There is little information known about the "inmates" or facility itself.  This is an attempt to gather information as I find it in microfilm records or from other sources.  Through the years, the county poor were located in various places at different farms.  I am still trying to learn whether each township cared for their poor until the County Infirmary was built or if the total of poor from the entire county were sent to one establishment.  - Charlotte Edsall

COUNTY FARM CEMETERY  N SIDE OF 25N AT GOLF COURSE WEST OF LAGRANGE - CLAY TOWNSHIP Confirmed Burials #1 -  Charles A. Bevington, 1815-1898 VET. 12th CAV. 127 REGT.-NO STONE- #2  - Jacob Tuttle 1824-1888 VET. CO 11 ILL. INF. -HAS STONE-MARKED!- #3 - August Dowers,  Died May of 1919, See obituary below #4 - Mary Brown, Did Feb. 1884, see obituary below ** I am presuming that there are none buried at the County Farm Cemetery location without stones, this in itself is not guaranteed.   If you have anything to contribute, I would greatly appreciate it.

Inmates at County Infirmary but not Confirmed Burials at Potter's Field - Source: LaGrange County Health Department, Indiana * these are in no particular order except as I have found them
Full Name	Birth	Death	Age at Death	Parents	Marital Status	Book	Page	Number	Burial Location
Brown, Mary	about 1877, based on age at death	Feb. 1884	7	Unknown	Child				Potter's Field the "LaGrange Standard," LaGrange, Ind., Feb. 28, 1884
Colwell, John Jackson	1866	March 30, 1933	67 years	Hiram Columbus Colwell  & Emily Longly Colwell	?	H-63	8	11	"The LaGrange Standard," LaGrange, Ind., March 30, 1933 & Health Dpt. Records
Hart, John	about 1830	March 21, 1913	80	Daniel Hart & Nancy Nelson	Widower wife was  #1 Elizabeth Rugg #2 Jane Nelson	E	5	7	LaGrange Co., Johnson twp., Indiana - Woodruff Cemetery
Hart, George Washington	November 06, 1835	January 12, 1916	80 years, 11 months, 1 day	Daniel Hart & Nancy Nelson	Widower wife was Mary Emmaline Nelson	E	54	10	Clearspring twp., LaGrange County, Indiana - Sloan Cemetery in Row 17, # 12
Hart, John	about 1815	Sept. 19, 1899	84 years	Parents unrecorded	Widower	B	30	24	Unknown at this time
Dowers, August	about 1847	May 1919	72 years	Parents Unknown	Unknown				Potter's Field Source: "The LaGrange Standard," LaGrange, Indiana,  May 30, 1919

Poor House Obituaries Brown, Mary - Little Mary Brown, aged 7 years, an inmate of the County House, died of lung fever week before last and her little form was carried over the hill from the poor house to her last resting place in the corner of the farm where the dead of the County House are buried. - Source: "LaGrange Standard," LaGrange, Ind., Feb. 28, 1884 Colwell, (John) Jackson - 67 years of age, died at the county infirmary at 5:30 this morning from dropsy.  He had been at the county farm three weeks.  Mr. Colwell had lived in the county most of his life.  He leaves a sister, Mrs. Effie Gunthorp of Howe and a brother, Morton at the county farm.  No funeral arrangements have been made.  - Source:  "The LaGrange Standard," LaGrange, Ind., March 30, 1933 Dowers, August - "Glass Eater" Dead," commonly known as the "glass eater," died at the county farm on Wednesday morning of this week, the result of paralysis.  Dowers, who claimed to have been born in Germany, had lived in LaGrange county for many years.  He had no relatives in this country, and worked at no trade.  He traveled over the county in the summer time, but for several years had made the county farm his headquarters in the winter.  He was 72 years of age.  He worked in and around Shipshewana more or less in recent years but claimed no town or community as his home.  His burial took place at the county farm grave yard. - Source:  "The LaGrange Standard," LaGrange, Indiana,  May 30, 1919

Individuals at the County Infirmary & Whereabouts or Deaths Unknown after Mention 1.  Morton Colwell at County Infirmary in March of 1933.  He is the son of Hiram & Emily (Longly) Colwell of LaGrange County, Indiana.  - Source:   "The LaGrange Standard," LaGrange, Ind., March 30, 1933

Follow these links to find out more about the people that were at the County Infirmary 1860 United States Census for Poor House in Bloomfield twp. 1870 United States Census Poor House in Johnson twp. 1880 United States Census Poor House in Johnson twp. 1900 United States Federal Census Poor House in Clay twp. 1910 United States Federal Census Poor House in Clay twp. 1920 United States Federal Census Poor House in Clay twp. 1930 United States Federal Census Poor House in Clay twp.

"An Excerpt from the Health Department Report About the Previous Year" "The sanitary condition of the county jail is good, the water is supplied from  a large tank in the yard and is of good quality, the sewerage and ventilation are good, and the management is first-class.  The condition of the county infirmary is also very good.  Everything from cellar to garret is in first class order and the management the very best.  Being physician to the infirmary the last year I have necessarily been there a good deal and have always found everything in order and consider Mr. and Mrs. Smith very excellent people for the place.  December 31st, there were 20 inmates, the oldest, 88, and the youngest 16 years of age.  There is one idiot, one paralytic, four insane, and all with possible exception of two, feeble minded." - LaGrange Standard, LaGrange Indiana, March 1890

Harrison Smith became the superintendent of the LaGrange County Infirmary in 1867.  It was located 5 miles south of LaGrange.  He had charge of the institution for six years.  He was only 12 when his father Phillip Smith died and his mother Mary Eliza Smith was a weaver by trade and supported her family in that matter.  At the age of 12 years he began to help his mother financially support his family.  He married Margaret A. Brown whose father was a shoemaker from Ohio.  Margaret Brown Smith was the sister to Peter Brown who married Julia A. Hill of LaGrange County, Indiana, daughter of Ebenezer Hill who was one of the early settlers of that county and one of the infamous "Regulators." - History of Northeast Indiana, 1920, pg. 408, vl. 2. & Charlotte Hill Edsall

POTTER'S FIELD AT GREENWOOD CEMETERY,
LaGRANGE COUNTY, BLOOMFIELD TWP., INDIANA

This is located in the Norhtern section beside the Honored War Veterans & Baby Land in Block #1

The first four rows contain the information given in the LaGrange Cemetery Book.

Lot #	Name	Birth Date in Cemetery Records	Death Date in Cemetery Records	Additional Information On Individuals Collected by Charlotte Hill Edsall, June 2008
1	William Sayles, Jr.	1921	1921	d. July 30, 1921, Bloomfield twp. at 7 months of age WPA Record Book H-17, page 60
2	Edith Fisher	1889	1922	d. Mar. 27, 1922 at 33 Years of Age in LaGrange LaGrange WPA Death Records, book H17, page 69 Daughter of Adam and Rosetta C. Fisher
3	Ira Pifer	1879	1923	d. Apr. 29, 1923in Milford twp. LaGrange WPA Death Records, H-17, pg. 81
4	Walter Bolan	1876	1923	abt. 47 Years of  age Walter Henry Bolan - Birth Date:  Nov. 7, 1874 WWI Draft Registration, 1917-1918 in LaGrange, Indiana
5	Lincoln Routsong	1865	1923	abt. 58 years of age d. 3 Oct 1923 in LaGrange WPA Records book H12, page 83
6	Elias Kyster	1850	1926	abt. 76 years of age *maybe this is him?
7	Adam Fisher	1851	1928	abt. 77 years of age
8	Chester Miller	1893	1933	abt. 40 years of age
9	Unidentified Man - 70 years	-	1933	abt. 70 years of age Born about 1863
10	Nettie Welch	1871	1934	abt. 63  years of age
11	Jacob J. Kime	1868	1934	abt. 66 years of age
12	Charles Blanchard	-	1934	-
13	James Wagoner	1862	1936	abt.74  years of age
14	George Welch	1864	1937	abt. 73  years of age
15	Ellis Watt	1862	1937	abt. 75  years of age
16	Rosetta Fisher	1857	1939	abt. 82  years of age
17	Charles Spencer	1886	1940	abt. 54  years of age
18	Martin Caldwell "Pete"	1875	1941	abt.  66 years of age
19	Charles Crambler	1846	1942	abt. 96  years of age
20	John Rheile	1861	1943	abt.82 years of age
21	Arnold Lobshire	1856	1943	abt. 87 years of age
22	Irvin W. Hosler	1873	1946	abt.  73 years of age
23	Thompson L. Menzie	1917	1946	abt. 29  years of age
24	Milo Ritter	1867	1946	abt. 79  years of age
25	Frank Bennett	1866	1950	abt. 84  years of age
26	Harvey O. Stiver	-	1954	-
27	Baker- Robyn Ann	1965	1971	abt. 6  years of age
28	Grove, Keith L.	1948	1972	abt.24 years of age

- Sources:  Cemeteries of LaGrange County Indiana, 1832-1982, Prepared by Robert and Leonore Current, Published by LaGrange County Historical Society, 1984 & by Charlotte Hill Edsall, LaGrange, Indiana

*Rex Fisher, local Historian, Author, and Firend of the L.C.H.S. makes a note that we do not have record of  others buried at Potter's Field in Greenwood Cemetery after 1972 and before 1921.  There needs to be a further study of this to see what records are available and to discover where the poor at the cemetery were before.

Charlotte's Notes about Individuals buried at Potter's Field in Greenwood Cemetery

1910 US CENSUS in LaGrange, Indiana

1920 US Census in Lagrange, Indiana

1930 US Census in LaGrange, Indiana