Otisfield Historical Society Sept. 21 topic: how town once treated its poor

OTISFIELD — The Otisfield Historical Society’s guest speaker will be Jean Hankins, who will discuss the town’s poor.
The meeting is 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21, at the Otisfield Town House, 53 Bell Hill Road.
Following a short business meeting, Hankins will speak, based on an article she published in 1996, “A Cage for John Sawyer: The Poor of Otisfield, Maine.”

The article explores not only why the town built a cage for Sawyer, but also why and how they supported the less fortunate residents in the period before the Civil War. Hankins, who holds a Ph.D. in American history, said Otisfield treated its poor much the same way every small Maine town did, including auctioning them off at the annual town meeting to individuals who promised to give them good care. Later the town established a poor farm, staffed by a superintendent and his wife. Otisfield’s town farm lasted from 1865 to 1924, when the selectmen ordered it closed because it was proving too costly to operate. In the mid-20th century, most responsibility for supporting the poor shifted to federal and state governments. The program is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served following the program.