House Becomes The Elms before Moving To Bushnell
The story of the almshouses of McDonough County has evolved like a tree spreading its branches.
Every day new information comes in, but sometimes the new conflicts with prior information. A common thread that runs through all of the stories is that the county farms, as they were also called, were continuously underfunded and understaffed. Several people were oftentimes in charge of 30-plus “inmates,” as they were referred to.
The purpose of these articles is to be factual, and there were bad things about the county homes. However, to be realistic, it was all they had at the time. If relatives didn’t exist or couldn’t take care of their family members, the “poor farm” was the only other option for some. However, I have come across some touching incidents where the poor farm residents actually made the most of their time there, and were fond of the staff and superintendents.
Throughout its existence, the staff at the south almshouse strove to keep it running with as much self-sufficiency as possible.
