‘Orphan Train’ brought many children west
John J. Brown, who went on to become a well-respected Vandalia attorney, was a boy of 7 when he, along with 26 other boys, including his brother, William, were brought to Fayette County on what was called the "Orphan Train."
John J. and William Brown, both born in New York City, were the sons of John and Mary Brown, immigrants from Dublin, Ireland. Following the death of their parents in 1858, the boys were placed with the New York Orphan Asylum.
The late Alenia McCord remembered an aged Greenville woman, Mrs. Celia Chapman, who came west to Illinois in 1860 on the same train as the Brown boys. A Bond County family took in Celia.
Other Fayette County residents who came west on the famous Orphan Train were Charles Daily, who was taken in by Columbus Peak about 1854, and William David Hull, born in Russia about 1841, who married Julia Causey. These children were among the estimated 30,000 homeless children in New York City.
The Children’s Aid Society of New York, founded by Charles Loring Brace, began sending children west via trains as early as 1853. Brace, a wealthy New York citizen, was appalled and concerned by the number of “orphans, foundlings and abandoned waifs” on New York City streets.
What to do with these children? His first attempt was to open training schools, but these barely met the need.
Brace did not want the children to serve an indenture, whereby they would work toward their freedom. He wanted them to have a home, and felt that placing them on farms in the West would be a healthy environment.
Prior to their arrival at each village, notices would be sent to local postmasters announcing the date and time of the trainload of orphans. These would be posted in the general store, community centers and churches. The average age of the children was between 5 and 17 years.
A local screening committee, made up of clergy and businessmen, would look over the prospective parents and decide who would be allowed to take a child home.
At each stop, the children would line up, sure to be on their best behavior. Those not taken would get back on the train until the next stop, when they would repeat their performance. Any who remained on the train at the end of the voyage would eventually be returned to the orphanage in New York City.
In the beginning, visits were made to the home after the child had been placed, and foster parents were to send reports twice a year. Nothing in the agreement gave the child the right to change his or her mind, but the Children’s Aid Society could remove a child at any time for just cause.
The years of the Orphan Train were 1854-1929, and thousands upon thousands of children were relocated all across the Midwest. Not all placements were ideal, and many stories exist of maltreatment.
However, the Orphan Trains brought hope to many whom would have died on the cruel New York City streets.
To those who descend from an Orphan Train rider, there are records available for research.
