We would like to invite you to re-visit our website, The POORHOUSE STORY (a
clearinghouse for information about 19th century American poorhouses) at
http://www.poorhousestory.com
We just posted a portion of a 1904 federal government report which
summarizes the poor laws in every state. On the PENNSYLVANIA page we have
copied
the excerpt for just your state. It is interesting to see how the laws
varied from state to state. And understanding which state or county agency
had administrative responsiblity over poorhouses may help you locate local
poorhouse records more easily.
DIRECTIONS:
At the homepage (link above) click on POORHOUSES BY STATE, then on
PENNSYLVANIA
on the table of states. If you have been to the website recently you may
have to click REFRESH or RELOAD on the browser to see the new information.
You will find the link to this excerpt near the top of the page in a section
titled HISTORY and marked with a big yellow NEW arrow.
There are other pages on the site which may give you some interesting
perspective on poorhouses. They are off the homepage and include: the
HISTORY page and the LETTER TO GENEALOGISTS as well as FEATURED ARTICLES.
There are great tips for researching poorhouse records for yourself on the
RECORDS page; and you might want to subscribe to our (almost) monthly
newletter (which you can do in the lower right corner of the homepage).
The information on our site will only grow through the submissions of
generous readers. If you would like to e-mail me ... please do so off-list
because I cannot maintain subscriptions to as many lists as we post messages
on. (You can use an e-mail link off one of our web pages.)
We hope you enjoy the site!
Thanks,
Linda Crannell
(aka=The Poorhouse Lady)