Turned Out of Son's Home, Mrs. Clarkie Simpson, 93, is in Poorhouse, Feb. 20, 1925

Sends Mother, Aged 93, to Poorhouse to Die. . . For 62 Years She Slaved for Her Orphan Children, to be Cast Aside at Sunset of Life. . . Deserted by Her Children. . . Mrs. Clarkie Simpson

There is no legal responsibility to make the child take care of the mother, and so it is that Mrs. Clarkie Simpson, 93 year old, probably the oldest woman in Pasquotank County, must spend her days in the poorhouse after toiling for 20 years in the home of her son, who cast her aside when she can work nor more and is ready to die.

Sam R. Simpson, the prosperous farmer and blacksmith living near Corinth Church, who sent his mother to the poorhouse to die, is about 65 years old. He owns his fine farm home, sawmill and shop in Nixontown township, a farm in Providence township, and in Elizabeth City he owns lots on Pool, M??, Morgan, Cedar, Ash, Parsonage, Panama Streets and Euclid Heights. People who know him will say he is financially able to build his mother a home and provide her with a servant the rest of her days. A person 93 years old hasn’t many more days left.

Sam Simpson is a very religious citizen. His friends call him a Christian man. It is told of him that he would lock his aged mother in her room in his home, and leave her for hours while he came to Elizabeth City to attend the Ham-?? Revival services, going back home with a sniveling spirit filled with righteousness injected by the steam rolling revivalists. But he hasn’t been to see his mother since she was taken to the poorhouse.

He is said to be the only one of the sons able to support the mother. Her youngest son Edward lives in the mill district in Elizabeth City, but the entire family has to work in the mills. The old lady tried to live with Ed awhile, but it wasn’t safe for her. She would grow lonesome from staying alone all day, and endanger her life on the streets, trying to reach the homes of sociable neighbors.

Her son Jim, who lives on Southern Avenue, this city, is an invalid and unable take care of her, and Bill, the eldest, is a widower, boarding around with Pasquotank County farmers. It was Bill who was obliged to seek a home for his mother in the Pasquotank County poorhouse, where it is the proud ?? of the County Commissioners that economical management enables them to take care of the county’s destitute people for so little as $8 a month apiece.

From the front page of the Elizabeth City Independent, Feb. 20, 1925. I am working off a scanned newspaper, and part of the left column of story is missing. If you want to read the interesting story of Mrs. Simpson, you need to get a copy of the actual newspaper. If you click on the link below, you can see a photograph of Mrs. Simpson.

newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn83025812/1925-02-20/ed-1/seq-1/#words=FEBRUARY+20%2C+1925