This seems to be true. There are books out there on this subject. ----- Original Message ----- From: patstone<mailto:cstone01@rochester.rr.com> To: PABRADFO-L@rootsweb.com<mailto:PABRADFO-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, April 16, 2004 8:33 AM Subject: [Tri-Counties] Orphan Train Good morning, List, There is an interesting article in our newspaper this morning about an Orphan Train. I had never heard of it before, so maybe some of you haven't either. But could be the break in someone's brick wall! This particular newspaper article was about a brother & 3 sisters who were from Friendship, Allegany Co., NY. Their father was killed in a car accident and their mother became ill. Neighbors tried to take care of them and eventually they went to a Baptist minister. Eventually they were taken to an orphanage in NYC and then, in 1929, to the Orphan Train. The family's last name was Henderson. It says that between 1853 and 1929, passenger trains carried up to 300,000 children away from big-city orphanages to rural areas all across the country. Small groups of children would get off the train at various locations to be inspected by local Christian families willing to take a child home. "Children would often stage impromptu performances to make themselves more attractive." It is estimated that nearly 33,000 orphan trains may have run through upstate New York. Minister, Charles Loring Brace, founded the Children's Aid Society, with the goal to rescue poor, homeless children who were wandering the streets of NYC and to place them with Christian families living in the country. It seems that children went to CT, Delaware, D.C., Maryland, Mass., NJ, NH, RI, VT, Canada, & Indian Territory. Of course, Indian Territory became states eventually. Genealogists & historians are working on this story. A website is given for more information: http://iagenweb.org/iaorphans/index.htm<http://iagenweb.org/iaorphans/index.htm> or www.orphantrainriders.com<http://www.orphantrainriders.com/> or www.orleanscountygenealogicalsociety.org/<http://www.orleanscountygenealogicalsociety.org/> . Pat Rowe Stone, Rochester, NY ==== PABRADFO Mailing List ==== Please post all surname listings and surname or family queries on the Query section of Tri-Counties site at http://www.rootsweb.com/~srgp/jmtindex.htm<http://www.rootsweb.com/~srgp/jmtindex.htm>