Dear Listers: In searching for new material for the website, we find winners and losers. One such list that sounded promising, we have decided not to post, but it does have things for a few of us. It's the census of inmates in almhouses and poorhouses, 1875-1920. The microfilm containing this is available from the New York State Archives through interlibrary loan. First, the bad news: the lists promise a great deal of information, but after the first enthusiasm, the person filling out the form got tired of it and just filled in name (often illegible), date admitted, sex, color, and reason for being there. He got tired of that, too, and put down "insanity" for the vast majority. There are unexplained gaps in continuity. Suddenly a block of 300 names may just be missing in midst of the numerical order. There is no index. The people are listed chronologically, but in no discernable order other than date. There is no division as to sex, age, race, or marital status. Everyone is jumbled in together, with a few notes such as "child of", or "spouse of" when whole families were incarcerated. You have to search the whole list of some thousand names (for Jefferson County alone) to find if you have anyone in whom you are interested. Next, which isn't really bad news: Flower Library has a much more complete list, which is alphabetized. They have had access to earlier records, by the looks. Their list, however, lists only name, age if given, date of admission, and a few other vitals. There are bound copies of SOME of these forms, evidently, should you be allowed to see them at the state archives. Now for the good news: if you know you have someone there, and know approximately the date of incarceration, you MIGHT be able to find some interesting information. Remember that the poor house was a refuge for unwed mothers and their newborns, the homeless (and there were a lot of those, with "homeless" actually given as the reason for their "existing cause of dependence") "crippled" including blind, the elderly, epilepsy, and the ill. Of course, the insane, the idiots, and other now not politically correct terms for the mentally handicapped were used. Some would go there for the cold weather (remember Jefferson County gets very cold in the winter) and would get themselves released in the spring, when farm work was more plentiful. It was the nursing home for the aged, for the day. Those who could kept their loved ones at home, but for some there was no such choice or luxury. For the original records, such items as birthplace, last residence, how long in the US, how long in NYS, at what port landed, if naturalized, when and where naturalized, birthplace of parents, inmate's education, religion, how many children living, names and addresses of relatives and friends are of interest to family historians. The catch is that seldom are all the forms completely filled out. Flower Library has only very abbreviated information, but they should be able to tell you if a name is on the list. If you are interested in seeing the films, ask your library to get them on interlibrary loan. Specify Jefferson County, as all of NYS have films, Boxes 55-57. Each record is an individual sheet filmed, and there are (if my arithmetic is correct) nearly 2000 names. Nan Dixon, listmaster -- http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyjeffer/