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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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The oldest child of Ben and Ann is Lloyd, V 88, spoken of in Dugdale's time as "a laborer, industrious and temperate." He was a soldier during the Civil War and now receives a pension. He is a local constable. He has never acquired any property and is now only intermittently industrious. Beyond mere ability to read and write he has little education. He married a reputable, industrious woman, Oneida, V 87, and had four children.

231  

The oldest, VI 256, now 42, is a coarse and shrewish harlot. She has some schooling, is a hard worker, and now takes in washings to support herself. She married early and her first child was born in the poorhouse. After all of her children were born her husband left her, and she cohabited with other men. All of her four children were taken away soon after that and placed in the Middle West, where they are doing well - morally, mentally, and physically.

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The second living child of Lloyd, VI 259, a wandering actor, is married and has four children. He is now attempting to get a divorce in order to marry an actress.

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The third child, VI 261, ran away from home at 14 and joined her brother's traveling circus. She was arrested by her father and committed to the House of Refuge for disorderly conduct. At the age of 16 she was discharged and at 17 she married. She is now neat and refined in appearance, is industrious and quite orderly, but clandestinely a prostitute. Her husband is a steady-working barber. The oldest of five children born to them, a girl, VII 284, did "fair work" in school and has a quiet, gentle disposition. Her sister, VII 285, "can learn easily but won't apply herself," jumps at conclusions, and is not accurate in her work. She has an ugly temper. The three remaining children are young.

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The youngest child of Lloyd and Oneida is a semi-industrious but intemperate laborer.

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After the mother of these children died, and while they were still young, Lloyd brought home a shrewish though industrious widow, Nora, V 89, to live with him and bring up his children. These two are still living together, but the example set to the children while they were being reared was not of the best.

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Lloyd's sister, Mary Eliza, V 90, has always borne a good reputation, can read and write, is industrious and neat, and has tried to do well, notwithstanding her ignorant and drunken husband, Keford, V 91. He was always industrious and when a young man had a kind disposition, but as time went on he drank more and more, became sullen, morose, suspicious, and finally, at the age of 67, tried to kill his wife. He was committed to a hospital for the insane, and a diagnosis of arterio-sclerotic insanity was made. Both of his parents died of arterio-sclerosis. The children of Keford and Mary Eliza follow:

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The first, VI 266, is a steady, hard-working fellow with some schooling. He married and had two children. The first, VII 289, is refined and neat, but is mentally incapable of doing high-school work. The second, VII 290, is careless and deceitful and does poor work in school. She is in grade 5 at 11 years.

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VI 268, sister of VI 266, a harlot before marriage, is now reputable and industrious. She is garrulous and her talk reveals a shallow mind incapable of reasoning beyond the little sphere of life in which she lives. Her husband works steadily, but receives small wages. He has a shallow mentality similar to that of his wife. Their oldest child, VII 291, was a harlot before marriage, but is now reputable and has one child. VII 293, a son of VI 268, has worked himself up on the railroad until now he holds a responsible position. The two younger girls are doing average work in school and are neat but very shy.

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The third living child of Keford, VI 270, industrious and neat, a harlot before marriage, has a shallow mind like her sister. She has two children: one neat, chaste, mentally slow but accurate; the other neat, chaste, mentally quick, and accurate.

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VI 272, the fourth living child of Mary Eliza, is spoken of as "silly." She is talkative, has a pleasant disposition, and was a harlot before marriage. She has had three children, two of whom died in infancy.

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The last child of Keford and Mary Eliza was VI 274, a harlot who died, soon after marriage, at the birth of her first child.

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Simon, V 93, a brother of Mary Eliza, is an ignorant, feeble-minded, consequently inefficient, and also licentious man. He married once and cohabited with two different women. He has always been poor and is now both crippled by rheumatism and very deaf. By his first consort, Selma, V 92, of whom nothing is known, Simon has one child, VI 276.

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VI 276 was for some years in a Children's Home. At an early age she married and has had six children. Her husband, VI 277, is a hard-working man, but seems to take little interest in his surroundings. He appears not to realize how socially unfit he and his family are. The wife is apathetic, disgustingly dirty, and careless about her house, self, and children. She has been given much help by her neighbors, but to no avail. When new clothes are given the family the mother sews them on the children, where they remain until they are past wearing; they are then cut off and a new set sewed on. No washing ever takes place. One of the six children of this couple was "bright." He died suddenly at the age of 8. The other children are very wild, grab their scraps of food from the table, then run. They are specimens of terrible neglect. Those who attend school do so very irregularly and are considered poor pupils. It would be interesting to note what these children could do in school were they fed and clothed properly. The family is continually moving, sometimes to avoid paying rent.

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