Finding documentation or information on some ancestors can be quite a task if the ancestor happened to have been admitted as an inmate to an early institution for the poor, ill, insane or neglected. The Commonwealth of PA does not readily allow for any information on the inmates to be released easily. For some researchers, this may be just the lead for which they are searching.
My genealogy buddy, Lynn B, and I have been fascinated by the early poor houses and institutions used in early Allegheny and Washington Counties, PA, after some recent comments on the Allegheny Co Rootsweb Mail List. So, we set out to find the census for these places which frequently changed names and locations over the years. Additionally, we are locating old newspaper articles and placing them online as well for researchers to peruse.
The tidbits I have gleaned from this research include identifying which institutions just changed names and which ones changed locations. Common to them all is the appalling circumstances these poor and ill of our past lived in. It can be heartbreaking to read the articles.
Comments from readers have included that Marshalsea, which was later renamed the Pittsburgh City Home Hospital at Mayview, was for the people from the city of Pittsburgh while Woodville was for the county poor and ill.
Other comments have included the correction of spelling of some names found in their census, while another researcher sent the death notice for one of their own who had spent time at an Allegheny Co. institution.
Woodville Hospital had alternate names as well in its history. Included are:
Allegheny County Almshouse
Allegheny Hospital for the Insane
Allegheny County Home for the Poor
Woodville State Hospital
The House of Refuge which was incorporated by the Commonwealth of PA in 1850 was originally in Pittsburgh. It moved to the new site in Washington Co, Morganza, in 1876. Whether your research takes you to the early House of Refuge or the later Morganza, it should be remembered this institution was for the confinement and reformation of delinquent youth.
As we find more articles, we are placing them online for other researchers. Another 20 articles were uploaded today, bringing our total to 53 for the Poor House and 33 for Morganza.
If interested in reading these articles or looking for your beloved, go to the Pittsburgh Old Newspaper Project.
Ahh, genealogy. We appreciate the comments and knowing others may find some tidbit to assist them in their quest for the family history.
©2013 AS Eldredge
Ahhh, genealogy. A glimpse of the past shows of what I am made.....
Showing posts with label institution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label institution. Show all posts
Thursday, January 03, 2013
Thursday, May 05, 2011
Treasure Chest Thursday: Happy 1919 Homecoming for 66 Wounded Heroes
An old photograph taken in 1919 has long been in my possession. This picture says so much and for a long time, it told me so little. One can easily identify a wounded soldier visiting with a woman wearing summer colors. The background appears to be an institution, perhaps a hospital. He has his arm casually leaning on the back of the bench.
Just today, more clues have surfaced and I can start to add more pieces to my family puzzle and to the photograph.
CE Simmons enlisted in the draft for World War I June 1917. He was called to duty and served in Co. C of the 11th Infantry. This unit was shipped overseas in June 1918 to France and participated in 43 days of combat with 348 wounded. Charlie was one of the wounded and was returned to the US.
A Pittsburgh Press article dated February 17, 1919, tells us he, along with 65 other wounded soldiers, arrived at the US General Hospital #24 in Parkview Station. The article says the wounded arrived with the "air of schoolboys on the last day of school" and "were joyful their lives had been spared."
No doubt, they were.
The picture, which I had guessed was taken at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh actually is now confirmed to have been taken at US General Hospital #24. General Hospital #24 was located in Parkview Station on the north bank of the Allegheny River in the old North Side Home and Allegheny Workhouse about 9 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. The old abandoned buildings were rented to the government at a nominal fee and the government spent $205,000 in the reconstruction of the buildings. It opened in October 1918 with 200 beds. During its tenure before closing in July 1, 1919, the hospital's maximum bed size was 856.
By comparing my photo with the photo of the hospital in the Office of Medical History by the US Army Medical Department, the background matches. The lack of coats and the summer color dress give us the impression the weather was nice. Adding the history of the General Hospital #24 to the newspaper article, we can now make an educated guess that the photograph was taken between April and June 1919. Was this when the spark sprung between the young people? Was this when they fell in love?
Their marriage took place in May 1920, so there was adequate time for the relationship to fully develop.
I don't know how long he was in the hospital after part of his leg had been removed, but I do know he returned to the business he and his father had started back in 1915. In 1920, they paid off the loans for the business and cousins had told me he had lived above the store before marrying his fair bride.
Ahh, genealogy. Sparking on the ole Parkview bench. Kind of romantic, don't you think?
Sources:
Domestic United State Military Facilities of the First World War 1917-1919, Robert Swanson, pg 201
http://books.google.com/books?id=sSopqvCeAXQC&pg=PA201&lpg=PA201&dq=parkview+station+pittsburgh+army+hospital&source=bl&ots=rP84MiLo-v&sig=SkjClHtwLidvdsd0wQ0SHt-dfe0&hl=en&ei=38rCTfihIZTBtgeb3bClBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CCwQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=parkview%20station%20pittsburgh%20army%20hospital&f=false
http://history.amedd.army.mil/booksdocs/wwi/MilitaryHospitalsintheUS/chapter27figure183.jpg
©2011 AS Eldredge
Just today, more clues have surfaced and I can start to add more pieces to my family puzzle and to the photograph.
CE Simmons enlisted in the draft for World War I June 1917. He was called to duty and served in Co. C of the 11th Infantry. This unit was shipped overseas in June 1918 to France and participated in 43 days of combat with 348 wounded. Charlie was one of the wounded and was returned to the US.
A Pittsburgh Press article dated February 17, 1919, tells us he, along with 65 other wounded soldiers, arrived at the US General Hospital #24 in Parkview Station. The article says the wounded arrived with the "air of schoolboys on the last day of school" and "were joyful their lives had been spared."
No doubt, they were.
The picture, which I had guessed was taken at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh actually is now confirmed to have been taken at US General Hospital #24. General Hospital #24 was located in Parkview Station on the north bank of the Allegheny River in the old North Side Home and Allegheny Workhouse about 9 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. The old abandoned buildings were rented to the government at a nominal fee and the government spent $205,000 in the reconstruction of the buildings. It opened in October 1918 with 200 beds. During its tenure before closing in July 1, 1919, the hospital's maximum bed size was 856.
By comparing my photo with the photo of the hospital in the Office of Medical History by the US Army Medical Department, the background matches. The lack of coats and the summer color dress give us the impression the weather was nice. Adding the history of the General Hospital #24 to the newspaper article, we can now make an educated guess that the photograph was taken between April and June 1919. Was this when the spark sprung between the young people? Was this when they fell in love?
Their marriage took place in May 1920, so there was adequate time for the relationship to fully develop.
I don't know how long he was in the hospital after part of his leg had been removed, but I do know he returned to the business he and his father had started back in 1915. In 1920, they paid off the loans for the business and cousins had told me he had lived above the store before marrying his fair bride.
Ahh, genealogy. Sparking on the ole Parkview bench. Kind of romantic, don't you think?
Sources:
Domestic United State Military Facilities of the First World War 1917-1919, Robert Swanson, pg 201
http://books.google.com/books?id=sSopqvCeAXQC&pg=PA201&lpg=PA201&dq=parkview+station+pittsburgh+army+hospital&source=bl&ots=rP84MiLo-v&sig=SkjClHtwLidvdsd0wQ0SHt-dfe0&hl=en&ei=38rCTfihIZTBtgeb3bClBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CCwQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=parkview%20station%20pittsburgh%20army%20hospital&f=false
http://history.amedd.army.mil/booksdocs/wwi/MilitaryHospitalsintheUS/chapter27figure183.jpg
©2011 AS Eldredge
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