The first Warren County Poor Farm (1854-1869) was about 5 miles northeast of Indianola while the second Warren County Poor Farm (1869-1937) was about 5 miles southwest of Indianola.
1st Poor Farm
The first Poor Farm was in existence from 1854 to 1869, and was located northeast of Indianola in Lincoln Township, T77N, R23W, sections 32 & 33, (section 32 originally purchased from the Government by Philemon Morris in Nov 1848 and section 33 by Thornton F. Chapman in Nov 1849). It is not known what buildings were on the farm, but according to the 1879 History of Warren County, paupers were boarded out and people received compensation from the county for their board. Details of who ran the farm are also not known, but the land was owned by James Nichols, who came with his large family to Warren County by 1850. The history also states that the farm consisted of 120 acres, when, in fact, it consisted of 160 acres. In the Weekly Indianola Banner newspaper the County Board of Supervisors included a report of March 11, 1865: $1,128.00 amount of principal and interest paid to James Nicholls on bond for poor farm, due 1st March 1865 and $96.00 amount of interest paid to James Nichols on bond for poor farm, due 1st March 1866.
Below is a map of the area in red where the first Warren County Poor Farm was located. This is an 1872 map, the earliest map found showing the exact area (owned by Robert McElroy in 1872).
(click on map to enlarge)
At least as early as 1864 there was a Committee on the Poor Farm. In the September 1868 Term of the Board of Supervisors a committee of three men, Buxton, Ball, and Guthrie, were appointed “to enquire into the expediency of selling the Poor Farm, and if by them deemed expedient, to sell it and buy a more suitable farm.” At the November Term 1868 the Committee on the Poor Farm “reported that they could sell the same for $5,000.00” and the Board recommended the sale to be made. At the Jan 1869 Term, a report was provided by James Laverty giving an account of the Poor Farm. The following March 31, 1869, the Board of Supervisors bought the property from James Nicholls, who had moved to Kansas City, MO. to live with his daughter. Mr. Nicholls sold the property for $1,940.00 (see deed). Mr. Nicholls died June 19, 1969 in Kansas City, MO.
2nd Poor Farm
The second Warren County Poor Farm existed from 1869 to 1937. In the June 1869 Session of the Board of Supervisors, William Buxton submitted a report of the Trustees of the Poor Farm Fund. After visiting several locations with a view of purchasing a site for a county Poor Farm, on April 3, 1869 they made a purchase of a tract of 320 acres, (land originally purchased from the Government in Feb 1853 by David Demaree), situated five miles west of Indianola, for the sum of $4,000.00: in Lincoln Township, T76N, R24W Section 31. Below is a map of the area of Warren County’s second Poor Farm, consisting of 320 acres in Lincoln Township, T76N, R24W, section 31 (from the 1872 Atlas of Warren County, Iowa).
(click to enlarge)
At least twice, Warren County Supervisors tried to get their citizens to sell the 2nd Poor Farm of 320 acres to purchase land for a smaller Poor Farm, in 1889 and again in 1906, but the residents voted both down. Compiled is a list of paupers who resided at the Poor Farm from the few sources that exist. In 1937 residents at the Poor Farm were either receiving Old Age Pensions or were boarded out. On March 1, all personal property at the farm, including livestock and machinery, was sold at an auction and the farm land was leased to J. P. Cozad for farming. The 360 acres of farm land was leased from 1937 to Feb 1, 1992 when the land was sold to Bart and Cindy Brummer for $261,750.00.
Sources:
(1). History of Warren County containing a history of the county, its cities….by the Union Historical Co., 1879, p.381-384
(2). History of Warren County, Iowa From Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, by Rev. W. C. Martin, 1908, p.151-153
(3). Warren County Genealogical Society Newsletter, Mar/June 2002, “Bits and Pieces about… The Warren County Poor Farm,” p.3-12
(4). Atlas of Warren County, Iowa 1872 - University of Iowa Digital Libary
(5). Digital Archives of the Warren County Historical Society
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