Alexander County Poor Farm

September 27, 2023 KKA GenealogyLeave a comment

Overview

The Alexander County Poor Farm was founded in 1870 to serve the poor, paupers, destitute, and needy of Alexander County, Illinois. The Poor Farm was first located on five acres in Thebes. By 1886, the almshouse located at Thebes was “abandoned” and “the poor who need house care are sent to St. Mary’s Infirmary, Cairo.”[1]

In 1891, Alexander County purchased a farm at Beach Ridge, containing 440 acres, and erected a 1.5 story frame building to be used as the almshouse. “The house was opened for the reception of paupers about January 1, 1892. The number of paupers present was twelve.”[2]

By 1929, Alexander County closed the Poor Farm and rented out the property. The property was later sold in 1959 to John A. Stelle and Russell T. Stelle, sons of the former governor John H. Stelle.

Institution Name and Type

Alternative Names: Alexander County Farm and Almshouse; Alexander County Poorhouse; Poor Farm in Alexander County; Poor Farm

Type of Institution: Almshouse

Location and Building

Location #1: Thebes (from 1870-around 1886)

“Beginning at the southeast corner of the north half of the southwest quarter of the southwester quarter of section nine, township number fifteen, south range three, west, running along the south line of said tract to the Thebes and Unity road, thence along said road to the east line of said tract, thence along that line to the beginning, containing five acres, more of less, lying in the southeast corner of the north half of the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section No. nine, township fifteen, south of range three, west of the principal mereidian.”[3]

Location #2: Beech Ridge (from 1892-around 1929)

Beech Ridge was founded in 1878. It was located in the center of section 32, township 16 south, range 1 west. It was about four miles north of Cairo. A post office was established there in 1879 and it was a station on the St. Louis & Cairo Railroad (later called the Gulf Mobile & Ohio Railroad). In 1906, tracks for the Cairo & Thebes Railroad were laid from Beech Ridge to northwest. Most citizens in the town were African Americans. The post office was closed in 1914 and the town no longer exists.
- Information taken from “Ghost Towns and Settlements, Alexander County Illinois Genealogy Trails.” Alexander County Illinois Genealogy Trails. Accessed 27 September 2023. https://genealogytrails.com/ill/alexander/ghosttowns.html.

County: Alexander

State: Illinois

Administration Information

Date of Founding: 1870[4]

Dates of Name, Place, Mission Change, or Merger: Before 1892[5]

Date of Closure: 1929[6]

Administration: Alexander County

Notable People

Mr. Thomas A. Brown: caretaker and in charge of the almshouse from about 1873 to at least December 1884.[7]

Benjamin Jones: superintendent of the Poor Farm in September 1913.[8]

J. Raymond. Bunch: superintendent of the County Farm in 1914-1915.[9][10]

William J. Childres: superintendent of the county farm in 1910.[11]

Intake Information and Requirements

Intake Gender/Sex: Female, Male

Intake Age:

1880: Adults, Children

Intake Ethnicity/Race:

1910: white and colored individuals admitted

Intake Specifics:

1880: Adults ($7/month), Children ($4/month for under 16 years of age); “when visited, there was only one insane inmate;” “the county requires all paupers to go to the county farm.”
1912: “Insane, crippled, feeble-minded and aged inmates share the same conditions…”[12]

Number of Residents:

1892: 12
1910: 19 residents, 6 deaths

Previous Residents:

R. Talleofeus: resident in 1872 who passed away at the almshouse on 18 October 1872.[13]
Mrs. Sarah Burkhart: resident at the Poor Farm for 10 weeks in 1913. Her board was paid by Mrs. J. W. Coy. She was the widow of a union soldier.[14]
Pearl O’Rourke: a blind girl who resided in the Poor Farm from 31 May 1913-9 September 1913.[15]

Records

“An almshouse register has been kept since 1870.”[16]

Libraries and Archives

Cairo Public Library

Home

Shawnee Community College Library

Local history project: https://shawneecc.edu/library/local-history-project

Cemetery

According to Alexander County Illinois Genealogy Trails, there was a Alexander County Poor Farm Cemetery located at Route 3 and 127. There was also another one at Thebes.

Obituaries and Death Notices

https://sites.rootsweb.com/~ilgssi/Cairo.html

See also: newspapers.com and other online newspaper sites.

1910 Census Trascription

Alexander County, Beech Ridge

Name	Relation to Head	Sex	Race	Age	Single/Married/Yrs Children #/ Living #	Occupation	Place of Birth
Raina, Beek	Head	m	w	24	m-0	Farmer	IL
—–, Vida	wife	f	w	23	m-0-0-0		IL
Burkhart, Sarah	pauper	f	w	58	wd		IL
Chism, Maude	pauper	f	w	33	s-1		IL
Pirtes, James	pauper	m	Mu	40	s		IL
Darnels, Jeff	pauper	m	b	44	s		IL
Hutchinson, Joe	pauper	m	w	52	s		England
Malander, Wm	pauper	m	w	53	s		VA
Brown, Grant	pauper	m	w	42	m1		IL
Brooke, Lula	pauper	f	w	49	wd-0-0		US
Lire, Harry	pauper	m	b	23	s		MO
Clark, John	pauper	m	w	51	s		IL
Johnson, Charley	pauper	m	w	60	s		Germany
Mullins, Guss	pauper	m	w	30	s		LA

Sources

Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities. 1870. First Biennial Report of the Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities of the State of Illinois, December 1870. Springfield: Illinois Journal Printing Office. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Biennial_Report_of_the_Board_of_State_Co/0vVLAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1.

—. 1880. Sixth Biennial Report of the Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities of the State of Illinois, November 1880. Springfield, Illinois: H. W. Rokker, State Printer and Binder. https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/OobIAAAAMAAJ.

—. 1886. Ninth Biennial Report of the Board State Commissioners of Public Charities of the State of Illinois, November 1886. Springfield, Illinois: H. W. Rokker, State Printer and Binder. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Reports_Made_to_the_General_Assembly_of/T2obAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1.

—. 1893. Twelfth Biennial Report of the Board State Commissioners of Public Charities of the State of Illinois, October 1892. Springfield, Illinois: H. W. Rokker, State Printer and Binder. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Reports_Made_to_the_Senate_and_House_of/sGVKAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1

“Ghost Towns and Settlements, Alexander County Illinois Genealogy Trails.” Alexander County Illinois Genealogy Trails. Accessed 27 September 2023. https://genealogytrails.com/ill/alexander/ghosttowns.html.

United States Bureau of the Census. 1915. 1915. Paupers in Almshouses, 1910. Washington, D.C.: Governmental Printing Office. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Paupers_in_Almhouses_1910/cETPJ29AjYMC?.

[1] 1886. Ninth Biennial Report of the Board State Commissioners of Public Charities of the State of Illinois, November 1886. Springfield, Illinois: H. W. Rokker, State Printer and Binder. 123.

[2] Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities. 1893. Twelfth Biennial Report of the Board State Commissioners of Public Charities of the State of Illinois, October 1892. Springfield, Illinois: H. W. Rokker, State Printer and Binder. 129-130.

[3] “The voters in the county are very much…” The Cairo Bulletin (Cairo, Illinois), 25 October 1881, p. 1, col. 5.

[4] Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities. 1870. First Biennial Report of the Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities of the State of Illinois, December 1870. Springfield: Illinois Journal Printing Office. 119.

[5] Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities, 1893. 129-130.

[6] “Stelles Buy Poor Farm to Hunt Geese,” Mt. Vernon Register-News (Mt. Vernon, Illinois), 11 May 1959, p. 2, col. 9.

[7] Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities, 1880. 228.

[8] “County Board Proceedings,” The Cairo Bulletin (Cairo, Illinois), 20 November 1913, p. 5, col. 3-5.

[9] “Raymond Bunch Again Appointed as Manager of County Poor Farm,” The Cairo Bulletin (Cairo, Illinois), 5 January 1915, p. 1, col. 2.

[10] “County Board Proceedings,” The Cairo Bulletin (Cairo, Illinois), 28 May 1914, p. 7, col. 1-2.

[11] “County Board Proceedings,” The Cairo Bulletin (Cairo, Illinois), 31 August 1910, p. 2, col. 4.

[12] “Poor Farm Said to be Disgrace to this County: The Bulletin Has Consistently Labored for Years to Correct Many Abuses,” The Cairo Bulletin (Cairo, Illinois), 31 December 1912, p. 1-2.

[13] “To the Honorable County Court…” The Cairo Bulletin (Cairo, Illinois), 10 January 1873, p. 4, col. 3-4.

[14] “County Board Proceedings,” The Cairo Bulletin (Cairo, Illinois), 20 November 1913, p. 5, col. 3-5.

[15] “County Board Proceedings,” The Cairo Bulletin (Cairo, Illinois), 20 November 1913, p. 5, col. 3-5.

[16] Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities, 1880. 228.

Adams County Almshouse

June 24, 2023 KKA GenealogyLeave a comment

Overview

The Adams County Almshouse was in operation from 1858 through 1860. In 1875, a new building in Gilmer Township, Adams County, was completed.

Institution Name

Alternative Names: Adams County Poor Farm

Type of Institution: Almshouse

Location and Building

Locality: Paloma

County: Adams County

State: Illinois

Notes on the building:

July 29, 1915: “The architecture of the main building belongs to the period when almshouses were designed to appear as gloomy and as desolate as possible. The building is three stories in height. The straight, high walls are unrelieved by balconies or verandas, except at the ends. The entire width of the building presents like an expanse of many windows set close together and suggests the many cell-like rooms within.”[1]

Administration Information

Date of Founding: 1858

Date of Name, Place, or Mission Change, or Merger: 1875

Date of Overall Closure: 1960

Dates of Operation at This Address Under This Name with the Same Mission: 1875-1960

Original Name at Founding if Changes Occurred: Adams County Almshouse

Notes: A poor farm was in operation in Adams County since at least 1858. By 1875, construction of a new Almshouse was completed in Gilmer Township, Adams County.

Administration: Adams County

Notable People

William Elliott: Keeper of the Almshouse circa 1880.[2]

J. E. Earl: Superintendent of the Almshouse circa 1906-1908.[3]

J. R. Pearce: Superintendent of the Almshouse circa 1906-1909.[4]

John Swank: Superintendent of the Almshouse circa 1910-1918.[5][6]

Intake Information and Requirements

Intake Gender/Sex: 1915: Female, Female

Intake Age: All ages.

Intake Specifics:

1880: 36 insane paupers upon the farm, 25 of whom were in seclusion.[7]
1884: 115 inmates–“43 were insane, 2 idiots, 1 deaf, and 3 blind. 8 were children under 16 years of age… The county endeavors to find homes for children believing that the poorhouse is not the proper place for them. Neither is it the proper place for the insane. All the insane inmates have been committed by a verdict of the court.”[8]
July 29, 1915:
The rooms on the second floor have barred doors which were used when these rooms were occupied by insane inmates.[9]
No separation of sick persons from well ones.

Number of Residents:

1880: 101 inmates. 3 born in the almshouse.[10]
1884: 115 inmates.[11]
1918: 64 inmates.[12]

Previous Residents:

Rhoda Derry

1880: “In our last report, mention was made of one female patient who occupies a large wooden box filled with straw. She will not wear clothing, but is covered with a canvass cloth, is in constant motion, has bruised herself from head to foot, and put out her own eyes. This patient is still an occupant of the box referred to, and now has for company, in the same room, another female patient, not in a box, but in an entirely nude condition.”[13]
“Forty Two Years in a Crib,” Chicago Tribune, https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-forty-two-years-in-a-cri/127021553/.

Records

Cemetery Record

Surname	First Name	Date of Birth	Date of Death	Notes
Adler	Georg Martin	11-4-1835	11-9-1913
Alexander	Anna	1863	2-12-1901
Allen	Eliza Jane	1835	2-11-1914
Allen	George L	3-13-1852	4-12-1936
Allen	Henry L	1864	12-10-1919
Armstrong	William	1831	1881
Arnold	George	1804	11-13-1880
Arnold	John Robert	1-18-1863	1-18-1937
Aschenbrenner	Annie Janie	1869	3-1-1923	w/o John
Aschenbrenner	John Theodore	12-23-1857	7-19-1907
Bailey	Marcuss	12-19-1840	10-13-1917
Bartlett	Ruth	1860	6-15-1926
Bax	William	9-1-1851	8-27-1931
Beagle	Charles	1854	8-17-1898
Beckman	Fred W		6-11-1898
Biggs	Unknown	1883	8-30-1906
Brannon	Thomas William	1958	1985
Brenekamp	Barnard	1831	8-11-1911
Brocksieck	Charles	9-4-1867	1-7-1914
Brown	George	6-11-1875	4-12-1917
Busby	William	1872	3-5-1900
Cabreelson	Alfred	1859	6-26-1906
Campbell	Joe Dave	8-11-1842	3-15-1921
Carrier	Fred	5-1-1874	4-17-1926
Case	John L	11-8-1866	4-7-1936
Cheek	James	2-23-1847	1-23-1907
Clark	John	1832	10-24-1882
Clayton	George	1824	6-3-1908
Durfee	James	9-16-1798	7-16-1844
Hill	Wellington	1855	7-19-1935
King	Elmer W	1864	1936
King	Mamie E	1866	1944
Phenis	Albert	1853	2-9-1937
Thompson	Anna		3-9-1908
Tongate	Ambrose S	1830	10-27-1879
Triplett	Elzy	3-22-1819	3-21-1882

Other Records

“Applications and statements for record, 1860-1960,” available on FamilySearch.org. https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/618470?availability=Family%20History%20Library.

Sources

Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities. 1880. Sixth Biennial Report of the Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities of the State of Illinois, November 1880. Springfield, Illinois: H. W. Rokker, State Printer and Binder. https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/OobIAAAAMAAJ.

—. 1884. Eighth Biennial Report of the Board State Commissioners of Public Charities of the State of Illinois, November 1884. Springfield, Illinois: H. W. Rokker, State Printer and Binder. https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/DKTIAAAAMAAJ.

—. 1909. Twentieth Biennial Report of the Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities of the State of Illinois: Being a Statistical Record of the Public Charity Service for the Period July 1, 1906 to June 30, 1908, and embracing Recommendations for the Period July 1, 1908 to June 30, 1910. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Journal Company. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Biennial_Report_of_the_Board_of_State_Co/RroWAAAAYAAJ.

State Charities Commission. 1911. Second Annual Report of the State Charities Commission to the Honorable Charles S. Deneen, Governor of Illinois. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Journal Company. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Annual_Report/pFgZAQAAIAAJ.

The Institution Quarterly: An Official Organ of the Public Charity Service of Illinois. 1916.Volume VII. Springfield, Illinois: State Board of Administration, State Charities Commission, and State Psychopathic Institute. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Welfare_Bulletin/qa5CAQAAIAAJ.

The Institution Quarterly: An Official Organ of the Public Charity Service of Illinois. 1920.Volume XI. Ed. A. L. Bowen. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Journal Company. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Institution_Quarterly/9SaShNqJz7IC.

[1] The Institution Quarterly: An Official Organ of the Public Charity Service of Illinois. 1916.Volume VII. Springfield, Illinois: State Board of Administration, State Charities Commission, and State Psychopathic Institute. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Welfare_Bulletin/qa5CAQAAIAAJ.

[2] Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities. 1880. Sixth Biennial Report of the Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities of the State of Illinois, November 1880. Springfield, Illinois: H. W. Rokker, State Printer and Binder. https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/OobIAAAAMAAJ.

[3] Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities. 1909. Twentieth Biennial Report of the Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities of the State of Illinois: Being a Statistical Record of the Public Charity Service for the Period July 1, 1906 to June 30, 1908, and embracing Recommendations for the Period July 1, 1908 to June 30, 1910. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Journal Company. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Biennial_Report_of_the_Board_of_State_Co/RroWAAAAYAAJ.

[4] Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities. 1909. Twentieth Biennial Report of the Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities of the State of Illinois: Being a Statistical Record of the Public Charity Service for the Period July 1, 1906 to June 30, 1908, and embracing Recommendations for the Period July 1, 1908 to June 30, 1910. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Journal Company. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Biennial_Report_of_the_Board_of_State_Co/RroWAAAAYAAJ.

[5] State Charities Commission. 1911. Second Annual Report of the State Charities Commission to the Honorable Charles S. Deneen, Governor of Illinois. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Journal Company. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Annual_Report/pFgZAQAAIAAJ.

[6] The Institution Quarterly: An Official Organ of the Public Charity Service of Illinois. 1920.Volume XI. Ed. A. L. Bowen. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Journal Company. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Institution_Quarterly/9SaShNqJz7IC.

[7] Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities. 1880. Sixth Biennial Report of the Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities of the State of Illinois, November 1880. Springfield, Illinois: H. W. Rokker, State Printer and Binder. https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/OobIAAAAMAAJ.

[8] 1884. Eighth Biennial Report of the Board State Commissioners of Public Charities of the State of Illinois, November 1884. Springfield, Illinois: H. W. Rokker, State Printer and Binder. https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/DKTIAAAAMAAJ.

[9] The Institution Quarterly: An Official Organ of the Public Charity Service of Illinois. 1916.Volume VII. Springfield, Illinois: State Board of Administration, State Charities Commission, and State Psychopathic Institute. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Welfare_Bulletin/qa5CAQAAIAAJ.

[10] Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities. 1880. Sixth Biennial Report of the Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities of the State of Illinois, November 1880. Springfield, Illinois: H. W. Rokker, State Printer and Binder. https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/OobIAAAAMAAJ.

[11] 1884. Eighth Biennial Report of the Board State Commissioners of Public Charities of the State of Illinois, November 1884. Springfield, Illinois: H. W. Rokker, State Printer and Binder. https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/DKTIAAAAMAAJ.

[12] The Institution Quarterly: An Official Organ of the Public Charity Service of Illinois. 1920.Volume XI. Ed. A. L. Bowen. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Journal Company. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Institution_Quarterly/9SaShNqJz7IC.

[13] Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities. 1880. Sixth Biennial Report of the Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities of the State of Illinois, November 1880. Springfield, Illinois: H. W. Rokker, State Printer and Binder. https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/OobIAAAAMAAJ.