Letting Out the Poor

Ron Romano’s Letting Out the Poor uncovers the mid-19th-century system of poor relief in Scarborough, Maine, through the logbook of Ebenezer Libby, Overseer of the Poor from 1857–1867. The paper explains how impoverished residents were “let out” to townspeople—essentially placed in homes where their room and board would be covered by the town in the lowest possible amount—highlighting the lives of individuals such as Augusta Lowell, Priscilla Burnham, and Theodore Libby. Romano contextualizes this practice within broader social norms and evolving attitudes toward poverty. The paper preserves the humanity of the town’s forgotten residents and includes a full transcription of Libby’s detailed log entries.

Sections of the Paper include:

• Ebenezer Libby (1805 – 1896)….
• Augusta Lowell (? – 1861)….
• Theodore Libby (1819 – 1866)….
• Letting Out the Poor….
• Final Thoughts….
• [Transcription of the entries]

The paper is HERE.

This posting was created with the permission of the author.