The eighteenth century records of the Boston overseers of the poor / editors, Eric Nellis [and] Anne Decker Cecere.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Nellis, Eric G.

Cecere, Anne Decker.

Colonial Society of Massachusetts.

Series:

Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts ; v. 69.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Boston (Mass.). Overseers of the Poor--Records and correspondence.

Boston (Mass.).

Boston (Mass.). Overseers of the Poor.

Poor--Services for--Massachusetts--Boston.

Poor.

Poor--Services for.

Massachusetts--Boston.

Public welfare--Massachusetts--Boston.

Public welfare.

Almshouses--Massachusetts--Boston.

Almshouses.

Genre:

Records and correspondence.

Personal correspondence.

Records (Documents)

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Other Title:

Records of the Boston overseers of the poor.

Place of Publication:

Boston : The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 2007.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

"The Eighteenth-Century Records of the Boston Overseers of the Poor" constitutes the collection of the earliest and most complete set of records pertaining to poor relief in early America. In a substantial introduction, the editor Eric Nellis describes the process by which the Overseers of the Poor, a board made up of generally wealthy merchants elected by the town meeting, attempted to distinguish between the "deserving" poor, eligible for "outdoor" relief in their homes, and the "undeserving" poor, who were remanded to the rigors of the workhouse. Because each Overseer knew personally the recipients of public charity, researchers will find here a wealth of detail about the nature of poverty and welfare in eighteenth-century America. This selection of records includes admissions records from 1758 to 1800, births and deaths from 1756 to 1771, a census and inventory of the almshouse, as well as fragmentary financial records from the period.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780962073748

0962073741

OCLC:

85776590