BY RASSIE E. WICKER: Special to The Pilot

The following is reprinted, with some changes, from the late author and historian’s book “Miscellaneous Ancient Records of Moore County, N.C.”(1971).

Until recent years, Moore, in common with other counties in North Carolina, cared for their poor by putting them in the care of the Keeper of the Poor, who, for certain fees, fed, clothed and housed them.

Depending entirely on the humanity of the keeper, the inmates of the poorhouse fared either ill or good, but at its best, this institution was a last resort for the unfortunate.

Early settlers generally took care of their widows and orphans and other handicapped persons by adopting them into their own homes and families, an admirable practice and one fortunately still performed to some extent.

In the early days of the county (late 1700s), the county court occasionally proved assistance to a few aged persons, relieving them of taxation, and legally “binding out” as apprentices, certain orphans bereft of kinsmen.

The date of inception of a county-supported home for the unfortunate is not known to the writer. A paper dated April 28, 1846, reveals that at that time, the administration of the poorhouse was vested in a commission of wardens of the poor, who received from the sheriff a certain portion of the county taxes for its operation.

This body was composed of well-to-do, prominent men. For the year 1845, the sum allotted was increased to $870.08 from $660.096 in 1844. Succeeding years found the sum materially reduced, averaging perhaps $00 a year. The formula for determining the amount cannot be determined.

In 1849, the wardens were T. Rollins, W. Bryan, John McNeill, Andrew Graham, B. Williamson and John M. Blue. In 1850, there were seven inmates of the home, and the sum allotted was $429.54, or about $54 per inmate. However, some of this allotment may have gone to some not listed in the poorhouse.