Following the Orphan Train Riders

Orphan Train
Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Searching for one’s family history can be rewarding but also frustrating. Perhaps few have as great a challenge as descendants of Orphan Train Riders. Between 1854 and 1929, more than 200,000 poor and orphaned were “placed out” in rural communities in 47 states and Canada.

How did it all begin? Mass immigration to the United States during the 19th century left America’s eastern port cities overflowing with the destitute. The abundance of cheap labor led to poor paying jobs. Often entire families, including children as young six, worked 12 hours a day to afford food and a room shared with as many as ten others. Illness, accidents, lost wages, unwanted pregnancies, or death quickly sent families into poverty. In 1850, the city of New York estimated that 30,000 “vagrant children” roamed the streets. Another 3,000 lived by stealing.

At the same time, a labor shortage existed throughout the Midwest and on the Plains. Reformers and missionaries believed that traditional rural values held the promise of American life. If children could grow up on farms and in small communities, they would become productive, responsible, Christian citizens.

Leading the way was Charles Loring Brace, one of the founders of the New York Children’s Aid Society. The New York Foundling Hospital was also committed to helping the urban poor as were smaller charitable institutions. But the New York Children's Aid Society was deeply committed to resettling the destitute. The society placed out more than half of all of the poor between 1854 and 1910. Many more were relocated in the final two decades of the program.

Now, as then, the perception remains that the destitute were shipped to rural areas in what we today call the “West.” But, according to researchers at the National Orphan Train Complex in Concordia, Kansas, the New York Children’s Aid Society resettled 1/3 within its own state. Ninety percent of the remaining poor found homes in the states of Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, and Iowa. Nearly 8,000 were resettled in Ohio.  Some 12,500 were placed in Michigan.

Agents traveled by rail with as few as five and as many as 50 children. Although most were not orphans, the trains soon became known as “orphan trains.” They stopped at rural communities, where locals gathered at depots, churches, courthouses, or schools. There they inspected the lot of waifs and made selections.

Children’s experiences were as varied as their personalities and the families who chose them. Some were separated from siblings, never knowing their heritage or their parents’ names. Some endured constant hard labor and beatings, living in surroundings worse than those they had left in New York or Boston. Others were well cared for, educated and cherished for the remainder of their lives by the families who gave them a home.

Today, it is estimated that there are 2 million descendants. Many want to know more about their grandparents and great grandparents experiences even if their stories were grim and their lives were painful. A good place to learn more is through the National Orphans Train Complex website. Contact information, reunion dates, research materials, and much more is available. PBS' American Experience website features an excellent bibliography and Teacher's Guide.

A version of this article appeared in Lifestyles 2000.

The Napiers: A Seafaring Family

Some called Captain Benjamin Napier a rogue, who sailed amidst Lake Erie’s islands and waged a furious but futile war with the Kelleys for ownership of Cunningham’s Island (Kelleys Island). Others described him as a good-natured giant of a man with a heart to match. Whatever he was, no one could deny that Benjamin Napier was a superb sailor, who raised a family of larger-than-life seafaring sons on Lake Erie.

Among them was Nelson Napier, who left Ohio to settle near St. Joseph, Michigan, in the heart of the “Great Fruit Belt.” He soon captained a Great Lakes steamer and developed his own orchards. Later, Napier convinced his employer, the Goodrich Shipping Line, to establish a regular route from St. Joseph to Chicago, where the fruit trade was booming. A gentle giant like his father, Napier was loved and revered as one of the finest sailors on Lake Michigan. First on the “Comet,” then the “Corona,” and finally on the refurbished side-wheeler “Alpena,” Captain Napier plied the waters of Lake Michigan. Three nights each week, he carried a cargo of fruit and passengers across the lake.

On an Indian summer afternoon in October 1880, Napier sailed out of Grand Haven with his usual cargo of fruit, a 25-man crew, and twice that many passengers. Halfway through his run, he encountered a squall. A veteran sailor, Napier had weathered many of them. But suddenly the 65-degree temperature plummeted to below freezing. The night skies filled with snow and sleet. Hurricane force winds battered the “Alpena.” .

Napier’s terrified passengers were thrown about violently in their cabins that were rapidly filling with freezing water. Knowing he could not make safe harbor, Captain Napier turned about, trying to keep the “Alpena” afloat. The crew of the “Hattie Wells,” running parallel to the “Alpena,” looked on helplessly. Captain Dearkoff later said, “Me and my crew stood on deck and watched him try to turn his ship around in that storm. She was halfway around and that wind just took right hold of her and turned her over. …We watched her disappear under the waves.” Some speculated that the recently repaired rudder chain had broken again. Others felt as Captain Napier had once expressed; side-wheelers were not suited for open lakes, where large waves rocked the vessel, often leaving one wheel out of the water.

The storm raged for three days. When it was all over, two bodies, apples, a piano, and bits of the “Alpena” were strewn across a 70-mile stretch of beach north of Holland, Michigan. Although Napier’s ship was never found, a piece of cabin molding washed ashore. Stuffed between the cracks was a note that read, “This is terrible. The steamer is breaking up fast. I am aboard from Grand Haven to Chicago.” A year later, a bottle floated onto the beach at Point Betsie. Inside was a note bearing the last words from passenger George Moore.

He described the terror on board the “Alpena” that night: “She has broke her port wheel; is at mercy of seas; is half full of water; God help us. Capt. Napier washed overboard. The finder of this note will please communicate with my wife and let her know of my death.” But it would not be the last of the “Alpena.” In 1909, twenty-nine years after the storm, the “Alpena’s” name board floated ashore!


History of Warren Chapel A.M.E. Church, Fremont, Ohio

A History of Warren Chapel A.M.E. Church

Fremont, Ohio

Compiled by Charles J. Weiker
2012

Around 1859, Mrs. Eliza Hughes of Genoa, Ohio started religious meetings in the homes of the few colored families that had settled in Fremont, Ohio. She was a faith-healer and ordained preacher of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; and would later move to Fremont, Ohio and marry Abraham Carr in that locale in 1867. Mrs. Carr was instrumental in organizing a congregation of her denomination and building a church in Fremont; where both white and colored would attend. The parishioners of Mrs. Carr's fledging congregation, organized in 1862, came primarily from the Thomas Vincent Curtis family one of the earliest colored pioneer families, who arrived in 1833.

As time went on, for some reason; the effects of Mrs. Carr's early work never materialized. It was Thomas G. Reese, a son-in-law of Thomas Vincent Curtis, who took up the proposition to continue to keep the congregation going and its hopes for a church building growing.

On July 8, 1868, property located at 607 Second Street was sold 'for divers good causes and considerations' to Absalom Revels, Thomas V. Curtis and Orlando Curtis, who were the trustees of the African Methodist Episcopal Church of Fremont. The property was sold to them for the sum of $1.00 byWilliam J. Greene, Joshua M. Dotson, Orlando Curtis, Abraham Carr and Charles Moore; the trustees of the Christian Church of Fremont.

The church, which was built that same year, was a small frame building that set close to the ground on a stone foundation. The structure had a tower with a bell installed within it to welcome all as a call to worship. The building also had a pot-bellied stove for heating, oil lamps, and outside facilities. The edifice was first called Payne Chapel, named after Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne, who was an American bishop, educator, college administrator and author. He became a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and was a major shaper of the denomination in the 19th century. At some point, Payne Chapel was renamed Warren, which was chosen from Warren A.M.E. Church in Toledo, Ohio; which is a few years older than the Fremont church. The Toledo Warren A.M.E. was named for Reverend Charles W. Warren of Pennsylvania, who became pastor of the Toledo Church in 1865.

Warren Chapel A.M.E. Church remained much the same until 1919, when the church was raised up and a basement put under it. On Sunday, September 7, 1919 the cornerstone services were conducted with a procession that started on Front Street at 2:40 p.m. and proceeded to the church by way of State Street, Sandusky Avenue, Chestnut Street and Second Street. In conjunction with the ceremony of laying the cornerstone, addresses were given by Mayor Harry S. Day and the Honorable Arthur W. Overmyer. The singing was rendered by a special quartet from Warren A.M.E. Church of Toledo, Ohio and band music by the Woodman and Light Guard bands. In 1921 or 1922, the parsonage was built on the south side of the church. Minor improvements were made over the years. These included painting, new windows, roof shingles, floor tile over the old oak floor, and a new furnace.

And as the years passed, time was taking its toll on the century-old structure. In 1963, when Rev. Harold E. Sheffield was assigned to the church, there was $154.64 in the Building Fund. In 1968, an effort was started to raise money for another building.

A property was purchased at 703 Second and Mulberry streets, from Mrs. Edna Broshious for $7,900.00. The house on the property was rented until September of 1971, when the house was razed and burned on the site. A one floor plan, designed by Harry Heyman, was approved by the church's membership, which initiated the groundbreaking ceremonies that were performed on October 3, 1971 by Bishop William Wilkes, Rev. H.E. Sheffield, Rev. C.S. Hinton, Rev. Donald Jacobs and Fremont Mayor George Demmel. Construction of the new church started with footers being dug on October 11, 1971. The construction continued until the cold weather set in. It was continued in the spring of 1972.

Most of the labor was done by members and friends: Samuel Weiker, Chester Weiker, Charles Erner, Earl McMullen, William Roberts, Ronald Roberts, Millard Tucker, Thomas Mayberry, John Bowes, Robert Williams, John Carter, Robert Clark, Jim Troike, James Avant, Ed Zimmerman, Jake Feagins, Jerry Schneider, Tory Jackson, Larry Williams, Mrs. Lillie Lewis, Melvin Roberts, Robert Atkins, James Minnifield, Sam Barbour, Ken Werling, Paul Woesner and Rev. Harold E. Sheffield. The women of the Church provided lunch. The Building Committee consisted of Rev. Harold E. Sheffield, Samuel Weiker, Jake Feagins, Julia Feagins, Lillie Lewis, Marguerite Polter, Chester Weiker, Millard Tucker, Odessa Howard, Tory Jackson, Thomas Mayberry, Arline Ellison, Charles Erner, Dallas Wallace, Henry Smith, Evelyn D. Weiker, Evelyn A. Weiker and Earl McMullen. On December 17, 1972, services ended at the old structure. The choir and the congregation marched to the new edifice, with the new address of 304 Mulberry Street, where services continued. The old bell was dismantled and placed in the front yard of the new church; as a reminder of the church's past and its future of worship and praise.



Rutherford B. Hayes Exhibit on Display at The Ohio State University

President Rutherford B. Hayes

Legendary Ohio State University football coach Woody Hayes would not have had a place to work had it not been for a man who shared his surname.

Rutherford B. Hayes was governor of Ohio in 1870 when he urged the Ohio General Assembly to pass a bill creating a land-grant university under the Morrill Act of 1862. His persistence led to passage of the bill establishing the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College in Columbus - today known as The Ohio State University.

The Hayes Presidential Center and The Ohio State University's Rare Books & Manuscripts Library have partnered to create an exhibit Rutherford B. Hayes: Buckeye President. It is on display May 9 - August 26 in Thompson Library Room 165 at The Ohio State University (1858 Neil Avenue). In addition to exploring Rutherford B. Hayes’ connection to OSU, the exhibit tells the story of his life. Exhibit hours are 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. Monday - Friday and noon - 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Rutherford B. Hayes: Buckeye President includes artifacts from the Center’s and The Ohio State University's collections.

*Footnote: Rutherford B. Hayes and Woody Hayes are not related.

U. S. Coast Guard Cutter Will Bear the Name of Great Lakes Sailor

Joseph Napier

Neidecker Collection

On March 2nd, the Bollinger Shipyards held a fleet dedication at Lockport, Louisiana, only the third in its history. Louisiana dignitaries along with more than 500 others were in attendance for the occasion. Under contract to Bollinger are 14 U.S. Coast Guard Fast Response Cutters. Each will be named for a hero who holds a special place in the Coast Guard’s celebrated history. Number Ten will honor the courageous Great Lakes sailor Captain Joseph Napier. He was the son of Captain Benjamin Napier, the Lake Erie sailor who waged battle for ownership of Kelleys Island. Losing out to the Kelleys, Benjamin Napier took his family west, following his brothers to Chicago.


There, son Joseph Napier became the city’s harbormaster. In the tradition of his seafaring family, Napier built, owned, and captained Great Lakes vessels. In 1854, the citizens of Chicago presented Napier with a gold watch for leading the daring rescue of the crew of the “Merchant:” during one of the city’s most violent storms.

Captain Napier eventually settled near St. Joseph, Michigan, where he was as loved and revered as his brother Captain Nelson Napier. When the federal government built its lifesaving station in 1874, Joseph Napier was appointed its keeper. Napier and his crew were responsible for multiple rescues on Lake Michigan.

According to the U. S. Coast Guard, “the most notable occurred Oct. 10, 1877, when the schooner “D.G. Williams” broke apart approaching the port in a storm.” The schooner's crew of six clung to the rigging as Napier and three of his crewmen rowed into the violent lake. The surfboat capsized on the first effort. The crew righted and boarded the surfboat and reached the “Williams,” rescuing two sailors. Heavy waves swamped the rescue boat on their next attempt, but the volunteers bailed the water, battled rough seas, and saved two more men. On their final attempt, the crew was thrown from the boat. Napier suffered a serious leg injury. One of the rescuers threw a line to Napier, who helped right the boat and rowed it alongside the “Williams.” The last two sailors were rescued.

The U. S. Life-Saving Service, the forerunner of the U.S. Coast Guard, awarded Captain Joseph Napier its first life-saving gold medal. Today the Coast Guard station at St. Joseph is located on the exact site as the station Napier oversaw. Adam Kane, the current chief of the station, said, “Joseph Napier continues to serve as an inspiration not only to the crew but also the community.”

Bollinger Shipyards announced that the “Joseph Napier” would be completed in 2014 and assigned to Miami, where the fast cutter will perform search and rescue, drug interdiction, and coastal security.

Captain Morris Rees Remembers

Captain Morris Rees

Through the recollections of Civil War soldiers, we learn that they, like others who have served in combat, struggled with the haunting memories of their experience. One of those was Captain Morris Rees, the last surviving commissioned officer of the 72nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

Before the war, Rees lived near Rollersville, Ohio, surrounded by a large number of his Welsh relatives. He remembered that at the age of 23, he “had the war fever so bad” that he left his wife and child “and went to Woodville alone in the night for the purpose of enlisting.” So filled with patriotism was Rees, that he recruited his friends, neighbors, and relatives to join him in fighting for the Union cause.

But the Civil War was not the glorious adventure Captain Rees had envisioned. He endured some of the conflict’s most horrific battles, disease, wounds, and months of imprisonment. Rees survived, but many of those he had recruited did not. After the war, Captain Rees wrote that he had “often looked at that long list of names and thought how soon they were all used up, nearly all gone in less than a year.”

Among the many Rees recruited was his uncle Evan, who died shortly after enlisting. He left behind a widow and three sons in a fragile economic state. Perhaps most painful for Rees was the death of his younger brother John. Immediately after Captain Rees’ release from prison, he went directly to Andersonville where his brother had languished near death for more than nine months. With the war nearly at an end, Captain Rees gained his brother’s freedom by threatening the Rebel guard with his life. But John was so weak that he died before reaching home.

When the veterans of the 72nd gathered for reunions, they rarely recounted their victories and their heroic war deeds. Instead, Captain Rees and others became pre-occupied with compiling and publishing the names, death dates, and burial places of their lost comrades. As survivors, it was their way of honoring the suffering and sacrifice of their lost comrades.

Sharing their memories of death and loss was not enough. Rees and 16 Sandusky County veterans returned to the South in 1887. Rees recorded the condition of the cemeteries and the exact number of graves in each. Perhaps in some way, seeing the old battlefields and cemeteries brought a measure of healing to the captain. However, he remained deeply disturbed by the “thousands of unidentified dead.”

In time, Captain Rees and other veterans worked to erect monuments at home and on the battlefields of Shiloh, Antietam, Chickamauga, and Vicksburg. In this 150th year of commemoration, the monuments serve as vivid reminders of the suffering and sacrifice of so many who gave their “last full measure” in the defining moment of our nation’s history.

A version of this post appeared in Lifestyles 2000.

Haviland China Exhibit Opens May 15th at the Hayes Presidential Center

 The Gilded Age of Haviland China

In the early 19th century Americans turned to Europe when purchasing china. When importer David Haviland was unable to satisfy his customers’ tastes for highly embellished fine china from European manufacturers, good-old American ingenuity came into play. Haviland built his own factory in Limoges, France, to turn out the finest china in the world with artistic flourishes to satisfy his U.S. customers.

The Hayes Presidential Center gathers an impressive collection of some of the earliest examples of Haviland China (1865-1895) for display in its exclusive exhibit The Gilded Age of Haviland China. The exhibit, created in partnership with regional Haviland collectors, is set to open May 15, 2012, and continues through September 16. The Gilded Age of Haviland China is supported by funding from title sponsor - the Randolph J. & Estelle M. Dorn Foundation .