The Poor Farm Tour

Welcome to the tour that describes some of the history of the Wood County Poor Farm! You can follow the map to visit each of the stops described below.

Stop 1, in front of the main building: The land that would eventually become the poor farm was patented by Daniel Kincheloe, Sr., in 1799. The Kincheloes maintained a farm primarily of grain and cattle. The Kincheloe family also owned slaves, including individuals named Morgan, Ninny, and Samuel (“Last Will and Testament of Daniel Kincheloe, Deceased”). When Daniel Kincheloe died in 1834, Daniel Kincheloe, Jr. and his brother Elijah inherited most of the property. Eventually, Daniel and his family moved to Missouri and cultivated a hemp farm. During the Kincheloes’ ownership, the farm here became known as Cedar Grove because of its “verdent forest trees, and the beauty of its approach and surrounding” (Gibbens 283). The assisted living facility across the road, which will be your next stop, still bears the name of the old farm, Cedar Grove.

Continue toward Cedar Grove to hear more about the poor farm and its infirmary.

Stop 2, facing Cedar Grove : In 1858, the Kincheloes sold a portion of their land to Thomas Bartlett who sold it to the county in 1864. It started operating as a poor farm for the county shortly thereafter. The most critical structure on the poor farm was the infirmary where most of the residents lived. The Kincheloe home, which was the original structure used for the poor farm infirmary, was not sufficient to meet the demands of the community. In 1901, reporter Will J. Cooper explained that the tin roof on the one-hundred year old building “forms but poor shelter for the inmates.” He explains that in the men’s quarters, “daylight can be seen through the cracks and crevices of the white-washed walls without any great strain on the eyesight.” The food, however, was “substantial and well cooked.” Improvements came in 1916 when a new sixty room, brick infirmary was built. The superintendent of the infirmary lived with his family in the center of the building, while the women resided on the left side, or to the south, and the men on the right side, or to the north (Allen). Earle R. Bee, who lived nearby, recalls his visit to the infirmary: “The rooms were small but kept neat and clean by the inhabitants, sometimes by coercion...Often those of better health would assist those less able to work” (qtd. in Allen). In 1950, the infirmary building was destroyed by a fire thought to have originated in one of the boilers (Enoch 96). A smaller infirmary was built to use for the following decade, but the rise of new forms of welfare lessened the emphasis on poor farms (Thomas). Some reports indicate that Wood County “ceased to operate the facility in 1956” (Enoch 96). The building was used as a nursing home by a private party from 1960 to 1980 then became a personal care facility in 1980 (Hawk). It still operates today as an assisted living facility, Cedar Grove, on Nicolette Road.

Continue towards the dairy barn to learn more about the farm operations.

Stop 3, facing the dairy barn: The dairy barn across Nicolette Road was built in 1934 to be used as part of the Wood County Poor Farm. Near the current main entrance to WVU Parkersburg, the Poor Farm had “an orchard of cherries, peaches, and apples” (Allen). The property also included a spring, “a milk house, a chicken house, a smokehouse, and a pig barn” (Allen). The farm produced crops such as strawberries and raised animals like Jersey cows (Allen). Residents of the poorhouse, often referred to as indigents or inmates, would assist on the farm as they were able.

A 1913 article from The Parkersburg News, “Saved His Corn”, describes some of the challenges and successes on the farm: “When George Nicely, superintendent of the county infirmary, who is rated as one of the best and most progressive farmers in the county, discovered several days ago that some of the midnight marauders were stealing his corn out of the field, he got busy. Putting a large force of men at work, he finished husking and placed the last of the crop in the cribs on Thursday afternoon.

The crops on the infirmary farm this year were the largest ever grown there, and with the other supplies there is enough to run the infirmary through the winter. The crop of wheat yielded 412 bushels, the corn crop 600 bushels, and in addition there were many tons of hay and cowpeas. Three steers raised on the farm will be butchered for the use of the inmates, as well as eight large hogs, one of which will dress over five hundred pounds. Eight good cows furnish milk and butter for the table. With a good building for the poor unfortunates of the county, instead of the ramshackle building which is used to house them in, there could not be any complaint from any quarter” (“Saved His Corn”).

Continue to the cemetery to hear more about the Wood County Poor Farm.

Stop 4, facing the cemetery: The cemetery is the most prominent visual reminder of the poor farm on the property. In fact, in 2001 it was called “the only active cemetery on a college campus in the United States” (Saulton). Even as recently as 2012, county officials reported that “there are an average of seven [to] eight burials a year in the old poor farm cemetery” for those who cannot afford other options (Brust, “Record”). Bob Enoch and Jeff Little, members of the Wood County Historical Society, presented the names of 800 individuals buried at the Wood County Poor Farm Cemetery. According to Enoch, the graves go back to at least 1888, though some were likely buried in the cemetery before that date (Meitzler). Though the cemetery is covered with white crosses, Bob Enoch explains that they “don’t necessarily mark gravesites. They are more just ornamental” (qtd. in Brust, “Record”). Ornament or not, the crosses are a remarkable reminder of the lives of our local ancestors, friends, and neighbors who endured hardship. Additionally, the cemetery serves as a reminder of the centuries of community effort to support those in need.

The next couple of stops on the tour are in the cemetery to help you learn more about some individuals who lived at the poor farm.

Stop 5, within the cemetery: Individuals who stayed at the poor farm endured a number of challenging situations that brought them to the facility. Please listen to the following story of a man named George Fletcher who stayed at the Wood County Poor Farm:

“Some days ago a young man who gave his name as George Fletcher appeared at the home of Mr. Bartlett, near Nicolette and asked permission to stay all night. He was ill and thinly clad.

The next day the young man went to the county infirmary. Mr. Nicely saw that he was ill and needed medical attention and he summoned a physician who has been giving the young man attention. Fletcher now has a well-defined case of typhoid fever. The young man told Mr. Nicely that for the past four weeks he had been tramping through the country. His home is back of St. Marys, in Pleasant’s county. His reason for leaving home was because his father was abusive to the family and when he interfered his father assaulted him. He stuck his father with an ax handle and then left home, and has been begging his way through the country . . . afoot all during the coolest weather, sleeping in barns and sheds, until he was totally worn out. His condition indicated as much” (“Ill and Hungry”).

Go to the next stop to hear about another resident of the poor farm.

Stop 6, within the cemetery: Unfortunately, in 1950, the infirmary building burned down and the life of one man was lost. Please listen to the following story of Lewis Coffey who died in 1950 in the infirmary fire: “Remains of the body of Lewis Coffey, 80, who died in the Wood county infirmary fire here early Sunday, were found in the ashes in the basement Tuesday afternoon.

Prisoners from the county jail who had volunteered to hunt for the remains found what was left, Deputy Sheriff Casto Ball reported.

Magistrate Floyd Dugan went to the scene in a Shaver and Byham car and acted as coroner.

Remains were taken to the funeral home but this morning there were no burial arrangements.

Coffey is believed to have a brother in New York and James Ommerberg, president of the county court, has asked that any persons having any information relative to him get in touch with the court immediately.

Coffey was a native of Marietta. He had lived in Parkersburg for the past 25 years and had been an inmate of the infirmary for between five and eight years. He was described as exceedingly active for his age and frequently walked the five miles to Parkersburg and back.

He was seen at the window of his second story room as firemen removed an inmate in the room adjoining by a ladder. Warning calls to wait there were ignored, possibly because he did not hear them, firemen said.

He disappeared from the window and it was thought he went into the hall in an effort to get to the other room and was overcome by smoke.

Supt. J. F. Metz, in charge of the infirmary since early in 1949, has moved out into the six-room, two story, frame tenant house and plans are underway to return some of the inmates there.

An insurance adjustment is expected to be reported on Friday. The building was insured for $60,000 and contents for $8,000.

Plans are to rebuild as speedily as possible but there are no details” (“Find Remains of Man Who Died in Infirmary Fire”).

Continue back to the front of the main building to hear about the pest house on the poor farm.

Stop 7, facing the main building: In approximately the location of WVU Parkersburg’s main building, there used to be a pest house for individuals with contagious diseases such as tuberculosis, smallpox, or cholera (Allen). Pest houses were commonly used to quarantine individuals so that others did not become infected. Frequently, pest houses were near cemeteries, as is the case on this property, so that bodies could be easily removed.

The perhaps more well-known pest house in the Parkersburg area was located at Fort Boreman. It is described in a 1937 article entitled “New Grave is made in Old City Pest-House Cemetery” written by Orpha Cross:

“Financed by the city, the pest-house was established as a place to house for treatment or care for those victims of smallpox and similar, often-fatal, contagions. That was before proper treatment of dread smallpox was understood and many considered the building almost a place to which victims were sent only to die. Physicians and those brave enough cared for the victims in the old "hospital." Sometimes they recovered. Sometimes they did not. So they had the pest-house cemetery. G. L. Fries says that the building was used in the early [18]70s and '80s and abandoned as a place for housing smallpox patients about 1896. Afterwards, it was rented until it was destroyed by a fire about 1926 while occupied by a large family. No evidences are there today to prove that it was ever a cemetery for men and women. Victims who had been shuttled off from family and home because of the dread disease, then slipped out and buried in the dark of night- not in the family cemetery with weeping friends and relatives looking, but in the lonely little plot beneath great old trees. There other victims had been interred, their place of burial designated by unmarked gravestones of white marble. Even those markers have been buried beneath the surface with some of them believed stolen. Mr. Jones, who has been caretaker of the property for several years, said there had been a number of markers on old graves covered with tangled brush and weeds, when he first had visited the scene. One day they were there- next day they were gone- just like that. In the field one of them was found broken. Mr. Jones believes the others were carried away.”

Thank you for coming on the poorhouse tour and taking time to remember and honor the lives of some of our fellow Wood County residents. The last stop is right inside the main doors of the building.

Stop 8, inside the main building: As the location of a plantation as well as a county poor farm, West Virginia University at Parkersburg has a unique history. The individuals of this property’s past have tales of hardship, sickness, and death, but there are also moments of resiliency, hope, and celebration. Write a word or phrase or draw an image that comes to mind as you reflect on the history you have learned during the tour and add it to the display.