28 
Indiana University Studies 
waist, a burlap sack was draped about the iipper part of 
his limbs, and he had neither shirt nor socks. His black hair 
and beard hung to his waist. He is said to be harmless. 
Rebecca, the fourth child of Will Woods, is insane. She 
was born in 1896. When 19 years old, she married Elmer 
Clay, who is both alcoholic and licentious. By him she has 
1 child. She is a red-haired woman of 22 years — large, 
awkward, very emotional, profane, vulgar, ready to burst into 
anger at any time, is negatavistic, taking exception to almost 
everything said. She made life a burden for her husband. 
It was a common occurrence for her to follow him to town 
where she would start a fight with him. It was necessary 
for him to whip her or be beaten. At 2 different times when 
angered she has torn her furniture into shreds. She is now 
separated from her husband. 
The fifth and sixth children of Will Woods died in infancy. 
This group does not figure on the county records to any 
great extent. Of this family, 3 members have received a 
total of $15 in poor relief ; 10 members have been arrested, 
costing the community $33.25; 6 of them have spent a total 
of 17 yeai’s in the County Poor Asylum, costing the county 
$2,534.40. The larger part of this was used by Homer, Rose, 
and Bessie Alvis in the form of support in the Poor Asylum. 
These 3 have spent 16 years and 3 months there. It 'is not 
known how often they appear on the records of the adjoining 
county, as the county line runs thru Lookout Ridge leaving 
many of this family in the other county. There has also 
been quite a bit of money spent by the state on Stella and 
Bessie Alvis, orphans, and on John Skinner, who has been 
in the Southeastern Hospital for the Insane for 10 years. 
Summary 
In this community study we have an excellent example 
of the inferior stock predominating in a rough, infertile 
district with few or no improvements. This stock has 
been inferior at the time of the settling of the county, 
a fact which probably accounts for their establishing them- 
selves in the least desirable part of the county. Once estab- 
lished, they lived their lives free from the restraints of social 
law and in non-competition with the better class of citizens, 
who did not care to gain a foothold in the poor land. Inter- 
