The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 93, July 1989 - April, 1990 Page: 176
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176 Southwestern Historical Quarterly
nancial responsibilities, appealed to many."' The wife of the Travis
County poor farm superintendent in 1903 said her husband's appoint-
ment was a "bonanza in our small financial world." 7
Populations on poor farms varied. Usually at least ten to twelve
paupers were found on individual farms until the 1930s. Parker County
records show an average of fifteen to twenty indigents on that poor
farm, while Colorado County records of 1912 show twenty-seven indi-
gents at its poor farm. Anderson County has records on seventy-five to
one hundred burials at its poor farm, but those numbers represent a
total from at least fifty years. By the 193os, as poor farms began to be
replaced by other types of relief, individual farms saw their popula-
tions drop. Collin County maintained a farm with three or four indi-
gents in the 193os and 1940s. Cass County had one pauper left in 1956
when the farm superintendent died, and the farm closed. The Wise
County poor farm closed in 1962 with two paupers left.'8
Sickness and disability were common on the farms, and since most
poor farm inhabitants were elderly, death also was frequent. The high
death rate on poor farms made the establishment of cemeteries on the
properties common; ironically, these cemeteries are today one of the
more visible remaining elements of poor farm history.
A suicide at the Parker County farm occurred in 1929. Members of
the Parker County Historical Commission recently recorded the inci-
dent as told to them by the superintendent's daughter, providing in-
sights into the depressed emotions of the victim, as well as the county's
response.
Mr. Godley was once a wealthy man and the small town of Godley just to the
south of Weatherford was named for him. However, he lost all his money....
He was very depressed and ask [uzc] [the superintendent] Mr. Bielss to kill him
many times. One day he went to the out door [sic] toilet and slit his throat and
bled to death before they found him. Mr. Bielss found him after he noticed
that the cows were standing around the outside privy and bawling very mourn-
ful. Nila said her father was not charged, but had to have a hearing before the
commissioners' court to clear himself of any wrongdoing."'
H ilstorlcal mar kcr files for Ande son County Poor Farm, Parker County Poor Farm and
Cemetery, and Site of Wise County Poor Farm and Cemetery, Dallas County Hlstollcal Com-
mission survey response, Stow, "Cass County Poor Falm," 22, Mrs Edna 'Iurley Carpenter,
Tales from the Manchaca IHlls. The Unvarntshed Memous of a exas Gentlewoman, ed and recorded
by Jane and Bill Hogan (New Oileans: Hauser Press, i96o), 11 9-122.
7 Carpenter, Tales from the Manchaca Ilzls, i 19
18Stow, "Cass County Poor Farm," 64; Histollcal marker hies for Anderson County Pool
Farm, Parker County Poor Farm and Cemetery, Collin County Farm, and Site of Wise County
Poor Farm and Cemetery, Colorado County Historical Commission (comp ), Colorado County
Chroni.les-Fiom the Beginning to 1923 (2 vols.; Austin. Nortex Press, 1986), I, 238.
' I llistorial mai ker file for Parker County Pool Falm and Cemetel y
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 93, July 1989 - April, 1990, periodical, 1990; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101213/m1/216/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.