Stuck in the Poorhouse

Abstract

When Americans think of welfare before the twentieth century, we usually think of the poorhouse. Poorhouses were expensive investments, though, rising and falling in popularity throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This chapter focuses on the generation of Americans most affected by poorhouses through the life of William Fales, an articulate, devout Christian who suffered from severe rheumatism. Voters’ great hopes for poorhouses were that they would save towns’ money in the long run, and provide more humane care. Fales’s experience shows what these poorhouses were actually like. While Fales does not stand in for every poorhouse inmate, his life shows how isolating and dangerous poorhouses could be, and what opportunities for fellowship inside a poorhouse could be. His life also shows how private philanthropy could complement poor relief.