As orphanages in the northeastern part of the United States began to bulge at their seams, something had to be done to eliminate the over-crowding and, it was hoped, to provide some of the children with permanent families and homes.
Immigrants had long been coming to America to find better jobs and a promise of a better life. This didn't always turn out to be the case. Immigrant children often found themselves living in an orphanage where they were at least guaranteed three meals a day, a cot to sleep on and some
semblance of medical care.
Other children had parents who simply could not afford to care for them or they lacked the physical and mental ability to do so. Another segment of the orphanage population were, indeed, orphans - both parents being deceased.
The orphanages were unable to provide for many other children and they were left with nothing but the streets of New York for a home. They sold what they could to survive, usually matches, newspapers and rags but as would be expected, they fell victim to crimes and disease.
At the same time in the midwest, farming families could always use an extra hand and many were eager to bring a new youngster into their family and offer them a good life. And, as in all parts of the country, there were married couples who could not have children of their own.
The children who made this journey from the northeast, mainly from New York, to the farmlands of the midwest, were the passengers of the Orphan Trains.
It is not easy to research these children or the trains they rode. Actual records are almost non-existent and the passengers did not remember, or didn't want to remember what their life had been like before the trip. Those children who had living relatives "back home" probably never saw them again.
While the main idea of the Orphan Trains was basically a good one, to give these children a family and opportunities they would not have ever had, the outcomes were varied. Some of the children, then teenagers, were taken solely for the work the farmers hoped to get out of them. Others, fortunately, were taken into loving homes and treated very well.
Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas were the prime destinations for the Orphan Trains. Of those trains which originated in New York City, three major facilities provided most of the riders: New York Foundling Hospital, which was affiliated with the Catholic Church, New York Junenile Asylum and the New York Children's Aid Society. It is estimated that 13,000 children lived at the New York Foundling Hospital between 1870 - 1925 and 5,000 children lived in lodging houses of the Children's Aid Society between 1855 - 1925.
In addition to the three major facilities mentioned above, the number of children increases many fold when we consider other institutions that sent orphans west on the Orphan Trains. This is a partial list and an accounting of the numbers of orphans is not available.
Angel Guardian Home
Association for Befriending Children & Young Girls
Association for Benefit of Colored Orphans
Baby Fold
Baptist Children's Home of Long Island
Bedford Maternity, Inc.
Bellevue Hospital
Bensonhurst Maternity
Berachah Orphanage
Berkshire Farm for boys
Berwind Maternity Clinic
Beth Israel Hospital
Bethany Samaritan Society
Bethleham Lutheran Children's Home
Booth Memorial Hospital
Borough park Maternity Hospital
Brace Memorial Newsboys House
Bronx Maternity Hospital
Brooklyn Benevolent Society
Brooklyn Hebrew Orphan Asylum
Brooklyn Home for Children
Brooklyn Hospital
Brooklyn Industrial lSchool
Brooklyn Maternity Hospital
Brooklyn Nursery & Infants Hospital
Brookwood Child Care
Catholic Child Care Society
Cathollic Committee for Refugees
Catholic Guardian Society
Catholic Home Bureau
Child Welfare League of America
Children's Aid Society
Children's Haven
Children's Village, Inc.
Church Mission of Help
Colored Orphan Asylum
Convent of Mercy
Dana House
Door of Hope
Duval Collage for Infant Children
Edenwald School for Boys
Erlanger Home
Euphrasian Residence
Family Reception Center
Fellowship House for boys
Ferguson House
Five Points House of Industry
Florence Crittendon League
Goodhue Home
Grace Hospital
Graham Windham Services
Greer-Woodycrest Children's Services
Guardian Angel Home
Guild of the Infant Savior
Hale House for Infants, Inc.
Half-Orphan Asylum
Harman Home for Children
Heartsease Home
Hebrew Orphan Asylum
Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society
Holy Angels' School
Home for Destitute Children
Home for Destitute Children of Seamen
Home for Friendless Women and Children
Hopewell Society of Brooklyn
House of the Good Shepherd
House of Mercy
House of Refuge
Howard Mission & Home for Little Wanderers
Infant Asylum
Infants' Home of Brooklyn
Institution of Mercy
Jewish Board of Guardians
Jewish Protectory & Aid Society
Kallman Home for Children
Little Flower Children's Services
Maternity Center Association
McCloskey School & Home
McMahon Memorial Shelter
Mercy Orphanage
Messiah Home for Children
Methodist Child Welfare Society
Misericordia Hospital
Mission of the Immaculate Virgin
Morrisania City Hospital
Mother Theodore's Memorial Girls' Home
Mothers & Babies Hospital
Mount Siani Hospital
New York Foundling Hospital
New York Home for Friendless Boys
New York House of Refuge
New York Juvenile Asylum
New York Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children
Ninth St. Day Nursery & Orphans' Home
Orphan Asylum Society of the City of Brooklyn
Orphan House
Ottilie Home for Children
More information and news articles about Orphans and Orphan Trains can be found on the left "Orphan Train News Articles."
Back To The Adoption Experience Homepage.
It didn't matter who you were, if you had the money you could buy a baby. No background checks were made and records were often falisfied.
Some maternity homes operated above board while other were no more than baby brokers.
Read about these trains and the agencies who provided the young travelers who rode them, carrying few belongings and not knowing where they would end up.
Registration Day (Reg Day) happens once each year; it's purpose is to encourage and support. Any birth family member or adoptee can register at ISRR.net for free.
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