People Archives - Page 8 of 11 - Waterloo County House of Industry and Refuge

Gehr Family

The five Gehr children entered the Poorhouse in 1873 without parents. All children were adopted or sent out to work, two returning to the House pregnant many years later.

George Wolf

George Wolf managed to escape from the Poorhouse a total of six times before he eventually decided to stay and died there a while later.

Sharpe Family

After immigrating from England to Waterloo, the Sharpe family ended up in the Poorhouse due to an outbreak of smallpox. All members of the family recovered and left the House five months later.

Joseph Michael Carl worked at the Poorhouse as a staff member for two decades as a farm hand and hospital nurse. He eventually entered the Poorhouse as an inmate a few years after he finished working there.