Association for the Relief of Aged and Destitute Women
180 Derby Street
In 1861, a group of Salem’s most prominent citizens, led by
the Reverend Michael Carleton, created the Association for the Relief
of Aged and Destitute Women of Salem “for the purpose of providing
for the support of aged, destitute women, not otherwise provided
for.”6 The home was managed
by a “matron,” of whom it was expected that “by her
kindness, attention, and judicious treatment, [she would] endeavor
to gain the esteem and secure the comfort and happiness of all those
who are under her care.”7 Applicants
for residency had to be American-born, a Salem resident for ten
or more years, and at least sixty years of age. Early fundraising
efforts for the home included fairs and dramatic and musical entertainments
— frequently interrupted by the approaching (Civil) war activities.
A commemorative booklet published in the organization’s fiftieth
year claimed that “this Institution, starting from modest beginnings,
seems now to be established on a footing which promises well for
an indefinite future… There is, in every old community like
this, a limited number of self-respecting women, past the day of
active effort, who naturally become pensioners of such a retreat
as this… to abandon such persons, in their need, to the hard
usage too often apportioned by the community to its helpless dependents,
is something not to be thought of. Their necessities must be met
and their self-respect must not be impaired. People of means…
feel anxious to secure them freedom from anxiety and discomfort.”8
Today, Brookhouse, named for the house’s previous owner, Robert
Brookhouse, who deeded it to the Association in 1861, remains a
residence for women.
Notes
6. By-laws of the Association for Relief of
Aged and Destitute Women, 1861.
7. Ibid.
8. Robert S. Rantoul, A Record of the First
50 Years of the Old Ladies’ Home in Salem (Salem, Mass.,
1910), 1.
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