his trove of WWII souvenirs a wonderful map of where his unit had gone in Europe. The map had very funny cartoon caricature icons for each of the major places they visited. On the back was a serious battalion history as well as individual company histories that were ... uhm ... sometimes downright scurrilous ... and hilarious!  The bottom half of the back contained a full battalion V-E Day roster, complete with full home addresses of all the men.
     I knew that it might be interesting to the families of the other men in his unit to have access to this information.  The histories could give them greater insight into what their men had experienced in the war.
     There was no internet then (and no PC's either!) ... so it was many years before I could see a way to share this.  But now I have done it!  (There is no other commentary with this newsletter; the map project took up all my time for weeks.)
    I scanned the map and posted it with sections blown-up so it could be read in detail.  Then I put all of the roster entries into a table, which enabled me to present them as originally done, by unit and alphabetized only within ranks! But I was also able to create one master alphabetical list, and also prepare a list sorted by home state.  Transcribing the histories was a real hoot!!!  
     It's on the "net" now -- click map (or link below) to go there -- and all I have left to do is figure out the best way to let folks know about it.  I am also hoping there may still be someone out there who served with my day who will contact me to reminisce.
     If anyone else has such a souvenir map, I'd really like to hear about it.

Happy Memorial Day!

"Hmmmm. Just who the heck does this guy think he is?!"   Baby-PHL

A photo taken shortly after our first meeting (when I was 9 mos old) ... I wasn't too sure I wanted to share my mom with this stranger.  And little did I know that 9 mos after this first furlough since I was conceived ... a bratty baby brother would arrive! Yetch!

ArmyMapComplete.jpg (432638 bytes)

   Commentary  # 7      Memorial Day Special -- What my father did in the war.
 

Table of STATISTICS and NEW ITEMS ADDED to The PHS Website

Visits to The POORHOUSE STORY 
-- since last newsletter's stats (ended 03/20/2004) -- 58,265  (832 per day) 
 -- Total (as of 05/29/2004) since 5/8/2000 -- 915,709
MEET THE PRESS 

Harper's Bazar 
July 20, 1872      pp. 478-480   

"The County Poor-House. Facts."

by Susan Fenimore Cooper

This is a fascinating read! PHL
  This is a wonderful article from the 
James Fenimore Cooper Society Website

It is about a visit to the Otsego County Poorhouse, 
in Middlefield, New York. It is also a very candid
and intimate reflection of the extremely judgmental 
moralistic attitude toward poverty which was so 
prevalent throughout the country at that time.

FEATURED PROJECTS
(based on readers submissions)

   

Dear PHL,

     I have a number of 1968 black and white photos of the exterior and grounds of the “Westmoreland County Home” (a.k.a. “Westmoreland County Institution District”) in Greensburg , PA.    

     My father, Edward Semanek, was the home’s administrator from about March 1956 until March 31, 1969.  Our family occupied an apartment in the main building.  I was twelve years old when my father became administrator and lived there until entering college.

    Let me know if you’d like to have copies of the photos. 

 Jim Semanek
That's how it begins.  And we love it when people who have
had some intimate involvement with an historic poorhouse 
offer to share their memories and help us better understand our poorhouse history. Several others have done this -- and we know there are more of you out there!  We want you! 

We were able to take Jim's photos and put them in an album.   You may click on the picture below to go to the album page.



 

FEATURED ARTICLES
(We didn’t create them; 
we just show them!)

 


Westmoreland County, PA
has a website for the 
facility which evolved 
from their county poorhouse.

You may click on the links (>>>)
to read more about this history.


Westmoreland Manor

Poorhouse History

Old Photos

Recent Photos
 

Medina County, OHIO
has a website for the 
facility which evolved 
from their county poorhouse.

You may click on the links (>>>)
to read more about this history.

Medina County Home

History

Virtual Tour   (Photos)

 


Submitted by:
Al Junke [buzzards27@yahoo.com]
Treasurer
"Friends of Medina County Home"

In Medina County ... voters in 2002 overwhelmingly approved $700,000 a year in first-time tax money to keep open a 60-bed county home. ... "Each year more and more of us are closing down," said Lynn Remington, administrative assistant in Medina and a third-generation county home operator. "But we're a sort of catch-all in social services, and I think we're still needed."     
                from Plain Dealer article cited below

NOTE:  IMMEDIATELY ABOVE & BELOW YOU WILL FIND TWO RELATED STORIES!!!
In one Ohio county the community votes to keep open a county home which evolved from a poorhouse;
in another Ohio county the community prepares to close a county home with a similar history.

NEWS ALERTS

This is a sad one.  

We sincerely hope that the community will find a way to preserve this lovely building.  We have been told that the cemetery on the property was destroyed long ago. 

"Lake County poorhouse prepares to close its doors"  
 from the Plain Dealer   Painesville Township [Ohio]
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Michael Scott

 
Because we are uncertain how long this article will be available in the online archives of  the paper ... we have requested and are awaiting consent to publish this article.  For now ... you should be able to click on the article title above to read the online version.  

HONORED STATES previous Illinois/Kansas/Ohio/Pennsylvania/Tennessee/Texas
  new

  
INTERNATIONAL PAGE    
previous Belgium / Canada / England / France / The Netherlands / Sweden
new

 
Picture Postcards/Photos/Illustrations   
   IL Champaign
     MN Houston
  NY Wyoming
   OH Lake / Medina
    PA Dauphin / Westmoreland
Notes from Readers / Local/Historical Notes
    KY Ballard /Calloway / Carlisle / Fulton/  Graves / Hickman / McCracken / Marshall
    MA Hampden
  MN Houston
    MO Franklin
  NY Otsego
     OH Lake / Medina

Historical Documents     

       
Historical Memorabilia This is the cover of a wonderful old booklet I was able to purchase on eBay!  

It's an end of the year card from a teacher to his class at the County Home of Westmoreland County, PA.  ... for the 1911-1912 school year.  

The teacher was S. P. Fightner and the County Home School was at Swede Hill, Hempfield Township.

It includes not only this photo of him but also contains the list of pupils.

       Click on the cover to enlarge it.
To see & read entire card, click here. 
Poorhouse Records
    No new records found recently.  PHL
Cemetery Lists (or notes)
  MO Franklin
  OH Ashtabula
Poorhouse Resident lists from CENSUS
 (new material or off-site links to the web)
"Defective, Dependent & Delinquent Classes" 1880 IL Coles
"Defective, Dependent & Delinquent Classes" 1880 KY Barren/Calloway/Fulton/Graves/Hickman/McCracken
    1930 TN Claiborne
  1850 NY Yates
 Karen Wise has a wonderful webpage which is titled:  OKLAHOMA
    
       
   "A Census Guide To Oklahoma's Poor Farms, Orphanages, Sanitariums and Institutions"

            
In this guide she lists the place in the respective census reports to find the poor farm
listings for many, many counties from the 1900 through 1930 census reports.

It is interesting that she found only 2 for 1900; 17 for 1920; and 23 for 1930.
Note: She indicates that this may not be a totally comprehensive list
because in some census reports the enumerator may have 
failed to indicate a poor farm under institutions.
Recommended  BOOKS

 

 
    
SPECIAL HONORS for
STATE ARCHIVES Holdings		 previous Delaware/Illinois/Michigan/Minnesota/Ohio/Oregon
New York/Pennsylvania
Thanks for your continued support.
Linda Crannell                                                        
(aka=The Poorhouse Lady)

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(Note: Some of our most enthusiastic supporters came up with the idea of giving their friends
gift subscriptions to the Poorhouse Story Newsletter!  E-mail to let us know if you would like to do the same.)