Daily AncestorPauper's oath
A pauper's oath was a sworn statement that a person owned almost nothing, made to get public relief or to go to court without paying fees.
Especially during the Great Depression of the 1930s, a pauper's oath was a condition of receiving public relief in the United States. Unemployed leagues of 1934 demanded that relief offices abolish it.
A similar oath let a poor person bring a lawsuit without paying court costs; one federal form swore to owning no property over $20 apart from what the law exempted. Overseers of the poor kept applications and depositions from people seeking help, as in Livingston, New Jersey, from 1829 to 1851, and these can describe a family's situation.
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Daily Ancestor. "Pauper's oath." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/poor-relief/paupers-oath. Last checked 2026-10-03.