The Orphan Train

By Rod Waldrip from the January 2022 Stereoscope

In the 1800’s, there was a growing problem of
orphaned or abandoned children among the urban
areas of the East Coast, particularity New York.
These were areas where hundreds of thousands of
immigrants were arriving with little work and no
welfare system to help them.

In 1854, Charles Loring Brace, had finished
seminary and was looking for a purpose for his
ministry when he was struck by the plight of the
homeless children in the cites. Many of these
children would either starve, succumb to disease or
turn to a life of crime to survive.
Brace founded the Children’s Aid Society in New
York and set to work developing a way to give the
homeless children a chance for a decent life. He
realized the need for manpower in the rural West
would provide a destination capable of absorbing
these children.

Working with the railroads, who would also
profit from the increasing industry as they pushed
West, the first Orphan Train went West in 1855 – to
the frontier of Ohio! Later trains would continue
West as the railroads expanded. At least one Orphan
Train going all the way to California!
The Homestead Act of 1862 with its five year
improvement requirement put added pressure on
settlers for manpower to secure their homestead
claim.

Through the Children’s Aid Society, and
Children’s Village, and later, the New York
Foundling Hospital, and the Catholic Church, over
the next 75 years as many as 250,000 children were
transplanted from the urban East to the rural West.
In all, about 4,000 orphans were placed in Nebraska
homes.

Nearly every town along the major train routes
received some of the orphans. In our area, towns
included: Alma, Hastings, Lexington, Grand Island,
York, McCook, and of course, Holdrege among
others.

In 1908, Holdrege and Phelps County received 14
children and in 1927, Holdrege again received 11
children. All of these were through the Children’s
Aid Society.

The different organizations used different
methods of matching children to families. Most
common was a line up at the train station or other
public facility, where, after having advertised in
advance, families would look over the children and
select the one or two that most suited their need. A
well-developed boy would naturally be desired for
farm labor while a girl might be needed to help with
cooking and laundry. And, in at least one case, a girl
was selected by elderly couple to “look after them in
their old age.”

The Catholic organization, however, matched
children to host families before they were sent west.
Though not perfect, this did seem to be the better
managed system.

A typical contract required the host to provide
food, shelter, clothing and rudimentary education.
The contract, at least for some organizations,
specified that the child was to be “indentured to the
age of 21.”

Although some children were adopted by their
host families, many were treated as servants or
laborers; and some were mistreated. There was a
system of checking up to see the children were in
good care, this was unevenly administered. It is also
noted that unless a child was adopted, they had no
legal claim on their host’s estate.

By 1929, the states had largely taken
responsibility for care of orphans and the Orphan
Trains ended.

Opinions are mixed as to the benefit of the
Orphan Trains for the children since we don’t know
how they would have fared by staying on the East
coast. We do know that among those who made it to
adulthood were several doctors, lawyers and a
Governor. Many wen