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rebel . Ironically the Civil War, with its many attendant widows and orphans, might have been expected to swell the need for the poor farms. However, laws provided outdoor relief and pensions for veterans and their families and specifically prohibited their placement in poor houses.
Despite these beneficial effects in the war’s aftermath, the alternatives for civilians in need were still limited and the poorhouse or farm was still a place of some refuge for the indigent or infirm, however imperfect. And despite modern reforms, the institutions were to last nearly another century. The exact populations of the several Rappahannock poor farms over the years is yet to be established, though the 1900 census suggests there were at least 20 some residents at that time.
In the 1870s, additional laws limited children in poorhouses and established the rudiments of facilities for care of the mentally ill. Social welfare programs of the 20th Century (Workmen’s Compensation, Unemployment, and Social Security) abrogated the need for generalized institutions for the poor, though they left orphanages, general hospitals and mental hospitals as their heritage. But as with many social changes, progress was slow. The last Rappahannock poor farm closed in 1949.
They were not always pretty to look at or to contemplate, however in their time, for all their deficiencies, the poorhouses and farms provided some measure of a safety net for those for whom there were simply no alternatives.
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