What did the Morgan County, IL Poorhouse and Farm look like?
This picture shows the full building in 1954 prior to it being torn down.
Source: Bob Hadden, Hadden Farms
This photo below is a bit more up-close, a side view of the home.
Source: Jacksonville Daily Journal, Tuesday August 26, 1947, p61
Here’s a picture of the dining room, with Mrs. Mabel Alexander standing next to the table.
Source: Jacksonville Daily Journal, Sunday Sept 7, 1947, p61
Here’s a picture of the winter kitchen, with Ms. Rosalee Alexander standing next to the table. An accompanying blurb states enough space was available to accommodate 60 people.
Source: Jacksonville Daily Journal, Thursday Sept 4, 1947, p5
What was the set up in the Poorhouse?
There is no current evidence of the layout of the Morgan County poorhouse. However, there is a description and layout of the Peoria one, which may give some indication. “The parts of an almshouse are two-separate wings of dormitories, for the two classes [men and women], separate dining rooms, a common kitchen and laundry department, apartments for the keeper and his family and the minor apartments, such as bathing-rooms, etc.”
In 1903, it was noted there were no fire escapes, no closets, and no in-building bathrooms (an outhouse). “There is one room known as ‘the bath room’ which is furnished with an old tub standing upon blocks of wood. The water is carried in in pails and after use a plug is removed and it is carried away in same manner. There are at present forty insane patients whom must be bathed by an attendant after this manner.” Source: Jacksonville Daily Courier, Dec 16, 1903 “Annual Meeting of Associated Charities.”
In December 1936, a massive explosion rocked the poor farm when a pressure tank that operated the water system blew up. The automatic switch failed, and the tank went through parts of the first floor, a room which was storage for clothing, and no one was injured by the accident.
State of New York Board of Charities report, 1879, p6. (State of New York, Members and Officers of the Board of Charities, 1879; Section heading: Illinois)
Leg Irons?
This is a picture of M.M. Morris, the superintendent of the County Home in 1947, holding a pair of leg irons that were always kept around (Source: Jacksonville Daily Journal, Sunday Sept 7, 1947, p61). There is no indication of date as to when they were used, but it was likely from two previous poor farms, the original built in 1842-1847. The mentally ill would likely have been shackled if symptoms were severe, as in the case of Jacob Fanning (the inmate Dorothy Dix wrote about; see History of the Poorhouse and Farm in Morgan County, Illinois, p.61)
Barred doors
This photo shows iron doors and bars over the doors, used so people could not get out of the room. [Source: Jacksonville Daily Journal, Tuesday August 26, 1947, p61.] According to the reporter Robert Bradney, the bars “are a grim reminder of the day when the insane were herded into the building with the poor and helpless. The bars have never been removed from the doors.” It’s uncertain as to the frequency these were used. The bars may not have been used to contain people in their rooms, or may have. To what date and extent they were used is uncertain. From 1851 on, the severely mentally ill would have been sent to the state hospital asylum, and only those with more severe, “incurable” developmental disabilities would have been present at the poorhouse, where there is indication they were provided humane treatment. An article in 1934 stated that the “old green doors” were removed and placed in the basement of the County Courthouse. [Source: Jacksonville Daily Journal, Jan 24, 1934, p2] People recollected they had been used 40-50 years before (placing it in the 1884-1894 period) when the insane were placed in small cells and “bull-pens.”