True, there was no fire of New York Foundling records. It is/was common for nuns to slightly alter children's birth names in the name of "privacy." Please clarify, WHERE did you finally get the Birth Certificate? -----Original Message----- From: Julie Bruggenthies via <[email protected]> My grandpa came on the orphan train from NYC. We spent 50 yrs trying to find his birth cert. We were told that all the records at the Foundling hospital were destroyed in a fire. We later found out that wasn't true and I was able to get the microfiche records from his file though they weren't very legible. I finally contacted the lying-in Hospital in NYC and asked to look for his birth on the date we thought his birthday was. Turns out we thought his real name was Francis Braun - that is what the nuns led everyone to believe. His mother's name was Frances Braun. She named him John Braun and BINGO I got the birth cert. Took 50 years. He was "Indentured" in MN. I have been told you couldn't adopt back then. We thought he came when he was 13 since that is what the indentured papers said. BUT he is on the census at 5 years of age so we assume he was small when he came. From my research there were Catholic kids and protestant kids that came from the Children's home so! ciety. The catholic kids supposed already had a family where they were going to. The Protestant kids were loaded up and displayed at each train stop and people could pick a child. There is an Descendants of Orphan train gathering here every year still in MN. Julie Bruggenthies Menomonie, WI