Brooklyn History -- Kings County Almshouse
Detail of a transferware platter featuring the Kings County Almshouse. Photo: poorhousehistory.com

Read Part 2 of this story.

We’ve all seen movies set in ancient times, where the poor, dressed in dirty rags and looking pitiful, gather around the rich coming out of the castle, and beg for “alms for the poor.” Depending on the particular plot and inclination of the movie, they sometimes get a crust of bread or a penny or two, or they get shoved away, and perhaps a swift kick from some rich lord’s bodyguards. Even the Bible tell us that the “poor shall be with you always”, and truer words were never spoken.

There have always been poor people, in every culture, every time, and just about everywhere. That is certainly true throughout the history of Brooklyn, as well. What changes over the centuries is the response of the rest of society towards the poor. The poor have always been divided into two groups, the “deserving” poor, and the “undeserving” poor. Society has always been more eager to help the first group than the second, but the methods used to help have evolved over centuries.

The provision of alms has an interesting history. The giving of alms is an ancient religious tradition, followed by all of the major religions of the world. We get the English word “alms” from Old English, which traces back to Latin and Greek words meaning “merciful” and “pity.” Giving alms or aid to the poor; whether a few coins, or food and shelter, has been part of the history of civilization. But we won’t go through all that, let’s skip through the centuries to Colonial America, and thus, to Brooklyn.

We like to think that the settlement of America was by only the middle class and the rich, but they had help. Our early Dutch settlers had indentured servants and slaves. By the time the British had taken over New Amsterdam, both institutions were going strong. Historians have figured that among the Colonial British colonists, over 60% to 75% of them were indentured servants at one time or another.

Early 18th century British workhouses, almshouses, and prisons were overflowing, and thousands of people either volunteered themselves into indenture, or were forced into it. So many settlers came to our shores underneath the boat, as it were, that one contemporary chronicler wrote that “America was populated by the poorest, idlest and worst of mankind, the refuse of England and Ireland.”

When these people got here, they were bound by the terms of their indenture to an owner in a temporary slavery. Indentures could be bought for $25 or $50 a head; men, women and children. Many of these indentured servants worked alongside enslaved Africans, and there were also Africans who were indentured, not permanently enslaved, although as time went on, not very many.

The usual term of service was seven to fourteen years, after which time, if they were lucky, they were given some funds to start their new lives, and perhaps even some land. Some were fairly treated; others were abused, beaten and, well, treated like slaves. Many ran away, often to cities where they could disappear into the crowds and back alleys, looking for day work, or begging for alms, or turning to crime. For some, it was the same life they had had in England. An American underclass was born. This system continued until the Revolutionary War.

The early years of the nineteenth century saw New York and Brooklyn growing rapidly. There was money to be made here, and work to be done. Native born Brooklynites were joined by immigrants from England and Ireland, along with non-English speaking Europeans. Some came here with their last coins and their meager belongings, hoping to start a new life, and found themselves without anywhere to live or work.

Many who found work soon discovered that their long hours and tireless labors just didn’t pay enough to make ends meet, and instead of thriving in America, they were barely surviving. DUMBO, parts of Brooklyn Heights, the Red Hook area, along with Vinegar Hill and parts of Wallabout soon became home to ramshackle tenements which were soon full of poor people. As Brooklyn expanded, so did they, all races and ethnicities, settling in shantytowns and wooden tenements.

With spreading poverty comes crime and vice, and parts of Brooklyn were known to be dangerous. Robbery, murder, rape, spousal and child abuse, alcohol, drugs, prostitution and gambling, by the 1800’s, we had them all, and more. There were also a growing number of orphans, both children who had no parents at all, or children whose parent or parents could not take care of them. Widows and abandoned women were extremely vulnerable, especially if they had children. There were very few respectable employment opportunities for a woman in the early 1800’s.

So here we have it; a growing Brooklyn, and a growing problem of poverty. As a means of both controlling and aiding the poor, many municipalities developed almshouses, or the poorhouse. These were tax supported residential institutions where people could be sent when they had no other recourse for help. They were primarily for long term help, and were seen as better alternatives than what we would now term “welfare.” Help was requested from a “Poor Master” who determined your eligibility, or sometimes a person was forced into the poorhouse when arrested for begging or vagrancy.

In 1824, New York State instituted the poorhouse system, passing a law mandating that counties with a need for such, build and establish poorhouses, using tax dollars. Anyone deemed a pauper could be forced to stay there, and work to support their keep.

This included men, women and children. The law provided that poorhouse complexes be built, usually as far away from communities as possible, and that the poor could not be shuffled around to other locations, each county or city that had such an institution had to take care of their own local population. Most of the counties of New York State had their own poorhouses.

In 1830, the Kings County Almshouse was established on 70 acres of land in rural Flatbush, far from the center of the growing city of Brooklyn. Like many institutions of its time, in addition to the poorhouse, the facility also housed what was then called the lunatic asylum. Mental illness, along with mental retardation, and other related disabilities were not understood until the 20th century.

These unfortunate people, called lunatics and idiots, were lumped into the general care of almshouses. So too, were elderly people with no other means of support, and sometimes, the blind, or physically disabled.

As one could imagine, a large facility would be needed. By 1857, the Flatbush almshouse had several buildings: the almshouse, a hospital, a nursery, and a lunatic asylum. Surrounding it was a large 70 acre farm, with an additional 40 acres adjacent, leased to the almshouse. The land was farmed by the poorhouse residents. Where was this large facility, at the time, outside of the boundaries of the City of Brooklyn? Today it’s called Kings County Hospital.

Next time: Life at an almshouse, as well as a continuation of the tradition of “alms for the poor” in 19th century Brooklyn.


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