Person:Fannie Bailey (5)

Biography

SOURCE: http://online.co.grand-traverse.mi.us/iprodp/death.cgi?lastname=briggs&firstname= The Grand Traverse County, Michigan online records show a Fanny Briggsdeath record of May 31, 1913. This is possibly her, but not verified.

Fannie was known to have been a resident of the Kent County (Maple Grove) Poor Farm in Grand Rapids Michigan on more than one occasion in the early 1900s. Records show she was frequently released from the Poor Farm to a Mrs L Alexander. In a letter to her son in the UK she wrote how she was in bad financial condition and hoped she would not have to return to the poor farm again.

From the poor farm record book we have the following information: LOCKWOOD, FANNIE Address 156 S JEFFERSON, 12/21/1903 to 2/8/1904 Friend/Remarks: MRS WM ALEXANDER LOCKWOOD, FLORA, Address: CITY OF GR, 10/1/1906 to 11/25/06, Friend/Remarks: CITY POOR COMM; LEFT FOR CITY LOCKWOOD, FLORA Address: 106 4TH ST, 7/6/1906 to 8/17/06, Friend/Remarks: MRS L ALEXANDER LOCKWOOD, MRS F, Address: 106 4TH ST, 12/18/1907 to 3/12/1908, Friend/Remarks: MRS L ALEXANDER; LEFT It is unknown who Mrs L Alexander was; however a number of the residents of the poor farm are listed with her name in the Friend/Remarks column. Possibly this woman worked to help find employment and housing for the poor.

SOURCE: http://kent.migenweb.net/histories/poorfarm/recordsindex.html

Kent County Poor Farm Also known as the Kent Community Hospital In May, 1849, the County Superintendents advertised for sealed proposals for keeping and clothing the paupers of the county until the first of November following. This advertisement was signed by George Coggeshall, William G. Henry and Jonathan F. Chubb as superintendents. In 1855 the county purchased its Poor Farm, on Section 16 in Paris Township � 80 acres of land, at a cost of $1,800, and the paupers were moved there December 1, 1855. It was located on 32nd St. between Kalamazoo and Breton.. In 1892, a new building was built. By the end of the 1800s, nothing much had changed for this establishment. The poor farm served the county's mentally challenged and poor citizens with no othermeans of support and care. In 1896 the poorhouse showed 238 men, women and children in residence. Health care was provided them on the basis of which doctor bid the lowest for the job. The grounds of the Poor Farm also included a cemetery for residents who were buried at county expense. This cemetery is now known as County Home Cemetery. Use of the poorhouse continued into the early 1900s andbecame known as the Kent County Infirmary in the 1920s. In the 1950s,the institution became Maple Grove Medical Facility and its purpose evolved to serve individuals with chronic illnesses. By 1968, the county facility became Kent Community Hospital when it was moved to county-owned property on Fuller N.E. within the City of Grand Rapids. By this time, the old Paris Township site had been sold to Lutheran Church of America. Today, Luther Village occupies the former poorhouse site.

SOURCE: http://mich-history.livejournal.com/2741.html

From the Saginaw Evening News, Saginaw, October 14, 1905, pg. 12:

POOR FARM MATRON GUILTY OF CRUELTY

Kent County Authorities Ask Her Resignation.

Patients Brutally Treated. One Half-Witted Inmate Beaten With Club--Another Locked Up In The Morgue. Grand Rapids, Mich., Oct. 14--A scandal at the county poor farm was brought to focus at a midnight meeting of the poor commission, when it was decided to ask the resignation of Mrs. Thaddeus Brownell as matron of the home. She is the wife of the superintendent. Investigation shows that the Brownell family have been drawing nearly all the pay for services to keep up the home, their eldest daughter and another being onthe rolls as well as themselves. It is not this fact, however, that resulted in the exposure. Cruelty to the patients in her care is charged against Mrs. Brownell. The firstreport of cruelty was made by a young woman who had been nursing at the home. Her nerves were unable to stand the strain of what she saw there and she resigned. She told of one instance where Mercy, a half-witted inmate of the home, was cruelly beaten with a club, which is now in the possession of the poor commission. Another story was about a young woman who was locked up in the institution morgue for some trifling offense. Mrs. Brownell is represented as a woman of ungovernable temper. The commissioners are friendly to Brownell, but insist that his wife and eldest daughter must not only be separated from the pay rolls, but must leave the farm. This will doubtless lead to Brownell's resignation.