"house of refuge"

[Lizzy9]

Hello,

On the 1880 U.S. census there's a household record which lists a 16yr old son's occupation as - house of refuge- does this mean he attended the refuge, or was interned, or did he work there?

Thanks in anticipation of help given.

Slizzy

[Lizzy9]

Come on all you U.S. citizens out there, someone must have an answer. I would be so grateful to whoever can enlighten me.

Slizzy

[bwarnerok]

I've never heard that term but in the US I would imagine it's would be an orphanage or something. Depending on where this was in 1800 it could give the clue when if one checks the history of that area. Was there a flood? Had there been devastating weather? An indian uprising? Could be where widows and children lived after the Rev War?

In Baltimore there was a House of Refuge that appeared to be a sort of jail for Juvenile Delinquents. But this wasn't until 1830 and around 1800 the term could've refer to something else. Try googling in the town it was located or check the local history society there.

"Private and Quasi-Public Reformatories. In 1830, the legislature passed "An Act to establish a House of Refuge for Juvenile Delinquents" (Chapter 64, Acts of 1830). A private corporation supported by member subscriptions, the House of Refuge nevertheless had ties to State and local government. Of its twenty-four managers, eight were appointed by the Governor and Council, eight by the membership, and eight by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore. Managers were to report annually to the legislature, and the institution's buildings and grounds would be tax-free. The House of Refuge was to admit minors who were arrested for begging in the streets of Baltimore; arrested, awaiting trial, or convicted of any criminal charge in the courts of Baltimore City or Baltimore County; found refractory by almshouse trustees; or convicted by a county court of an offense punishable by imprisonment in the Penitentiary. Instead of granting an outright appropriation to the fledgling institution, the General Assembly assigned up to $5,000 annually for five years from the profits of the Maryland Penitentiary to support the House of Refuge. Those five years were unprofitable for the Penitentiary and consequently for the House of Refuge as well. Financial difficulties hampered construction and, by 1841, the managers were ready to return contributions (Chapter 3, Acts of 1841). In 1849, while the legislature appropriated no State funds to hasten construction, it did amend the 1830 law. Upon complaint of a parent or guardian, the House of Refuge now was authorized to admit incorrigible minors prior to arrest (Chapter 374, Acts of 1849). That same year the Penitentiary Warden in his annual report alluded to

. . . mere youths, who are here for their first offences, and whose offences it is but charitable to conclude, were the results more of thoughtlessness or of circumstances than of any confirmed principle of crime. Of this description we have three prisoners between the ages of 13 and 15, and 18 between the ages of 15 and 18, a majority of whom are in for trivial offences, - and may I not ask, would not fine or the alternative of confinement in a house of correction, as is the case in some of our sister states, be a more appropriate way of disposing of the perpetrators of such offences, than imprisonment in the Penitentiary?

In recommending State aid, a select committee of the House of Delegates noted in 1852 that the House of Refuge had been contemplated for thirty-eight years, with $20,000 contributed thus far by the City of Baltimore, $22,000 from private subscriptions, and not one penny from the State. By December 1855, the House of Refuge opened. A year later, another select committee visited and found it "a grand and noble institution," and the General Assembly appropriated $10,000 annually to its support for five years (Chapter 288, Acts of 1856). By 1867, according to the annual report, the House of Refuge had housed 1,638 children: 1,394 boys and 244 girls.

[Leander]

I have to say that I was not familiar with this particular terminology either; I've not encountered it before.

Thanks to bwarnerok for enlightening us!