When we get a surprise package here at the National Orphan Train Complex, it is almost always something wonderful. Last month, we received TWO! And those two boxes took our breaths away! Inside were tiny little button-up leather shoes, delicate linen dress, a tiny sweater, a button hook, many photos, and a headpiece from a girl’s first communion. These amazing little articles help bring into focus the lives of these children we research and whose stories educate visitors about this history.
The articles came to us by way of Orphan Train descendant Renee Wendinger of Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. Her mother, Sophia Kraal, was placed out by the New York Foundling Hospital. Renee has authored two books about the Orphan Train, both available in the NOTC gift shop. Through early reunions of Orphan Train Riders in the Minnesota area, Renee had longtime relationships with the original clothing owners—both Orphan Train Riders! We thank Renee for taking good care of these items over the years, and now for donating them to our museum where they will continue to be preserved, and occasionally displayed, in the museum to further our mission.
One of the wonderful boxes contained clothing and shoes that belonged to Emily Lester. Emily was born July 30, 1921, at St. Ann’s Maternity Hospital, a wing of the New York Foundling Home. Her mother, Elizabeth Lester, was unmarried and left her with the Sisters of Charity, knowing she’d be unable to care for her precious little one.
Emily wasn’t at the Foundling for long. In June of 1922 when she was but eleven months old, the Sisters took her to Mitchell, South Dakota, where she was taken in by John V. and Clara Bednarz. John and Clara already had obtained two other children from the Foundling. They had a daughter Kathryn, who’d been born in 1913, and a son Frank, born in 1917. Things went well for a while. John and Clara even legally adopted Emily in December of 1927. The family called little Emily “Bingo” because they played Bingo often and apparently Emily was an avid player!
Between the adoption and the census taker’s rounds in 1930, John V. Bednarz abandoned the family, leaving Clara alone to raise the three Foundlings. Things were hard for them in South Dakota and they moved to Minnesota. All three children were sick and the state of Minnesota nullified their adoptions and placed them in a Catholic Orphanage in Wabasha, Minnesota. The adoption and nullification make this a very unusual case for us. So many of the children were never adopted, or were adopted as adults to cement inheritances. And to have the rare triple adoption nullified was a twist we’d never heard of here at the National Orphan Train Complex. It is important to note that Emily and her adoptive mother maintained a relationship after she left the orphanage. A hand-written note from Emily shares that these tiny clothes and shoes were “saved” by her “Little Grandmother,” who obviously passed them on to Emily at some point.
Emily so loved her older sister Kathryn that when she was confirmed in the Catholic Church, she took the confirmation name Catherine and then legally changed her name to Catherine Emily Lester. She was known as Katie for the rest of her life.
On December 21, 1943, Katie Lester married Bernard Lister—Try keeping that straight!!—The couple was only blessed with one child, a son, David, who died shortly after his birth. Katie eventually became a nurse.
Katie and Bernie Lister were married for over sixty years when Katie passed away on the tenth of June, 2013, at the age of 91. Bernie passed away in 2014 and the two rest at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Cemetery at Minnetrista, Minnesota, beside baby David.
The National Orphan Train Complex houses 8000+ files of the 250,000 Orphan Train Riders. Emily’s file had very little in contents until the gift of her clothing. Then it became a quest to find out as much as possible about her story. It is our pleasure to share it with the world.
