By Donna Ward
Look back in time to the week of January 13, 1911. The lives
of some of our citizens are scored by that date. That week, the people of
Oskaloosa were discussing “The Orphans” who were coming from New York. Sentiments
were divided on the topic of these children. Men and women whose empty homes
had been denied children were anxiously waiting, daring to hope that their
dreams would come true and a child be theirs to keep. Prophets of gloom were
denouncing New York Easterners, the government and anything else convenient for
dumping the slum-bred problems of New York in Kansas’ clean, clear air. Others
were sympathetically considering the alternative fate of children who would
grow up into lives of degradation if left on the streets of the big cities.
Some people were thinking in terms of gaining an extra pair of hands to help
with the never ending farmwork. The majority of people, however, were simply
curious; were these waifs different in some way? Who would come and choose?
The Oskaloosa committee had been selected. Anna Laura Hill,
the children’s escort, needed their help in placing the little ones in suitable
homes. They inserted the following notice in the January 13th issue
of the Oskaloosa Independent:
“Agents of
Children’s Aid Society have fifteen children from orphanages of New York State
here for distribution this afternoon and evening, after the manner of the late
distribution at Valley Falls. The local committee is composed of Drs. McCreight
and Smith, D.A. Bliss, W.E. Huddleston, G.N. Jacquemin, S.E. True, J.H.
Morrow.”
These men were influential in the community. They were
cognizant of the position, temperament, and ability of most of the local
residents. By practicing careful selection, the Children’s Aid Society claimed
a 90 percent record for permanent placement.
Although many of the children placed by the Children’s Aid
Society were adopted, that was not a requirement for placement. Even after the
careful screening, Miss Hill returned from time to time to check on the
children’s progress, the suitability of their homes and education. Many of the
children established close friendships with Miss Hill, and corresponded with
her the rest of her life.
The children had traveled on a regular passenger coach.
After forty-three hours on the train, they were grimy and disheveled when they
arrived. Miss Hill worked with experienced hands to clean them up, scrub their
faces, slick down their hair, and brush their clothing. They stepped off that
train prepared to face a new life in a new state with new families. To their
eyes, the people looked and sounded somewhat strange. The little ones hid their
faces, the older boys vacillated between sullen stares and bravado poses, and
the girls tried to look calm and pretty while blushing under the stares of the
depot spectators.
Miss Hill gathered her group about her, much as a mother
would collect her brood. The ride into town on the hack was a pleasant relief
from the stuffy coach. She counted out the 25¢ fare and ushered the children
into the hotel. In the privacy of the hotel, they attacked the grime of their
journey in earnest. The older children helped the younger ones. Miss Hill
soothed their nervous jitters and short tempers, and reassured the frightened
ones with her calm attendance to duties. After the brief respite, Miss Hill
began her conversations with the local citizens. Some families offered
temporary housing for some of the children. The youngest child was Friedolf
Fredricksen, age two. He ate his first meal in Oskaloosa with the William Payne
family. With his blond curls, impish smile, and brave acceptance of what life
was offering him, he quickly made friends in his new hometown.
The month before this trainload arrived, a group of children
had been placed in Valley Falls. Circulars had been distributed there, but the Oskaloosa Independent of December 9,
1910, had quoted the bulletin in its entirety with a headline “New York Waifs
in Jefferson County.” Similar circulars had been posted in the city and passed
around the county. Public interest was stirred.
At the appointed hour, the children were seated on the stage
of the opera house, and Miss Hill addressed the gathered crowd. As people were
attracted to certain children, they were interviewed by the committee,
presented their recommendations, and were considered. Those who were chosen to
receive a child were given a card with that child’s history on it. They entered
an agreement to provide proper care, education, and reports to the society. The
society reserved the right to visit and inspect the home within a year, and to
remove the child if they found it unsuitable.
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| Critchfield Opera House stage |
Those children that were not placed in Oskaloosa were taken
to Valley Falls to fulfill the requests from the earlier distribution. After
the excitement, the following item appeared in the January 20th,
1911, issue of the Oskaloosa Independent,
in the editorial comments:
“The New
York Orphans All Find Homes
“The agents
in charge of the orphans from New York state orphanages left town yesterday,
having found homes for nine of their little charges in Oskaloosa and 6 going to
Valley Falls where the former supply did not quite meet the demand, it seems.
“A great
deal of interest in the children was shown here, and several families
entertained children until homes were found for them.
“Legal adoption
is not required and the children are really taken on trial, the society
agreeing to take the child back if anything goes wrong. They are visited twice
during the first year and then annually for a time, and families taking
children are required to make yearly reports.
“The best
appearing children, and those in good health, are picked to bring to Western
homes.
“Otto
Lantz, who lives 4 miles southeast of Oskaloosa, took a little German boy aged
3½ years, named Samuel Dubar — a bright little chap who speaks German readily.
“Chas.
Winans, at the old Fair grounds, has a little 2 year old German girl, Fredoff
Fredericks.*
“F.H.
Corson, at the edge of town on the northwest, takes Katie Fichtner, aged 11.
“Louis A.
Kimmel, a mile east of town, has the oldest two of the lot, Anna Potthoff, aged
15, and William, her brother, aged 13 years.
“Owen
Johnston, 3½ miles northwest of town, has a little 6 year old maiden, Adelaide
Loggman.
“Harvey
Wood, who recently came from Missouri and is on the Critchfield farm, 2½ miles
southwest of town, has a boy, aged 9, Henry G. Palmer.
“James
Quakenbush, just east of town, takes Eva Grant, aged 10 years.
“Thomas Davis,
on the old Snyder farm, southwest of town, has Mildred Grant aged 12.
“This lot
of youngsters have certainly found good homes, and it is to be hoped will grow
into good, strong, bright young men and women.
“Of those
sent to Valley Falls, Norman Deacon, aged 5 goes to Jessie _____; Fred
Valentine, aged 6, to Newton Bilger; Wm. Bugglen, 12 years, to A.H. Jurgens;
Wm. Hoyt, 8 years, to J. Irvin Spence; Marvin Miller, aged 6, to A.J. Jurgens.
“The agents
say that only about one in ten of the children are ever taken back, nearly all
of them being acceptable to the families taking them.”
* “Fredoff’s” name was Friedolf Fredricksen, and he was of
masculine gender and of Swedish heritage.
Friedolf Fredricksen was clothed in a dress, the normal
attire for baby boys of that period. The Charles Winans family did not have
other children, and chose “Friedoff” for their own. Before the end of the same
year, they had completed the legal adoption. They considered him their son and
never discussed his origins with him. In later years, his mother was unhappy
that he tried to find his family.
Samuel Dubar was the 3½ year old German speaking child
adopted by the Otto Lantzes. A picture of him in Friedoff’s possession shows a
dark haired, delicately formed lad, with a fresh bright smile. The inscription
on the picture is, “Otto Frederick Lantz, age 4 years, 1911.” The Lantz parents
separated and all contact with the child was lost.
Mr. and Mrs. Kimmel took two of the older children. William
was 13, and Anna was 15. Anna died a few years later, according to Friedoff, my
informant.
Adelaide Loggman, age 6, was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Owen
Johnston. Of all the children, she was the one who tried to keep contact with
the others, and she corresponded with Miss Hill. She clerked in the town
stores, tended to the needs of her family, and became the typical old maid in
town. Late in life, she married a Mr. Brown, living out of town for four or
five years before she died of cancer.
Eva Grant, age 10, was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. James
Quakenbush. She married Omer Frazier, the brother of Friedoff’s wife. Eva
raised four children, William T., Harold, Doris and Betty.
Eva’s sister, Mildred Grant, was given a home by Mr. and
Mrs. Tom Davis. Because of friction in the home, Mildred left while still
young. She married a Mr. Harness; they made their home in California.
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| Anna Laura Hill |
Most of the families discouraged the children from looking
into the past. It was seldom discussed either with the parents or with each
other. However, Mildred and Eva Grant did go back to find their brother, Gus,
and sisters with whom they held a close relationship.
This story appeared in “Yesteryears” in October 1981, with
an addition in April 1982 and a reprint of the Independent article in April 1995.
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