The poor house at Red Willow County

It seems that every generation believes they are the first to recognize social problems and therefore the first to have good ideas on how to deal with them. Call it what you want but social inequity wasn’t invented today and ways to solve that problem has plagued Red Willow County since the late 1800s. One has to believe that prior to the county taking over the care of, as the early founders called them, paupers, the population was all in the same boat, struggling to carve out a sustainable living in an unforgiving environment. From all the accounts of the early years that are available for research life was hard for everyone.

McCook was just thirteen years old when in 1895 this opinion appeared in the McCook Tribune, December 27th, “It costs between three and four thousand dollars each year to keep the poor of Red Willow County- which is too much by half. It now takes about one-third of our general fund to meet the numerous and continuous demands of the poor. A properly managed poor farm will materially reduce not only the demand, but the expense. Under the present arrangement it seems to be quite difficult to save the county from being frequently and sadly imposed upon. The poor farm scheme merits the closest investigation.”

There are several notes that need to be mentioned here concerning 1895. First it was a year of unprecedented drought and many that had the means, pulled up stakes and headed back east to family that would support them or jobs that actually paid a wage. Second, the county was the last resort for people who could not care for themselves or their family. Conceivably, no one could have wanted to add their names to the pauper list knowing full well that every doctor visit, every load of coal for heating, every item purchased, every rent paid meant that their name would appear in the McCook Tribune as a pauper that the county was supporting. There was no social security for the old, no food stamps, etc., there was only Red Willow County.

In the January 3, 1896 edition of the McCook Tribune came this notice: “The expense in maintaining the poor of Red Willow County under the present system has become a burden upon the taxpayers. Therefore, the board of county commissioners have decided to buy and operate a poor farm, of not to exceed 160 acres, and request that any person or corporation interested in the location of this poor farm submit to the board of county commissioners, at their next meeting, January 6, 1896, any propositions in the way of donations of money, lands, or other valuable considerations for the privilege of designating the location of said poor farm. George W. Roper, County Clerk, Indianola, Neb., December 17, 1895.”

McCook Tribune, February 14, 1896: “Commissioners Thomas, Carmichael, and Bolles were in the city, Tuesday, a few hours, on their way to Indianola from a visit on county business up in Box Elder precinct, where they have leased a farm from J. C. Oakley, who will conduct his farm as a poor farm, charging the county a per capita per week for each county charge.”

A week later at the county commissioners meeting, February 21, 1896, the McCook Tribune reported the following action taken: “On motion it is ordered and hereby entered of record that Red Willow County has established a poor house, and that said poor house is now ready for the reception of the poor of said county. On motion it is further ordered, that in the matter of the poor of Red Willow County, that no allowance be made by this board for the care and maintenance of such poor, unless such poor shall be inmates of the county poor house, or they shall have been confided to the care of some discreet householder of the county by the county commissioners, as provided by law; that the clerk is hereby directed to notify each justice of the peace in the county, and publish notice in newspapers.”

At some point, Oakley’s farm no longer housed the poor and Red Willow County once again faced the question of caring for their destitute citizens. In October 1911, the commissioners voted to place the purchase of a poor farm on the ballot in November along with a 3-year special levy which amounted to 2 cents on every $100 valuation to fund the purchase. The measure barely passed, 720 For- 619 Against, but funding the farm with a tax was again on the ballot in the primary election of 1912.

Early district court books are available for research at the SWNGS library. During the winter, which seems to have snuck into SW Nebraska, we try to be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-4 PM at 322 Norris Ave., Rooms 2-7. Announcements concerning the library can be found on our Facebook page.