Tuesday, June 17, 2025
June 12, 13, and 14 will bring Orphan Train descendants and enthusiasts to Concordia for the Annual Celebration held every year. Thursday’s events are all free and open to the public, beginning with tours of the Complex from 1 to 4 p.m. Window coverings in the Jones Education Station will be dedicated at 4:15 p.m.
The first window features Ruben, Elsie, and Albert Hill, born to Finnish immigrants Henry Hill and Sophia Savela, married in 1895 in New York City. During the next seven years, Sophia gave birth to five children: Walter, Einar, Ruben, Elsie, and Albert. Sophia passed away in 1908 and the children were taken to the Brooklyn Orphan Asylum. Father Henry was ill and could not care for them. Henry died six weeks after Sophia. Walter ran away and got a job. Einar was sent to a farmer in Ferndale, New York. Ruben, Elsie, and Albert were sent to the Children’s Aid Society in March of 1911; just weeks later all three were on an Orphan Train bound for Marion, Kansas.
In an unusual twist, all three Hill children were taken in by Ed and Minnie Frobenius. They moved to Coffey County, Kansas, in 1914. All three married and had families of their own.
In 1952, after years of searching, Walter Hill finally found his younger siblings and all five of the Hill children had a wonderful reunion. This window is sponsored by the Family of Elsie Hill.
Jana and Joe Strecker sponsored a window featuring Rider Arthur Field Smith. The earliest known record of Arthur was a police report. Just after the new year in 1918, the store manager of New York City’s Gimbels Department Store notified the local authorities that a salesclerk had found a baby boy abandoned in the Ladies Department. The tiny baby was nestled in a basket and obviously healthy, but the well-dressed lady who had been seen carrying the basket earlier in the day had disappeared. When efforts to locate the baby’s parents proved fruitless, the Department of Public Welfare took the baby into their care. The baby was then baptized, assigned a birthdate, and given the name Arthur Field. He was just over one month old.
As a ward of the New York welfare system, Arthur lived with various host families hired for his care. He was passed from family to family, never staying long with each. Then in 1922 when Arthur was nearly 5 years old, he was transferred to the care of the Children’s Aid Society. Shortly afterward he was placed on an orphan train to Clarinda, Iowa. During the placement meeting for the orphans, little Arthur climbed up on a man’s lap and proceeded to ask if that man was going to be his daddy. The man was J. Worley Smith, and he and his wife Lillian took Arthur home to their farm that day as their second son.
Arthur grew up curious and full of adventure on the Smith farm. His new older brother Cecil shortened Arthur’s name to Art. The Smiths adopted Art in 1929, and in 1936 he graduated from high school.
Art became a 2nd Lieutenant in the 88th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army during World War II, serving in North Africa and Italy. After discharge from the army, he became an inventor, entrepreneur, manufacturer and towing expert. Art married Georgianna Phillips and they welcomed two daughters. Art was proud to be an Orphan Train Rider and served 18 years on the Board of the Orphan Train Heritage Society of America.
Art expressed a heartfelt message in Volume 2 of “Their Own Stories.” He said, “I would like to urge every government of every state and agency. . . to release their files (adoption records) for medical and every other reason. There is stigma enough attached to being an orphan. Take away the veils of secrecy and let there be light.”
After a short break, all are invited to attend a wine and cheese event from 6:15 to 7:30 p.m. in the depot museum.
Friday’s events will begin at 9 a.m. and will all be held at the college, including The Descendants Speak at 3 p.m. The complete schedule of events is available on the NOTC website, orphantraindepot.org. Full registration for the three-day event is $80 per person and includes two meals and special entertainment on Friday evening.
This year, NOTC will screen the movie “Cabrini,” in cooperation with the Majestic Theatre. Tickets will be available at the door for the general public. The movie begins at 7 p.m. on Friday. If you missed this movie when it played in Concordia some time back, here is another opportunity to see the true story of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini. Known as Mother Cabrini, Frances was an Italian immigrant sent to the U.S. to minister to poor Italian immigrants. Not only did she do that, but she stood up to male clergy in Rome and the United States in order to effectively complete her mission.
During Celebration weekend, speakers from Missouri, Michigan, Kansas, and Iowa will be on hand to share presentations with registrants from Kansas, Iowa, Texas, California, Minnesota, and Missouri. New this year is a Zoom option for those who are not able to travel to Concordia.
Bringing speakers to Concordia from across the nation is made possible by the following businesses and individuals:
Dan & Judith Jacobus Davis, Seal Beach, CA
Cloud County Travel & Tourism
Reliable Heating & Cooling
Elk State Bank
F&A Food Sales
Citizens National Bank
Joan & Gary Fraser
Central National Bank
Cunningham Telephone & Cable
Prairie Land Electric
Thummel Real Estate & Auction
Hood Heating and Air Conditioning
Schendel Pest Control
Gerard Tank & Steel
Drs. Cooper & Banninger
Prairie Land Partners
Style Productions
Greg & Barbara Markway, Jefferson City, MO
Don & Martha Pauley, Iowa
Please make plans to attend any or all of the 22nd Annual Celebration of Orphan Train Riders!
