Orphan Train Articles

Palo Alto Reporter July 10, 1880

The orphan boys sent out by the Children's Aid Society, of New York, arrived in Emmetsburg on Friday, of
last week, and were met by the local committee, Messrs.E.S.Ormsby, John J. Robbins and John H.Hinkley . There were seven of them, four or five of them were of German descent, speaking very much broken. They found homes as follows : With James Scott of Emmetsburg township : Z.F.Dickinson, of Walnut : Chas. McCormick of West Bend : G.H.Pendlebury  , of Silver Lake : Hugh Butler, of Vernon : R.B.Skinner, of Emmetsburg : J.M. Hovey, of Silver Lake. This array of names is guarantee that the boys have all found pleasant homes
and kind people who will do well by them. The committee informs us that more boys are coming, and any person wanting one should make application at once to the above committee.

From the Palo Alto Reporter October 2, 1880:

Mr. E. Trott of the New York Children's Aid Society, arrived at Emmetsburg a week ago with a second installment of boys and one girl. There were nineteen of the boys, and they were of all sizes, and there was surely not less than thirty-eight different temperaments divided among them.

As a rule they had bright faces; in fact, if you were to go into any school in the country and at random take twenty boys whose ages ranged between five and seventeen years, it is doubtful if you would have a better averaged lot. After stating the circumstances under which they were bought west, Mr. Trott proceeded to distribute them to the parties who had previously made application, as follows:

Thos. Cook, aged 16, Wm. Jackman.
Henry Wiley, aged 12, A. Miller.
Edw. Franklin, aged 15, John Body.
Clarence Frazer, aged 9, L.D.Prouty.
Adolph Bowers, aged 16, John Owens.
Theo. Carl, aged 15, John Rundell.
W.H.Andrews, aged 12, Edw. Harrison
Wm. Gillion, aged 12, T. Cummins.
Albert Gillion, aged 10, F.F. Wilcox
A. Palmer, aged 7, J.W.Hovey
Lena Kipp, aged 9, J.W.Hovey.
Adam Shallein, aged 10, John Kreig.
Geo. Weinbecker, aged 5, W.A. Stevens.
Edw. Bristler, aged 17, Fred Myers.
Peter Dwyer, aged 16, Mrs. M. Acers.
Theo. Obite, aged 17, J. Weisbrod.
Henry Schwartz, aged 15, H. Kettlewell.
Henry Crocker, aged 9, D. Kelly.
Richard Prescott, aged 11, M.L. Randall.
Chas. Oleson, aged 14, A.B.Carter

It will be seen that the boys, as a rule, got very good homes, some of them exceptionally so. We bespeak for both big and little kind treatment, and especially so for the little fellows. Some time since, a western newspaper spoke against this bringing of these boys to the West, and said there was no good in them; but one, at least, of the New York papers takes a different view of the matter and says the Society is sending out what should be the bone and sinew of the future years. Messrs. Jas. Scott, Z.F. Dickinson and others who took the boys before, speak very highly of them and seem to be well pleased so far. The Society is doing a noble work in removing these boys from the temptations of the city and bringing them to the country where even the smallest will in a year or two be abundantly able to earn a livelihood.