Last week, we began the study of the placing out process. We learned about the most prolific, most famous organization, The Children’s Aid Society. This week, we’ll learn about several more well-known organizations.
The New York Foundling Home was the second most prolific of the placing organizations. They had a different method for the placing out process.
In the 1860s, the Sisters of Charity in New York City saw that there was a problem that needed to be addressed. There were unwanted infants being left in alleys, in trash cans. They knew that they had to do something. They put a wicker basket in their entryway for anonymous drop-offs. They received 45 babies in the first month. From October of 1869 to January 1 of 1870, the Sisters took in 123 infants. In the first two years, they accepted 2,500 babies. All infants were baptized Catholic the day after their arrival.
The Sisters quickly outgrew their little brownstone, and with the help of a State matching grant, they began construction of a new facility on 68th and Lexington. The main building was completed in November of 1873. The facility consisted of hospitals for the children and expectant mothers, a chapel, classrooms, and hundreds of rooms for the children and the women who volunteered to stay to nurse infants. Their first placement of children was in May of 1873.
Foundling trains were often called Baby Trains or Mercy Trains. Their placement procedure differed from the CAS in that the applications were sent to local parish priests. The priest would provide applications to interested families in his parish and vet the families himself. He referred the applications of the qualified families to the Sisters. On the application, the potential parents were asked to describe the child they desired – male or female, color of hair, and eye color. The Sisters of Charity felt that if the child closely matched the appearance of the family, the child would be more readily accepted. The Sisters would go through the hundreds of children in their care and find the one that most closely matched the description provided on the application. They would then send the new parents a letter, telling them the date, time, and station where the train would arrive. The letter told the parents what number their child would be wearing on their garment, and the letter itself was to be given to the agent as proof of identity. Before leaving, each of the children had a label sewn into their clothing or jacket. That label gave their name, birthdate, and who the new parents were to be. A number on a ribbon was pinned to their clothing or put on their bonnet. The Sisters would leave New York with 50 to 100 children, mostly under the age of 4. They had their own private car at the end of the train. The children were accompanied by three or four Sisters, several nurses, and one male agent who did most of the talking. They made preplanned stops, meeting the new families, and transferring their new charges.
The children for each stop were gathered and left the train car. The new parents would give the sister or agent their letter and take custody of their child. Parents were asked to pay train fare if they were able. The Sisters asked that the parents take the child and have a photograph made, sending a copy to the Foundling for their records. They asked that the family keep in touch with the Foundling. A Sister or representative visited annually to check on each child. These trains were very seldom written about in local newspapers because the placements had been arranged privately. If there was any coverage, the information it contained was very sparse.
Another large placing organization was the New York Juvenile Asylum (NYJA), an indenture program for troubled youth. Information on this organization has been provided by Orphan Train Scholar and descendant Clark Kidder. He has digitized all of their records and conducts research for descendants of children who were living at that institution.
The NYJA was founded in 1851 by a group of businessmen and professionals concerned about vagrancy in children. Their purpose was to house, reform, educate, and indenture children who were truant, homeless, or had been arrested for petty crimes. There were thirty NYJA children on the first Orphan Train to Dowagiac, Michigan. However, the organization primarily sent children to Illinois and Iowa. They sent out about 6,000 children total during the Orphan Train movement.
The NYJA typically sent out companies of 20 to 50 children. Boys wore grey uniforms or short pants and jackets. Girls wore gingham or cotton dresses. As with the other organizations, each child was given a Bible before leaving New York. The children were indentured to farmers and merchants. The person taking the child was required to pay their train fare. Boys were kept until they were 21 years old and then were to be given $100. Girls stayed until they were 18 and were to receive $50. The problem with the NYJA placements was infrequent visits and poor communication with the children.
An employee of the NYJA accompanied the children on the trip west. Their agent, Ebeneezer Wright, lived in Illinois and met the trains at their destinations.
The Home for the Friendless was an orphanage run by the American Female Guardian Society (AFGS). The American Female Guardian Society began in 1834. Their initial purpose was to help “fallen women” and children. They rented a house in July 1847 and began taking in children. In 1849, they moved into their new home at 32 East 30th Street in Manhattan, New York. Interestingly, the AFGS began sending children out in the late 1840s, before the Children’s Aid Society was even founded. These children were sent out one or two at a time and were accompanied by one agent. In the early years, they were kept primarily in the northeastern part of the United States. As time went on, AFGS children were sent westward. The AFGS formed a partnership with the CAS, and groups of their children accompanied the CAS companies West.
The ladies of the AFGS kept meticulous records. These large history volumes, written in the flowing script of the time period, include the child’s birthdate, date received, why surrendered, where they were placed, family, contacts, and more. These volumes now reside in the Archives of the National Orphan Train Complex. As with other organizations, children and families were asked to keep in contact by mail, and each child was given a Bible when they left the city.
A new placing organization came to our attention a couple of years ago. Two research requests were received requesting information about children placed in the Midwest by the Boston Home for Destitute Catholic Children.
The Boston Home began in the 1850s, also under the guidance of the Sisters of Charity. The Superintendent of the organization actively sought out children in need, from poor homes, jails, and the court system. The Home would receive no children under four years old, no boys over six, and no girls over eight. Groups of children were sent out, first to the northeast, then more widely spread, accompanied by a priest. In 1914, they reported that they had cared for more than 20,000 children in their fifty years.
The Boston Home carefully selected Catholic families in the country to take in their children. The applicant was required to furnish a letter of recommendation from their parish priest, saying that they were suitable to bring a child up and had a proper home. Boys were placed out at age nine. Girls were placed out at whatever age seemed best for the girl. They also worked in tandem with the CAS for periods of time, with that cooperation ending in 1910.
All told, there were more than thirty organizations with some sort of placing out program. Each had their own way of finding homes for children and looking after them. Ongoing research continues as the National Orphan Train Complex receives records and research requests.
The first home of the New York Foundling Asylum.
The New York Juvenile Asylum
Woodycrest, the Home for the Friendless.
The Boston Home for Destitute Catholic Children
