On this date (January 14, 1916) 100 years ago the state inspector, Anna Hinrichsen, filed a report on the McLean County Poor Farm. The farm definitely did not pass its inspection. (The photo here is a copy from the McLean County Museum of History)
"The second wealthiest county in Illinois houses its poor in a building more dilapidated and insanitary than many of those that small counties of the state have discarded as unfit for human habitation.
And in this ancient building the men and women, too feeble to care for themselves, must do all the work, the cooking, cleaning and nursing. No help is hired for the inmates quarters except the engineer who takes care of the furnace."
The Poor Farm was an arm of the county government and was under the control of the board and the farm supervisor. The building was in very poor condition, as it had been the previous year. None of the problems which the inspector had noted then, such as vermin, had been addressed.
The superintendent and matron were provided with two women to keep their home and a crew was hired to manage the 360 acres owned by the county. But no help was hired to keep the home clean, no nurse was hired to treat the very old and infirm inmates. The inmates themselves were expected to keep the home. (75 men and 16 women) But of course they were in the home by reason of advanced age, imbecility or other disability. The wainscoting of the house was infected with vermin, the beds were in extremely bad condition and the food was plentiful (even wasteful) but extremely unappetizing. "More attention is given to the domestic animals than the inmates and they are better housed."
The farm itself was run at a cost of $18,000 but produced only $2000 in income. The inmates, when they did receive medical care, had to be sent to the local hospitals at great cost to the county.
Once again, the inspector recommended that the county hire professional staff to manage the home and a trained nurse for medical care. The farm had spent over $8000 for hospital care of inmates. A graduate trained nurse and assistants could be hired for a quarter of this amount and maintain a hospital in the home.
The conditions of the home and farm were really a blot on the County. A group of club women would have done much better, at zero cost to the county, if they had been let loose on this problem. Just seven years prior they had organized a settlement house and provided many services to the residents of the West Side (the recent immigrants to the city) at no cost to the city or county without any direction from the state.