They called it Placing Out. It was the process of taking children from crowded orphanages on the East Coast and taking them West, where they’d be placed in new homes. There are many misconceptions about the process and hopefully, some of those will be laid to rest today.
Starting with the whys, why were Orphan Trains needed? New York experienced a massive increase in population in the mid and late 1800s. The population went from half a million to 3.5 million people in a fifty-year span. At that time there were no public or government aid programs, there was no assistance for widows. Women were unable to make enough money to support a family should their husbands die or desert them. In 1850 there were more than 30 established orphanages in the city. Even with that many facilities, there were still more than 30,000 children living on the streets of New York City.
The first placing organization we will discuss is The Children’s Aid Society. They were the first, the most well-known, and the most prolific of the placing organizations.
Charles Loring Brace was a young, idealist minister. His father wanted him to find a church in a rich and influential neighborhood; Charles had other ideas. He ministered at Blackwell’s Island and in the Five Points Mission. He saw children living on the streets, families living in squalor and poverty. He knew his destiny was to find some way to help those people. He founded the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) in 1854.
Brace was born into a wealthy and influential family, and with that family came connections to other wealthy and influential families. His best friend, Thee Roosevelt, the Astors, Carnegies, Vanderbilts, and Rockefellers all helped him financially to create his network of helping agencies. His first endeavor was the Newsboys Home, built in 1853. It provided clean beds, clean clothes, night school, a gym, hot food, and a place to bathe for the tough little newsboys. They were charged 5 cents a night, because these boys weren’t looking for charity. They wanted to pay their way.
More buildings came into the fold – one at Astor Place, the United Charities Building, the Farm School at Valhalla, and numerous lodging houses for boys, girls, and handicapped children.
Brace’s mission was simple: He wanted to make sure the children got an education, they had religion, they learned a trade so as adults they could support themselves, and he wanted them all to have good homes and families.
The first orphan train went to Dowagiac, Michigan, in September of 1854. There was one agent, Rev. Edward Smith, and he had 46 children accompanying him. Each of the children had been given a Bible and had one set of clothes. The journey had four different portions: a boat ride from Manhattan to Albany, New York; a train ride from Albany to Buffalo, New York; another boat journey from Buffalo to Detroit, Michigan, and the final train ride from Detroit to Dowagiac. We can only imagine what those clothes looked like by the time they arrived at their destination. From this the administrators learned that each child needed two sets of clothing; one to wear on the journey and one to keep in their bag to be worn at the placement.
To give you an example of how the Children’s Aid Society Emigration Program worked, I’m taking you to Minneapolis, Kansas, just south of Concordia. They received an Orphan Train on Friday, April fourth of 1910. This photograph shows the downtown district of Minneapolis around that time period. The CAS liked communities that size. The smaller communities made it easier for the local committees to keep track of the children.
In the weeks before the placement, one of the agents would go to the community. They would visit with locals, go to the newspaper office and speak with them as well. They had dodgers printed up to be displayed in businesses and churches throughout the county. Articles appeared in the newspapers to inform the readers that there would be a company of children coming, when and where the placement would take place. The article also listed the names of the local committee members who were distributing the applications that were required to be completed by those hoping to take a child.
The children would leave New York on a Tuesday. Usually there were one to three agents with the company. In early years, it was one male agent with as many as 50 to 75 children. As the years progressed, the companies got smaller, anywhere from 8 to 24 children. The agents brought a trunk with food on the train. In the trunk was bread, butter, jam, mustard, some fruits. At each stop, the agent would get off the train and pick up fresh local fruits or veggies and some fresh milk and water for the children. They usually shared a car with other passengers; they would sit together in one portion of that car. Each child had a small bag. In this bag was the clean set of clothing they would wear for the placing out event and a small Bible given to them before they left New York. They would arrive at their destination on a Friday. Placements would be held that afternoon or on Saturday.
The agents for the Minneapolis, Kansas, company were Rev. John Washington “J.W.” Swan, Benjamin Wilson “B.W.” Tice, and Miss Anna Laura Hill. Miss Hill was the very first female agent and she’d been working in that job for three years at the time of the Minneapolis placement.
The local committee consisted of influential people from the area; bankers, doctors, lawyers, county officials, and others. These people were all in positions to know many people in their community, who took care of their children, and who did not. They would be there to watch over the children after the agents left the community. Should there be any problems, that committee would contact the agent, and in extreme cases, could remove a child if necessary. They would review the completed applications with the agents and help select families for the children. The placing out process in Minneapolis was held at Messenger Hall, a local opera house.
The children in the Minneapolis company posed for a portrait. All of the children were in the photo except three girls. This was not a common practice.
After the placement, the agents remained in the area for a time. They visited every child in their new home. If there were any indications that the placement would not work out, they would remove the child and find another qualified applicant with whom to place the child. They would not leave town until every child appeared to be settled in a good home.
In six months, the agent would return to visit the children and check on their well-being. They would make adjustments if necessary. Then, in another six months, at the one-year mark of their placement, they would visit the children again. From then on, they visited once a year until the child reached their age of majority.
Next week, the focus will be on the second most prolific of the placing organizations, the New York Foundling Home.
