The Boston Almshouse

Although almshouses were a step above outdoor relief, the conditions usually left much to be desired. In the beginning the poor were housed with no concern for separation by gender, age, marital status or children. Criminals, drunks, and the physically or mentally disabled were grouped indiscriminately.

Search our database of Almshouse Admissions

The early Massachusetts almshouses were usually seen in larger cities and towns: Boston in 1662 and Salem in 1719.  In 1744, Massachusetts provincial law ordered towns to establish poorhouses.  Although few complied at first, by the late eighteenth-century many Massachusetts towns experimented with building poorhouses as a cost-saving measure.

Boston’s first almshouse was in operation by the mid-1660s. In 1682, it was destroyed by fire, and was replaced in 1696 at the corner of Beacon and Park streets. In 1723 a prison (Bridwell) was added to the site as well as a separate workhouse in 1739. The Workhouse was designed for the poor who had the ability to work. Any profits earned from the labor of the residents were expected to cover the overhead of maintaining the Workhouse and, hopefully, the Almshouse. The principal job required of Workhouse residents in Massachusetts was the picking of oakhum, which entailed separating loose fibers from old rope to sell as caulking. The hope of the Overseers of the Poor for the Workhouse was that, according to Nellis, the Workhouse experience would “simultaneously correct the idle poor and instill in them a habit of industry by obliging them to work to earn their keep, and a little more to boot, under strict codes of industrial discipline.” (see The Boston Workhouse Act, 1735 (124.71 kB))  Thereafter the poorhouse was intended for aged and sick, or for anyone who, for whatever reason, was unable to work. The Workhouse was for the able-bodied poor who could work to help defray their costs. (See The Boston Workhouse Rules of Management, 1739 (86.87 kB))

In 1795, the Almshouse, the Bridewell prison, and the workhouse property were sold for redevelopment and a new almshouse built by Charles Bulfinch was opened at Barton’s point, near present-day Causeway Street. At this time, foreign-born residents began to swell the rolls of the Boston Almshouse.

In 1804, Beverly established their own Workhouse, and set up the guidelines see (Record of the Proceedings of the Overseers of the Poor for the Town of Beverly Begun March 1804, and related questions).  These Proceedings also included a Workhouse Diet.

In 1822 a ‘House of Industry’ was built to replace the 1801 almshouse. It was intended to combine the functions both the almshouse and workhouse. Nellis states that “ the poor in the new republic would be now treated as a drag on civic enterprise, rather than a civic organization.” Newly elected mayor Josiah Quincy’s model for the House of Industry was based on the workhouse rather than the almshouse.

Between 1758 and 1800 the Boston Overseers of the Poor admitted around 7200 persons into the almshouse.  A majority (between 70-80%) were individual men, women, and children (see Surviving Children Born in Boston Almshouse).  The rest were families.

Related:

 1772 Almshouse report

Report to Governor and Council of committee approval to “take under consideration” the almshouse accounts from Boston dated March 18, 1772. The accounts referred to were signed by Paul Farmer, Master of the Alms House and were certified by Joseph Jackson Esq., a Boston Selectman. (Courtesy of the Trustees of Boston Public Library/Rare Books )

 Almshouse Admissions

These transcriptions of the almshouse admissions and discharges constitute the greater part of the surviving eighteenth-century manuscripts of the records of the Boston Overseers.

Almshouse census and inventory, 1756

 Almshouse and Workhouse

Chapter of The Eighteenth-Century Records of the Boston Overseers of the Poor, edited by Eric Nellis and Anne Decker Cecere.

 Boston workhouse act of 1735

 Massachusetts Poor Relief Act of 1794

 Massachusetts Township Act 1692

 Homespun Cloth Production

Analysis of the homespun production of cloth, in ‘Economic and Social History of New England, 1620 – 1789, Vol. 2’

 The Boston Workhouse Rules of Management, 1739

 The Boston Workhouse Act, 1735

 ‘A list of Sundrys in the Alms House, taken August 1756’

 Almshouse Admissions Mary Pillsbury Ms. Crawford

 Almshouse Admissions Nov. 9

 Almshouse Admissions Jan. 1.

 The Almshouse (external site)

Chapter 5 of ‘Old Park Street and Its Vicinity’ by Robert Means Lawrence, published in 1922.

Almshouse Census and Inventory

See the introduction to  The Almshouse Census and Inventory, 1756 chapter, and try the following activities:

• “A List of Sundrys”
• Almshouse Admissions

Surviving Children Born in Boston Almshouse, July 8, 1761 – November 3, 1773

Child’s Name	Birth Date	Mother’s Name	Father’s Name
Lewis, Mehettable	7/21/1761	Lewis, Mehettable
Meloney, Barto.	12/12/1761	York, Mary
Lintee, Ann	12/20/1761	Lintee, Mary
Mullins, Elizabeth	12/31/1761	Mullins, Mary
Barry, Hannah	2/10/1762	Young, Mary
Lassley, Sarah	3/20/1762	Lassley, Ann
Eslon, Sarah	4/24/1762	Elson, Abigail
Tyrrell, Ann	8/29/1762	Tyrrell, Ann
Perry, Sarah	3/24/1763	Marshall, Elizabeth
Hammond, Elizabeth	5/9/1763	Hammond, Mary
Pimm, Elizabeth	11/15/1763	Pimm, Rebecca
Forbush, Thomas	11/29/1763	Forbush, Margaret
Lawrence, Lucretia	1/19/1764	Lawrance, Margaret	Park, Josiah
Herrin, George	6/10/1764	Caverney, Margarett
Johnson, Thomas	6/24/1764	Seergraves, Sarah	Johnson, Thomas
Bomfort, Robert	9/9/1764	Bomfort, Hannah
Lewis, Susanna	10/22/1764	Lewis, Mehettable
Mollogen, Margaret	10/30/1764	Mollogen, Alice
Rogers, James	1/6/1765	Turner, Mary
Daughter	1/21/1765	Isbuster, Christian
Daughter	1/28/1765	Clough (alias Mortail), Elizabeth
Thomas, Susanna	6/13/1765	Price, Jane
Bradley, Thomas	7/29/1765	Bradley, Rebeckah
Mollatio, [Daughter]	8/2/1765	Tuttle, Mary
Watt, Hannah	12/31/1765	Watt, Mary
Johnson, John	1/3/1766	Richardson, Lydia
Sandiman, George	1/7/1766	Charleton, Thomison
Lewis, Sarah	1/20/1766	Lewis, Dorothy
Fitzpatrick, William	3/1/1766	Johnson, Margarett
2 Boys, 1 Girl	3/28/1766	Waterman, Mary
Mortall, John	4/1/1766	Clough, Elizabeth
Daughter	4/26/1766	Isbuster, Christian
Boy	5/12/1766	Lenox, Anna
Girl	5/21/1766	Simmons, Judith
Boy	6/5/1766	Linte, Mary
Daughter	6/27/1766	March, Mary	Miller, Henry
Daughter	9/3/1766	Sloper, Susanna
Son	9/4/1766	Ballard, Dorcas
Negro Female Child	9/14/1766	Turner, Mary
Abigail (Negro)	9/24/1766	Glover, Abigail
Negro Male Child	10/10/1766	Storey, Nancy
Male Child	2/10/1767	Kelley, Elizabeth
Male Child	4/5/1767	Clark, Mary
Male Child	4/12/1767	Haynes, Mary
Male Child	4/13/1767	Grainger, Margarett
Daughter	4/21/1767	McGraw, Mary
Girl	9/6/1767	Isbuster, Christian
Boy	10/25/1767	Goodwin
Boy	11/27/1767	Skinner, Elizabeth
Girl	12/3/1767	Bodge (aka Jarden), Susanna
Girl	2/8/1768	Clough, Martha
Boy	2/17/1768	Tuttle, Mary
Boy	2/20/1768	Brown, Sarah
Boy	5/1/1768	Bradley, Rebecca
Boy	6/12/1768	Sample, Ann
Girl	6/18/1768	Wharff
Girl	12/29/1768	Burges, Elizabeth
Girl	1/6/1769	Dunseutt, Sarah
Boy	1/24/1769	Varney, Sarah
Girl	1/25/1769	Sullivan, Katharine
Boy	2/12/1769	Smith, Zerviah
Girl	4/30/1769	Banks, Mary
Girl	11/23/1769	Burnet, Elizabeth
Boy	11/29/1769	Hynes, Ann
Boy	1/9/1770	Haden, Priscilla
Boy	5/12/1770	Charlton, Thomison
Girl	5/23/1770	Saunders, Mary
Boy	6/6/1770	Harris, Elizabeth
Girl	7/31/1770	Jones, Margarett
Girl	8/15/1770	McCarthy, Mary
Girl	8/20/1770	Gooding, Mary
Boy (Molatto)	11/13/1770	Walker, Mary
Boy	12/11/1770	Whitman, Mary
Girl	4/13/1771	Isbuster, Christian
Boy	5/27/1771	Cunningham, Margarett
Girl	6/24/1771	Clark, Abigail
Boy	7/16/1771	Warren, Ann
Girl	8/2/1771	Thomas, Elizabeth
Girl	10/5/1771	Banks, Mary
Goy	10/14/1771	Magee, Sarah
Girl	11/5/1771	Osborn, Dorcas
Boy	10/22/1771	Castle, Elizabeth

Questions

1. List the name of any children born in the Boston Almshouse that appear in the Children Bound Out Database.

 

2. List the names of mothers who bore more than one child in the Boston Almshouse and the number of children each bore.

 

3. Using the Almshouse Admissions 1758-1774 , for each mother listed in the surviving children born above, fill in the following chart to determine the time spent in the Almshouse prior to and after the birth of each child.