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Freestone County, Texas
Pauper Payments
Background
Overall, a pauper is a poor person and usually considered not able to work.
In this case, the Commissioners' Court of Freestone County paid paupers an
allowance. A Texas statutes say 1) "Each commissioners court may provide for the
support of paupers, residents of their county, who are unable to support themselves.",
and 2) "The commissioners court of each county shall provide for the disposition
of the body of a deceased pauper."
I assume the static amount was different based on the number of dependents
they took care of. The amount is usually static but might differ because the
pauper did not collect the prior period's and be double the amount. The payments
are irregular because the paupers would have had to travel to the clerk of the
Commissioners' Court in Fairfield and requested a payment. They did not send
out payments through the mail or for delivery. There is some understandable
inconsistency on spelling names such as "Sally" and "Sallie" or "T.Y." and "T. Z.".
Importance
These payments are likely the only genealogy resource of the poor besides census
data.
Source
These payments come from combing through the annual list (or exhibit) of payments
made by the clerk of the Commissioners' Court that was published in the local
newspapers.
Pauper Payments