Orphan Train
Orphan Train Ten-year-old Charles Cordis, in a new suit and carrying a cardboard suitcase containing a change of clothing, boarded a train in 1876 at New York City with scores of other orphans whose destinations were unknown.
Cordis' mother and father were German immigrants seeking new opportunity in America -- as thousands of other Europeans were doing.
Instead, they found premature death from influenza.
Dreams of a new life had seemed so promising.
Father Cordis was a commercial artist.
Some of his designs were incorporated in a restoration of the White House.
Little "Chuck" was devastated by the loss of his parents.
Without other family to take him in, he was placed in an orphanage by city authorities.
Yet, he was more fortunate than the thousands of homeless children who scavenged in the streets of New York at that time.
The immigrants' search for a better life did not always succeed.
Many were undernourished and sickly upon arrival.
Those without practical skills literally starved to death, leaving children to fend for themselves.
The youngest children made it into the city orphanages, but the problem was too large for public welfare.
Most of the half-starved kids formed gangs that cooperated to find clothing in trash piles, protect themselves from predators, beg pennies, steal food and huddle together at night in doorways.
These wandering gangs of youngsters were commonly known as "street Arabs.
" A young Congregational minister, Charles Loring Brace, went to New York City in 1853 from his native Connecticut to complete a thesis for his seminary degree.
He was appalled at the hordes of ragged, dirty children pestering him for pennies.
Brace gave up his thesis studies to try and help "these children of unhappy fortune.
"His first plan was to establish trade schools and "dime banks" in the belief these would teach homeless children to become self sufficient.
It was soon apparent, however, that this approach was too slow.
A year later, Brace adopted the train idea tried by Boston a decade earlier.
He wrote: "The great duty is to get them out of their surroundings and to send them away to kind, Christian homes in the country.
" It should be remembered that in this period - the start of an industrial revolution and crowded city life - there was a growing need for food.
Farm workers were scarce.
Brace founded the Children's Aid Society to raise funds and organize caravans of trains to transport orphans to heartland farms where they would be adopted and reared in a traditional family.
The Society soon was joined by the New York Foundling Hospital which cared for Catholic children .
Both are still active today in non-adoptive services.
The Society's first "orphan train" was organized in September 1854 with 46 ten-to-twelve-year old boys and girls.
Their destination was Dowagiac, Michigan.
All 46 - plus a street boy who sneaked aboard at Albany -- were placed successfully in new homes.
The program was an unqualified success.
From 1854 to 1929, more than 150,000 children were sent on orphan trains to new homes in rural America.
Placements were discontinued in 1930 because prospective foster parents during the Great Depression were reluctant to add another person to feed.
Not all the children were orphans.
Many were half-grown youngsters - usually boys -- in large or single-parent families having difficulty carrying for an abundance of younger brothers and sisters.
As legal permissions were secured, a route was selected and an advance party of volunteers traveled the railroad line.
At promising towns, posters proclaiming "Homes Wanted For Orphans" were placed in public places.
A hall was rented and "adoption committees" were formed to line up prospective families.
Upon arrival at the designated stops, all the children were washed, hair combed and urged to smile and when examined by adults.
The usual procedure was to line up the children on a platform for inspection.
Husky boys were quickly claimed.
Farmers seeking workerswould feel the boys' muscles and if satisfactory lead them to a desk were adoption papers were signed.
Contributions of money were encouraged but not required.
Toddlers also were in demand by childless couples.
Plain, older girls were the last to be claimed near the end of the railroad line.
A few "problem" children were never claimed.
In heartfelt sorrow they were returned to the New York orphanage.
Some rode twice on orphan trains to finally get accepted.
Children were told not to try and find or communicate with their birth parents or siblings.
Nevertheless, some did - with varying success.
It is estimated that a thousand "riders" in their seventies are living today.
Annual reunions are popular.
Agents of the Society made occasional trips to check on the welfare of its former wards.
Infrequently abused or unwanted childrenwere taken back for a second attempt at placement.
Orphan train historian Annette Riley Fry writes that the Children'sAid Society kept follow-up records on their placements.
Most grew up to be worthy citizens.
Some became leaders in government, business, church and military.
One of these was John Brady who was on an orphan train that paused at Noblesville, Ind.
Judge John Green liked to relate in later years why he chose John as a foster son: "I decided to take him home with me because I considered him the homeliest, toughest, most unpromising boy in the while lot.
I had a curious desire to see what could be made of such a specimen of humanity.
" Judge Green lived to see Brady graduate from Yale and Union Theological Seminary.
Mrs.
Green saw her foster son become a three-term governor of Alaska.
Despite personal difficulties, most family match-ups were harmonious.
Typical is the life experience of Charles Cordis - as related by his grandson Charles Cordis III of Port Charlotte: "Grandfather was adopted by the Clarence Wilcox family at Rosemont, Illinois.
They were potato farmers and devoted Puritan Congregationalists.
"When Grandfather grew up, he married the Wilcox daughter Mary.
They had four children -- three boys including my father Charles Cordis, Jr.
, and one girl.
All went to college.
Grandfather died in 1999 at age 83, a contented man.
" June 17, 2001
Cordis' mother and father were German immigrants seeking new opportunity in America -- as thousands of other Europeans were doing.
Instead, they found premature death from influenza.
Dreams of a new life had seemed so promising.
Father Cordis was a commercial artist.
Some of his designs were incorporated in a restoration of the White House.
Little "Chuck" was devastated by the loss of his parents.
Without other family to take him in, he was placed in an orphanage by city authorities.
Yet, he was more fortunate than the thousands of homeless children who scavenged in the streets of New York at that time.
The immigrants' search for a better life did not always succeed.
Many were undernourished and sickly upon arrival.
Those without practical skills literally starved to death, leaving children to fend for themselves.
The youngest children made it into the city orphanages, but the problem was too large for public welfare.
Most of the half-starved kids formed gangs that cooperated to find clothing in trash piles, protect themselves from predators, beg pennies, steal food and huddle together at night in doorways.
These wandering gangs of youngsters were commonly known as "street Arabs.
" A young Congregational minister, Charles Loring Brace, went to New York City in 1853 from his native Connecticut to complete a thesis for his seminary degree.
He was appalled at the hordes of ragged, dirty children pestering him for pennies.
Brace gave up his thesis studies to try and help "these children of unhappy fortune.
"His first plan was to establish trade schools and "dime banks" in the belief these would teach homeless children to become self sufficient.
It was soon apparent, however, that this approach was too slow.
A year later, Brace adopted the train idea tried by Boston a decade earlier.
He wrote: "The great duty is to get them out of their surroundings and to send them away to kind, Christian homes in the country.
" It should be remembered that in this period - the start of an industrial revolution and crowded city life - there was a growing need for food.
Farm workers were scarce.
Brace founded the Children's Aid Society to raise funds and organize caravans of trains to transport orphans to heartland farms where they would be adopted and reared in a traditional family.
The Society soon was joined by the New York Foundling Hospital which cared for Catholic children .
Both are still active today in non-adoptive services.
The Society's first "orphan train" was organized in September 1854 with 46 ten-to-twelve-year old boys and girls.
Their destination was Dowagiac, Michigan.
All 46 - plus a street boy who sneaked aboard at Albany -- were placed successfully in new homes.
The program was an unqualified success.
From 1854 to 1929, more than 150,000 children were sent on orphan trains to new homes in rural America.
Placements were discontinued in 1930 because prospective foster parents during the Great Depression were reluctant to add another person to feed.
Not all the children were orphans.
Many were half-grown youngsters - usually boys -- in large or single-parent families having difficulty carrying for an abundance of younger brothers and sisters.
As legal permissions were secured, a route was selected and an advance party of volunteers traveled the railroad line.
At promising towns, posters proclaiming "Homes Wanted For Orphans" were placed in public places.
A hall was rented and "adoption committees" were formed to line up prospective families.
Upon arrival at the designated stops, all the children were washed, hair combed and urged to smile and when examined by adults.
The usual procedure was to line up the children on a platform for inspection.
Husky boys were quickly claimed.
Farmers seeking workerswould feel the boys' muscles and if satisfactory lead them to a desk were adoption papers were signed.
Contributions of money were encouraged but not required.
Toddlers also were in demand by childless couples.
Plain, older girls were the last to be claimed near the end of the railroad line.
A few "problem" children were never claimed.
In heartfelt sorrow they were returned to the New York orphanage.
Some rode twice on orphan trains to finally get accepted.
Children were told not to try and find or communicate with their birth parents or siblings.
Nevertheless, some did - with varying success.
It is estimated that a thousand "riders" in their seventies are living today.
Annual reunions are popular.
Agents of the Society made occasional trips to check on the welfare of its former wards.
Infrequently abused or unwanted childrenwere taken back for a second attempt at placement.
Orphan train historian Annette Riley Fry writes that the Children'sAid Society kept follow-up records on their placements.
Most grew up to be worthy citizens.
Some became leaders in government, business, church and military.
One of these was John Brady who was on an orphan train that paused at Noblesville, Ind.
Judge John Green liked to relate in later years why he chose John as a foster son: "I decided to take him home with me because I considered him the homeliest, toughest, most unpromising boy in the while lot.
I had a curious desire to see what could be made of such a specimen of humanity.
" Judge Green lived to see Brady graduate from Yale and Union Theological Seminary.
Mrs.
Green saw her foster son become a three-term governor of Alaska.
Despite personal difficulties, most family match-ups were harmonious.
Typical is the life experience of Charles Cordis - as related by his grandson Charles Cordis III of Port Charlotte: "Grandfather was adopted by the Clarence Wilcox family at Rosemont, Illinois.
They were potato farmers and devoted Puritan Congregationalists.
"When Grandfather grew up, he married the Wilcox daughter Mary.
They had four children -- three boys including my father Charles Cordis, Jr.
, and one girl.
All went to college.
Grandfather died in 1999 at age 83, a contented man.
" June 17, 2001
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