I had a very interesting chat with the Sisters of Mercy archivist at their motherhouse in West Hartford, CT. Basically, we are out of luck. The original St. Francis home was opened by the good nuns in the city of New Haven. One of padres wanted it moved to a location with better air (on a hill in New Haven) St Francis home was moved. But not everyone wanted the orphanage moved. So, the Sisters of Charity came to New Haven to run the orphanage, also changing the name to St. Mary's orphanage as the sisters of Mercy took the name St. Francis with them to their new location. The Sisters of Charity stayed for about a decade and then asked the Sisters of Mercy to take over St Mary's. Which they did by closing the St Mary's facility in favor of St. Francis. Once again St Francis Orphanage would make a move, and in my lifetime. As far as the archdiocese of Hartford can tell, someone asked what to do with the old records, someone else said throw them out .........AND..........the r! ecords are gone. Sister said she had personnally spent many hours trying to track these records, they are gone. She has interviewed former residents of the old home, for sacrament information, hoping a locale church might have some records. So far they have not been found.

Is there not a St. Francis orphanage in Deep River, CT still? cuzmuz@cox.net wrote: I had a very interesting chat with the Sisters of Mercy archivist at their motherhouse in West Hartford, CT. Basically, we are out of luck. The original St. Francis home was opened by the good nuns in the city of New Haven. One of padres wanted it moved to a location with better air (on a hill in New Haven) St Francis home was moved. But not everyone wanted the orphanage moved. So, the Sisters of Charity came to New Haven to run the orphanage, also changing the name to St. Mary's orphanage as the sisters of Mercy took the name St. Francis with them to their new location. The Sisters of Charity stayed for about a decade and then asked the Sisters of Mercy to take over St Mary's. Which they did by closing the St Mary's facility in favor of St. Francis. Once again St Francis Orphanage would make a move, and in my lifetime. As far as the archdiocese of Hartford can tell, someone asked what to do with the old records, someone else said throw them out .........AND..........the r! ecords are gone. Sister said she had personnally spent many hours trying to track these records, they are gone. She has interviewed former residents of the old home, for sacrament information, hoping a locale church might have some records. So far they have not been found. ==== CTNEWHAV Mailing List ==== To post messages to the New Haven County, CT discussion list, send them to CTNEWHAV-L@rootsweb.com ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237

I was mistaken here. The orphanage at Deep River was St. John's School for Boys. My aunt's husband and his two brothers were sent here at an early age after both of their parents had died. It was apparently a dreadful place to grow up (as, I suppose, is any orphanage)...severe discipline for minor infractions having been the rule. Still, it did not prevent the 3 boys from having become successful later in life. My aunt's husband, however, led a very private, secretive, and compartmentalized life which I believe to have been the result of his experience at St. John's. cuzmuz@cox.net wrote:I had a very interesting chat with the Sisters of Mercy archivist at their motherhouse in West Hartford, CT. Basically, we are out of luck. The original St. Francis home was opened by the good nuns in the city of New Haven. One of padres wanted it moved to a location with better air (on a hill in New Haven) St Francis home was moved. But not everyone wanted the orphanage moved. So, the Sisters of Charity came to New Haven to run the orphanage, also changing the name to St. Mary's orphanage as the sisters of Mercy took the name St. Francis with them to their new location. The Sisters of Charity stayed for about a decade and then asked the Sisters of Mercy to take over St Mary's. Which they did by closing the St Mary's facility in favor of St. Francis. Once again St Francis Orphanage would make a move, and in my lifetime. As far as the archdiocese of Hartford can tell, someone asked what to do with the old records, someone else said throw them out .........AND..........the r! ecords are gone. Sister said she had personnally spent many hours trying to track these records, they are gone. She has interviewed former residents of the old home, for sacrament information, hoping a locale church might have some records. So far they have not been found. ==== CTNEWHAV Mailing List ==== To post messages to the New Haven County, CT discussion list, send them to CTNEWHAV-L@rootsweb.com ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237