From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Oct. 22, 1911:

“Twelve children at home ranging in age from two to fifteen years, and all in want. The mother buried yesterday from a home so poor that the Social Service League bought the clothing in which she was buried and the Paper Mill employees purchased the casket. That is the condition existing at 246 Bridge street, the Haskins home. Mrs. Haskins was the mother of seventeen children, two of whom are dead. Three of the children are married and at home are the other twelve. It is a task for people in ordinary circumstances to support such a family as this, to keep three children properly clothed and to appease their hunger, but where Poverty is the most important factor in the daily life, then indeed it is a problem that is bitter. For years the mother worked for the Lawrence Canning Factory earning what she could to feed and clothe those at home and the father worked also. The struggle was a hard one, it always is where there are large families like this and where the wages coming into the home are small. Then the mother died, following the birth of a child that died just a day before the mother. It seems as if something could be done for the family, that with the Social Service League directing and others helping the barren condition could be relieved. Think of it, twelve children, the mother dead, and no funds to speak of coming into the home! Strange, isn’t it, in prosperous Lawrence?”