ELKHART
COUNTY INDIANA
ELKHART COUNTY POOR FARM
On 1 March 1868. George
Miller leased 12 acres of his land for the County Poor Farm.
Following is the document referring
to the lease of land:
It is hereby agreed between Jacob
BECKTEL, Katharine THOMPSON and John THOMPSON commissioners of the
county off EIkhart of ihe first part and George MILLER of the second
part as follows.
The said commissioners lease to the
said MILLER twelve acres of land be the same more or less laying in the
south east comer of the south cast quarter of section 30 Township 36
Range 7 (Clinton Twp.) for the time of three years, [comer of CR's 33
and 40|
The said MILLER is to clean said land
and erect an eight rail fence and crop the said land for the time of
three years for the use thereof and ??? the same to the Board of
Commissioners of said County in the best possible order. The
commissioners reserving all the walnut timber on said land also
reserving to the
Superintendent of the Poor Farm the privilege of cutting and carrying
away all fire wood that may be needed for the use of the Poor Farm of
said count) This contract to
take effect from and after the 1st day of March 1868. With our hands
this 5th day of March 1868 with seal of said Board.
FIRE AT POOR HOUSE
7 Feb 1870 (Monday)
(Goshen Times, February 10, 1870)
Our County Poor House, located on the
prairie, a few miles from lown, was burned down on Monday forenoon.—
The fire is supposed to have caught by accident — probably from a
defective flue. As the building was a poor house indeed — a disgrace lo
our county, as the old Court House was — the loss was very small, aside
from the burning of some provisions, goods, etc. The inmates of the
institution — about 30 in number — were scattered about the premises,
in great consternation, until taken in and cared for by some of the
people in the neighborhood, who will keep them till some provision is
made for them. This is an unpropitious time for the poor paupers to be
thrown out in the cold, and to think about taxing the people to build
another Poor House, but something will have
to be done in this direction, we
suppose.
Israel HESS offered part of his large
residence to house some of the paupers. His residence was located just
across CR 40, south of the County Home property.
Verbal contract to build house on
Poor Farm for $ 290. 23 April 1870
[ Temporary structure to replace
burned out PF]
(Residents of the Poor Farm at the
time of the 1870 census [taken September 1,1870] are listed on page 187
of the Benton township census.)
Poor
Farm, $2,225.16
Goshen Times - June 30. 1870
The farm contains 160 acres land 80
acres of prairie, 40 of barren and 40 of wood land, and is situated in
section 25 in Elkhart. and 30 in Clinton townships. The expense of the
poor farm is made up as follows: Amount paid the Superintendent per
year $ 500, and for the general expenses of carrying on the farm, and
requisite supplies to board and clothe the inmates of the asylum.—The
average number provided for there in during the year, was thirty.
February 1st, 1870. the poor house was totally destroyed by fire; cause
of the fire unknown—with nearly all the beds and bedding and
provisions in store for winter use and considerable of the wearing
apparel of the inmates. This unfortunate occurrence, happening as it
did in the middle of winter, compelled the Commissioners to provide
temporarily, in the best way possible, for the care and relief of about
thirty persons thrown out of house and home, with scarcely a moments
warning, caused an additional expense to the county, in the poor and
poor farm account unexpected. A temporary structure has since been
erected on the farm at a cost of $ 290, large enough for the
Superintendent and family and a few paupers. A building has been rented
in Benton for five dollars per month for the poor, and Mr. E. H.
Foundling put in charge thereof at a salary of twenty-five dollars per
month. Let a suitable and commodious building be erected on the poor
farm with the requisite number of rooms arranged for the present wants
of the county and the surplus rooms can be prepared from time to time
as the increase of numbers and exigency of the case requires, and a
large amount of money can be saved to the county over the past or
present method of supporting the poor. The farm with 120 acres of
splendid and fertile land under cultivation, and forty acres heavy wood
land, under judicious and prudent management would be self-sustaining
in my opinion, though It may be erroneous. At all events, in view of
the increasing cost of this branch of the county government, it is a
subject worthy of consideration.
New
County Home - 1871
Goshen Times - March 25. 1875
A
report dated March 22d, 1875 by the Superintendent of Poor Farm.
"In 1864 I was appointed
Superintendent by the then Board of Commissioners, Wm. Carman. Jacob
Bechtel and Wm McVitry.....
...The new County I louse was
finished in July 1871, and cost about $2,800.
Joseph
Shupert - Union Township
(Elkhart Daily Review, 23 March 1897.
Taken from the South Bend Tribune)
Forty-nine years ago today Joseph
Shupert his family, consisting of his wife and four children, one of
whom was Noah Shupert, of the Adler store, drove through Soulh Itend on
their way to Benton, Elkhart county, to a new farm in Union township,
the deed for which was signed by President Martin Van Buren. The
family spent that night in Hamilton Rerrick's log cabin, south of the
city, and the next morning there were three inches of snow on the
ground. Mr. Shupert spent the remaining of his life on this farm and
brought up his family to be respected by all who knew them.
(Contributed by Peggy Thompson)