Orphan Trains

The Orphan Trains: 1854-1930

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Also Known As:
Baby Trains, Mercy Trains

History:
Between 1854 and 1930, an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 children were shipped from the eastern USA to western states and territories. The children were not necessarily orphans: there were also children of single parents, street children, runaways, prostitutes, etc. Efforts were made to get parental consent where possible, and the children were sent to individual foster and adoptive families, not to institutions.

The motivation was three-fold:

to help populate the West by strong white people,
to provide a better future for the children, and
to rid eastern city streets of beggars and urchins.

In some cases children were sent in batches, collected in a local opera house or similar large venue, and prospective parents (usually informally vetted beforehand by town worthies) would come and pick the child they wanted, just as one would chose a dog at an animal shelter, or the way slaves were sold. In many cases, children stood on platforms, benches, or boxes to be chosen, and this practice is said to be the origin of the phrase "put up for adoption."

The train would start out full, make a number of stops along its chosen route (advertised in the local newspapers in advance), gradually discharging its human cargo. This degrading treatment was avoided in other cases by attempting to match adopters' wishes with children selected by social welfare workers prior to shipment, so that each child was sent to a previously identified family. Children were sometimes sent as indentured servants, little better than slaves, but most were destined for fostering and adoption, with the intention that they be fully absorbed into their new families.

At least two children who were sent West under the scheme became successful, influential adults. Coincidentally they were sent to the same town in Indiana and were boyhood friends: Andrew Burke, later governor of North Dakota, and John Brady, later territorial governor of Alaska.

References:

Warren, Andrea. "Orphan Train Rider: One Boy's True Story." (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1996)
Patrick, Michael; Sheets, Evelyn, and Trickel, Evelyn. "We Are a Part of History." (Virginia Beach: Donning Co., 1990)
Vogt, Martha Nelson, and Vogt, Christina. "Searching for Home: Three Families from the Orphan Trains." (Grand Rapids: Triumph Press, 1986)
"Orphan Train Riders: Their Own Stories," edited by Mary Ellen Johnson. (Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1992-96)

Related Resources:

History of Adoption

Video: "Orphan Train" (1979)

Starring:
Jill Eikenberry
Kevin Dobson
Glenn Close

Directed by:
William A. Graham

Elsewhere on the Web:

Orphan Train Riders - The Orphan Train Heritage Society of America publishes material about the children and the program.
DiPasquale, Connie. "A History of the Orphan Trains."
Riders on the Orphan Trains - a Literary/Musical Presentation and Audience Discussion
"The Orphan Train" - by Andrea Warren, The Washington Post
"The Orphan Trains: Transcript." - from PBS

Source: Roger Fenton's database of Famous Adoptees, Foster Children and Others. Used by permission.

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