This is believed to be a picture of the County Poor Farm. Picture taken around 1879 or 1880. People in the picture (not inmates of the poor farm) are: John Allbaugh, John Martin Chastain, Minnie, Willie Walton. Contributed by Judy Chastain.
 Superintendants of the Decatur County Poor Farm 1900-1928 |
Leon Reporter, Leon, Iowa
Thursday, April 8, l897
On Tuesday we accepted an invitation to accompany the Board of Supervisors to the County Farm on their regular inspection trip. We started early in the morning, but such roads! The heavy rains had washed out numerous culverts, and at other places we can testify to the poor condition of the roads, as the team had to pull our carriage through long mud holes where the wheels sank down below the hub. A trip to the country now will certainly impress anyone with the necessity of good roads.
On arriving at the County Farm, we were cordially welcomed by Steward Sam Grayson and conducted through the new building which the Board has built for the care of the paupers and insane of the county. Everybody who has passed the County Farm knows what a dilapidated old one story building was formerly used. Now a handsome new two story structure greets the eye, and we are safe in saying that Decatur County has the best and most comfortable county building in the State of Iowa.
The main building is 26x60, feet two stories, with a north wing 3lx38 feet, two stories, and a south wing l6x40, feet, one story, used as a kitchen and dining room. In the building there are 30 sleeping rooms each l2 l/2xl2 feet, the ceilings in the rooms on the first floor being 9 feet 4 inches high and 8 feet in the second story. From top to bottom the building has been constructed with a view for the comfort of the inmates, each room having large windows, hung with weights so they can be easily raised or lowered, and a ventilating transom over each door. It is warmly built too, the best Washington fir being used, and the walls are all lined on both sides of the studding with inch lumber, then weatherboarded on the outside and plastered on the inside, a feature worthy of note being that this method makes every wall solid and the plastering is as solid as if it was on a brick wall and can not be knocked off. The floors are all of fir and oiled, and a large hall extends through the entire building north and south and east and west. The rooms will all be heated by steam, a complete steam heating apparatus being in the basement, and this does away with the danger of fire. There are no nooks and corners in which to tuck away dirt and the entire building can be kept neat and clean.
The Board, wisely as we think, did not contract the building, but employed Mr. J.W. Sells as Superintendent, thus securing the best of material and workmanship throughout. The total cost of the building including the $800 heating apparatus is a little les than $4,000, making the cost of the building proper about $3,200, and when the size of the building is taken into consideration, it has been built very cheaply, and we believe for less money than if it had been let on a contract. With this new building the Board can carry out its plans of caring for all paupers at the County Farm, and in place of allowing so much per week for their support all over the county, will order them taken to the County Farm. And right here we desire to state that they will be much more comfortably housed and fed than they are under the present system. Then too, several harmless insane patients who are now kept at Clarinda will be brought to the County Farm, where they can be kept for much less than $l5 per month which the county now pays for their support at the asylum. By the expenditure of this $4,000 the Board will save that amount to the taxpayers in the course of a very few years.
After partaking of a splendid dinner prepared by Mrs. Artt, the very competent Stewardess, we looked over the large farm of 240 acres and found everything in tip top shape. The farm is well-stocked with horses, cattle and hogs, all raised on the farm, and quite a large sum is realized each year from the sale of stock. They now have about $l,000 worth of steers and hogs ready for market. The County Farm is certainly efficiently and economically conducted by Mr. Grayson and his sister, Mrs. Artt.
Leon Reporter, Leon, Iowa
Thursday, April l5, l897
It will no doubt surprise many of our readers to learn that 26 persons from Decatur County are now confined in the Clarinda insane asylum, besides the insane patients kept at the poor farm. Those at Clarinda are:
Mrs. S. Smith; Joseph Needham; Volney Dorsey; James M. Harrow; James L. Wilson; John Taylor; H.E. Warner; John Kirwin; Frederick Wilson; Holley E. Kelley; Frank Baxter; Newton Judd; Samantha Swan; Beatrice Parr; Rebecca E. Tharp; Clara A. Dibble; Martha Stephens; Fanny Humphries; Lucy Boswell; Nancy Gore; Lucinda Riggs; Elizabeth Cozad; Alice Brann; Ellen M. Perry; Viola Warnock; Louise M. Warren.
Each of these patients cost the county $l5 per month for their board and care in addition to what clothing is required for them. The County Treasurer has just remitted to the State for the quarter ending March 3l, the sum of $l,l70, so that taking the expense of the officers in conveying insane persons to the asylum, the fees of the insane commissioners, etc., it costs the county something over $5,000 a year for the care of its insane.
At the last meeting of the Board of Supervisors, a resolution was passed requesting that seven of the most docile and easily handled of the incurable insane at Clarinda be returned to the county to be cared for at the new County ( House) (sic) just finished, where all necessary preparation has been made for taking care of them. If seven persons are returned, the county will have $l,260 less per year to pay to the asylum and we know they can be kept at the County Farm for one-half the sum.
Leon Reporter, Leon, Iowa
Thursday, April l5, l897
The following order in regard to incurable insane was made by the Board of Supervisors: The Auditor is hereby ordered to notify the insane commission of Decatur County that the County( Hospital)(sic) is completed and that the county is prepared to take care of seven of the incurable insane patients and that said commissioners are requested to demand the return from the asylum at Clarinda of seven of the most docile and easily handled of the incurable insane from this county.
The following order in regard to paupers was made by the Board of Supervisors:
It is hereby ordered that no further aid be furnished George Huntley and family, J.D. Bennett and wife, Peter Hinds and family, Moses Williams and family or Teresa McGovern and child except at County Farm.
No further business appearing minutes of today's proceedings were read and approved and the Board of Supervisors adjourned to meet Monday, June 7, l897.
[Attest] J.G. Springer, Chairman.
George W. Sears, Auditor.
Leon Reporter, Leon, Iowa
Thursday, May l3, l897
Deputy Sheriff Brown and wife, member of Board Chas. Rudibaugh and insane commissioners, Dr. Layton and S.A. Gates, returned last Thursday from Clarinda bringing with them eight incurable insane patients, three men and five women, who will be cared for at the new county building at the Poor Farm. The patients returned are: Joseph Needham; Sherman Smith; John Taylor; Rebecca E. Tharp; Fannie Humphries; Martha Stephens; Nancy Gore and Clara Dibble. It has been costing the county $l5 per month for each insane patient kept at the asylum, and by bringing these eight patients home, the county is virtually relieved of an expense of $l20 per month, for they can be kept at the Poor Farm for a nominal sum. In the course of a year the saving in this line will amount to a large sum.
The committee found all the Decatur County patients at Clarinda doing nicely. Newton Judd has recovered so as to be able to return home and he came last week. Hollie Kelley is in good health and is able to walk with the aid of crutches.
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"With permission from the Leon Journal Reporter"
November 20, 2002
Leon Reporter, Leon, Iowa
Thursday, September l7, l896
The Board of Supervisors have very wisely decided on making some extensive improvements at the county farm by erecting a new building for the insane patients. It is something that has long been needed. There are a number of insane patients at the farm and the accommodations have been very crowded and poor. The Board has decided to erect a two story addition on the north side of the old building, 3lx37 feet, containing l4 rooms llxl2 feet. A full basement will be put under the entire building and a good steam apparatus will be put in. In addition to heating the new addition the steam plant will be located so that it will be used to heat the entire old building.
The Board employed WILEY SELLS to make the plans for the addition and he will be in charge of the work as foreman. Work will be commenced as soon as the lumber arrives, it having been decided to use Washington pine. W.H. JENKINS will have charge of the brick work. The old building will be remodeled so that while the new building will be built entirely separate from the old, it will be connected with it by a hall.
This step by the Board will be the means of making quite a saving to the taxpayers of the county, for with the new accommodations quite frequently insane patients can be properly cared for at the county farm, who would otherwise have to be taken to the asylum at Clarinda, and it already costs this county about $4,500 a year to maintain its insane at the state asylums. Then too it will do away with the danger from fire in using stoves in the insane department, and the inmates can be made comfortable in cold weather.
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"With permission from the Leon Journal Reporter"
November l3, 2002
Copied from: History of Decatur County Iowa 1839-1970 by Himena V. Hoffman p105-108
The deaths of babies and of little children continued in appalling numbers. For instance as one enters the Garden Grove cemetery, one comes soon to the grave of Major Racine Kellogg and the wife he married during the War buried by them are: Racine 1865-66; Mary, 1867-71; Louise, 1874-75; besides a little stone marked only "Baby Carter." Nearby on the Stearns lot are buried Jennie, age ten months and Kate, aged six months, little daughters of Dan Stearns.
In the Shy cemetery five children of Jonathan Hamilton are buried though a large family survived his death. William and Amy Jenning Shields lost four children who are buried at Grand River Cemetery. While most familles did not lose so many, the family was fortunate that did not have one small grave to remember.
Death came to older children, too. One of Judge Harvey's two sons died, a son of Dr. Layton died from a poison he mistook for something to eat. Tony and Kate Arnold lost their only child, and George Hamilton's fourteen-year-old son was dragged to death by a horse he had attempted to lead or mount. All of these families lived within a few blocks of each other in Leon.
Though there was no hospital in the county, there was a place for the care of the feeble-minded, and nonviolent insane. This institution came into existence in 1866 when the county Board of Supervisors purchased one hundred and sixty acres and the residence of Dozier Gammon as a place where paupers could be cared for and, as far as possible, employed. In 1878 an addition was added to provide for the care of the insane. From the time this Home was established until 1900, it would seem that more of the inmates were indigents than mental afflicted. For instance, in 1891 there was only one who was not admitted as a pauper, and he was classified as "has fits." Two pathetic entries in succession: Thomas ------------age 93 and Thomas Albert age 3 weeks, both paupers.
For years the records carried the name, Molly Unknown, who was found abandoned one July day in 1883. While she was entered as a pauper, she was perhaps feeble-minded. It is assumed that some family not wanted the care of the child left her on a country road. Molly had been a woman for many years when she died at the Home where she had been placed when a small child.
The other children at the County Home between 1890 and 1900 were there for months not years. Peter aged four, Henry, aged nine, and three-year old Willie were taken by a Children's aid Society, as were two little girls. A fourteen-year-old girl was sent to a "Home for the Friendly," according to the record, but it seems possible it was a "Home for the Friendless."
A year-old child of a deaf-mute mother was sent to an Ottumwa institution. A twenty-three year old mother who was admitted as insane brought a baby three-weeks-old with her.
The business firms that furnished goods for the County Farm included Wallace and Horner, H. Long, Bobbitt and Fluke, Van Werden and Co., Hurst Brothers, Hamilton and Gammill, Young and Thompson, John Bowman, San Farquhar, J. R. Bashaw, Bowsher and Biddison and Mike Myers.
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The Decatur County Journal
January, l886
The Board hired W.A. KETCHAM as steward of the poor farm for the coming year. MR. KETCHAM has been steward for some time and everything about the farm has been run in the best possible manner. The Board did a sensible thing in retaining him for another year.
The Decatur County Journal
October 7, l886
On Thursday morning last, between l0 and l2 o'clock, the poor house was destroyed by fire. The fire was first discovered between the ceiling of the first story and the floor of the second.
MR. KETCHAM and all those present made all possible efforts to save the building, but all the water which they could put on seemed to do no good and the flames spread rapidly until it was seen that further attempts to save the building would be useless, when they turned their attention to saving the contents. All of the contents of the lower story were removed but most of those of the second story were destroyed.
The inmates, of whom there were l7, were all brought safely out. They and MR. KETCHAM's family are now housed in the old dwelling -- a building containing but three rooms. The building and contents were insured for $2,000, but the loss is estimated at between $3,000 and $4,000. All of MR. KETCHAM's personal effects were destroyed, with a small amount of insurance.
The Board held an informal meeting Friday and decided to proceed, as soon as the loss is adjusted with the insurance company, with the erection of a new building. In the mean time temporary provision will be made for the accommodation of the paupers.
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"With permission from the Leon Journal Reporter"
February l8, 200l
The Decatur County Journal
January l0, l884
POOR FARM STATISTICS:
The poor farm of Decatur County, Iowa, is in Eden Township and contains one hundred and eighty acres, only part of which is in a state of cultivation. W.A. KETCHAM, the present steward of the farm, makes the following statement of products for the year l883:
One hundred tons of hay.
Fifteen hundred bushels of corn.
One hundred and twenty bushels of oats.
One hundred and fifty bushels of potatoes.
Twenty-five bushels of onions.
Ten bushels of beets.
Three bushels of white beans.
Ninety gallons of molasses.
Thirty bushels of turnips.
No. of hogs killed - 22.
Beef - l.
No. of cattle on the farm - 20.
No. of hogs - l6.
AVERAGE NUMBER OF INMATES - 2l.
No. of acres of land put in cultivation - 2l.
Wood sold - $80.00 worth.
This statement shows that notwithstanding the fact that some complaints are made about the manner in which MR. KETCHAM attends to the farm by people who do not personally know anything about it, that it is the best cultivated farm in the county.
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"With permision from the Leon Journal Reporter"
March 3, 200l
The Decatur County Journal
January, l886
Note: The Board hired W.A. KETCHAM as steward of the poor farm for the coming year. MR. KETCHAM has been steward for some time and everything about the farm has been run in the best possible manner. The Board did a sensible thing in retaining him for another year.
The Decatur County Journal
July 27, l887
THE COUNTY POOR FARM -- Last Week's Reporter contained a column article devoted to the management of the county poor farm, the object of which is to lay the foundation for an attack on the members of the Board of Supervisors. The itemized expenses of the poor farm for last year appeared in THE JOURNAL some time ago and it is unnecessary to repeat them here. There are some facts connected with this subject which The Reporter man forgot to mention and we hasten to supply the omission.
W.A. KETCHAM, the present steward of the poor farm, was appointed by a democratic Board of Supervisors. His salary was originally fixed at $500 per annum, but was afterwards raised to $600 by the same democratic Board of Supervisors. He never filed a report of his management of the poor farm and was never called upon to do so by the democratic Board of Supervisors. THE JOURNAL has no fault to find with the Board's appointment of MR. KETCHAM. We endorse the appointment and also the action of the Board in raising the salary to $600 per annum.
The duties devolving upon the steward of the poor farm in caring for the indigent and controlling the insane are of a most arduous character, requiring the exercise of tact, nerve and sound judgment. These qualifications MR. KETCHAM undoubtedly possesses and we believe he has conducted the affairs of the farm honestly and economically. THE JOURNAL believes that complete and satisfactory annual reports of the condition of the poor farm should be filed with the Board by the steward. But if the present Board of Supervisors are to be censured for failure to compel the steward to make his reports, then a democratic Board is equally censurable for a similar neglect, and we see no opportunity for the manufacture of democratic political capital in this direction.
The truth is that a republican Board, for the first time in the history of the county, exacted of the steward last year a report of his management of the county poor farm. The report was presented to the Board by the steward in compliance with the request.
The present Board of Supervisors will see that hereafter complete and accurate reports are filed by the steward and of the servants of the people. The gentlemen composing our Board of Superviors are among our heaviest taxpayers, and they are interested in having the affairs of our County Government administered with the strictest economy and in a business-like manner.
Heretofore no record has been kept of the number, cost and dimensions of the bridges of the county. The Board, desiring to introduce practical improvements and correct any existing abuses, have ordered the bridges of the county numbered and a book kept by the auditor, which will contain the cost, dimensions, and a complete history and description of every bridge in the county.
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"With permission from the Leon Journal Reporter"
March l5, 200l
The Decatur County Journal
August 2, l887
MESSRS. STOOKEY & JOHNSON:
To state facts truly and impartially, and to enlighten the public concerning our County Government, is laudable and necessary. But to mislead, most especially those not familiar with public business, is truly contemptible.
I have not examined the poor farm account which was so carefully looked over by the editor of The Reporter, but I trust he will fulfill his promise to make a more thorough and searching investigation. That is what we want. If he will go back to January l4, l880, and examine the records he will discover on the minutes that MR. KETCHAM was appointed steward of the poor farm for one year from the l0th day of March, l880, by a Board composed of democrats as follows: HIRAM CHASE, R. BANTA and ED. CONWELL. This same Board fixed the steward's salary.
Let us look farther; On page 20 it will be seen that this same democratic Board visited the poor farm in January, l88l, and declared it to be in a satisfactory condition. On page 28 we find our Board complimenting MR. KETCHAM by appointing him steward for another year. MR. KETCHAM undoubtedly accounted for his stewardship, though our democratic Board did not require him to put it in writing.
The same democratic Board visited the poor farm at every session, always "partaking of its fat dinners," and always reporting the farm in a satisfactory condition. In l882, a republican, W.H. CLARK, was elected a member of the Board, his associates being democrats. They visited the poor farm in January, l882, and reported everything satisfactory. On page l08 it is recorded that MR. KETCHAM was continued in office by the democratic Board. In June, l882, MR. CLARK did not attend the meeting on account of sickness, but his two democratic associates visited the poor farm, and after as usual "partaking of the fat dinners", again reported everything in a flattering condition. But no written report was required of him.
These visits and findings continued until the election of a republican Board. The Board then required the steward to file his written report and this was done. So far as MR. KETCHAM is concerned, it is to his credit that he managed the poor farm so as to give satisfaction to a democratic as well as a republican Board. "Union" is in dirty business to attack, without any foundation whatever, the record of our present Board of Supervisors.
--FRANCIS VARGA.
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"With permission from the Leon Journal Reporter"
March l5, 200l
COUNTY FARM CENSUS RECORDS
1885