The National Orphan Train Complex has an upcoming statue unveiling.
Orphan Train Rider: Harry "Shorty" Morris.
Saturday, April 5, 2025 at 2 p.m. in front of the Concordia Blade-Empire Newspaper.
Many people who visit us at the National Orphan Train Complex ask us if we know the percentages of how many children were placed in bad situations. Numbers we can determine come from our research and also from some of the placing organizations. Approximately 80% of the children had positive experiences (the same percentage as our current foster system). That leaves 20% in the negative experience column. This story is about a boy who had a miserable childhood but came through it with a positive outlook and had a wonderful life.
Harry Morris was born on the 21st of October, 1889, in Brooklyn, New York, to James and Yetta (Blumenthal) Morris. They soon became the parents of Fannie (born 11 July 1891) and George (1 January 1893). James Morris became ill and could not work for some time. Yetta did her best but could not make ends meet. She took Harry to the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) in February of 1898. It is believed that her intent was to leave Harry only until the family became solvent and that she planned to take him back home. That is not what took place. On Tuesday, February 8th of 1898, Harry and fifteen other children were sent to Schuyler, Nebraska, with Agent B.W. Tice. The placement occurred on Friday morning at 10 a.m. at the Schuyler Opera House. Agent Tice was joined by Agent J.W. Swan and Alice Bogardus, a young woman who would eventually be the state agent for Nebraska.
Harry went home with Bernard Mick, a store owner in Schuyler. In May of 1898, Harry was moved to the Krueger home near Columbus, Nebraska. One month later, Mr. Krueger asked for Harry to be removed. Harry then went to live with Christian Biehle of Osceola, Nebraska. He stayed there until April of 1899 when he was taken to the Home for the Friendless in Lincoln, Nebraska, while Agent Swan looked for another home for Harry. The next month Harry was placed in the Francis Baker home in DeWitt, Nebraska. Less than a year later Harry again found himself in a new home with Edward Hatz near DeWitt.
Edward Hatz and his family were German immigrants who owned a farm. For a while they treated Harry with consideration. Within a year they pushed him into work, with more and more work piled upon him. They made him bring the cows in from the field late so no one would see him there. He felt they were embarrassed of him.
One Sunday before the family left for church, Mrs. Hatz put a dinner on the table in front of Harry, beans, bread, and milk. After Harry had eaten his meager meal and the family still had not returned, he looked for more food. He was a growing boy and he was hungry. In the sideboard, he found fried chicken, pies, cakes, and many other wonderful foods. He devoured the food and went back to the cows.
He returned with the cows later than usual, afraid that he was in trouble. Mr. Hatz stormed out of the house and approached Harry, glowering. He whipped Harry with a blacksnake whip. It wasn’t Harry’s first beating.
As a common practice, the agents handling placements of Orphan Train children tried to check up on the children annually. Mr. Tice, the agent who brought Harry to Nebraska, had many children to check up on. He’d been an agent for ten years. Because of the time involved and difficulty with traveling to remote areas, Tice began to utilize current technology; he telephoned. When he phoned the Hatz home, Mr. Hatz said Harry was doing just fine. He refused to let Harry speak to him.
Mr. Hatz eventually retired from farming and moved to town, leaving the farm and Harry in the hands of his oldest daughter and her husband, Andrew Kindschi. Harry was relieved, thinking that it couldn’t be as bad as with Mr. Hatz; he was wrong. It was worse. In addition to the whippings, Harry was given inadequate clothing for the cold Nebraska winters and was not allowed to go to school.
The James Cauther family across the road took interest in Harry, and when the Kindschis were not home, Harry often went to visit the Cauthers. They gave him food, warm clothes, and treated him with kindness. After one beating, Mr. Cauther heard Harry crying out. He crossed the road and told Kindschi if he heard Harry screaming again, he’d report him to the law. Kindschi then took the beatings inside so Harry couldn’t be heard.
One night Harry woke up to someone calling out to him. It was Mr. Cauther and he was in Harry’s room. He’d put a ladder up to the house and was going to rescue Harry. Harry quickly gathered his meager belongings and escaped down the ladder with his savior. The next day, Kindschi was on the telephone party line, offering a reward for the return of his escaped boy. Mr. Cauther went to Kindschi in the late morning and told him Harry was with him and that was where he would stay. Furthermore, if Kindschi made any attempt to take Harry back, he would be reported to the law and the entire community would find out just how badly he’d treated the boy.
Mr. Cauther found Harry a home with George Carsten in Cortland, Nebraska. In that home he learned to speak German and was allowed to go to school. He stayed in the Carsten home for over three years.
Harry joined the Navy and served in the Orient. While in the Navy, his mates started calling him Shorty due to his diminutive five-foot, two-inch stature. This nickname stuck for the rest of his life. He returned to Nebraska and began selling Singer Sewing Machines. He travelled all over Nebraska and eventually went back to one of the homes where he had lived. The lady of the house told Harry his mother and sister were trying to find him. Long before, Harry had been told his parents were dead, and he had no remembrance of siblings.
Shorty went back to New York to visit the family he didn’t remember. It was a joyous reunion. While in New York, Shorty visited the Children’s Aid Society and told them of his experiences and how angry he was at the way his case had been mismanaged.
Shorty Morris relocated to Beatrice, Nebraska, where he married Jennie Lucinda Wisdom on the 1st of November, 1916, and they welcomed nine children. Shorty became a newspaper man, joining the staff of the Beatrice Daily Express. He had a 50-year career in the newspaper business, working in circulation; later he wrote a column that appeared in the Beatrice Times, the Beatrice Daily Sun, and the Wymore Arbor State, which was owned by his son Robert.
Harry “Shorty” Morris was one of the 20% of Orphan Train Riders who unfortunately slipped through the cracks in the placing out system. He suffered at the hands of two men he lived with. His early life was marked with tribulation but thanks to a kind neighbor, Shorty’s life turned around. He had a wonderful life with a large family and a great career. He triumphed over all.
