Stature in an early mid-19th century poorhouse population: Highland Park, Rochester, New York

If the early 19th century United States was a developing country, then it may be expected that the lowest economic stratum would show some biological consequences of poverty. This report examines that question by estimating stature on 90 male and 64 female adult skeletons from an unmarked cemetery dating between 1826 and 1863. The Highland Park burial ground was adjacent to institutions which interned unfortunates of Rochester, Monroe County, in western New York. The best estimate of male stature (N = 84) is 172.6 cm. A review of other 18th and 19th century height data shows this value not to be relatively stunted, but rather exactly on the predicted mean of its time. If this was a poor population, stunting was not a consequence of poverty. Females (N = 59) showed a best height estimate of 160.0 cm. Less comparative data are available, but this too seems average for the time. A brief discussion of secular trends, changing income inequity and fluctuating stature from the 18th through 20th centuries puts this finding in context.