Way back in May I announced to this list the publication of a website called The POORHOUSE STORY (which is a clearinghouse for information about 19th century American poorhouses)at http://www.poorhousestory.com (Once there, you can click on POORHOUSES BY STATE, then NEW YORK STATE POORHOUSES, and finally click on RENSSELAER on the table of NY Counties.) At that time, I said I would soon be publishing to the RENSSELAER County page the excerpts from two government reports (one done in 1824 and the other in 1857). Well...I stalled for 3 months...but now I want to tell you about that material and invite you to visit the site to read more if you are interested. The delay was a result of my own discomfort about publishing really disturbing material. Finally, I had to remind myself to be true to my committment to honest non-censured historical reporting. As you can read on the homepage and on the history page, NY established a county poorhouse system in the early 1820s. Not every county immediately participated (some were initially excepted from the requirement to do so)... but by 1857 almost every county had such an institution. And the institution was in trouble; in some cases the troubles were financial, in almost all cases people were beginning to doubt that the poorhouses were accomplishing their purpose, and in a few cases the system was considered abusive. So the state ordered an investigation in 1857. The conditions reported for the Rensselaer county poorhouse were horrendous. I have since done a lot of reading about the history of the county and think I better understand the context of the times .. and can appreciate the goodness that has often manifested itself in the history of Rensselaer County. I do not want to get involved in a debate (and won't participate in one) but I think the economic status of the vast majority of people who lived in the county between 1824 and 1857 needs to be taken into consideration. Since most were virtually tenant farmers, paying rent to a landed aristocracy yet having to pay themselves the taxes on the land they farmed (while the political power to set public policy was still largely under the control of that same aristocracy)... it seems unlikely that there was a very empowered public will or ability to offer very generous assistance to paupers. In the excerpt from the YATES Report you will find a rather detailed survey of how the poor were being dealt with prior to the passage of the Poorhouse Law in 1824. (You will also find an emphatic statement of the prevalent attitute toward the poor.) Then you will find the report of the legislative investigators in 1857. You will also find the names of the people living in the poorhouse in Troy in 1855. While the subject matter is upsetting, I hope you will find The POORHOUSE STORY website enlightening and helpful to you in your genealogical searches. Perhaps if those of you with more information about the later decades of the poorhouse can submit such information .. that may help us temper the pain we feel when we survey the earlier inhumane era. Sincerely, Linda Crannell (aka=The Poorhouse Lady)