A seemingly empty plot of ground in Greenleaf Cemetery holds the remains of people who lived and died at the county poor farm around the turn of the previous century. It’s kind of a sad story, as the graves were never marked with the names of the deceased. I guess by the time a person was living at an institution such as this, there probably weren’t a lot of family or friends left to oversee a burial. Frank Griffin, who is very knowledgeable regarding county history, told me that the county poor farm used to be where the Brown County Regional Airport is today. After some research into the subject, I discovered the light trail of evidence that finally ended with these now nameless individuals, people who were once buried at what was known as Moseley Cemetery.

Poor farms, also known as almshouses or county farms, were established across Texas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to fulfill state mandates for caring for indigent populations, according to a paper on the subject published by TxDOT. The poor farms typically provided shelter, food, and work opportunities for individuals unable to support themselves, including the elderly, disabled, and sometimes convicts. The Texas Constitution of 1869 made it the responsibility of each county to care for the poor, leading to the establishment of such facilities. Many poor farms operated until the mid-20th century, when federal welfare programs like Social Security reduced their necessity.

The earliest reference I could find to the poor farm in Brown County is from May 1894, where the Brownwood Bulletin published a paragraph regarding the facility. It reads, “Missionary Work. Editor Bulletin–Last fall I assisted J. D. Gearald in organizing a Sunday school at Elm creek. I saw him the other day, and he said the school was doing first-rate. There were but few who assisted him at first, but now the interest is growing. Mr. Gearald has charge of the county poor farm. I don’t think it could have fallen in better hands. He is a kind-hearted Christian gentleman.” Another notice in the Bulletin from that same year offers local residents the opportunity to apprentice children who are housed at the poor farm. “The county has five children at the poor farm whom it is willing to apprentice to people who will board, clothe and educate them without expense to the county.” I hope they got good families to help them!

The Brown County poor farm, which local historian Clay Riley told me may have been called the Swinson Poor Farm, perhaps after a landowner, shows up in few historical records. It is listed in a document published by Stephen F. Austin State University, that states that during 1903-4, Brown County had a poor farm with 15 residents. The fact that the county poor farm did not often make the news could be a good thing, as I found an article excoriating a poor farm in Dallas for the horrific conditions found in their facility: “It was charged by minority that several idiots confined at the farm are often whipped by other inmates; some employees have been seen intoxicated while on duty: food that is not clean is served and heating facilities are indifferent.” Many other horror stories about poor farms across the country abound.

It seems conditions were better here, as this article from a 1916 edition of the Bulletin brags about the county farm’s lack of clients. “There may be plenty of poor people in Brownwood and Brown County but none are so poor as to require the county to support them. The Brown County poor farm which is situated some four or five miles north of the city, has been without a single pauper since back in 1913, according to the County Judge Frank Sweet. Judge Sweet considers this a remarkable record for any county, and is one of which he is rightfully proud. The houses and dormitories at the county farm are growing dusty and lonesome as the months and years pass without a step across the threshold, but the county officials do not worry about this desertion as long as they know that every human in the county is able to support himself.” I could not find documentation on when the facility closed, but working from the dates involved and later articles about the airport coming in which necessitated the moving of the graves at Moseley, I would guess the poor farm saw its last days sometime in the early 1920s, maybe even before that.

Clay Riley published an article about the moving of the graves at the poor farm to Greenleaf Cemetery. He tells that, “The Moseleys contracted with Brown County to operate the County Poor Farm. On this farm was a cemetery where “clients” and family members were buried. The cemetery was located on the land around the Brownwood Airport. During the build up of Camp Bowie, there was a need to extend the runways and provide structures to protect the aircraft of the Army Air Corp. It was necessary to remove those interred in the cemetery to another location to accommodate this expansion…. The Army Real Estate Department purchased cemetery plots at Greenleaf Cemetery in 1942 and contracted with London Funeral Home to exhume the 13 bodies and re-bury them at Greenleaf… Unfortunately, they did not bother to place markers on these graves, only brought markers from the old cemetery, if they had one.”

Riley has found evidence regarding some of the names of those who were moved to Greenleaf from the poor farm without markers, and thinks it is possible that several graves still remain at the airport site. It is sad to think of how difficult life must have been on a county poor farm, especially for the children unfortunate enough to end up there, and then end up with even your grave lost to time. I guess it is probably true though that this is fate of almost everyone who has lived on the planet.

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Diane Adams is a local journalist whose columns appear Thursdays on BrownwoodNews.com. Comments regarding her columns can be emailed to [email protected].