Orphan train

Orphan Sam Van Hove arrived by the orphan train and was raised by the W. O. Kunkle family and his brother, Harry, was raised elsewhere but relocated to be near his brother.  Both boys married into the local Kern family. Sam is the man on the left in back row and his brother, Harry, is next to him.  Sam was born in 1880 in England and arrived in New York in 1887. The boys came by the train to the area in 1894.

The Hancock County Historical Society held its July 19, quarterly meeting with a presentation of the Orphan Train that made stops in Hancock County. HCHS volunteers, Joyce Buckert and Kim Nettles researched and presented on this topic.

The Orphan Train movement lasted from 1853 – 1930 during which time 150,000 children were shipped from eastern cities and placed with rural western families to include train stops at most depots in Hancock County.

When the train pulled in, folks wishing to support a child were allowed to choose the child of preference. In some cases, as pointed out by Nettles, the child chose his or her family by simply scanning the crowd and claiming the person they wished to “adopt”.

While this process seems outrageous by today’s standards, it was a viable alternative to the many tragic experiences of recent immigrants arriving in New York City and orphans resulting from the Civil War. To address growing problems and efforts to remove children from the streets to safer living conditions, the New York Children’s Aid Society was formed and worked jointly with the Juvenile Asylum.

Joyce and Kim began their research as an outgrowth to a research query from a descendant of one of these orphans’s taken in by a Hancock County resident. As is often the case, HCHS volunteers were intrigued to learn more about this movement and relationships to Hancock County families.

Their persistence paid off when they were able to locate more descendants and some were able to attend the meeting and share handed down stories.

These stories were the starting point for Kim and Joyce in pursuing information and factual data. While stories may be interesting, it is equally important to look at context of the times. Frequently, parents in dire consequences simply had to consider modes of survival when they were unable to find jobs, lacked a spouse and wanted something better for their children.

Descendants that were able to be located shared photos and the outcome of placement with their families. In most cases, the children grew up to be good citizens with productive and happy families of their own. As is the case, in any population, there were likely some abuses, children may have been misfits in a new family or never quite survived the harsh existence of early childhood and relocation.

Nettles pointed out stories reflecting a child’s need to cling to values. For example, one descendant recalled the story of a jelly cupboard brought over from Europe, when in actuality the cupboard was made in Iowa at a much later date. The cupboard served as continuity, and gave a sense of having family roots.

One descendant recalled her ancestor told stories of being the outcast sibling who had to sleep in an unheated back bedroom with the only heat rising from downstairs. As many “older” folks who were present shared, prior to the 1940s this was the way most second floor farm homes were heated prior to modern furnaces.

Lesson learned: Perception is everything.

For more information, check out the HCHS web site, www.hancockcountyhistory.com. Research on this topic is ongoing and list of orphans is updated as names are found.