Almshouses and Asylums of Massachusetts (part 1)

Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry writes about the Tewksbury Almshouse in Massachusetts and provides links to access records from the institution. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.

Records and files from state and town almshouses and asylums are a treasure trove for genealogists. Some records are available, while others are not easily found.

Genealogy Tip: In addition to “almshouse” and “asylum,” records can be found under a variety of other names, such as “infirmary,” “hospital,” “poor farm,” “workhouse,” “pauper,” and “overseer of the poor.”

For example, the Tewksbury Almshouse at Tewksbury, Massachusetts, opened in 1854. It was renamed successively Tewksbury State Hospital (1900), Tewksbury State Infirmary (1909), Tewksbury State Hospital and Infirmary (1939), and Tewksbury Hospital (1959) – its current name.

Available Records

There are records available to researchers from institutions such as Tewksbury Hospital; however, there are different approaches on how and where to request them. Also, there were several building facilities throughout the span of Tewksbury’s history. There is also a Public Health Museum located in Tewksbury and it is America’s first. The sources and links are listed at the end of this article.

Some of the records from Tewksbury contain information on printed forms, including registration number, name, age, where from, admission date, condition, discharge date (if discharged), where sent, former registration number, history of family and social background, and addresses of relatives or friends.

Tewksbury: An Uneven History

Was Tewksbury a well-run facility? The opinions seem to vary. At times in its history the institution has been praised, while other times it has been investigated for horrible abuses. To look into this, I’m going to present newspaper clips from various dates.

I am starting with “The Tewksbury Almshouse Investigation” of 1883, when the state legislature – at the behest of Massachusetts Governor Benjamin F. Butler – formed a committee to investigate rumors of financial mismanagement and shocking patient abuse.

This article reports:

Boston, April 9, 1883. – The Tewksbury Almshouse hearing was resumed today, Governor Butler was absent.

[Captain] Charles [B.] Marsh, clerk of the Almshouse, said the original books had been sent from the institution for examination by the governor.

Mrs. Fanny R. Dudley, formerly a night watchwoman at Tewksbury, testified to going into the dead house one night and seeing the body of a woman and child in a trunk there; she had often found the children in the foundling hospital neglected, and saw a bottle of morphine used to quiet infants; she reported this fact to Captain Marsh, who attended to it ten days after; one infant was given into the charge of an insane inmate, who smothered it with a pillow; she was told by Captain Marsh to keep the matter quiet; while she was night watchwoman about seventy-three babies died out of seventy-four cases…

The damning testimony of the worker continues, citing neglect and abuse including one inmate (Margaret Hennessey) who was in a cell and had not been given any food, only water, for nine days.

Here is a photo of Margaret’s name on the intake list for Tewksbury Almshouse; her case number 65037. It appears she was transferred there from the Chronic Insane Hospital, Worcester.

Margaret was one of several thousand Irish immigrants who were among the largest population that were at Tewksbury. Several are buried on the grounds with no marker, but the records that have been preserved may help in locating your ancestor.

From what I have it appears as though the Marsh family had a monopoly on this institution for a few years. According to this next newspaper report, in 1858 the father of Capt. Marsh, Hon. Thomas Jefferson Marsh, was appointed Superintendent of the Tewksbury Almshouse.

I found in the 1880 U.S. Federal Census a listing of all those employed as officers and attendants at Tewksbury Almshouse – and all the Marsh family, including Daddy Marsh, are listed. Thomas J. Marsh is shown as superintendent, wife Nancy is a matron, daughter Helen is a physician, son Thomas Jr. is an assistant superintendent, and son Charles (as mentioned in the above newsclip) is a clerk. The two daughters-in-law, Helen and Sarah, are shown living at the institution but with no official position, and grandson Harry, also living there, is listed as a student.

Census Record: https://www.genealogybank.com/nbshare/AC01240725143913308341734627690

In reference to the complaints made during the 1883 investigation, testimony was given about the Marsh wives and a scandal surrounding the sewing room. This was probably an incident that occurred in the Female Asylum building at Tewksbury.

Here is another report on the Tewksbury Almshouse from an 1895 newsclip.

According to this report, the Tewksbury Almshouse was inspected and the place got a thumbs up by the Board of Overseers for the Poor, accompanied by the City Almoner Freeman Brown and Superintendent Graves of the Home Farm:

…the visitors, who, in their tour of the establishment, were delighted with everything they saw.

In fact, the opinion was general among the visitors that Tewksbury Almshouse is without question a model institution, and its management everything that can be desired.

Coming soon: Tewksbury gets a makeover.

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Note on the header image: Tewksbury State Hospital, 1908. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Where to Find Tewksbury Records:

• Tewksbury Almshouse Intake Records [1854-1884] Digitized Digital Commonwealth
• Tewksbury Asylum for Chronic Insane (Tewksbury, Massachusetts) Family Search
• Massachusetts Archives Records Tewksbury Alms and State Infirmary
• Public House Museum in Tewksbury, Massachusetts
• Many Annual reports online on Tewksbury at Internet Archive.com
• Files to Massachusetts State Hospitals with Records to Almshouses, Asylums, and Overseers of the Poor, including Abandoned Children, Foster, and Adoption List: Records and Guides