THE ONONDAGA COUNTY POORHOUSE
Town and County of Onondaga, New York
From Onondaga's Centennial, Gleanings of a Century, edited by Dwight H. Bruce, Vol. I, The Boston History Company, 1896, pp. 311-315
At a meeting of the supervisors held November 24, 1826, the following
was enacted:
- The Board of Supervisors of the county of Onondaga having taken into
consideration the propriety of erecting a County Poor House, appointed
a select committee consisting of the following gentlemen: George
Pettit, Hezekiah Strong, and Charles H. Toll.
This committee made a report in which they gave the following statement of charges for support of the county poor from 1823 to 1826 inclusive: Aggregate charges for 1823, $2,459.88; for 1824, $2,560.98; for 1825, $3,973.66; for 1826, $5,767.47. This rapid increase of expense indicated a necessity for different and more economical provision for the purpose, and the committee therefore recommended that "the Board do avail themselves of the provisions of the act entitled ' An act to provide for the establishment of County Poor Houses, passed November 27, 1824."
The following resolutions were then adopted:
- Resolved, That the sum of two thousand dollars be forthwith
raised in the county of Onondaga towards purchasing a site and erecting
a County Poor House.
Resolved, That the members of this Board be a committee to examine, investigate and enquire as to the best location in said county for the said Poor House, and report their opinion and views on the subject to a future extra meeting of the Board.
At the annual meeting of the board held at the house of Zebulon Rust,
on the 28th day of November, 1826, it was
- Resolved, That it be and is hereby determined that it will be
beneficial to the said county to erect a County Poor House.
Resolved, That a copy of the above resolution be signed by the President and Clerk of this Board, and be forthwith filed with the Clerk of the said county.
The following extracts from the report of the committee will serve to
explain the necessity for a change in the methods of caring for the poor:
- The select committee to whom was referred the resolution on the subject
of a County Poor House, beg leave to report that they have had the same
under consideration, and from the best information which the members of
the committee have severally derived from the counties where the poor house
system is in operation, have become satisfied of its utility both as it
relates to the comfort and happiness of the pauper, and as it affects the
funds of the county charged with his support. The practice of annually
exhibiting the pauper with his miseries in the market, where the wretched
being, fallen by the fault or his misfortune, from better circumstances,
and become a mere article of traffic and speculation, is publicly offered
for sale to the lowest bidder - where frequently may be seen a public officer,
acting in the character of an auctioneer, with his bottle in his hand,
crying a drink to the next bidder to stimulate a groveling spirit of avaricious
parsimony, in the clamours of which are stifled the best feelings of philanthropy
- where the shameful scene results in proving too late to the successful
bidder that he has been duped by his own cupidity, overreached by the chicanery
of others, and that the pitiful reward of his unhallowed competition will
warrant no better support to the pauper, the miserable subject of the inhuman
trade, than the thin potations and meagre diet usually prescribed for patients
of a pesthouse.
This custom, odious and pernicious in all its features and consequences, your committee are of the opinion should speedily be abrogated. Against its continuance all the sensibilities of humanity protest, and even economy, in whose name the revolting farce is played off, would dictate the adoption of a policy more accordant with the principles of benevolence; it is the settled conviction of your committee that the poorhouse system, with a well organized police and its administration placed in the hands of integrity, holds out a remedy for these and others evils which are open to the views of observation, but which to enumerate and explain would too much enlarge this report.
. . . Ignoring the Golden Rule, which binds men in authority no less than the humblest citizen to do as they would be done by, they have employed worthless and irresponsible men to smuggle off their paupers into a neighboring and unoffending county, and to crown the connivance there is no difficulty in finding ways and means to reward the despicable instrument of the pitiful stratagem.
Effects like these our county is beginning very seriously to experience in consequence of the erection of a poorhouse in the adjoining county of Cayuga, as will appear from a comparison of the annual poor charges for the last four years, which the committee with considerable labor have deemed it their duty to make. From this comparison the board will at once perceive not only that the yearly aggregate of county poor charges is becoming enormous, but that there has been an annual and alarming increase of pauperism, which calls aloud for the adoption of a wise policy.
Elisha Litchfield was then president of the board and James Webb, clerk.
At the next meeting of the board on the second Tuesday of January, 1827,
propositions were received by the board of several farms that were for
sale for the purpose under consideration, in Pompey, Manlius, and other
towns. At this juncture the board adopted the following:
- Resolved, That the location of the County Poor House shall be
within ten miles of the Court House.
A committee was then appointed consisting of Russell Chase, Hezekiah
Strong, Charles H. Toll, Fisher Curtis, and George Pettit, to examine a
farm offered by Josiah Bronson, on lot 87 in the town of Onondaga, 100
acres or more at $20 per acre, and report on the same at the next meeting.
On the 9th of February, 1827, the board again met and the committee made
a favorable report on that farm, and the board resolved to accept it, "containing
about 145 acres, at the price of $18 per acre." The following resolution
was also adopted:
- Resolved, That the Board of Supervisors will pay Josiah Bronson
the sum of $500 on taking a deed, and the residue in two equal annual installments
with interest, amounting to about $735 each to be secured to said Bronson
by mortgage, and the said Supervisors take upon themselves to pay the State
mortgage, amounting to about $640.00, and the said Bronson reserves the
wheat now on the ground.
A building committee was appointed consisting of Hezekiah Strong, Fisher Curtis, and George Pettit, who were instructed to "build a house not exceeding 60 feet in length and 36 feet in width, two stories above the cellar or basement, all of stone, and the expense of which shall not exceed $2,500." By a resolution adopted at this meeting, Oliver R. Strong, David Moseley, Truman Adams, Azariah Smith, and James Webb, were appointed "Superintendents of the Poor House." The building committee, above named, were instructed to erect also a barn 32 by 42 feet, with other outbuildings, to cost not more than $300. The plans were slightly changed and the poorhouse itself when completed was 39 by 59 feet in size, and the gross cost of the whole was $2,750.
The first structure sufficed for its purposes, with minor changes, and various refurnishings, many years.
A a meeting of the Board of Supervisors, held December 6, 1859, a select committee previously appointed reported that "the best interests of the county would be subserved by the erection of a suitable building in connection with the building now occupied by the county poor, for the accommodation of the insane poor of the county." This committee was composed of S. S. Kneeland, Calvin Cole, and Cornell Crysler. On December 14 a resolution was adopted, "that the sum of $3,950 be appropriated for the purpose of constructing said asylum adjoining the poorhouse buildings." The committee was directed to also inquire into the expediency of buying the poorhouse and land in Geddes belonging to the city of Syracuse. This institution had then been in use about five years. This plan was deemed not expedient. On the 21st of December the board recommended an appropriation of not more than $5,000 with which to erect a building 75 by 33 feet, two stories and basement, of stone or brick, to be warmed by hot air or steam. The appointment of a committee was recommended to carry out these plans. The result of this action was the erection of the first building used for the insane.
These several buildings soon became inadequate for their purposes and out of repair. On the 20th of December, 1866, the supervisors' committee on poorhouse recommended the appointment of a committee of three to enter into a contract for a water supply for the poorhouse, and to take into consideration the rebuilding of the county buildings and report plans and specifications. The water supply was put in during 1867 and was extended in 1872 at a gross cost of about $4,000. On December 12, 1867, a resolution was adopted by the board that the old portion of the poorhouse be thoroughly repaired at a cost not exceeding $4,000 and additional building for insane be erected at a cost of not more than $8,000. These improvements were carried out, resulting in the building of a stone structure 32 by 76 feet which cost in gross about $16,000.
In 1872 the asylum was enlarged at a cost of $1,2000 and a new barn was built. Most of these extensive improvements were made during the very successful administration of C. C. Warner as superintendent.
Extensive improvements were made in the poorhouse in 1879, following
an investigation made by a committee of the State Board of Charities into
the methods of caring for the insane. This committee condemned the
existing conditions, recommended more commodious accommodations, plenty
of paid attendants, better ventilation and drainage, more land, and the
abolishment of dungeons. The improvements made at this time were
in the line with these recommendations and cost nearly $10,000. The
number of inmates in the poorhouse in October, 1894, was 170. The
expenses of 1895 were estimated at about $16,000. The farm products
are now worth about $2,500 annually.
Onondaga County Poorhouse Inmates
Submitted 7 June 1998