Dear Judi, As I read your query and the reply from James, it occured to me that you might give the 1870 census a shot. I have wound my way through many rolls of film, and recall seeing jails, poor/alms houses, lunatic asylums, etc listed with the names and ages of those "residing" there. If there was a home for children, you might come across the right place. I would suggest reading everything on the film very carefully. Good luck, Peggy James Shuman wrote: > >James, > > > >Since you are so knowledgeable, I was wondering if you might know how I > >could go about finding orphanages in the Mecklenburg County, NC area. My > >grandma Shuman was reared in one in approximately 1868-1870. I've > >contacted the library and even they have given me particularly no > >information. > > > >Thanks James. > > > >Judi > > Judi, > > You flatter me! but I fear you have grossly over-rated my ability. Perhaps > someone who lives closer to that area might be much more able to help out. > > I know that it's been difficult for others to locate records on orphanages > in PA, IN (and probably other states, as well) much before 1915. I guess > for one thing the names of the institutions kept changing, and for another, > some communities attempted to maintain the fiction that no such kind of > place existed in their area. > > Sometimes they went by other kinds of descriptive words than "orphanage", > but I'm not very certain as to what those terms were -- but that might be > why the library was not helpful. One I heard about was a "children's home" > and others had even less obvious names, I think. > > On the other hand, some terms are harsh-sounding to us: "foundling's home" > and "asylum" come to mind. > > Thus, I'm afraid to even begin guessing what the good people of Mecklenburg > County, NC might have chosen to call their orphanage. > > It would seem to me that there ought to be some kind of county/court > records which would include the name of the institution, although I realize > not all of them were public institutions. > > Best wishes on your search, and let us know if you make any progress. > > JS > > ____________________________ > James Shuman, art instructor > Modesto High School > jshuman@telis.org > ____________________________