Hi Jan, The courts vary from state to state, in Pa. (including Philadelphia) the orphan's court would have handled wills. They would also have handled children who's parents had died, especially if the father had died. If the mother died and the father was still alive, probably nothing would be done because married woman were not allowed to own property by law. Any property they owned would become their husband's property at marriage. It was not uncommon for these assets to be left until the children were of marrying age where they would be used to help a young married couple get started. Money might have also been deducted from their accounts for their maintenance if necessary. If the mother remarried the step father was almost never appointed guardian, it was almost always someone else, a relative, an older brother (above age) or a friend of the family. There was no Department of Children Services to see to the welfare of children, if no one presented the case to Orphan's Court then nothing would be done. There was no city or state agency looking for these cases, it would only come up if someone brought it to the attention of the Orphan's Court, like a relative or friend of the family. Occasionally these things would be handled by the family, unofficially, and there would be no record. This was more common in rural areas and among some religious sects, like Mennonites. In the time frame your working on there was a distinction between Philadelphia city and county. The two were merged into one political unit in 1854. When the father died his assets would be accessed by a representative of the orphan's court and a portion would be given to each of the kids and to the wife. A guardian would be appointed to look out for their economic interests of the children, they wouldn't live with this person, he was to see that the kids legacy wasn't squandered or wasted. Guardians were appointed for boys under 16 and girls under 18, boys over 14 could choose their own guardian while girls over 16 were given the same choice. The rest of the children would have guardians appointed. Boys over 14 may have been apprenticed or hired out, girls that age may also have been hired out. They also may have been placed in an orphanage, placed with relatives or adopted. If adopted they should be a reference in the Orphan's Court records. You might find the youngest children in the 1850 census, if they were living with a family with a different surname they should be listed on the indexes. I'm not familiar with New York, in New Jersey they had a similar court but with a different name, they also probably had different rules and proceedures. Good luck. Jim ----- Original Message ----- From: "Janice Miller" <jgrellim@sbcglobal.net> To: <NY-LONGISLAND-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2004 5:10 PM Subject: [NY-LONGISLAND] Orphans Court? > Today in class there was reference to Orphan's Court. I hadn't heard that before--perhaps because I paid little attention, although I do know there were Orphan Trains from East Coast cities to the mid-west in the 1800s. It seems reasonable then to accept the existence of Orphan's Courts. > > Where would I start to look for such a court--in particular, NYC. If so, I would presume there might be the same for Boston or Philadelphia at one time or another as well. > > I have one family in which both parents were dead by 1839 and the youngest child was only 1 1/2. There were slightly older siblings, so now I am curious as to how those 6 young children were cared for. > > Because I expressed interest, I was given the research of Orphan's courts as my task for next class! Jan > > > > > Jan G. Miller > jgrellim@sbcglobal.net > > > ==== NY-LONGISLAND Mailing List ==== > Karima, List Administrator mailto:NY-LONGISLAND-admin@rootsweb.com > List Guidelines: http://userweb.springnet1.com/quest/LongIslandWelcome.html > >

Thank you Jim. I've received an eye-opening response--I've been doing the genealogists route for almost 10 years and never run across this very significant source. Probably a lot of people haven't tapped it, either. I breezed along thinking merely "courts". That a special court for this special situation existed is a whole new doorway. Thanks. Jan "James L. Stokes" <jlstokes@redrose.net> wrote: Hi Jan, The courts vary from state to state, in Pa. (including Philadelphia) the orphan's court would have handled wills. They would also have handled children who's parents had died, especially if the father had died. If the mother died and the father was still alive, probably nothing would be done because married woman were not allowed to own property by law. Any property they owned would become their husband's property at marriage. It was not uncommon for these assets to be left until the children were of marrying age where they would be used to help a young married couple get started. Money might have also been deducted from their accounts for their maintenance if necessary. If the mother remarried the step father was almost never appointed guardian, it was almost always someone else, a relative, an older brother (above age) or a friend of the family. There was no Department of Children Services to see to the welfare of children, if no one presented the case to Orphan's Court then nothing would be done. There was no city or state agency looking for these cases, it would only come up if someone brought it to the attention of the Orphan's Court, like a relative or friend of the family. Occasionally these things would be handled by the family, unofficially, and there would be no record. This was more common in rural areas and among some religious sects, like Mennonites. In the time frame your working on there was a distinction between Philadelphia city and county. The two were merged into one political unit in 1854. When the father died his assets would be accessed by a representative of the orphan's court and a portion would be given to each of the kids and to the wife. A guardian would be appointed to look out for their economic interests of the children, they wouldn't live with this person, he was to see that the kids legacy wasn't squandered or wasted. Guardians were appointed for boys under 16 and girls under 18, boys over 14 could choose their own guardian while girls over 16 were given the same choice. The rest of the children would have guardians appointed. Boys over 14 may have been apprenticed or hired out, girls that age may also have been hired out. They also may have been placed in an orphanage, placed with relatives or adopted. If adopted they should be a reference in the Orphan's Court records. You might find the youngest children in the 1850 census, if they were living with a family with a different surname they should be listed on the indexes. I'm not familiar with New York, in New Jersey they had a similar court but with a different name, they also probably had different rules and proceedures. Good luck. Jim ----- Original Message ----- From: "Janice Miller" To: Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2004 5:10 PM Subject: [NY-LONGISLAND] Orphans Court? > Today in class there was reference to Orphan's Court. I hadn't heard that before--perhaps because I paid little attention, although I do know there were Orphan Trains from East Coast cities to the mid-west in the 1800s. It seems reasonable then to accept the existence of Orphan's Courts. > > Where would I start to look for such a court--in particular, NYC. If so, I would presume there might be the same for Boston or Philadelphia at one time or another as well. > > I have one family in which both parents were dead by 1839 and the youngest child was only 1 1/2. There were slightly older siblings, so now I am curious as to how those 6 young children were cared for. > > Because I expressed interest, I was given the research of Orphan's courts as my task for next class! Jan > > > > > Jan G. Miller > jgrellim@sbcglobal.net > > > ==== NY-LONGISLAND Mailing List ==== > Karima, List Administrator mailto:NY-LONGISLAND-admin@rootsweb.com > List Guidelines: http://userweb.springnet1.com/quest/LongIslandWelcome.html > > ==== NY-LONGISLAND Mailing List ==== * * * IS YOUR ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE UP TO DATE?? * * * Karima, List Administrator mailto:NY-LONGISLAND-admin@rootsweb.com List Guidelines: http://userweb.springnet1.com/quest/LongIslandWelcome.html Jan G. Miller jgrellim@sbcglobal.net