The
Workhouse
This is a wonderful
website about the
British
poorhouse system
The Victorian Poorhouse
Famous People in the Poorhouse
The Poorhouse in Literature
Poorhouses in the Middle Ages
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WHAT WERE POORHOUSES?
(often also called Poor Farms -- and several similar terms --
or referred to with the older term -- Almshouses)
Poorhouses were tax-supported residential institutions to which people were
required to go if they could not support themselves. They were
started as a method of providing a less expensive (to the
taxpayers) alternative to what we would now days call "welfare" - what was called "outdoor relief" in those days. People
requested help from the community Overseer of the Poor (
sometimes also called a Poor Master) - an elected town
official. If the need was great or likely to be long-term, they
were sent to the poorhouse instead of being given relief while
they continued to live independently. Sometimes they were sent
there even if they had not requested help from the Overseer of
the Poor. That was usually done when they were found guilty of
begging in public, etc.
[One misconception should be cleared up here; they were
not technically "debtors' prisons." Someone could owe a great
deal of money, but if they could still provide themselves with
the necessities for remaining independent they might avoid the
poorhouse.]
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BEFORE POORHOUSES
Prior to the establishment of poorhouses the problem of what to
do with paupers in a community was dealt with in one of three
ways:
- Outdoor Relief provided through an Overseer of the
Poor: When people fell upon hard times and members of
their family, friends or members of their church congregations
could not provide enough assistance to tide them over, they made
application to an elected local official called the Overseer of the Poor. Within a budget of tax
money, he might provide them with food, fuel, clothing, or even
permission to get medical treatment to be paid out of tax
funds.
- Auctioning off the Poor: People who could not
support themselves (and their families) were put up for bid at
public auction. In an unusual type of auction, the pauper was sold to the lowest
bidder (the person who would agree to provide room and board for the lowest
price) --
usually this was for a specific period of a. year or so. The
person who got the contract got the use of the labor of the
pauper for free in return for feeding, clothing, housing and
providing health care for the pauper and his/her family. This was
actually a form of indentured servitude. It sounds a lot like
slavery -- except that it was technically not for the pauper's
entire lifetime. And it had many of the perils of slavery. The
welfare of the paupers depended almost entirely upon the kindness
and fairness of the bidder. If he was motivated only by a desire
to make the maximum profit off the "use" of the
pauper, then concern for "the bottom line" might
result in the pauper being denied adequate food, or safe and
comfortable shelter, or even necessary medical treatment. And
there often was very little recourse for protection against
abuse. (See scan of an authentic record
of an auction in 1832 in Sandown NH.)
- Contracting with someone in the community to care for
Paupers: In this situation the care of a group of paupers was
delegated to the person(s) who would contract to
provide care at, again, the lowest price. This system allowed the opportunity for somewhat
better supervision as indicated in the terms of the contract --
which might specify what minimum standard of care must be
provided and that community officers would do inspections, etc.
There were still often the same opportunities for abuse that were
noted above.
Note: In some cases (before state laws began to require
the establishment of County Poorhouses) local communities had
already discovered that a place to house paupers helped reduce
the cost of poor relief. These small town poorhouses were
the prototypes for the later state-required county poorhouses.
Those earlier poorhouses often instituted the use of an adjacent
farm on which the paupers could work to raise their own food,
thus making the houses more self-sufficient (relying less on
local tax funds). That is how the term "poor farm" came into
being.
THE BEGINNING of the COUNTY POORHOUSE SYSTEM
During the second quarter of the 19th
century, as the industrial revolution had its effect on the
United States, the importation of the factory system from England
was followed almost immediately by the full scale adoption of
what seemed to be an inherent component of that system -- the
Poorhouse System. These poorhouses were built with great
optimism. They promised to be a much more efficient and cheaper
way to provide relief to paupers. And there was a fervent
popular belief that housing such people in institutions would
provide the opportunity to reform them and cure them of the bad
habits and character defects that were assumed to be the cause of
their poverty.
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THE DISILLUSIONMENT
By mid-century, people were beginning to question
the success of the poorhouse movement. Investigations were
launched to examine the conditions in poorhouses. They had proven
to be much more expensive than had been anticipated. And they had
not significantly reduced the numbers of the "unworthy poor" nor
eliminated the need for "outdoor relief". [ This was public
assistance given to those living outside the poorhouses. It was
given somewhat grudgingly to those considered to be (perhaps!)
more "worthy" poor --who might only briefly and temporarily
require assistance to procure food or fuel or clothing when they
fell on very short-term hard times.] |
THE CIVIL WAR
But the Civil War was the major preoccupation of
American society during the third quarter of the century. Major
systematic changes in social welfare policy had to await calmer
times. Ironically, the faltering poorhouse system was sheltered
from the impact of the poverty produced by the war itself. The
war created widows and orphans; and it deprived elderly members
of families of the support they might have had in their old age,
had their sons and grandsons lived or remained able to work.
While many looked forward to the time ... "When Johnny Comes
Marching Home Again"... many soldiers limped home to be disabled
for the rest of their lives. However, a relatively small
proportion of these casualties of the war ever wound up living in
poorhouses.
The poorhouses were spared this circumstance for
two reasons. Special
laws were passed
requiring that any needed assistance to veterans and their
families had to be provided as outdoor relief -- specifically
prohibiting placement in the poorhouse. And the Civil War Pension
Plan provided -- although belatedly and awkwardly and
controversially -- for soldiers and their family members. (An
entire
book could be devoted to this -- and
it has been!)
THE TRANSITION
By 1875, after the regulation of poorhouses in most
states became the responsibility of the State Board of Charities, laws were
passed prohibiting children from residing in poorhouses and removing mentally
ill patients and others with special needs to more appropriate facilities.
The poorhouse population was even more
narrowly defined during the twentieth century when social welfare legislation
(Workman’s Compensation, Unemployment benefits and Social Security) began to
provide a rudimentary “safety net” for people who would previously have
been pauperized by such circumstances. Eventually the poorhouses evolved
almost exclusively into nursing homes for dependent elderly people. But
poorhouses left orphanages, general hospitals and mental hospitals -- for
which they had provided the prototype -- as their heritage.
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