Hi Bob Leonard, I think what you are looking for, Bob, is the Archives of the Roman Catholic Arch-diocese of Newark, NJ, which are now housed on the campus of Seton Hall University, and you are right to deal with the women research librarians there at the Archives because we spent years getting nowhere with the Archdiocesan Archivist himself, a priest who seemed never to be at work there at the Archives during the time of our need. If a friend had not known the Archivist and provided a letter of introduction, we could have been "on our way" about two years sooner! That was perhaps 10-12 years ago and we paid something like $8 or $9 an hour for a terrific amount of information that was gathered by a woman professional at the Archives who knew what she was doing and knew her source materials well .... in just 90 minutes! Total bill with copies of the baptismal and marriage and confirmation records for several generations .... plus postage and all was about $25 or something like that .... probably more now, of course .... but so well worth it if you are out-of-state, as we are. Orphanages, rightly or wrongly, were operating under state laws and individual judicial decisions in each child's case. Each child was his own individual court case. There was a terrible legal cloud of secrecy over their operations in the 1940s, at the behest of the social workers, child protection agencies and others who were caring for these children .... and the notion throughout society at that time that "gone should be forgotten." My guess is that your problems have less to do with the RC Church and more to do with the fact that St. Joseph's moved to New York state and thus was operating under the laws of two states at various times in our lifetimes --- and additionally it has to do with the legalities to which THEY (the authorities) must adhere in attempting to provide you with information. For one not used to all the "legal foldarol," it can be difficult indeed. But I believe if you could see what my great-grandmother had to go through ..... and all the notarized witnesses she had to secure .... in order to get her Civil War widow's pension in 1899, then you'd have a better idea (as I now have) of the protections that are really put in place for our own good and the good of society. They are there to discourage and obstruct the "wrong guys!" Would you want another Robert Leonard to be able to secure all of your records, too? I think not!!! Just be patient, and try to understand and be grateful for the way they are protecting your information from people who might want to use it to hurt you or to take advantage of you in some way by using your identity! :-) Maureen from DMHS in Chicago Evelyn Huey <[email protected]> wrote: Phone # to call Seton Hall is 1-973-761-9476 - When going there make sure you stop at the little "house / gate" and get a pass - or you'll get a ticket like I did. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Leonard" To: Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2006 12:41 PM Subject: [NJHUDSON-L] St. Joseph Orphanage in Englewood >I was an "inmate" @ St. Joe's in the early 1940s and have been trying for > years to get info on myself, 2 brothers and 2 sisters, alas the catholic > charities is not very responsive. The latest debacle has been in their > system for more than 1 year. They put me through all kinds of hoops ( > notary > publics, etc.) and still no response. If you had an address for Seton Hall > it would be very helpful. Thank you, Robert Leonard > > > > ==== NJHUDSON Mailing List ==== > Your donations to RootsWeb makes NJHUDSON possible. > RootsWeb Gen. Data Coop. Box 6798 Frazier Park, CA 93222 > http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html > ==== NJHUDSON Mailing List ==== Your donations to RootsWeb makes NJHUDSON possible. RootsWeb Gen. Data Coop. Box 6798 Frazier Park, CA 93222 http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Next-gen email? Have it all with the all-new Yahoo! Mail Beta.