THE IOWA SOLDIERS' ORPHANS HOME Any mention of the Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home, brief or extended, must begin with reference to Mrs. Annie Wittenmeyer, the Keokuk woman whom Governor Kirkwood commissioned state sanitary agent and who during the long years of the Civil war was constantly engaged in works of mercy in the hospitals at the front.  In a personal letter under date of 1888 she speaks of the movement for the care of soldiers' orphans:  "I matured the plan during the Mississippi river campaign which culminated in the surrender of Vicksburg in July, 1863.  It was in the hospital where I was surrounded by men facing death, whose one anxiety was for their children, that the thought came to me, and many a dying soldier was comforted by the assurance that I would undertake the enterprise." The actual founding of the homes for the care of the children of the brave men of Iowa who had laid down their lives for their country came about through the state sanitary organization which worked through local aid societies in collecting and distributing supplies for the soldiers, supplies which exceeded a half million dollars in value. At a meeting of the Soldiers' Aid society held at Iowa City, September 23, 1863, attended by Mrs. Wittenmeyer, the care of children orphaned by the war was discussed, and a call published for a meeting of the people of Iowa at Muscatine, October 5, 1863.  Among the signatures appended to this call were of Mesdames D. T. Newcomb and O. W. Leslie of Davenport.  At this Muscatine convention there was a good and representative attendance from all portions of the state.  Resolutions were passed that an asylum for children made fatherless by the war be established, and an organization effected to carry out the resolution.  The following officers were elected for the society thus founded:  Governor W. M. Stone, president; Miss Mary Kibben, Mt. Pleasant, recording secretary; Miss Mary Shelton, later Mrs. C. L. Poor, Burlington, corresponding secretary; Mrs. N. H. Brainard, Iowa City, treasurer; the board of trustees included; Mrs. Annie Wittenmeyer, of Keokuk; Mrs. C. Ben Darwin, Davenport, Mrs. D. T. Newcomb, Davenport; Mrs. L. B. Stevens, and Messrs. O. Faville, E. H. Williams, T S. Parvin, M. Shields, Caleb Baldwin, C. C. Cole, Isaac Pemberton and C. Henderson. The first meeting of the trustees was held in Des Moines, February 14, 1864, at which time and place arrangements were made for raising the necessary funds for the enterprise, although the impetuous Mrs. Wittenmeyer had anticipated this action by several months having issued an appeal for the orphans to the people of the state on Thanksgiving day of 1863.  At the March meeting of the trustees Mr. Howell of Keokuk was authorized to lease a building, procure furnishings and solicit funds.  In June Davenport contibuted $600 to the expense fund.  The same month at another trustees' meeting a committee was appointed to open a home.  The movement gained in popularity throughout the state. The special committee of the trustees reported July 13, 1864, that a large brick building had been secured at Lawrence, Van Buren county, and that it was in condition to receive the children who were in need of shelter and in three weeks from that time twenty-one children were there domiciled.  The first matron was Mrs. E. M. Elliott of Washington. The movement for the care of soldiers' orphans gathered enthusiasm as the months went by.  Ingersoll, the war historian, says:  "There has never been any one work in the state that has convened so many people in large and enthusiastic assemblies, filled so many churches and halls, thrilled so many hearts, awakened so much emotion, suffused with tears so many eyes, commanded such great liberality, or enlisted so many great minds as the Soldiers' Orphans' home."  The soldiers in the field deeply touched by these efforts for the children of their brothers in arms contributed more than $45,000. In addition to the home near Farmington another was opened at Cedar Falls where the soldiers' orphans living in the northern portion of the state were cared for to the nunber of more than 100 the first year.  Early in 1865 there was suggestion made that the orphans' home at Lawrence could with advantage be moved to Davenport.  In May there was a public meeting at the Presbyterian church in which the interests of the orphans were considered with liberal subscriptions.  In October of 1865 another meeting was held in LeClaire's hall and subscriptions to the fund amounting to $5,200 were made. Debbie Clough G-erischer G-erischer Family Web Site http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/ Assistant CC, Iowa Gen Web, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ List Manager for: IASCOTT-L * G-erischer-L * D-encker-L Fitzpatirck-L * V-lerebome-L * Huntington-L * Otis-L * Algar-L EIGS-L * Pickens-L * McNab-L * Patris-L - Rankin-L