New Garden Historical Commission - Care Of The Poor

<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#990099" lang=EN-US> <table border="0" cellpadding="5" width="100%" bgcolor="#999999"> <tr> <td><p align="center"><img src="../lyceum/lyceum.jpg" width="200" height="114"></p> </td> <td align="center"> <h1><font color=black>New Garden Historical Commission</font></h1> <p><a href="../index.htm" target="_top"><font color=black>Click here</font></a> <font color=black> to return to the home page and links to other articles</font></p> </td> </tr> </table> <div class=Section1> <div style='border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in'> <h1><a name="_Toc189384588">CARE OF THE POOR</a> </h1> </div> <p class=MsoNormal>Very early in each Chester County Township overseers were appointed with power to tax for support of the poor. Two were appointed from each Township but frequent disputes arose regarding the legal residence of poor people and over what constituted a residence. An act passed in 1718 required that every person receiving relief and any other person in the same house had to wear upon his right shoulder a large Roman "P" together with the first letter of the name of the county, city, or place that he lived. The letter was in either red or blue cloth. If a needy person neglected to do this, aid was cut off and he was committed to the House of Correction for a whipping and kept at hard labor for up to three weeks. Overseers from New Garden in 1789 were: </p> <p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>Thompson Parker                                 Joseph Gray <br> John Allen                                            James Redish </p> <p class=MsoNormal>Because of disputes between townships as to whom should supported, certain paupers and because of the inconvenience of maintaining them in private families, a farm was eventually purchased where they all lived and which was supported by the whole County. In 1800, six people lived there from New Garden Township. </p> <p class=MsoNormal> </p> </div> </body>