Boyd County Kentucky Monographs I "Poor" Folks

Because of the Pandemic, I wish to share some of my past publications, as a gift. Hopefully it will occupy some time as we all stay at home.  Boyd County Kentucky Monographs I was published in 2004.  This is the first chapter in the publication.  I will try to share more chapters in the next few days. Because it is a converted pdf there are a few line issues and errors which I have corrected where possible.

"Poor" Folks

Part1

 Struggle and poverty have prevailed in America since colonial times. Our English forefathers were familiar with the archaic term "alms" which simply meant woe, pity or mercy, and was used to denote food, clothing and money provided to the poor people. "Being poor" was and is measured by community standards. Community leaders have always been burdened with the financial problems to adequately provide for those who, for whatever reason, may not be able to care for themselves.

By the time Boyd County was formed, in 1860, some counties already had government provisions to care for their paupers. While many had poor houses, the local governments realized that many of the paupers had pride, and were willing to provide physical assistance in providing for their own needs. Slowly the idea of a poor farm developed. It was supported by the county while those who resided there, tilled the land, and helped with chores, learning skills to manage on their own.

During the first ten years of Boyd County government, individuals were paid, by the week, to maintain those people within the county boundary that were unable to care for themselves. By the January term of 1870, the county court dockets were overflowing with entries providing citizens with funds to care for individual paupers or in the case of Emeline Harless, also caring for her child, providing $5.00 a week for their care. A separate "Negro fund" had been established, as well, which among others, provided George Kibby with $4.00 a month for Sarah Walker, "a negro pauper." The funds were not just limited to destitute females but also aided in supporting one Robert Reid who was allowed $4.00 a month paid to Martha Smith for his care. The coffers were quickly draining. The county reviewed alternatives to collectively care for the indigent of

the county.

Chrisley Perry Banfield, an active community leader from the Bolts Fork area of Boyd County was appointed commissioner to purchase 118 acres from William Lewis Geiger for poor house purposes. H.W. White and Allen Prichard began preparations to build structures on the property while J.D. Kincaid, NP- Andrews and W.O. Hampton devised a plan for keeping the poor at the "poor house farm." On the 28^d1 of February 1870 a deed was drafted for the property on a fork of Garner Creek The fork was quickly labeled the "Poor House Fork of Garner Creek. "

J.D. Ross and William Davis were appointed to request bids for a contractor, advertising at five or more local public places. The property, in the mean time was rented out so that the farm could be maintained. The court dockets continue to show funds being expended for care of paupers including Sarah Borders, "a Negro" who was cared for by Frank Spurlock at the cost of $30.00. Provisions were provided to Pruda Ellis, William France, and included flour furnished Ned Norris, "a Negro pauper."

James Clay, contractor, completed a house, by July 1870, for $594.00. The court committee requested an additional room for a kitchen be built. A stairway to the 2^nd floor was also needed along with two windows in each room in the upper story. The committee had a good well dug on the premises.

The court continued providing allowances for William France, Spice J. Shafer, Robert Reid, Sallie Salmons and her children, Sarah Gilkerson and others through the September court term when John C. Eastham, sheriff of Boyd County, and Scott Guilkey were paid to convey the paupers to the county poor house- Guilkey received compensation for keeping them at his home in Catlettsburg all night before proceeding to the home.

John Higgins became the first appointed superintendent with a salary of $1.00 per day. The court compensated him for articles that he provided to furnish the poor house. By November the list of yearly claims for paupers to the court included medical attention by Dr- Allen Prichard, who resided on Garner Creek, as well as Dr. W.S. Barnett. It also included burial clothes and a coffin for William France who may be the first buried in the cemetery perched on the hillside a short distance from the home.

The second death that probably occurred at the farm was that of James Bartram in early 1871. John M. Burns, a Catlettsburg lawyer, handled the coffin fee. Provisions for the home were provided by local farmers when possible. C. P. Banfield furnished meat and John C. Eastham was paid for providing chairs. And while most were housed on Poor House Fork, some money was still taken from the poor house fund and given to individuals that were in need, as indicated in June 1871 when James Dunnegan was given $10.00 per month for the care of Jacob and Anne Dunnegan.

John W Hampton was authorized to act as an agent for the county in early 1874 to dispense charity at Ashland and the neighborhood to paupers as he deemed fit. Among those that received aide were Chris Kouns and family at a fee of $28.00 per month. And the Poor House was ordered to pay to pauper Joshua Lunsford, an old and infirm man the sum of $6.00. Expenditures on the farm included fees for a midwife indicating that at least one birth occurred there as well as another death since there is mention of costs of a coffin in 1874. Lunsford's stay at the poor house was later cited by Margaret Lunsford in an application for pension stating her address as Star Furnace in Carter County, Kentucky. She at one time lived in Boyd County and she along with her husband Joshua Lunsford had been declared a pauper- The document explains that she was removed from the poor house by Lewis Watson who lived near Willard in Carter County. Margaret stated that her family consisted of nine children but there was no further indication about their being at the county farm during this period.

Trouble brewed later in 1874 when W. H. White, C. P. Banfield and John M. Burns were requested to inspect the Poor House and report on the conditions. The report was filed in early 1875 which included information against John D. Ross showing the manner he had conducted the Poor House as Superintendent. A settlement was made and life continued on the farm. Rails and fences continued to help improve the area. Joseph Marcum was paid to act as blacksmith for the stock and John H. Eastham was appointed as the new Superintendent. As the year came to a close one resident, Mrs. Burger, a pauper, declared that she could be kept cheaper by her brother, Thomas Lewis and thus moved away from the farm.

About 1876 James Leslie became superintendent, receiving ninety cents per person. His wife, Marie helped with the care, even after becoming pregnant with their second child, Mary. Leslie was a brother-in-law to J. D. Ross who had been superintendent in 1874. During Leslie's term as superintendent a fire destroyed the buildings on the farm. In an interview with Leslie many years later he indicated that there were 62 inmates at the time of the fire but not one was hurt or burned.

A special court was held by the Commissioners with a debate about purchasing other lands. The recommendation was to rebuilt on the existing property. The court requested that the construction be square log 18x20 feet a story and h high well ventilated by windows and doors with a good stout chimney. The main house was to be double two story log with an entry of 10 feet between them covered under one roof with a chimney at each end. The floors were to be covered with 30 inch plank board. The home was to be chinked inside and out. The court hired John Klaiber to build the main home. Other smaller homes were also contracted out, built to accommodate more residents. William Banfield built a single house while Isaac Clay constructed two more single houses. William J. Ross constructed the two large stone chimneys and foundations. Marshall Stewart built three chimneys on the smaller structures as well as their foundations. Both William J. Ross and Marshall Stewart provided board trees from their property for the project. A meat house was constructed by Charles Stewart and Banfield constructed a separate kitchen. The main house was almost identical to the Henry Powell Sexton home, just up the branch, on the right. Both were large enough, that the Sexton home, was referred to as "the mansion house" in at least one county deed transaction. Sexton's daughter, Julina later married John Klaiber's son James. While construction was almost immediate there was a need to house the residents until completion. Mr. Leslie took all of them to his farm on Bolts Fork until the new houses were erected. The county continued to pay Leslie for food and needs of the residents during the construction period.

John Paul Jones kept a diary during this period and wrote of trips to Catlettsburg for the hearings concerning the "poor house." On the fourth of December 1876 his entry reads "Pilcher takes William Moore son and daughter to Ashland depot on their way to poor house. "

By 1880, there were 22 indigent living at the home besides the Leslie family, their son Richard and little Mary. The oldest resident was 76 year old Joseph Rhodes, born in Virginia and his younger wife Elizabeth {age 50}. Warren Grant was 75, born in Connecticut and Luke Howard 74 was born Kentucky. The youngest was a female infant with the surname Sloan.

 Residents had many stories and varied backgrounds. By the time John M. Clay,  

son of Henry Clay, became keeper of the poor, William D. Ball was one of his charges. William came to the Poor House Farm in 1885, along with his wife Cynthia Ann Ward Ball. In February 1890 he appeared before the Boyd County Circuit Court, for the purpose of filing a military pension. The affidavit states that he was so disabled that he required the aid of other persons. William died in the poor house the 22^nd December 1891.

The county continued working on improvements. The road was basically the creek bed, more accessible when the creek waters were down. A change was made to the road in 1891 which included a right-of-way through the neighboring property of John Andrew and Mary Ann McBrayer Klaiber. The county promised to move fences and repair damages where necessary. Even with changes, the creek would raise swiftly with each new rain and residents along the fork would have to wait as the water rushed to Garner Creek and finally into the East Fork of the Big Sandy. A minor inconvenience of mother nature that even 108 years later, residents along the fork patiently contend with, making the statement "God willin and the creek don't rise" common Goods were delivered to Rush Station by way of the Ashland Coal and Iron Railway. Items would be hauled back to the Poor House Farm in a wagon over the very steep, curved, and treacherous Rush Hill.

New blankets and chairs were purchased for the farm and material was ordered to make a dozen quilts. The county ordered the inmates of the county home to make the quilts. In February 1895 stricter guidelines were set down for the keeper. He was required to furnish one good team of horses or mules, one good farm wagon, one good express wagon and all necessary farm tools to cultivate the county poor farm. He was also to provide at least 2 good milch cows. The keeper was to see that all were clothed, fed, had decent beds, maintain order and follow rules of decency. The rooms were to be kept clean and the physicians notified when inmates were sick. When a pauper died the keeper was to procure necessary burial outfits at the expense of the county and bury the pauper in a humane manner. John Remington Lark, born in Tazewell County, Virginia, was keeper at a fee of $16.65 per month. The neighborhood folks gathered and witnessed the appointment. Among them were Henry Powell Sexton, W. T. Riffe and Landon J. Stewalt. The following year William Shadrick { Shade} McGlothlin, born Buchanan County, Virginia, became keeper of the poor with a term extending to February 1897.

Two years later, in 1899, Theodore Kouns and his sister "Lizzy" Banfield were appointed to care for the poor. Theodore and wife Lucy Johnson had an infant son John J. Lucy, pregnant, had a second son, William Douglas, the October 1900. Sister Elizabeth Banfield, a widow, also had a small child. They worked to care for 17 lodgers while attending their own small children and oversaw all aspects of the farm. Among the lodgers were Elizabeth Rose age 75, Hannah Weeks, Dora Artrip, and three Darnold children, Esther, Rose and Dave. The farm was struggling. After 29 years of service, materials and household items needed repaired and updated.

The court, possibly seeing the decline of the farm and hampered by distance, had ordered steps be taken to sell the poor house and purchase another. Yet they did not readily act on the order. William "Shade" McGlothlin remained an avid promoter of the care of the poor. Knowing that the farm was struggling, and having a love of children, Shade and Cora McGlothlin continued to help whenever possible. McGlothlin and his wife Cora Ellis had married in 1893 and were well known along Jacks Fork and Gamer Creek. In 1901 they had twin children who did not survive. By 1902 Cora McGlothlin was recovered enough, to follow in her husband's footsteps, receiving an appointment as Keeper of the Poor House Farm, and in April 1903, once again pregnant, was reappointed. She lost yet another child in July. The farm still had not been sold. The McGlothlin's took special interest in little Esther and took her home with them. Three years would pass with the roof beginning to leak on the large infirmary house.Little Esther settled in at the McGlothlin's and the 1910 Federal census records show her as the adopted child of the Shade and Cora.

Community active residents of Ashland were well aware of the state of ill repair that the Poor House Farm was in. A group of civic minded leaders were very concerned with the welfare, especially of children. The "Friends of the Children" was organized at the house of Mrs. John Russell on Bath Avenue, Ashland in August 1903- The purpose of the society was to "promote the cause of education by helping to clothe children of unworthy, unfortunate or helpless

Their mission statement also included "to provide homes for orphan children...the ultimate object being to provide a Children's Home in Boyd County." The ladies went before the Fiscal court at least on one occasion to petition for an appropriation to change the existing conditions at the County Poor Farm. Spokesman and attorney, Proctor K. Malin addressed the court asking for two appropriations giving details that proved to the court that the matter could no longer be put aside. The court had ordered no more than $150.00 be paid for its repair in early 1906 and appointed W. H. Banfield for a two year contract as the keeper. Banfield, as keeper of the County Poor Farm, also addressed the court stating that he hoped he was not being blamed for conditions. He had done all that was in his power to make everything comfortable for the inmates. It was noted that everyone knew he was doing remarkably well considering the buildings and general condition.

The Friends of the Children actively approached Ashland business and individuals and at Christmas 1905 were able to send baskets to each of the 14 children and 12 adults residing at what they called the "county infirmary". Dolls were given each little girl and sweaters were provided the boys. Each adult female got a shawl and the men received gloves.

The county court began to take a closer look at conditions. A committee was appointed by Fiscal Court to select a suitable site for a new poor farm. The court described the existing farm as being remote and inaccessible. Buildings were described as old and inadequate, dilapidated frame and log structures "hardly suitable for outbuildings for cattle." The court stated that they had no conveniences comfort or sanitation and were far from schools or churches. Friends of the Children were influential at meetings and later reported in their minutes that "white, black, young and aged, male and female were huddled together and ate in a common dining room about 12x5 feet square." The ladies pointed out that among the inmates were deaf and dumb, blind and idiotic children that ought to be in institutions.

The Friends repeated their donations for Christmas in 1906 for 28 "inmates." That year each boy received marbles along with their sweater and all got nuts, fruit and candy. As 1907 greeted yet another holiday the group sent Reverend D. Ryan and their representative J. L. Smith to drive to Garner to provide the 29 "inmates" with items. A buggy loaded with flannel petticoats for each woman, hose and dolls for each girl, hose and tops for each boy were tucked among the candy and oranges, a box of shoes and slippers for gentleman as well as two comforts.

As the new year, 1908, dawned, the ladies reported that W. H. Banfield and his wife were doing all they could for the inmates considering the limited means and poor accommodations. They wrote in their minutes about the lack of conveniences, bad conditions and the lack of religious influence for the children. The Friends of the Children took it upon themselves to take steps to have the children placed in institutions or homes through the Children's Home Society of Louisville. At a special meeting of their group, several weeks later, they reported that there was no record kept at the courthouse of persons sent to the poor house. However, they were encouraged that County Clerk E. E. Lawrence promised to write W. H. Banfield. When he did not provide satisfaction the ladies sent Rev. W. D. Ryan to the poor house to get the names and information.

The ladies were persistent and in February secured a court order from the county Judge. A committee of ladies worked to see how many children could be taken from the county poor house and placed in homes through the Children's Home Society. The ladies sent Dr. Swope and several other gentleman out into the county once more. They describe the trip on horseback to Kilgore and that the "keeper" [Banfield] would not provide any means for the removal of the children thus they had to leave without them. Later Dr. Swope reported that not only didn't he get the children, they had all been exposed to measles.

The group persisted and by the end of February 1908 got a court order for several children to be removed. Jim Jack Hensley was to be sent to the Colored Industrial Home in Lexington, Kentucky while Cora Bean and Mary Francis Field were to be sent to the Kentucky Children's Home in Louisville. Henry McCormack was also judged as a lunatic and sent to the asylum at Lexington "after having been kept like an animal for two years" and Everett Robinson was adjudged feeble minded and sent to the Feeble Minded Institute at Frankfort. In March, Friend's member, Mrs. Minnie Eba made the trip to Louisville to place Mary Francis Field and Cora Bean with the Children's home The C&O Railroad provided free passes for all those being transported to institutions. While they had successfully removed several their minutes indicate their concern of the whereabouts of the Terry children who the court had also allowed to leave the poor farm But the children could not be located when the others were removed.

During the county court March term, 1909, John Russell, J.J. Montague, G. W. Gunnell, L.E. Veyssie and W.B. Seaton reported that the Poor House Farm had been sold to Burns Banfield for $ 1500.00 and that the money received was to be utilized toward the purchase a new poor farm recently bought by the committee. It was ordered that the furniture and all property at the poor house on Garner Creek be disposed of. An inventory was made by Ed Davis, John Arthur and W.H. Banfield.

Among the residents that were transferred to the new home were Hannah Weeks and Dora Artrip. The residents and their meager belongings were loaded on wagons. They turned left at the end of Poor House Fork, making their way past Pigeon Roost and meager coal shafts dug in the side of the hill. They climbed Rush Hill, holding on to belongings as they rounded a horse shoe like curve on the other side, finally arriving at Rush Station. The AC&I Railway train picked up its passengers at Rush making stops at Kilgore, Coalton, Princess, Meads, and Summit before finally arriving at Winslow where the county residents disembarked. The train ride was so exciting to Dora, that with keen memory, she told the story of walking from the railroad stop over to the [new] home with several other wards, many years later. Records concerning Dora give varied ages. She was placed in the home on Garner Creek when her mother died and her father remarried- Dora died in 1955, making her one of the longest continuous residents of the county home system.

The county home on Garner had heard laughter and tears for nearly forty years. A group known as the Fish and Game Association had a few meetings in the building after the close of the home. But it was to have one more glory day before its final demise. In October 1930, the "Traipsin Woman," Jean Thomas, was host to singer Dorothy Gordon, from New York. While publicity stated that a festival of folk music was to be held "at her spacious log cabin on the Mayo Trail," she actually rented the log house on Poor House Fork from Burns Banfield. Jilson Setters, known as the Fiddler of Lost Hope Hollow, and Dorothy Gordon were her star attractions. According to accounts Mrs. Susan Steele Sampson, the wife of then Governor of Kentucky was in attendance. In her own words, Thomas says that Setters "sat in his straight hickory chair in the narrow dog trot, the entryway of the double crib cabin. ..and sang no end of Elizabethan ballads..." She also states that she "borrowed two dollars and hired a photographer."

It was a blustery fall day- A cloth banner with Dorothy Gordon's name was hung above the entrance and yet another was posted on a flat bed wagon owned by Burns Banfield. Chairs were placed in front of the home and the Banfield children came across the hill from Jacks Fork to see the entertainment. Shade Banfield rode his spotted pony. His mother, at the request of the "Traipsin Woman" had loaned several quilts to display which were hung over the windows. Two American flags were displayed- The photograph that forever tells the true story of the beginning of the American Folk Festival was snapped not by a hired photographer, but with a two dollar Brownie camera by nine year old Georganna Banfield. And in Jean Thomas' own words 'thus ended the first festival of American folk songs, held in Boyd, my home county..." Within the next three years most of the house built for the Boyd County needy, had been practically demolished.

Part #2

The same committee which sold the Poor House Farm on Garner Creek was also empowered to purchase a tract of land containing 68 h acres from Ashland Iron and Mining Company. The purchase price for the land was $2055.00. The deed was drawn on July l, 1909, The land had been part of the Old Clinton Tract purchased from Means and Russell Iron Company in 1896. The property was only 3 ¹/2 miles from the Ashland, Cannonsburg Pike and readily accessible from town. Goods could be delivered from Ashland or received at Winslow's Ashland Coal and Iron station that could be seen from the proposed home site.

The infirmary was completed by July 26, 1909. The Fiscal Court members were assisted by the Friends of the Children Society of Ashland. The Friends of the Children provided refreshments while the Martin's Zouave Band played against the backdrop of the new large two story brick structure. The Friends, a non-profit organization, sold cake and sherbet at "popular" prices placing the proceeds in their treasury to aide those in need. Friends of the Children Society also organized an excursion with the A. C. & I. train for those who wished to come out for the day. The charge was 25 cents for the round trip from Ashland to Summit Station. The sale of tickets also went to the Society. The Ashland paper wrote the following "...the writer begs to appeal to all and asks that the name Boyd County Home should hereafter be its title. Let the name of the Poor House be forgotten..." The ladies of the Friends organization provided milk and drugs for sick, groceries, shoes, rent, tuition, books, toys at Christmas for needy in Ashland and is still quietly contributing to those in need in 2003.

The home was designed and constructed by architect J.R. Geiske. The original plans did not include plumbing and heating. Union Plumbing Company was contracted. A pump house was installed at an additional cost of $108.60. E.O. Smith was contracted for a water supply consisting of a driven well, gas engine and deep well pump. When completed it also contained a cypress water tank. A stable was added costing $725.00. The court appointed John Russell to build a fence at the county home allotting $150.00 for the project- By December he reported a balance of $46.76 and the installation was complete. The building could accommodate 75 people.

John Russell, Proctor Malen and G.W. Gunnell had been appointed by the Boyd County Fiscal Court, in May 1909, to employ a keeper of the county infirmary and properly feed, clothe and care for the inmates. The first keeper was Eli White who turned over his duties to Alonzo C. Queen, in 1910. Alonzo, wife Annie and two children, Haskell and Herman, are listed at the new home in the 1910 Federal Census. Two "servants of the infirmary?' are also listed, May Caudill age 17 and 15 year old Nina Barker.

Twenty-four "inmates" are listed. Among them is Hannah Weeks, Dora Artrip, Gabriel Scott, Willa Peterman and her three sons Earnest, Delbert, and one month old Alonzo. Another infant, eight month old Ferris Johnson appears to have been ward of the home as no other Johnson is a resident. The oldest resident was widower James Robinson born in Kentucky age 73.

Religious services were held at the home on Fridays. W. B. Seaton provided transportation to ministers. Friends of the Children were also indicating a need for the county to build a place on the grounds for tubercular patients.

As with the home on Garner, a cemetery was needed to bury the dead. On January 4, 1911 the stillborn daughter of William Stanton Hardy and wife Cora Estep Hardy was born 6  months premature due to the debilitated condition of the mother. The infant's death certificate states that she was buried at the Boyd County Farm. On May 7^th one month old George Bonecutter, the son of Chris and Alice Abshire Bonecutter was buried in the infirmary cemetery from tuberculous which apparently was a large problem at the home. May 1 I^th yet another new infant died, the son of Henry and Annie Castle Sloan, and was buried in the infirmary cemetery. Then on May 20^ff, 1911 Mrs. Mary Clark was buried at the Boyd County infirmary cemetery. No one available knew her age, birth place nor parents names. Her cause of death was cancer of the nose with A. C. Queen acting as undertaker. In July 1911 little Essie Whitley, just three days old, the daughter of Essie Whitley, was buried and reported by A. C. Queen. She died from convulsions,

Infant deaths continued in 1911. On August 23 the stillborn child of Ida Crawford was buried at the county farm. In October Daisy Brown, daughter ofLeRoy and Ida Pearl Knap Brown died of diphtheria. She was tended by Dr. Allen and laid to rest in the infirmary cemetery. She and her parents were from California. In November Ida also died from typhoid fever followed by dyptheria. She was also tended by Dr. C. T. Allen and buried in the county graveyard.

By 1912 the cemetery was widely used by the county. In January an unknown male negro was found shot to death in the chest by a shot gun by another negro while the deceased was breaking into his home. Fisher Company acted as undertakers and the body was buried in the infirmary burial ground. This burial followed a burial of the male stillborn child of Coleman and Ella Jarrals Frost. In February two month old Melvin Choat died from "indigestion" with C. T. Allen acting as undertaker. He was also buried in the county infirmary cemetery.

Another early burial occurred on June 7, 1917 for Burley Hackworth who resided at the home. He died of the dreaded pulmonary Tuberculosis. The Donta family had taken over duties from Alonzo Queen. Mrs. Donta gave what little information was available for Burley. He was born in Ohio but birth and parentage were unknown. His estimated age was given as 24. With so many burials locals tagged the cemetery area as "Poor House hollers".

Henry Donta, wife Dora and a nephew James Davis were keepers of the Boyd CountyInfirmary in 1920. Annie Fitch, age 28 was cook. Henry Murray a 45 year old widower from Georgia was a laborer and listed as "servant." Henry Donta died during his appointment and was buried in Ashland Cemetery. Dora Fultz Donta died in 1948 and is buried beside him.

Among those having resided in the home for ten or more years were Gabriel Scott who gave his age as 76, Hannah Weeks 77, and Dora Artrip stating her age as 54. Sarah Rhoden 69, Elizabeth Collins 65, George Webber 64, Catherine Howell 64, Emmer Dixon 58, Jenny Houston 58, Rimrod Kiser 55, Mary Felty 50, Henry Snyder 49, Harry Baillus [Bayless?] 40, Fred Moore 35, Troy Baugh 57 and Rachel Stevenson 86. Only one youth age 14 is listed. Troy Baugh died January 18, 1921 and Rachel Stevenson passed away March 25, 1921.

Sometime after 1920 Sarah Kilgore entered the County home. Becoming ill, she was taken to Baptist General Hospital with labored pneumonia where she died February 18, 1928. The county utilized Clark Funeral Home, on Winchester Avenue. A notation in the court records show payment of a casket to Clark for $12.50. She was buried on the "Boyd County Farm." Her death certificate does not provide a birth date, parents names and guesses that her age is about 80 years old.

The graveyard, which is better known as Winslow Cemetery is located in a wooded area near the home. Burials in this cemetery included paupers from the Ashland area that did not have funds for burial elsewhere. Most are unmarked graves until the latter 1950's. Several small children were laid to rest in the cemetery in the 1920's. John and Nora Wilson Simpson buried two infant children, Chester and Estel, from whooping cough in 1924. A full term female infant was found in a sewer tile in Ashland March 16, 1925 and was buried at the "County Farm." The stillborn daughter ofPaul and Clara Mosley Hogue was buried on March 25, 1925. And Sam Johnson described as a black laborer born in Georgia committed suicide by drowning in the Ohio River. Johnson's wife Georgia gave her address as Parish, Alabama and gave the information for the death cenificate. Johnson found peace in the "County Cemetery."

The 1929 Depression trudged into the 1930's leaving a mark on Boyd County. The Boyd County Grand Jury examined all public buildings in September 1935. Their report included the county home, commenting that 42 persons were highly treated by superintendent Mr. Rose. They stressed that the surroundings were well kept, however several improvements were needed to the building. The report took a severe turn as it went on to describe plastering in practically every room was falling from the wall and paper in very bad condition even bare in some places. Several window panes were broken and the north east corner roof in need of repair. The fire hose was deteriorating, the gas furnace needed inspection and the furniture in the living room, which is a place of prayer and preaching services, needed either repaired or replaced. The entire report was published in the Ashland Daily Independent on September 13^th. It was signed by T. Lee Betterton, Grand Jury foreman, and Gerald Lyons, Grand Jury clerk.

Things were so difficult during this time that the court had to refuse to pay for any burial expenses or any case where the price of burial exceeded $35.00 for an adult and $15.00 for a child.

The 1937 flood also strained the county budget. Ashland cared for 2200 local refugees as well as 600 refugees from outside the area until they could be rehabilitated. By February 3^rd the county was requesting federal aid and assistance from the WPA. Phil R. Stanley took over as Superintendent of forty adults and 12 children at the home as 1938 dawned. Eight of the children were in grade school and one was attending Boyd County High School. Stanley had supervised the clearing of twelve acres of farm land and made sure that there were church services at two-thirty every Sunday afternoon, While there were 52 residents only three or four were able to do any kind of work according to the local newspaper. Yet the farm had twenty-one pigs, five cows, 145 chickens and a pair of colts all personally owned by the superintendent and his wife. The home was described as spotlessly clean and disinfected each morning.

Four of the eight children were John, William, Henry, and Margaret Gullett. Their mother was widowed and unable to care for children all under the age of 9. Their mother would help with the cooking at the home. The children worked in the fields picking strawberries and cutting cane. Within the year the boys were sent to a children's home in Louisville until their mother remarried and was able to retrieve them.

The WPA would still be in the county as 1939 approached with a turbulent fiscal court. At the first term, of the new year, George Bell pleaded that nepotism in the county should be sacrificed. The Stanley surname was one of several, that seemed to hold various positions in the county system. On January 5th Commissioner Robert Stanley attacked the legality of salaries paid several county employees including Phil Stanley, keeper of the county home. 

Phil R. Stanley received $150.00 per month to oversee the twenty-six room home. He was additionally paid for hauling and delivering merchandise to and from the county home as well as gasoline and oil usage expenses. The question, Robert Stanley clarified to the Ashland Daily Independent, was not about the amount but that it had not been correctly budgeted since July 1938.

The same month Commissioner Millard Stanley requested that the births, age, death and history of all inmates of the county home be compiled and lodged in the County Clerk's Offce. When Dora Artrip died 17 years later reference was made to Mr. "Phil" Stanley's records of 1938. [None have been located in the clerks offce at the writing of this article.

Judge Bell had also given his message to the Fiscal Court on the state of Boyd County affairs. He said that the county home was "cleaned and rejuvenated and repugnant imbeciles had been sent to proper homes." Christian burials were afforded those who passed and religious education services had been established. Bell said "the exploitation of the individual, care of the imbecile, care of the pauper and the blind have been taken out of politics and placed upon a humane basis." What followed in the summer of 1939 would certainly place a cloud over Bell's statements.

While the court had authorized a bid for fire escape equipment on January 1^th, it was not acted upon. Things continued to deteriorate. Finally on August 15th Commissioner Robert Stanley approached the court with a resolution. Reference was made to an editorial appearing in the paper- He was impelled by a visit to the county home to ask the court to act to relieve of the 'tinwholesome and unholy conditions that exist in the very place where conditions should be their best - instead of worst and foulest. It does not take good eyes to see...suffering and cause of untidy condition. There has been to much needed to raise hogs, chickens and cows for production of food that is not profitable and not enough on sanitation and general toilet of grounds and buildings..." Stanley recommended that all buildings used as pig styes, silos, and the shanties be removed. He also recommended that the stable be converted into a laundry. He was concerned about corporal punishment. He also requested fire escapes be installed. The WPA was recommended to furnish labor for the beautification and cleaning up of the place. The Fiscal Order book gave no further details, but the Ashland Daily Independent certainly did the following day.

The resolution was published on August 16^th on the front page and continued for two columns. The Ashland Daily Independent stated that many of the improvements embodied in the resolution had previously been approved and ordered by the court but would now be carried out by a large force of WPA workers. New rules of operation and management contained in the resolution, according to the paper, included segregation of inmates by sex, color and age. It also stated that child labor laws would be enforced. Judge Bell having presented the resolution for a vote remarked that a Boyd County Health Department report had been in their hands for a month and the "pulpit, the press and the public have demanded that conditions be cleaned up." A toilet was required in the tenant house on the farm and among other things a shower bath was to be installed in one of the outside buildings for male inmates. The kitchen space was to be enlarged, modifying the dining area and sinks installed.

The resolution had passed and with it the demise of the silos and stable. In June 1940 three new sinks were purchased and installed as well as a new lavatory and in December the county bought a new boiler.

Further improvements which had been suggested by Bell included the immediate construction of three modern isolation cabins to provide housing for six or more tuberculosis patients. The cabins were constructed with W. P. A. labor They were furnished by contributions from civic and fraternal organizations and individuals within the county.

J. D. Caudill, was appointed custodian during the changes staying until relieved of duties in April 1946. The new superintendents, Mr. and Mrs. K.R. Stewart welcomed any residents of the county to come visit the home at any time. There were 22 residents receiving good meals, medical care and religious services. Even so by late 1949 came apparent problems with Stewart's authority to purchase "indiscriminately on credit." The court ordered that any purchases of necessities for the home should be made from recognized wholesalers only and the caretaker was dismissed by unanimous vote.

Elizabeth Leslie took charge of the home in 1950. Time had forced change; instead of milch cows on the property, Johnson's Dairy received the contract to provide dairy products to the home in February 1950. She was there when Jane Slone died in 1954 and when Dora Artrip died in 1955. J.D. Caudill, former supervisor of the home, gave information to the Ashland Daily Independent concerning the death of Mrs. Jane Slone. Her obituary stated that she had been at the Boyd County home since its construction, Her age was believed to have been 102 although no exact birth date was established. The article states that she had made her home in what was known as the Garner Home on Bolt's Fork prior to the construction of the new building. Known as "Granny." She had been in ill health and had not been downstairs in nearly 15 years. Granny was remembered by older folks on Garner. Her obituary, neatly cut out and placed in a box of other keepsakes was recently retrieved from the smokehouse of the H.P. Sexton farm on Long Branch Road. She was buried in the cemetery on the county home grounds at Winslow.

While the poor house farm system and the needs of the county house changed, a legacy continued. In 1959 the county leased the then closed county home to Gertrude Ramey for $1.00. Ramey had become concerned for children she saw taken to the courthouse as youngsters who often had parents that could not keep them at home because of conditions. Ramey had founded a home for neglected children in 1944 at Catlettsburg later outgrowing yet a second residence on Winchester Avenue in Ashland. She quickly filled the now expanded 35 room, six bathroom building at Winslow with orphaned and needy children.

In an interview Ramey described what she found on first inspection of the grounds. "We noticed a foul odor as we entered the door. Filth and debris were everywhere to be seen...dark shades and quite dilly dark drapes hung at the windows, but the walls and floors were solid....Poison ivy and weeds had grown up to the very back doors. ...I personally scrubbed the floors with Lysol and plenty of soapy water. The walls were blackened with previous coal furnace and open fireplaces. ...to add to all the confusion, there were five small cottages on the land that had been used for T.B. patients, but for the past twenty years they had been used for chicken houses.... After scrubbing ...I found the floors to be quite pretty because they were hard wood floors. Each cottage had a half bath, shower and fireplace." Gertrude Ramey, her children and friends cleaned every inch of the property until it sparkled as a show place.

The name was changed to the Gertrude Ramey Boys' Home in 1989. The home began to focus on troubled male children and during the 1990's merged with the Hack Estep Boys Farm located on Pigeon Roost, just over the ridge from the first county poor farm. Today they are known as the Ramey Estep Home. Now a private organization the Estep facility sprawls over several acres that once belonged to the Sexton family of Garner. The facility houses modern dormitories, a new school, baseball fields and groomed picnic areas.

While the term "alms," Poor House Fork and Poor House Holler are archaic, as long as folks are needy, as defined by communities, government agencies continue providing public assistance.

POOR HOUSE BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ashland Coal & Iron Ry. Co. Half Fare Ticket, 1910-1913, book #339 possession of compiler.

Ashland Daily Independent October 12, 1930; September 27, 1931; October l, 1931; Oct 1, 1941; Feb 7, 1937; Feb 3, 1937; 17, 1938; Jan4, 1939; Jan 5, 1939; Jan 5, 1939; Jan 8 1939; April 18, 1946, Jan 11, 1954; Aug 19, 2001

Ball, Juanita Low, Ellenton, FL, original correspondence 17 Oct 1996.

Boyd County, KY County Court Order Book #2 page . 58-59; 73; 123; 143, 133, 157, 178, 269 Boyd County, KY County Court Order Book #3 , November 1876

Boyd County, KY Deed book 4 page 236 Boyd County, KY Deed book 17 page 316 Boyd County, KY Deed book 25 page 513

Boyd County, KY Deed book 28, page 314.

Boyd County, KY Deed book 47 page 600

Boyd County, KY Deed book 50 page 336

Boyd County, KY Deed book 61 page 332.

Boyd County, KY Fiscal Court Order Book #2 page 3; 12; 100; 134; 236; 283; 368 Boyd County, KY Fiscal Court Order Book #3 page 54; 64; 82; 91. Boyd County, KY Fiscal Court Order Book #6 pp 169; 495; 153; 534

Boyd County, KY Fiscal Court Order Book #7 page 32;81 Boyd County, KY Fiscal Court Order Book #8 page 209

Bygone Bylines From Eastern Kentucky Newspapers, Evelyn S. Jackson and Cora M. Newman,1996. page 23.

Courier-Journal & Times March 5, 1967.

Friends of The Children Minute Ledger, Boyd County Public Library OHR Heritage ofCarter County, KY, 1992, p. 40-41.

KY Death Cefiificate files 1911: 2951, 11512, 177, 11516, 11518, 20064, 24958, 27593

KY DeathCertificate files 1912: 369, 375, 3270

McGlothlin Family Bible, possession James David Klaiber, Rush, KY, 1999.

Obituary, Dora Artrip, Ashland Daily Independent, October 27, 1955.

Oral Interview, Georganna Banfield KIII, Catlettsburg, KY, 1999.

Photograph, photocopy, taken by Georganna Banfield Hill, 1930, possession of compiler.

Ramey, Gertrude, typed personal interview, undated supplied by free lance writer George Wolfford 2002.

Scoggins, Teresa submitted copy of Margaret Lunsford pension affidavit filed Jan 1883. The Sun Shines Bright, Jean Thomas, 1940, pp 179-180 The WPA Guide Kentucky, replint, 1996 page 142.

United States Federal census, Boyd County, KY, 1880 T9-403 page 173b

United States Federal census, Boyd County, KY 1910 T624-464, "west of Cannonsburg Pike"

United States Federal census, Boyd County, KY 1920, T625-560, Pollard Dist, page 120b