Residents of the Wayne County Poor House in 1850



The census of the residents of the Wayne County Poor House, located in the Town of Lyons, was filed November 29, 1850, and taken by G. W. Barnard. Israel Clapp and family was under contract to care for the poor. The unknown stories of the individuals listed below would reflect circumstances and social problems that are familiar to us in 1998. Residents included displaced immigrants, the homeless, the aged, single mothers with young dependent children, widows, orphans, the disabled, ne'er-do-wells, and people just down on their luck. Poor house records are an often underutilized or unknown resource when looking for aged parents, children who are missing from a family group, or siblings who have "disappeared."

The reader is hereby "put on notice" that Mr. Barnard's handwriting was not the best. I've made a literal transcription, letter for letter. Where I had difficulty interpreting his writing I've noted so with a "?". As is often the case with census takers, he had difficulty attempting a spelling for the foreign born, as well as the illiterate who could not assist him. We would welcome anyone reading the original census rolls to send in corrections or new interpretations. No further information is known by myself or the other coordinators of this site about any individuals listed below. If you see your ancestors, please contact the Wayne County Office of History and Tourism - History Division, address on our cover page.

RESIDENTS OF THE WAYNE COUNTY POOR HOUSE - 1850
NameAgeOccupationPlace of BirthStatus
CLAPP, Israel
52

Mass.

CLAPP, Betsey
51

N.J.

CLAPP, John S.
27

NY

CLAPP, Jane
20

NY

CLAPP, Ana (?)
18

NY

CLAPP, Mary
15

NY

CLAPP, Alex
13

NY

CLAPP, Wm.
11

NY

CLAPP, Cassia
3

NY

SWEETING, Madeline
29

NY
married within the year
BAKER, Thos.
56
mason
Ireland
cannot read or write; pauper
TINDALL, Catharine
6

NY
attended school; pauper
LEE, Benj.
28
laborer
NY
pauper
JOHN, Mary
36

NY
pauper
JOHN, Margaret
6

NY
attended school; pauper
JOHN, Theodore
5

NY
attended school; pauper
JACKSON, Guy
70
mason
NY
pauper
AURICE (?), Catharine
40

Ireland
pauper
LAUDABACK, Julia
49

NY
cannot read or write; pauper
MALONE, James
55
laborer
Ireland
pauper
COOPER, Caroline
22

NY
pauper
MARTIN, Michael
52
shoemaker
Ireland
pauper
COLE, Jane
22

NY
pauper
COLE, Gelany (?); female
9 (?)

NY
pauper
COLE, Obediah
6 mos.

NY
pauper
COLE, Sarah
7

NY
attended school; pauper
JACKSON, Emma
27

NY
pauper
JOHNSON, Norman
10

NY
attended school; pauper
LYON, John
62
laborer
NY
pauper
DAWSON, Martin
30
laborer
Ireland
pauper
DAWSON, Eliza
27

Ireland
pauper
DAWSON, Jane
4

NY
pauper
DAWSON, Eleanor
2

NY
pauper
MUNGAR(?), Caleb
10

NY
attended school; pauper
LAWLER, Dennis
14

Ireland
blind; pauper
MERRICK, Mathew
65
laborer
Ireland
papuper
JOHNSON, Moses M.
16
laborer
NY
pauper
FERGUSON, Jeremiah
56

NY
pauper
FERGUSON, Geo.
16
laborer
NY
pauper
DENNIS, Thos.
23
sailor
Ireland
pauper
PERKINS, Sally
15

NY
pauper
PERKINS, Laura
2 mos.

NY
pauper
MORAND, Wm.
50
laborer
Ireland
pauper
FITZGERALD, Michael
40
laborer
Ireland
pauper
ALDERMAN, James
75
laborer
Conn.
pauper
SNELL, Geo.
45
cooper
Germany
pauper
PHILIPS, Almyra
31

NY
pauper
PHILIPS, John
7

NY
attended school; pauper
BURKE, John
54
none
Ireland
cannot read or write; pauper
COLLINS, Dennis
50
laborer
Ireland
cannot read or write; pauper
COLLINS, Hannah
45

Ireland
pauper
COLLINS, John
3 mos.

NY
pauper
MILLER, Marcus
45
laborer
Germany
cannot read or write; pauper
WHITMAN, Hiram
35
laborer
NY
cannot read or write; pauper
STOWELL, David
80
laborer
NY
cannot read or write; pauper
SCOTT, Sebastian
61
laborer
NY
cannot read or write; pauper
ROSEN, Sarah
50

NY
cannot read or write; pauper
FREEMAN, Lovina
50

NY
pauper
ROSSITER, John I.
60
laborer
Mass.
pauper
SMITH, John
59
laborer
NY
pauper
ROYS, Orsen
50
merchant
NY
pauper
FOSTER, Harriet
40

NY
pauper
LANE (LAW?), Polly
46

NY
pauper
GAY, Edgar
20

NY
pauper
GUEST, Adam
17

NY
pauper
MOORE, Wm.
45

England
pauper
FERRIS, Harriet
5

NY
pauper
FEITZ, Nicholas
50
laborer
Germany
pauper
FERRIS, Rachel
24

NY
pauper



Source: This interpretation was made by and digital text was transcribed from original microfilm of the 1850 US census. Due to the difficulties in transcribing old and stylized handwriting, the original census should be referred to.

Individual copies of this material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this full paragraph remains on all copied material. This digital version, with commentary and underlying source code, cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other presentation, nor may this copyrighted original digital version be used on any other site or offered for sale on any commercial digital storage medium. Permission may be given for distribution upon written request to the author.




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