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.
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Tag: inmate
Annie Watson
Annie Watson was fifteen years old when she became pregnant and entered the Poorhouse in 1891.
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Hibner Family
Several of the Hibner family members came to live and die in the Poorhouse during the second half of the nineteenth century. Daniel Hibner, who never stayed in the Poorhouse but had many relatives that did, became a prominent figure in Kitchener from being the mayor of Berlin in 1894 and founding a furniture under his name.
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Meinrod Ochsner
Meinrod Ochsner was the only inmate recorded as having a physical altercation with the then-Keeper of the House, Peter Itter.
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Jemima Frame
Jemima Frame came from a well-off marriage but unfortunately due to becoming a widow and having no other source of income or financial security, Jemima was treated very poorly when she lived in the Poorhouse which amounted to her death in 1888. The incident is brought to light during the 1893 trial against the Itter’s management.
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Elizabeth Lake and Maggie Umbach Lake
Elizabeth Lake came to the Poorhouse about eight months pregnant and destitute. She gave birth to her child in the Poorhouse and unfortunately the baby died shortly after it’s birth. Elizabeth testified against the Itter’s during the 1893 Scandal.
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