On her son William's marriage certificate, he names his mother as Salinda, and the same name is on the death certificate of her son Charles... Yet, on censuses and in genealogy there are lots of spellings for her... Selinda, Salinda, Zelinda, Zalinda, and so forth, but the bottom line is that for now, the lady is a mystery.
It is known she married Henry Helfrich, who left her a young widow with three children. Those children Charles, William and Rosa, were raised by her parents and one brother and his wife, as well as getting farmed out elsewhere later. In the meantime, she is living in the poorhouse. Was she economically strapped or mentally unhappy having lost her husband, and subsequently, her children? The Schuylkill County Almshouse did house the poor, and it had one building just for the care of the mentally ill.
She had lots of siblings but it seems no one took her in. She was with her parents a while after her husband died, but once her father passed in 1877, a few years later on the 1880 census, her mom had gone to stay with Salinda's brother Timothy, while Salinda herself was in the county home.
She could not have been completely a mess, as she's listed as an inmate who does housekeeping. A close look at the census does tell a bigger story however... like all inmates on the same page, Salinda has a check mark in the column for "insane". One wonders what might have hindered her speech if the inmates were spoken with directly by the censustakers. Her parents and self are listed as having been born merely in the "United States". The census taker noted at the bottom of the page "Those marked US in columns 24, 25, and 26 are marked as near as can be ascertained. We examined clerks at Almshouse." It seems the inmates were never spoken with directly.
In the meantime, on the same 1880 census, her son Charles is a servant to a Shafer family, while William is with Nathan and Mary Zehner, his aunt and uncle (mistakenly listed as his grandparents). Rosa lives with David and Amanda Gerber, her aunt and uncle, since Amanda was Salinda's sister.
I lost track of Salinda after the 1880 census, but recently found information on her death and burial. Thankfully her parents are in this cemetery with her, even though her husband is not. My suspicion is that one of her siblings may have handled her arrangements and knew of space in the family plot, or at least thought to get her in the same cemetery.
After she lost custody of her kids it's unclear if she had a relationship with her son, William, my great grandpa, or with her other two children, Charles Franklin and Rosa. Perhaps it's an oversight, perhaps not, but she is not mentioned in her son William's obituary.
Since she died late in 1900, Salinda should be findable on the 1900 census, but I had not found her... at first. The last mention I could find was that she received communion as an inmate in 1889 by a clergyman of Christ Lutheran.
The fate of her sons in 1900 is more obvious. Salinda's son William had been married a year to wife Cora Ellen Schollenberger, was a grocer, and had one child, Grace. At the same time her son Charles is a 35 year old farmer, has been married to Hannah Schock 11 years, and his kids Clara, Esther and Benjamin are at home. It makes one wonder if in the gap between the 1880 census and the 1900 census Salinda might have stayed with one of them. At this time it's not known to me if she lived out all her years at the poorhouse after 1880 when she first appears there, and I find myself hoping not.
If she did spend her days there til her passing, this official comment would have applied to her time there. In an 1891 "Report of the Committee on Lunacy by the Board of Public Charities" it was written of the Schuylkill Almshouse that it housed "eighty-eight insane, forty-three males, forty-five females... all chronic insane... three epileptic, one paralytic, none homocidal and four suicidal. Four are ill in bed, none secluded or restrained, four uncleanly of habits, twenty-eight usefully employed."
I wonder how badly off the "insane" were. I copied about 15 names of "insane" inmates -aged teens to 30's- from the 1880 census at the almshouse, and virtually none were still there by 1900. They can't have all died or married, and a few I found out in the world. Many men marked "insane" were also employed at the almshouse in skilled occupations, such as stone masonry. It makes one wonder how such mental classifications were made.
It took forever to find the state hospital on the 1900 census, but I went through it painfully page by page, failing to see anyone with a name like Salinda Zehner, or Salinda Helfrich. I hope to God she was out.
__________
Huge thanks to John Helfrich for finding and photographing Salinda's place of rest. I'd found a book stating she was in this cemetery but the person holding the burial records had denied she was in the cemetery. John's great photos not only prove she is there, but bring the peace of knowing that Salinda rests with her daughter and son in law, and that her one son, Charles, is also nearby.
Further, John's finding Salinda made me want to try again to find her on the 1900 census. I had already found her sons on it and she wasn't living with either. She wasn't in the state hospital. Could she have been living with her daughter - the one I couldn't find in 1900?
After much mucking about, the reason was found. Salinda's daughter, Rosa Breiner and her husband Lewis Breiner were misindexed as "Bruner". In 1900 the couple lives in West Penn, and they have a full house: children Kate, Sadie, Henry, Irvin... and Salinda, listed as grandmother but definitely our girl, born April of 1836. Salinda indeed lived out the last part of her life outside the poor house, freed sometime between the 1889 communion in the poorhouse, and the 1900 census. Hallelujah.
It is known she married Henry Helfrich, who left her a young widow with three children. Those children Charles, William and Rosa, were raised by her parents and one brother and his wife, as well as getting farmed out elsewhere later. In the meantime, she is living in the poorhouse. Was she economically strapped or mentally unhappy having lost her husband, and subsequently, her children? The Schuylkill County Almshouse did house the poor, and it had one building just for the care of the mentally ill.
She had lots of siblings but it seems no one took her in. She was with her parents a while after her husband died, but once her father passed in 1877, a few years later on the 1880 census, her mom had gone to stay with Salinda's brother Timothy, while Salinda herself was in the county home.
She could not have been completely a mess, as she's listed as an inmate who does housekeeping. A close look at the census does tell a bigger story however... like all inmates on the same page, Salinda has a check mark in the column for "insane". One wonders what might have hindered her speech if the inmates were spoken with directly by the censustakers. Her parents and self are listed as having been born merely in the "United States". The census taker noted at the bottom of the page "Those marked US in columns 24, 25, and 26 are marked as near as can be ascertained. We examined clerks at Almshouse." It seems the inmates were never spoken with directly.
In the meantime, on the same 1880 census, her son Charles is a servant to a Shafer family, while William is with Nathan and Mary Zehner, his aunt and uncle (mistakenly listed as his grandparents). Rosa lives with David and Amanda Gerber, her aunt and uncle, since Amanda was Salinda's sister.
I lost track of Salinda after the 1880 census, but recently found information on her death and burial. Thankfully her parents are in this cemetery with her, even though her husband is not. My suspicion is that one of her siblings may have handled her arrangements and knew of space in the family plot, or at least thought to get her in the same cemetery.
After she lost custody of her kids it's unclear if she had a relationship with her son, William, my great grandpa, or with her other two children, Charles Franklin and Rosa. Perhaps it's an oversight, perhaps not, but she is not mentioned in her son William's obituary.
Since she died late in 1900, Salinda should be findable on the 1900 census, but I had not found her... at first. The last mention I could find was that she received communion as an inmate in 1889 by a clergyman of Christ Lutheran.
The fate of her sons in 1900 is more obvious. Salinda's son William had been married a year to wife Cora Ellen Schollenberger, was a grocer, and had one child, Grace. At the same time her son Charles is a 35 year old farmer, has been married to Hannah Schock 11 years, and his kids Clara, Esther and Benjamin are at home. It makes one wonder if in the gap between the 1880 census and the 1900 census Salinda might have stayed with one of them. At this time it's not known to me if she lived out all her years at the poorhouse after 1880 when she first appears there, and I find myself hoping not.
If she did spend her days there til her passing, this official comment would have applied to her time there. In an 1891 "Report of the Committee on Lunacy by the Board of Public Charities" it was written of the Schuylkill Almshouse that it housed "eighty-eight insane, forty-three males, forty-five females... all chronic insane... three epileptic, one paralytic, none homocidal and four suicidal. Four are ill in bed, none secluded or restrained, four uncleanly of habits, twenty-eight usefully employed."
I wonder how badly off the "insane" were. I copied about 15 names of "insane" inmates -aged teens to 30's- from the 1880 census at the almshouse, and virtually none were still there by 1900. They can't have all died or married, and a few I found out in the world. Many men marked "insane" were also employed at the almshouse in skilled occupations, such as stone masonry. It makes one wonder how such mental classifications were made.
It took forever to find the state hospital on the 1900 census, but I went through it painfully page by page, failing to see anyone with a name like Salinda Zehner, or Salinda Helfrich. I hope to God she was out.
__________
Huge thanks to John Helfrich for finding and photographing Salinda's place of rest. I'd found a book stating she was in this cemetery but the person holding the burial records had denied she was in the cemetery. John's great photos not only prove she is there, but bring the peace of knowing that Salinda rests with her daughter and son in law, and that her one son, Charles, is also nearby.
Further, John's finding Salinda made me want to try again to find her on the 1900 census. I had already found her sons on it and she wasn't living with either. She wasn't in the state hospital. Could she have been living with her daughter - the one I couldn't find in 1900?
After much mucking about, the reason was found. Salinda's daughter, Rosa Breiner and her husband Lewis Breiner were misindexed as "Bruner". In 1900 the couple lives in West Penn, and they have a full house: children Kate, Sadie, Henry, Irvin... and Salinda, listed as grandmother but definitely our girl, born April of 1836. Salinda indeed lived out the last part of her life outside the poor house, freed sometime between the 1889 communion in the poorhouse, and the 1900 census. Hallelujah.
On her son William's marriage certificate, he names his mother as Salinda, and the same name is on the death certificate of her son Charles... Yet, on censuses and in genealogy there are lots of spellings for her... Selinda, Salinda, Zelinda, Zalinda, and so forth, but the bottom line is that for now, the lady is a mystery.
It is known she married Henry Helfrich, who left her a young widow with three children. Those children Charles, William and Rosa, were raised by her parents and one brother and his wife, as well as getting farmed out elsewhere later. In the meantime, she is living in the poorhouse. Was she economically strapped or mentally unhappy having lost her husband, and subsequently, her children? The Schuylkill County Almshouse did house the poor, and it had one building just for the care of the mentally ill.
She had lots of siblings but it seems no one took her in. She was with her parents a while after her husband died, but once her father passed in 1877, a few years later on the 1880 census, her mom had gone to stay with Salinda's brother Timothy, while Salinda herself was in the county home.
She could not have been completely a mess, as she's listed as an inmate who does housekeeping. A close look at the census does tell a bigger story however... like all inmates on the same page, Salinda has a check mark in the column for "insane". One wonders what might have hindered her speech if the inmates were spoken with directly by the censustakers. Her parents and self are listed as having been born merely in the "United States". The census taker noted at the bottom of the page "Those marked US in columns 24, 25, and 26 are marked as near as can be ascertained. We examined clerks at Almshouse." It seems the inmates were never spoken with directly.
In the meantime, on the same 1880 census, her son Charles is a servant to a Shafer family, while William is with Nathan and Mary Zehner, his aunt and uncle (mistakenly listed as his grandparents). Rosa lives with David and Amanda Gerber, her aunt and uncle, since Amanda was Salinda's sister.
I lost track of Salinda after the 1880 census, but recently found information on her death and burial. Thankfully her parents are in this cemetery with her, even though her husband is not. My suspicion is that one of her siblings may have handled her arrangements and knew of space in the family plot, or at least thought to get her in the same cemetery.
After she lost custody of her kids it's unclear if she had a relationship with her son, William, my great grandpa, or with her other two children, Charles Franklin and Rosa. Perhaps it's an oversight, perhaps not, but she is not mentioned in her son William's obituary.
Since she died late in 1900, Salinda should be findable on the 1900 census, but I had not found her... at first. The last mention I could find was that she received communion as an inmate in 1889 by a clergyman of Christ Lutheran.
The fate of her sons in 1900 is more obvious. Salinda's son William had been married a year to wife Cora Ellen Schollenberger, was a grocer, and had one child, Grace. At the same time her son Charles is a 35 year old farmer, has been married to Hannah Schock 11 years, and his kids Clara, Esther and Benjamin are at home. It makes one wonder if in the gap between the 1880 census and the 1900 census Salinda might have stayed with one of them. At this time it's not known to me if she lived out all her years at the poorhouse after 1880 when she first appears there, and I find myself hoping not.
If she did spend her days there til her passing, this official comment would have applied to her time there. In an 1891 "Report of the Committee on Lunacy by the Board of Public Charities" it was written of the Schuylkill Almshouse that it housed "eighty-eight insane, forty-three males, forty-five females... all chronic insane... three epileptic, one paralytic, none homocidal and four suicidal. Four are ill in bed, none secluded or restrained, four uncleanly of habits, twenty-eight usefully employed."
I wonder how badly off the "insane" were. I copied about 15 names of "insane" inmates -aged teens to 30's- from the 1880 census at the almshouse, and virtually none were still there by 1900. They can't have all died or married, and a few I found out in the world. Many men marked "insane" were also employed at the almshouse in skilled occupations, such as stone masonry. It makes one wonder how such mental classifications were made.
It took forever to find the state hospital on the 1900 census, but I went through it painfully page by page, failing to see anyone with a name like Salinda Zehner, or Salinda Helfrich. I hope to God she was out.
__________
Huge thanks to John Helfrich for finding and photographing Salinda's place of rest. I'd found a book stating she was in this cemetery but the person holding the burial records had denied she was in the cemetery. John's great photos not only prove she is there, but bring the peace of knowing that Salinda rests with her daughter and son in law, and that her one son, Charles, is also nearby.
Further, John's finding Salinda made me want to try again to find her on the 1900 census. I had already found her sons on it and she wasn't living with either. She wasn't in the state hospital. Could she have been living with her daughter - the one I couldn't find in 1900?
After much mucking about, the reason was found. Salinda's daughter, Rosa Breiner and her husband Lewis Breiner were misindexed as "Bruner". In 1900 the couple lives in West Penn, and they have a full house: children Kate, Sadie, Henry, Irvin... and Salinda, listed as grandmother but definitely our girl, born April of 1836. Salinda indeed lived out the last part of her life outside the poor house, freed sometime between the 1889 communion in the poorhouse, and the 1900 census. Hallelujah.
It is known she married Henry Helfrich, who left her a young widow with three children. Those children Charles, William and Rosa, were raised by her parents and one brother and his wife, as well as getting farmed out elsewhere later. In the meantime, she is living in the poorhouse. Was she economically strapped or mentally unhappy having lost her husband, and subsequently, her children? The Schuylkill County Almshouse did house the poor, and it had one building just for the care of the mentally ill.
She had lots of siblings but it seems no one took her in. She was with her parents a while after her husband died, but once her father passed in 1877, a few years later on the 1880 census, her mom had gone to stay with Salinda's brother Timothy, while Salinda herself was in the county home.
She could not have been completely a mess, as she's listed as an inmate who does housekeeping. A close look at the census does tell a bigger story however... like all inmates on the same page, Salinda has a check mark in the column for "insane". One wonders what might have hindered her speech if the inmates were spoken with directly by the censustakers. Her parents and self are listed as having been born merely in the "United States". The census taker noted at the bottom of the page "Those marked US in columns 24, 25, and 26 are marked as near as can be ascertained. We examined clerks at Almshouse." It seems the inmates were never spoken with directly.
In the meantime, on the same 1880 census, her son Charles is a servant to a Shafer family, while William is with Nathan and Mary Zehner, his aunt and uncle (mistakenly listed as his grandparents). Rosa lives with David and Amanda Gerber, her aunt and uncle, since Amanda was Salinda's sister.
I lost track of Salinda after the 1880 census, but recently found information on her death and burial. Thankfully her parents are in this cemetery with her, even though her husband is not. My suspicion is that one of her siblings may have handled her arrangements and knew of space in the family plot, or at least thought to get her in the same cemetery.
After she lost custody of her kids it's unclear if she had a relationship with her son, William, my great grandpa, or with her other two children, Charles Franklin and Rosa. Perhaps it's an oversight, perhaps not, but she is not mentioned in her son William's obituary.
Since she died late in 1900, Salinda should be findable on the 1900 census, but I had not found her... at first. The last mention I could find was that she received communion as an inmate in 1889 by a clergyman of Christ Lutheran.
The fate of her sons in 1900 is more obvious. Salinda's son William had been married a year to wife Cora Ellen Schollenberger, was a grocer, and had one child, Grace. At the same time her son Charles is a 35 year old farmer, has been married to Hannah Schock 11 years, and his kids Clara, Esther and Benjamin are at home. It makes one wonder if in the gap between the 1880 census and the 1900 census Salinda might have stayed with one of them. At this time it's not known to me if she lived out all her years at the poorhouse after 1880 when she first appears there, and I find myself hoping not.
If she did spend her days there til her passing, this official comment would have applied to her time there. In an 1891 "Report of the Committee on Lunacy by the Board of Public Charities" it was written of the Schuylkill Almshouse that it housed "eighty-eight insane, forty-three males, forty-five females... all chronic insane... three epileptic, one paralytic, none homocidal and four suicidal. Four are ill in bed, none secluded or restrained, four uncleanly of habits, twenty-eight usefully employed."
I wonder how badly off the "insane" were. I copied about 15 names of "insane" inmates -aged teens to 30's- from the 1880 census at the almshouse, and virtually none were still there by 1900. They can't have all died or married, and a few I found out in the world. Many men marked "insane" were also employed at the almshouse in skilled occupations, such as stone masonry. It makes one wonder how such mental classifications were made.
It took forever to find the state hospital on the 1900 census, but I went through it painfully page by page, failing to see anyone with a name like Salinda Zehner, or Salinda Helfrich. I hope to God she was out.
__________
Huge thanks to John Helfrich for finding and photographing Salinda's place of rest. I'd found a book stating she was in this cemetery but the person holding the burial records had denied she was in the cemetery. John's great photos not only prove she is there, but bring the peace of knowing that Salinda rests with her daughter and son in law, and that her one son, Charles, is also nearby.
Further, John's finding Salinda made me want to try again to find her on the 1900 census. I had already found her sons on it and she wasn't living with either. She wasn't in the state hospital. Could she have been living with her daughter - the one I couldn't find in 1900?
After much mucking about, the reason was found. Salinda's daughter, Rosa Breiner and her husband Lewis Breiner were misindexed as "Bruner". In 1900 the couple lives in West Penn, and they have a full house: children Kate, Sadie, Henry, Irvin... and Salinda, listed as grandmother but definitely our girl, born April of 1836. Salinda indeed lived out the last part of her life outside the poor house, freed sometime between the 1889 communion in the poorhouse, and the 1900 census. Hallelujah.
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