Wanted: Homes for Orphan Children – by Pam Crooks

Perhaps it’s the mother in me, but the story of the orphan trains has always captivated and dug into my innermost sympathies.  Images of dirty-faced, solemn-eyed children huddling together in the streets without parents to care for them would tug at anyone’s heartstrings.

Back in the 1850s, when New York was being flooded with immigrants, cheap housing became scarce. Poverty raged, and parents, either due to illness, death, or lack of jobs, compelled their children to fend for themselves on the streets.  These desperate children sold matches, rags, or newspapers to survive. As one would think inevitable, they fell victim to gangs and crimes. Overwhelmed police would capture the vagrant children and lock them up in jail with adults.

The Reverence Charles Brace, himself from an affluent family, took pity on the children and founded the Children’s Aid Society in 1853. He raised money for schools, lodging, and education.  Yet even with all this, the illiteracy and truancy was rampant, and the reverend’s solution was to get them out of the deplorable living conditions in New York and give them a new start by finding them fresh homes in the west, with good Christian families who would love and care for them.

Using funds donated by wealthy New Yorkers, the children were given new clothes and sturdy shoes, then put onto trains. With no formal social welfare system in place, parents signed agreements allowing the children to be taken to new homes, but with the caveat that they could return if the adoption didn’t work out.

Some children were pre-placed into homes and went directly to their new families upon arriving to the appropriate town.

For the others, however, handbills announced their impending arrival.  The public gathered in front of makeshift stages to check the children out. Reverend Brace’s intention was to place them in the country where they could work in farm families.

And this is what inspired my book, WYOMING WILDFLOWER. Here’s the scene where my hero, Lance Harmon, finally gets chosen:

The wind howled and whistled outside Omaha’s Old Opera House, but the men and women crowded inside had long ago forgotten the snow-driven cold. Children occupied their full attention, orphan children newly arrived on the train from New York.

Already, under the scrutinizing eyes of the adults, they’d paraded through the aisles before standing in a semicircle on the stage, and already most of them had been picked.

Only Lance remained. Unchosen. Alone.

Humiliation seared him. He stared straight ahead. So what if no one wanted him? So what if no one cared enough to take him in for a little while? He was fifteen, the oldest of the orphans here. Only two more years and he’d be on his own.

So what?

He’d survived nearly five years at the Children’s Aid Society. Nearly five years without Ma, of selling matches and newspapers and helping the Reverend Brace take care of the younger boys.

He could survive a couple more.

The western agent in charge would simply take him to the next scheduled stop. And there, as now, he’d stand perfectly still while everyone gawked at him in his stupid orphan uniform and tried to decide whether or not to take him.

Alone. He would survive.

Lance dragged his gaze to a burly-chested man waiting expectantly before him. Snow dusted the shoulders of his thick sheepskin coat and collected on the brim of his big hat. He moved closer, emanating an obscure vapor of cool, fresh air.

After a long moment, the man reached out and poked Lance’s biceps, then tilted his chin upward as if to inspect his coloring.

“A little scrawny,” he murmured. Offended, Lance stiffened and pulled away. The man smiled. “But nothing honest work and square meals won’t cure. You got a good appetite?”

Lance didn’t tell him he couldn’t get his fill at the orphanage, that there always seemed to be someone younger and hungrier than himself at the table. He tried to ignore the glimmer of hope flickering within him.

The man stroked his pencil-thin mustache. Lance, growing uneasy from the silence, shifted from one foot to the other.

“So you’re looking for a home, eh?” the man asked finally.

Lance swallowed his pride. “Yes, sir.”

“And I’m looking for a son.” His features softened, and he nodded in approval. He extended his hand. “Name’s Mancuso. Vince Mancuso.”

The Children’s Aid Society had many success stories of children placed in loving homes, notably Andrew Burke and John Brady who once lived on the streets, but were adopted out and grew up to become governors of North Dakota and of Alaska.  Other stories weren’t so happy and speak of abuse or rejection by adoptive parents, children used only as cheap labor who eventually just ran away.

All in all, the Reverend Brace’s vision endured until 1929. By then, 250,000 children had been placed on those trains and chugged down the tracks toward new homes.  After 75 years, his efforts were the forerunner of modern foster care.

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WYOMING WILDFLOWER is one of my earlier releases that I have given significant edits to fit the sweet romance genre.  This book has once again come alive for me in a new market, and yet still depicts the grittiness of the Old West as well as plenty of romance between a hero and a heroine who couldn’t be more different.

The Reverence Brace is to be commended for his vision and passion to help orphaned children. If you could raise the money and resources, what passion or vision do YOU have that you could use those resources for?

You could win an ebook copy of WYOMING WILDFLOWER!

 

Orphan Train Sweet Romances, and Train Travel in 1855

Hello everyone, Wendy May Andrews here. When I was planning this series I had to give a great deal of thought to the timing. I chose to set the series in 1855. I didn’t want to address any of the issues connected with the war so I had to make it as early as possible, but I also needed the train to go far enough West to be interesting. And, of course, there was the orphanage too. That’s the only place I took “creative license”. Mr. Charles Brace established the Children’s Aid Society in 1853 but in my first book, I have it that my heroine, Sophie, was a resident at the orphanage for ten years before she became one of the workers there. So the timing of that doesn’t quite jive. But other than that, everything else was perfect. And, too, there’s the fact that orphanages did exist in New York City ten years before 1855, just not one’s organized by Mr. Brace as he was only born in 1826.

The history surrounding the Orphan Trains is fascinating! I’m sure there are many sad tales in the annals of its history, but for the most part it afforded the opportunity for children to have a better life than what they would have had as abandoned orphans in the stews of the big city. Mr. Brace’s theory was that every farm table had room for at least one more, so he arranged for new homes out West with families who promised to house and educate the children. Unlike some other similar arrangements, Mr. Brace did not place the children in any sort of indentured circumstances so they had a better prospect for a happy future.

I also enjoyed researching what their new town might be like. This is a four book series. The first one, the prequel, takes place exclusively in New York, but the rest are set in their new town in Missouri. All three young women are city bred. The first, Cassie, had no intention of staying in the small town. She had just grown attached to the orphans and wanted to ensure they were getting good homes. Being a socialite from New York, she was a little appalled by the circumstances of the new town. But the other two young women, who planned to make new lives for themselves out West, were relieved to find it wasn’t as primitive as they had feared. Perspective is everything!

The rail construction boom also resulted in the development of new villages and towns along the way. The readier access to supplies with the train going through helped these new towns grow and thrive. I can’t say I would have loved to live back then, but it’s certainly a fascinating time to visit through research and good books.

Thank you for stopping by my guest visit here at Petticoats & Pistols! I’ll be giving away an ebook copy of Book 1 in the Orphan Train series. (Buy link for Sophie – Book 1

 

      SOPHIE

Blurb:

His pursuit of her threatens everything – except her heart:

Sophie Brooks has lived at the orphanage since she was ten years old. Now nineteen, she’s not only a resident, she works there as well. It’s the only true home she can remember and she’ll do whatever it takes to keep it safe.

When her budding relationship with the son of one of the orphanage’s benefactors threatens the charity’s funding, Sophie must choose between her loyalties and her heart.

 

 

I’d love it if you check out the whole series page on Amazon

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