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The Jukes in 1915

Creator: Arthur H. Estabrook (author)
Date: 1916
Publisher: Carnegie Institution of Washington
Source: Available at selected libraries

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384  

VI 527, the other child of Inez, was born in 1885. He is ignorant and mentally undeveloped. He is a good worker, but otherwise slow and unable to comprehend matters. He acquired syphilis from his mother, is licentious, and in 1912 was arrested in company with VII 24 for disorderly conduct. The latter charged bastardy on him, although another was reputed to have been the father of the child. The court's case was dropped when he consented to marry the girl. The child was born later. The two are now living with his mother, Inez, and, needless to say, are in dire poverty.

385  

Jonas, V 200, the brother of Inez, was an ignorant, licentious wanderer. He cohabited for a short period with Rhoda, V 199, a sister of Leroy, who married Mercy, V 156, of Ada blood. This girl became pregnant and they had one child, VI 528, who died of tuberculosis at the age of 17. The mother died soon after the birth of the child and Jonas then married Etta, V 387, his first cousin. She had a better mental capacity and was more active than Jonas, but in spite of that was a wanderer, semi-industrious, and licentious. She had a bastard child before marriage. This child died young. V 387 had two legitimate children by Jonas, both boys.

386  

The first, VI 529, can neither read nor write and is mentally defective--an imbecile. At the age of 33 he broke into a store and was sent to State prison for 4 years and 7 months for burglary. He lived with VI 530, a member of a degenerate family. These two were beggars, wandering here and there over the country, stealing what they could not get by begging. Both were intemperate. The woman frequented houses of prostitution and submitted to unnatural practices. One night, when she left the brothel to go to her hovel home in the mountains near by, she was in an intoxicated condition. The next morning she was found frozen to death by the roadside. Just previous to this her "man" had been sent to jail for 60 days for vagrancy.

387  

VII 504, the second child of this couple, frequented houses of prostitution with her mother. She was arrested, sent to a reformatory for women, but was returned as being of too low a grade mentally to be benefited by that institution. Upon this she was sent, at the age of 18, to the Custodial Asylum for Feeble-minded Women. She is costing the State of New York $125 a year for her support in this institution.

388  

The oldest child, VII 502, is now 26 years of age and is a mentally defective prostitute who has for years frequented brothels. Recently she tried to secure a license to marry her uncle, VI 531, although he has one legal and one common-law wife living. The license was refused, not on the grounds that both parties were feeble-minded and closely related to each other, but because of the man's previous marriage. VI 529 had two other children, who died young.

389  

VI 531, the second offspring of the consanguineous mating of Jonas and Etta, was born in 1875. He is called "Lazy Bob." When a young fellow he was sent to a reformatory for burglary. He married VI 525, but sold his wife to his cousin, as described before. He then lived for 11 years with a cousin, VII 19, having four children by her, described previously under Ada. He received much help from the town during the time he lived with this last woman. He has also been arrested several times for minor offenses and sent to jail. Since he separated from the last consort he has wandered here and there, working as a farm laborer and a stonecutter. He has recently attempted to marry his own niece. He is very intemperate.

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Mick, V 202, a brother of Inez and Jonas, was born in 1845. His home, as found by the investigator, is the cabin of an old canal barge, removed from the boat and placed on the edge of a river about 30 feet from its bank. It rests only about 2 feet above the water-line. It is about 9 feet wide and 25 feet long. One enters through a doorway at one end by descending several steps and at the same time bending double in order to clear the low door-opening. Another door immediately opens into the house proper, which consists of two rooms, living room and bedroom. There are several small windows in the living room. Besides a wall table and miserable stove, there are two or three dilapidated chairs. The bedroom has no windows, but is lighted from the living room. There are two bunks, one above the other, in ship fashion. Upon the investigator's first visit to this place, after entering, he inquired of a dirty barefoot hag who conducted him in, where Mick was. A gruff voice from the top bunk answered, "Here I am, what do you want?" After accustoming himself to the darkness of the bedroom, the writer perceived a large, husky man with a heavy beard, lying in the bunk, fully dressed, and smoking a pipe. He was very grandiloquent in his actions and to the writer's great amusement at first denied relationship to his sister Inez, who had told all about him only the day before. He said his father and mother were a Mr. and Mrs. "Q," and mentioned a name high in the social life of the county. When questioned minutely about Inez he said, "Oh, she's some relation to me!" At 25 years of age Mick lived for some time with Vera, V 201, a harlot, who ran away from him. He then consorted with a distant cousin, Libby, V 335. This mating was brief, as Libby died of childbirth with her first child. His present mate is Hulda, V 203, a member of a fairly respectable family. At one time Hulda bore a good reputation, but since she has lived with Mick she has degenerated into a careless, filthy, foul-mouthed individual. When seen she was dressed in a single wrapper; her feet were bare and frightfully dirty. Mick and Hulda have three children.

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