Orphanages: United States

CANADA | USA | INTERNATIONAL

Transcriptions of orphan listings in the US and Canadian census records are online. This new site also needs the help of volunteer transcribers. A valuable resource and timesaver!

Angel Guardian Orphanage (A.G.O.), formerly the German Catholic Orphanage, was located in Chicago. Closed in the 1970s. Informal web site and chatroom is here. [USA]

Past resident Karl has set up a personal Web site for fellow AGO residents. The site shares his personal experience and gives visitors the opportunity to contact him directly and privately.

Baptist Children's Home (BCH) located in Salem, VA. Residents here did not seem to fit the typical poor and destitute picture. [USA]

Beresford South Dakota Orphanage or Bethesda Children's Home.The Bethesda Orphanage was chartered by the Norwegian Lutheran Board of Charities, a subsidiary of the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America, in 1896. They determined at the time that there was a need for the care of the orphaned-children found within the denomination. In 1897, the Children's Home was built and dedicated to serving the children's material needs, and perhaps more importantly to the Founders, their spiritual ones. Over the first 23 years, the Home suffered numerous changes in managers and matrons - some only lasting as little as two weeks! In 1920, the Home thrived under the leadership of John Johnson, the manager and superintenent of the Home. Under his leadership, the Home was challenged by the local dairy men about its farming operation and taken to the South Dakota Supreme Court over the admission of its students into the local school district. When Johnson departed in 1947, the Lutheran Social Services took over more and more of the management of the Home. In 1971-2, the board of Charities turned over the management entirely to the Lutheran Social Services agency. [USA]

We would like to graciously thank Kent Altena for his research and contributions on the Bethesda Children's Home in South Dakota. Please visit his site for more information on this orphanage.

Berry School for Boys (est 1895) and Berry School for Girls (est 1910): These orphanages were located in Mt. Berry, near Rome, in Floyd County, northwestern GA. A vocational high school, it was founded by an aristocratic Georgian women named Miss Martha Berry, to educate and raise the standard of living among the southern Appalachian peoples of northwestern Georgia. Miss Berry found it difficult to recruit girls for the hard life at the schools so she began to take in orphaned girls whom she adopted as 'wards.' Between 1910-1955 there were several hundred girls taken into the Berry School for girls. Miss Berry died in 1955. 'Faith Cottage' was part of the Berry Schools. We would like to thank Cheryl Conway for passing along this information to us and welcome you to email her for additional information. [USA]

Bethesda Home for Boys, the oldest orphanage in the U.S., opened in 1740 near Savannah, Georgia. [USA]

Boys Town Omaha, Nebraska. It opened about 1914 and is still around today though it has evolved with the times. There is a 'Boys Town Hall of History Collection' which includes many photos and records. We suggest you contact the institution directly to determine the whereabouts of records. [USA]

Buckner Boys Ranch opened in 1951 in the Hill Country of Texas. [USA]

Buckner Home for Girls opened in 1954 in Lubbock Texas. [USA]

Buckner Orphans Home/Buckner Baptist Children's Home/Buckner Baptist Benevolences, an orphanage in Dallas Texas. It was founded by Robert Cooke Buckner in 1879 in a rented home, but moved to a permanent site of 44 acres just one year lateron South Buckner Boulevard in Dallas. By the turn of the century the population of the home was 500 children. In 1989 the home averaged 600 children that it cared for and another 380 children that it assisted through foster care and mother's aid. In 1995 the Home was still operational adjusting to meet the needs of the community in the 90s and only cared for an average of 160 children. Read complete history at Handbook of Texas Online.

Some orphan lists are available. The Dallas Journal published two census records of Buckner Orphans Home for 1900 and 1910. For the 1900 census see The Dallas Journal 1996, pages 43-50. For 1910 census, see The Dallas Journal 1997 pages 21-41. Subsequent census have not yet been completed. PERSI (Periodical Resources Index) published by Ancestry may have further info. Legends and Legacies may publish these lists at the web site in the future. [USA]

California: Searching for information on a California orphanage that handled adoptions in the 1940s. We need the name of the orphanage and probably disposition of records. Please email us with any info so we can pass it along. [USA]

Catholic Children's Home in Alton Illinois. Looking for past residents of this home, especially in the 1940s and 50s. Please email with your connection to the Home. [USA]

Children's Home Society of Missouri originally located at 4427 Margaretta Ave, St. Louis MO, but a fire in the 1930s caused the Home to move to 4415 Margaretta Avenue. The Home is now located in another area of St. Louis on Litzinger Street or road. Past residents looking to connect with old friends, please email us. [USA]

Children's Orphanage, The in New York. [USA]

Children's Seashore Home located on Main Street in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Email Blairs' Books for more information. [USA]

Connie Maxwell Home, South Carolina. [USA]

Cottage, The in Riverside California, adopted out many orphans. Looking to confirm if this is the true name or a nickname of the orphanage, and the disposition of adoption records. Please email Val with any information. [USA]

Duplessis Orphans - see Hopital de la Misericorde and St. Julien Hospital.

Dorothea Dix House, Boston MA. [USA]

Edwin Gould Foundation, New York. [USA]

Father Baker's Home for Boys located in Buffalo New York. Father Baker was well loved by the Catholic community and founded many similar facilities. The organizations he created are still in existence under the name Baker-Victory Services in Lackawanna New York. Visit their web site at www.ourladyofvictory.org for contact information. [USA]

Franco American Orphanage was located in Lowell Massachusetts and run by the Grey Nuns of Ottawa. [USA]

German Catholic Orphanage located in Chicago later changed its name to Angel Guardian Orphanage (A.G.O.) and closed its doors in the 1970s. [USA]

Gillis Center for Children in Kansas City, Missouri. This is a 125-year old institution that still operates. They now have highly trained child care workers who oversee approximately 50 orphaned, abandoned or abused children regularly. Their mandate is to reunite parents and children after both complete their program. Contact them directly to determine where archives and historical records might be kept. [USA]

Girls' House of Refuge, likely in Philadelphia PA or nearby. [USA]

Greene County Children's Home located in Xenia, Ohio. It opened about 1849 and closed in 1971-72. [USA]

Hebrew Jewish Orphanage in New York. Opened in the 19th century. [USA]

Hebrew Orphan Asylum located in Baltimore, Maryland. [USA]

Hebrew Orphan Asylum located at 1560 Amsterdam Avenue, New York NY. [USA]

Hebrew National Orphanage Home (HNOH), and other Jewish orphanages in the United States, are accurately listed complete with census names and location of records at http://www.scruz.net/~elias/hnoh. [USA]

Home for Destitute Catholic Children, 788 Harrison Avenue, Boston MA cared for more than 45,000 children from 1864-1954 and was staffed by the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. Anyone wishing additional information or who was associated with the Home in any way is encouraged to email us with any info so we can pass it along. [USA]

Milton Hershey School, The in Pennsylvania. [USA]

New Haven County Orphanage, in West Haven Connecticut, consisted of three buildings and about 25 acres of land. It is now part of the University of New Haven since 1960. Contact the university's public relations department which might be able to direct you to the old records. phone 203-932-7242. [USA]

New York House of Refuge one of approximately 25-50 orphanages in the New York City area that opened in the mid to late-19th century. [USA]

Natchez, Mississippi. the name of the orphanage is unconfirmed, but Ursuline nuns founded the first orphan asylum in North America in 1729 after Indians massacred adult settlers in Natchez. [USA]

Nazareth Catholic Orphanage was located in Massachusetts (Jamaica Plain). Now the site of the Showa Institute, a school for Japanese women. [USA]

Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Home located in Xenia, Ohio, opened approximately 1867. Originally opened to care for orphaned children of the Ohio Civil War soldiers killed in the war, but remains open today. It is a unique home with its own school and trades schools and all children were taught a skilled trade before they left. Graduates over the years have been admitted into West Point, the Air Force Academy and the Naval Academy. [USA]

Legends and Legacies thanks Tim Bandy for sharing this information with us.

Old Soldiers Homein Xenia Ohio. If you have any info on this orphanage please email Julie. She is looking for info on her mother, Alvanna Louise Sowell born March 4, 1921 in Moultrie GA and raised in Old Soldiers Home in the 1930s. Julie knows her mother has brothers and sisters out there. [USA]

Orphan Asylum Society of New York City, now the Graham Windom Services for families. This orphanange was established in 1806 by some wealthy matrons of the area. [USA]

Pennsylvania. Searching for the name, location and disposition of records for an orphanage in Scottdale, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Please email us with any info you may have so we can pass it along. [USA]

Pennsylvania Orphanages is a web site that has a directory of ophanages for Allegheny County PA and some adjacent counties as compiled by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Warning: they do not have lists of orphans with the exception of one orphanage! [USA]

Philadelphia House of Refuge opened in the 19th century. [USA]

Potter Home in Bowling Green, Kentucky. [USA]

Presbyterian Village located in Rosemont, Pennsylvania. [USA]

Prince George's County, Maryland. There is a book by Dorothy H. Smith containing 1100 names of orphans from this area. 117pp, index, soft cover with spiral binding. Visit Blairs' Books for more information. [USA]

Samuel Ready School for Girls in Baltimore, Maryland. [USA]

Sleighton Farm in Darlington Del. Co, PA. [USA]

Selma Methodist Orphanage, opened at the turn of the century in Selma Alabama, Dallas County, just west of Montgomery. They are still in existence but are now named United 1712 Broad Street Methodist Children's Home. They can be reached at 1712 Broad Street, Selma AL 36701. Phone 334-875-7283. [USA]

Subiaco Catholic Orphanage in Subiaco, Arkansas, just outside of Paris. Looking for the whereabouts of the orphanage records and what church they were affiliated with. Also, any information on any of the residents especially Worrell Monroe Mills (1902-1979) would be greatly appreciated for family history purposes. Email directly to Carol. [USA]

St. Anthony's Orphanage was privately run by the Cabrini Sisters and located at 672 Passaic Avenue (River Road) Kearny, New Jersey. According to a past resident who has been desperately searching for her records, the sisters were not connected to an archdiocese and that any records they might have held when they closed down could not maybe located in Seton Halls Archilves. [USA]

St. Bazillius Orphanage was an orphanage in Pittsburgh PA. [USA]

St. Francis Orphanage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [USA]

St. John's Orphanage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, now closed. Information can be obtained by calling 215-587-3908. [USA]

St. Joseph's Catholic Orphanage in Lafayette Louisiana. [USA]

St. Joseph's Catholic Orphan Society of Kentucky, almost 150 years old and still servicing the needs of children and families. A bit of their history: The Louisville, Kentucky cholera epidemic of 1832 took many lives and left many children as orphans. During that time, a handful of German Catholics, recognizing the grave need to care for these children, formed the St. Joseph Catholic Orphan Society in 1849. The Society built its first home in 1850, but increasing numbers of children prompted several locations before settling at the present site in Crescent Hill, established in 1885. Read more at http://www.sjkids.org. [USA]

St. Joseph's Orphanage for Boys located south of Lafayette, Indiana but not positive. [USA]

St. Joseph's Orphanage for Girls in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania now closed, but information can be obtained by calling 215-587-3908. [USA]

St. Joseph's Orphanage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [USA]

St. Mary's Orphanage in Galveston, Texas. Review 1920 census data at Census Diggins

St. Mary's Orphanage located at 1035 South Orange Ave, Newark NJ. Former resident Carol O'Beirne Carman is looking for all the kids who went here. Please email her directly at obeirne@fast.net or ceecee1141@yahoo.com[USA].

St. Michael's Orphanage appears to be in Pittsburgh PA but their a lot of their records (in not all) were lost. [USA]

St. Theresa's Orphanage was owned and operated by the Catholic church in Grand Prairie, Texas. Nuns lived in with the orphans and had a reputation of taking a strong hand in discipline. [USA]

St. Vincent's Home and Philadelphia Orphanage, were Catholic, very strict and sometimes quite severe orphanage care run by the Sisters of Charity. Girls were trained to be mother's helpers or nannies. Some records can be obtained from the archives of the Motherhouse, Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament located in Bensalem, PA. For a personal account of these orphanages and dealing with the sisters, contact Michael Wei. [USA]

St. Vincent's Orphanage in Fort Wayne, Indiana. [USA]

St. Vincent's Orphanage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Some information can be obtained by calling 215-587-3908. [USA]

Tarrant County Children's Home in Fort Worth, Texas. The four-storey brick building no longer stands but the single-storey building that has replaced it is a children's shelter. [USA]

Vera Lloyd Presbyterian Home for Children: Opened in the 1920s in Arkansas. For more history on its development, see Methodist Old Ladies' Home and Day Nursery. [USA]