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She carried him to the Foundling Asylum, to a place that could care for him. She identified herself by name as she handed him over. This whole process had been an incredibly emotional journey, and along the way my family reconnected. My immediate and extended families had their share of struggles over the years, but in my searching, I talked with cousins I hadn’t seen in years. My siblings and I shared memories and put pieces together that helped us understand each other better. It seemed Grandpa was working to bring us together.
My grandfather, Joseph Auer came to central Missouri on an Orphan Train from the New York Foundling Home and was adopted by the Fred Markway and Catherine Schnieders Markway family. Joseph longed to find his birth family, but that was not possible in that era. The Foundling Home asked no questions when a child was left in its care, and the culture of the time required secrecy.
The Foundling’s Developmental Disabilities Division is Hiring!
While many of the children at the Foundling arrived there as infants, some children arrived at older ages, frequently due to a change in life circumstances in a family. Perhaps the death of a parent, loss of work, alcoholism or other illness–a desperate parent would leave a child for safekeeping, hoping to return later when things improved. Sometimes a mother would stay at the Foundling, nurse her own child and one other. The Foundling hoped to get the mother back on her feet and she’d be able to leave and care for her little one. Taking care of so many little ones was physically and emotionally exhausting.
While Grandpa had been gone since 1970, I feel he has remained with me. I am a psychologist, a career choice that some of my family members found very odd. My father, shortly before his death in 1996, told me that my grandfather owned a collection of books by Sigmund Freud. Jack remembers Grandpa mentioning things that weighed on him–such as being left at an orphanage, and serving in World War I. Jack had a vague memory of Grandpa once saying that his birth mother was named Abbie Doyle. This information about Margaret helped complete a picture of Abbie’s early life.
Foster care and adoption
Ancestry also has a huge number of historical records to aid in research. I was not old enough to appreciate that he was haunted by not knowing where he was born or even who his parents were. Throughout my life I heard stories about Grandpa going back to New York looking for his mother.
Brace’s Children’s Aid Society was the primary agency involved in the Orphan Train effort although other groups did participate. One small group of people provided some hope to these poor orphans and that hope translated into a current-day rich research resource for genealogists. In my life, I was born in St. Louis, and my family returned to Jefferson City when I was three years old. I lived there until going to college at St. Louis University. I stayed in St. Louis to attend graduate school at the University of Missouri in St. Louis. In 1995, I returned to Jefferson City with my wife and son.
Step 6: Study Family Trees of DNA Matches in Your Orphan Train Ancestor’s Lines
Little was known about germs and disease, and this was a time where illnesses could spread rapidly. Prior to the invention of infant formula, malnutrition was common, and infants often died for lack of mother’s milk. The Foundling developed a program where babies were sent to live with women who served as wet-nurses throughout the New York and New Jersey area.
There are so many memories—my cousin Shelley remembers him teaching her to waltz, to dance. I remember coming to visit our house every Tuesday night and always bringing me a bag of peanuts. Hi ability to love—Was it the care he received at the Foundling Home?
They were never adopted, meaning I was able to request records. However, no proper name was given of their Mother , she was it appears , totally alone & desperate to save her Babies, this leaving them at Echo Hill ,Bronx N.Y. Alot of unfortunate wording is used, “Abandoned” is not the slur it appears, many had no alternative and to actually save their children, this was the only way.
This was fairly easy in the beginning because I knew the surnames of my maternal grandparents and their parents . I don’t really know why I began searching for my grandfather’s parents in 2017. But one reason had to be that it now seemed possible to find an answer. Modern consumer DNA testing offered by companies such as Ancestry and 23andMe allow people to find family connections that go back several generations.
In my previous posts, I told the story of my paternal grandfather, who spent his early years at the New York Foundling Home, and came to Central Missouri on an “Orphan Train” and was adopted by the Fred Markway family. He also testified that at one time last spring, he had received no letter from her for three weeks. DNA testing results showed that Jack and I shared slightly more DNA with descendants of Catherine than with descendants of James . He never married, and has no other direct descendants that I’ve been able to identify. To that point I still had not identified anyone connected to Grandpa’s mother. I had searched everywhere for an Abbie Doyle, but searching for a common Irish name in New York at the turn of the century is not a very productive use of time.
The Foundling moved into a smaller building at 595 Avenue of the Americas in 1988. The Vincent J. Fontana Center, a separate building dedicated to child abuse prevention and treatment, opened on Christopher Street in 1999. Priests in towns along the railroad routes were notified that the Foundling had children in need of homes.
If you are interested in learning more about your history or the history of someone in your family, The Foundling’s Records Department can help. We maintain records on all individuals that have passed through The Foundling’s doors, as well as those that resided at St. Agatha Home for Children . Click here to learn about the types of information we can legally disclose. After Sister Teresa Vincent's death in 1917, Sister Anna Michella Bowen, who had been in charge of the placing-out program, succeeded her. In 1926, Sister Xavier Maria Hurley became director, and ended the placing-out program in the west and south.
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