You find your ancestor living with the family in one census. Ten years later, that person is gone.
There’s no obvious death record. You can’t find another marriage. You don’t see evidence of a move. The person simply seems to disappear.
Or maybe you do find your ancestor, but instead of living with family, they are listed among dozens of unrelated people in a county institution.
One place you may not think to check is the poorhouse.
Depending on the place and time period, it might have been called an almshouse, poor farm, county infirmary, county home, town farm, or something similar. These institutions cared for people who, for one reason or another, couldn't support themselves.
The records they left behind can sometimes explain what happened to an ancestor when standard genealogical records fall short.
Who Went to the Poorhouse?
It’s easy to assume that everyone who entered a poorhouse had spent a lifetime in poverty. Thatwasn'tt always the case.
Someone could end up there because of old age, illness, disability, the death of a spouse, loss of income, or the lack of relatives who could provide care.
Some people stayed only a short time. Others remained for years.
A widow might have been unable to support herself after her husband died. An elderly person might have outlived a spouse and had no children living nearby. A laborer who became sick or injured might suddenly have had no way to earn an income.
Children could be there, too. Some entered with a parent, while others were placed there after losing one or both parents or because their familycouldn'tt care for them.
That makes poorhouse records especially useful when someone disappears after a death, illness, or other major change in the family.
What Can Poorhouse Records Tell You?
There wasn't one recordkeeping system used across the country, so the amount of information you find will vary.
Some surviving admission registers are fairly basic. Others contain details genealogists would be glad to find anywhere.
You may find:
- Full name
- Age
- Birthplace
- Previous residence
- Admission date
- Marital status
- Occupation
- Physical condition
- Reason for admission
- Names of relatives
- Date of discharge
- Place the person went after leaving
- Date of death
- Burial information
Even when a registerdoesn'tt answer your main question, one small detail can send your research in a new direction.
A previous address can lead you to another census record. A birthplace can point you toward another county or state. A relative listed in the record may help you connect two branches of the family.
Look for More Than an Admission RegisterDon't
Don’t stop if you search for an admission book andcan'tt find one.
Poorhouses and county homes created many kinds of records, and different records may have survived in different repositories.
You could find:
- Admission and discharge registers
- Resident lists
- Death registers
- Burial records
- Cemetery lists
- Account books
- Countycommissioners” records
- Superintendent reports
- Poor relief applications
- Monthly population lists
- Medical records
- Farm recordsChildren's
- Children's placement records
- Indenture or apprenticeship records
Older catalogs and indexes may also use the term “inmate” when describing residents of an institution. It was commonly used in government records, so include it as a search term even though we usuallywouldn'tt use it that way today.
Financial records can be useful, too.
A county account book might show payments for clothing, medical care, transportation, or burial expenses. Minutes from county officials may mention a person who needed assistance or explain why someone was admitted.
The useful record may not have yourancestor'ss name in the title at all.
Let the Census Give You a Clue
The census may be what leads you to the poorhouse in the first place.
If you find an ancestor listed with a large group of unrelated people, look at the surrounding census pages. Go back several pages if necessary.
You may discover that the census taker was enumerating a county home, almshouse, infirmary, poorhouse, or another institution.
Once you identify the institution, write down its exact name, location, and the year your ancestor was there.
Then start searching for records created by that institution.
Don't assume that being listed there means your ancestor spent the rest of his or her life there. The stay may have lasted months, weeks, or even less.
That census entry may be the clue that helps you find out what happened next.
What Happened to Children?
Children in poorhouse records deserve some extra attention because their trail may continue somewhere completely different.
A child might enter with a widowed parent and later disappear from theinstitution'ss records. Thatdoesn'tt necessarily mean the child died.
Look for the child living with relatives in the next census. Check orphanage records, guardianship files, apprenticeship records, and local court records.
Also look at nearby households.
A child could have been placed with another family and may appear in the census as a boarder, servant, laborer, adopted child, or simply as another member of the household.
If several children from the same family disappear at the same time, search for each one separately. Siblingsweren'tt always kept together.
Don't Forget the Poorhouse Cemetery
Another overlooked part of poorhouse research is the cemetery.
Some people who died while living at a poorhouse or county home were buried on the property. Depending on the institution, the graves might have had ordinary headstones, numbered markers, simple wooden markers, or no permanent marker at all.
Some of these cemeteries have nearly disappeared.
Livingston County, New York, for example, has identified hundreds of people buried in its county poorhouse cemeteries. Many of the graves were unmarked, and some surviving stones contain only a number or initials.
If you have an ancestor who has vanished and you’ve never been able to find a burial place, check whether the county poorhouse had its own cemetery.
A death register, cemetery list, or county burial payment may provide the answer even when there's no surviving gravestone.
Search Under Every Name the Institution Used
One problem with poorhouse research is that theinstitution'ss name may have changed over time.
What was called the County Poorhouse in 1870 was later called the County Infirmary and eventually the County Home.
If you search for only one name, you can miss records cataloged under another name.
Try searches such as:
[County name] poorhouse
[County name] poor farm
[County name] almshouse
[County name] county home
[County name] infirmary
Also try terms such as:
overseer of the poor
superintendent of the poor
poor relief
county relief
Old county histories can help you learn the institution's name and location.
Local newspapers are another good place to search. Newspapers sometimes published reports from county officials, notices about the poorhouse, residents' deaths, investigations, expenses, and other information.
Where Are Poorhouse Records Kept Today?
There’s no single place that holds all of these records.
Start with the county where your ancestor was living.
Check the county archives, county clerk, local library, historical society, and genealogical society. Then check the state archives or state library.
Search the FamilySearch Catalog by location, especially the county. Don't rely only on a regular name search because many local recordshaven'tt been indexed by individual name.
Search for the institution itself and try all of the different terms it may have used through the years.
Some records have been digitized. Others are available on microfilm. Plenty of records still sit in archival boxes and have never been placed online.
If you find evidence that a poorhouse existed but can't locate its records, contact the local archive or historical society and ask specifically what happened to the institution's records.
Someone who works with thecounty'ss historical collections may know exactly where they went.
Follow Every Clue You Find
Finding yourancestor'ss name in a poorhouse register is only the beginning.
Suppose the record says your ancestor was admitted after becoming widowed. Now you have another clue. When did the spouse die?
If the record gives a previous residence, search that place.
If children entered with a parent and later disappeared from the register, find out where each child went.
If your ancestor died at the institution, look for the death register, cemetery records, probate records, newspapers, church records, and county accounts.
One poorhouse record can lead you into several other collections.
A Part of the Family Story That Can Easily Be Missed
Finding an ancestor in a poorhouse may be unexpected, but it can explain a part of the family story that has been missing for years.
Our ancestors experienced old age, sickness, disability, widowhood, job loss, and family separation. Sometimes relativescouldn'tt provide the care someone needed. Sometimes there simplywasn'tt anyone left to help.
That can be difficult to see when all we have is a name that suddenly disappears from the census.
Poorhouse records can help fill in that gap.
So the next time an ancestor seems to vanish, don't stop with the census, death records, and newspapers.
Find out where the local poorhouse was.
Learn what it was called.
Then find out whether its records survived.
The record that explains where your ancestor went may still be sitting in a county archive waiting to be found.
Learn More
Ohio History Connection: Infirmary Registers, Township Relief Records, and Statements
This collection shows the kinds of county infirmary and poor-relief records that can survive, including admission information and records connected with local poor funds.
https://aspace.ohiohistory.org/repositories/2/resources/25134
Livingston County, New York: Poorhouse and County Home
An excellent example of surviving poorhouse records. The county has admission registers, a death register, monthly census lists, business records, and information on poorhouse cemeteries and burials.
https://www.livingstoncountyny.gov/1299/Poorhouse
Indiana State Library: Fulton County Genealogy Research Guide
The Indiana StateLibrary'ss county guide includes surviving Fulton County Poor Farm Records from 1871 to 1965 and shows why state and county research guides are worth checking.
FamilySearch Catalog
Search by the county or city where your ancestor lived. Try terms such as poorhouse, almshouse, poor farm, county home, infirmary, and poor relief.
