Orphan Trains

Between 1853 and 1929 at least two hundred thousand children and several thousand adults participated in a migration unique in America's history. "Placing out" a relocation system that attempted to find homes in the West for the urban poor, is perhaps best known today by the term "orphan trains". This was the most used method of transporting the children and adults to their new homes.

Although we think of "placing out" as an American phenomena, this assumption is incorrect. Migrations of this sort occurred in Europe but definitely not on the same scale or quantity of people involved. The "placing out" migration in America was such a part of the 1850's and had reached such a level of operation that by the late nineteenth century it could be descussed in a popular magazine of the era.

In 1825, New York State had only 4 orphan asylums. Just over forty years later in 1866, the state had sixty such institutions, both public and private. These types of institutions were not just an east coast phenomena but could be found in all sections of the country by the end of the century. Many were sponsored by church denominations although there were state institutions also. Some of the known instiutions were Baltimore's Hebrew Orphan Asylum, Philadelphia's home for the Destitute Colored Children, St. Mary's Male Orphan Asylum in Rochester, New York and the Asylum for Orphan's and Destitute Indian Children, in upstate New York, and San Francisco's Orphanage Asylum Society to mention a few. Orphan asylums were not just for the completely bereft of family. Soon the word "orphan" became expanded in its significance to include half-orphans, and later to embrace destitute children having living relatives many of whom were in a conditin yet more unfortunate than the orphanages.

There was an acceptance of "placing out" removed children from the streets, relieving the public officials and private organizations from caring for the indigent. It allowed society to assure itself that children were being given an opportunity for self-improvement in a more healthful environment. It satisfied the call for labor in the west and gave promise of providing Christian guidance in these innocents.

"Placing out" in America was given form by Charles Loring Brace who became instrumental in founding the New York Children's Aid Society in 1853. Brace became convinced that any effort "to reform adults was well-nigh hopeless" so he directed his energies to the salvation of children. There were two other contemporaries who are know to have considered "placing out" as an option for dealing with the urban poor. They are Robert M Hartley of the Association for Improving the Conditions of the Poor and John Earl Williams of the Boston Children's Mission.

What they idealized was a theory for removing the urban poor to the less populated and more rural areas of the country. This system became known as "placing out". The plan was simple. "Little companies" consisting of between five to thirty five children were arranged with an adult leader known as an Aid Society agent, then they were taken to rural communities. The manner of placement was a selction process with families or "employers" choosing from among the children. It was a usually held at the train depot and had an atmosphere of a circus with children performing little abilities trying to get "adopted".

(The previous information is being presented under the fair use doctrine of the US Copyright Law. Thank you. This information was taken from: "The Orphan Trains: Placing Out in america" by Marilyn Irvin Holt, University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln & London, England (c)1992. ISBN: 0-8032-2360-9)

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