The Horton Poor House as it looked in the 1880s.
The poor houses of Nova Scotia did not just help paupers inside the house; paupers were often supported outside of the poor house as well. This was often referred to as Outside Assistance or “Paupers Outside”. I write about this in my book A Wholesome Horror; Poor Houses in Nova Scotia. It was a tradition of helping paupers who were not in the house but may have had a house of their own but still needed some form of assistance in the form of wood, coal, clothing or money.
In 1915, the Township of Horton reported the following “Paupers Outside”:
Mrs. James Schofield $10.15
Mrs. Fitzgerald 11.00
Mrs. Williams 4.00
Jonathan Welsh 7.00
S. Keddy 12.25
Abner Keddy 36.00
Nathan Fitzgerald 18.00
James Kelly 11.75
Joseph Best 7.08
Fred Pinch 22.83
Frank Morine 4.25
Rupert Morine 4.00
Jacob Shaw 57.00
$206.21
It is interesting to see the varying amounts. It would have been fascinating to see a break down of just what the amounts were to purchase. Was it wood? Clothing? Food? Were the Keddy paupers and the Morine paupers related?
Five years later, in 1920, the list changes from mostly men to mostly women. The Horton Poor House recorded the list of “Paupers Outside” in 1920 before the three county poor houses of Kings County amalgamated into one poor house. The report states:
Paupers Outside 1920
Mrs. Albert Fitzgerald $16.66
Mrs. Henry Golar 15.00
Mrs. James Berry 13.97
Mrs. Emma Turbit 14.75
Mrs. Jacob Shaw 50.75
George Lyman 15.05
Wm. Walsh 17.25
Noble Coldwell 10.37
Rupert Morine 15.00
Total $168.80
Notice that most of the applicants were female and most were married. It makes the reader wonder if the married women were widows or were they applying on behalf of the whole family? Most of the married women used their husband’s names instead of their own first names with the exception of Mrs. Emma Turbit. The women had their marital status recorded whereas the men did not. Were the men single? Did the married men make their wives apply for assistance?
It also makes you wonder what situation brought them to apply for assistance? Where ‘outside’ the poor farm did they live? The outside paupers would have lived in the catchment area of the Horton Poor House but what was their catchment area?
More digging in the history books must be made!
