Snapshots of History by Mike Avitt
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By Mike Avitt
Last week we looked at the Ringgold County Home, also known as the Poor Farm, in the first 10 or 12 years of its existence. Remember, we are looking at the wood-frame structures that preceded the brick building built in 1922. This week we’ll look at the years 1894 to 1906.
Again, I say how frustrated I am at the lack of details in the old newspapers. I guess that means we get to speculate.
The September 13, 1894 Ringgold Record says F. M. Wilkinson (a mortician) was paid $24 for the burial expenses of a pauper. I once wondered if there were unmarked burials on the poor farm grounds, but I now do not believe that was done. The poor farm had an official doctor and the county had a coroner and I believe the authorities were summoned upon the passing of an inmate.
The Mount Ayr Journal of January 24, 1895 reports the Ringgold County Board of Supervisors paid Union County $4.70 for the burial of a pauper. So, not all of our paupers were buried here.
It is rare for me to find the names of the inmates, but I find Louie Cabaret was an inmate in January 1896.
In 1895, Mrs. S. J. Waller filed a claim with the board of supervisors for care given to Benjamin Arnold, a blind man, before he was submitted to the poor farm. The board paid her $8 a month for her efforts.
Of course, there was plenty of tragedy to go around at the poor farm. In January 1901, George Argabright went missing on a Thursday evening and was found late Saturday afternoon frozen to death. County coroner Dr. C. T. Lesan was called to examine the body and determined Mr. Argabright died of exposure. He was buried at Mt. Zion Cemetery in Riley Township. The cemetery book I have spells his name as “Argobright.” His grave is unmarked. Poor Farm steward D. A. Wiser was cleared of any negligence.
In October of 1903, Middle Fork Township trustees were trying to decide if they were going to move Walter Wagner to the poor farm. Here’s where speculation speaks up. We can guess Mr. Wagner was in some position to need assistance. Winter was coming on and maybe he had no wood cut to burn that winter. Or maybe he suffered an injury that year that impeded his mobility. Maybe he had recently shown signs of forgetfulness. I searched his name and found nothing. I assume some relatives came and got him. So few details given.
In 1903, Rev. A. W. Laningham of Red Oak, acting on behalf of the Iowa Children’s Home of Des Moines, came to get an orphan from the poor farm. The only details given about the child was he was the three year old son of Mrs. Brown. That’s it.
In 1905, a deranged tramp nicknamed Hobo Joe was arrested in Mount Ayr. In order to rid the county of Hobo Joe’s presence, the city bought him a train ticket to some point in Missouri. At Benton, Joe threw himself in front of a train in a suicide attempt. He missed and the train severed one foot. The rebellious hobo would not be consoled and he was taken to the poor farm. In September, 1905, Ringgold County Sheriff H. M. Miller and County Home steward U. S. G. Hart, took Hobo Joe to the State Insane Asylum at Clarinda.
In 1906, Mrs. Grant Hart, stewardess of our county home, took Mrs. Minnie Duffield, aged 66, to the Clarinda State Hospital. The newspaper notes that this was in compliance with a state inspector’s recommendations. The asylum at Clarinda opened in the mid-1880s.
Now, I’m wondering why a cemetery was not established with the construction of Wishard Chapel Church in 1887. There are no cemeteries in this area. Wishard Chapel was named for James Wishard, an inmate at the Ringgold County Poor Farm.
