Category: People

Noah Shantz

Noah Shantz was a seasonal worker who would enter the Poorhouse during the winter months and leave in the spring to find work on a farm.

Read More

Mary and John Walden

Mary and John Walden were a couple of the few people who were racially identified on the Register of Paupers, Vagrants, and Idiots received at the House of Industry and Refuge.

Read More

Wieland Family

A family that was committed to the House on several occasions due to destitution and the father’s intemperance.

Read More

Joseph Laird

Joseph and Agnes Laird were the third managers of the House of Industry and Refuge from 1893-1898.

Read More

The Marti Family

“Of all the inmates of the Waterloo County House of Industry and Refuge throughout the years none was better known than Bismark, the deaf mute who spent his waking hours trudging up and down Frederick Street within the bounds of poor-house property dressed in the red coat of a British soldier. “

Read More

Pin It on Pinterest