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The Poorhouse Waif and His Divine Teacher By: Isabel C. (Isabel Coston) Byrum (1870-1938) |
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THE POORHOUSE WAIF and HIS DIVINE TEACHER A True Story BY ISABEL C. BYRUM CONTENTS Preface I The Deserted Child II Life in the Almshouse III From Bad to Worse IV Finding Friends V Suffering for the Faults of Others VI The Strange Visitor VII Mysteries Unfolding VIII Discovers the Existence of God IX In the Home of a Witch X A Contrast XI Searching for Light XII A Revelation on Eternity XIII Puzzled about Prayer XIV A Prayer Meeting XV A Star of Hope XVI A Revelation on Tobacco XVII The Camp Meeting XVIII Discovers the Existence of God's Word XIX Devotion and Works XX Called to Service XXI Discovers God's Church XXII Visits the Poorhouse CHAPTER I THE DESERTED CHILD In this wide world the fondest and the best
Are the most tried, most troubled, and distressed. Crabbe. "Why, woman, you are not thinking of leaving that child in this place for
us to look after, I hope! Our hands are more than full already. You say
that the child is scarcely a month old. How do you suppose that we could
give it a mother's care? More than this, the board that governs the affairs
of this institution has given us orders to accept no children under seven
months of age whose mothers are not with them. So if we should take the
child, as you say we must, you would be obliged to remain for that length
of time, at least, to help us care for it." It was August Engler, steward of the county poorhouse in one of the eastern
counties of Pennsylvania during the sixties, that spoke these words, and
the circumstance that called forth the language was the appearance and
request of Mrs. Fischer, a well dressed young widow. The latter had come to
the poorhouse with the intention of leaving her infant child. To this plan
Mr. Engler had objected unless she was willing to comply with the rules of
the place. Mrs. Fischer, the mother of three little children, had recently heard that
her husband, a soldier in the Civil War, had been killed in battle, and
immediately she had gone into deep mourning as far as her dress was
concerned. The care of her family, however, she felt was too great a
responsibility to assume alone, and she had decided that the best thing for
her to do was to give her three small children away and that the sooner it
was done the better it would be. It was not hard to find homes for the girl
and the boy, but with baby Edwin it was different He was so young that
nobody cared to be bothered with him, and although she had tried hard, she
had not succeeded in finding him a home. In her perplexity she rushed to the infirmary. So confident had she been
that it would be the duty of this institution to help her out that she had
not thought of asking the privilege of leaving her baby as a favor. As steward and matron of the poorhouse, Mr. and Mrs. Engler did what they
could to keep things going smoothly and in order, but the work was too
large for them to handle it properly. At that early date no special place
except the poor farm had been provided for the simple and the insane; so it
was necessary to have several buildings, both large and small, to provide
for the needs of the people. In the building that was known as the poorhouse proper was the main office.
It was here that Mrs. Fischer appeared. Several other rooms of importance
were also in this building, such as the dining room and some
living apartments, but the bakery and the kitchen were in a building just a
short distance away. And there was still another building, a large brick
structure close to the main building. This was used for the confinement of
such persons as the insane and the unmanageable, and the doors and windows,
as well as the transoms, on both the inside and the outside were secured by
iron bars. From these dark prison walls many strange and hideous sounds
could be heard at any hour of the night or day. In the entire establishment the furnishings were scant and poor, and in
every way things were vastly different from what we find them in the
poorhouse of our modern times... Continue reading book >>
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