Can anyone suggest a source of information on NY State Houses of Refuge
c.1876 that would be accessible long-distance? I am following up a newspaper
reference (from 1892) to a supposed adoption of a boy from what the paper
calls a House of Refuge in North Wilna, Jefferson County. I believe the boy
was 'adopted' to work on a farm. I have tried to make enquiries with
organisations in that area, but have not yet succeeded in establishing what
institutions might have operated there at that time. I would also welcome
suggestions of any good texts on Houses of Refuge in the period that do not
focus exclusively on NYC. Many thanks in advance.

Dr Tamsin Spargo
Reader in Cultural History
School of Media, Critical and Creative Arts
Liverpool John Moores University
Dean Walters
1 St. James Road
Liverpool L1 7BR
United Kingdom

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