If you have information on Allamakee co. orphans or Orphan Train riders, please contribute it for this page.
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	Sisters, 62 And 64, Have First Meeting on left: Ethel Adams on right: Erma Rumph
Mrs. Ethel Adams of Sea Ranch, Port Richey, Florida came to Waukon last week to visit her sister, Erma Rumph. But this wasn't just an ordinary visit; it was a momentous occasion, the first time the sisters, 64 and 62 years of age, had ever seen each other, and to make it doubly wonderful, it was on Erma's 62nd birthday. There were a few tearful moments while they greeted each other, but it didn't take long to start filling each other in on the past. The story started in New York state when the four oldest Wilson children, Wilbur, Gladys, Edith and Ethel, were placed with the Children's Aid Society in New York City, as the parents were unable to care for them in the home. After Erma's birth, she was also placed in the home and the mother died a few months later. The older children were placed in foster homes and Erma was brought to the Midwest by the social worker for the Aid Society. That family did not keep her so she was "reclaimed" by the worker while in this area in May, 1918, while checking on previous placements. The worker would stay at a local hotel and hire a livery rig to make her rounds. She had no place for a child almost four years of age, so called Mr. and Mrs. John C. Rumph, farmers living about 10 miles south of Waukon, and who had previously adopted a six year old boy, and asked them to care for the little girl for a few days. When she was ready to leave the area, she called them and they started to town with the child. Enroute, 10 year old Oscar asked where Erma was going and he was given an explanation. The child looked at his parents and said, "Why don't we keep her?" The idea took root and by the time they were at the place of delivery they had decided to take her home for theirs.   It proved to have a most wonderful decision, for no natural parents with two natural children could have had a happier home. Time went on, and Oscar left for his own home, continuing to be a dutiful son, but Erma remained and during several illnesses the parents gave her loving care. When the couple became aged and moved to town, they were tenderly cared for by their daughter until the father's death at the age of 83 and the mother's death at age 97. The other children had no contact with Erma until she was about 12 years old, when they finally got an address, and since then they have been in contact by letter, phone and pictures. Gladys and Edith have made trips here to see her. It has been a busy week of visiting and catching up but one never to be forgotten. A reception was held for the sisters at the Allamakee County Care Facility in Waukon (where Erma makes her home) on Sunday, July 4, with many friends attending. Source: Allamakee Journal, Lansing, Iowa, July 7, 1976 Contributed by Errin Wilker

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Laszlo Esztergalyos

Photo Caption: That grin on the face of Laszlo Esztergalyos has made him a happy part of life in Postville, where he lives with Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Hoth.  Here he is working in the Hoth Hardware Store.  Laszlo, now 16, was taken from his Hungarian home by Germans to do Nazi work.  Those days are gone--today he is becoming as American as the bicycle, ice cream, comics and movies that he loves here. Story: As congress wrestles with the problem of Europe's homeless, some Iowa families have already provided refuge to orphans from abroad.  Some of the children have come directly from relatives in Europe.  Some, like Laszlo, have been brought to the U.S. under immigration quotas by the U.S. Committee for Care of European Children.  This committee screens them carefully and then turns them over to welfare groups in the U.S.   Laszlo is one of 11 children brought to Iowa by the Lutheran Welfare Society.  Some of the youngsters are with foster parents, and some are self-supporting and under the direct care of the Lutheran group.   Since May 1946, better than 1,045 orphans have come to the U.S. by way of the U.S. care committee.  Most of them (684) are boys.  Workers found a tragic absence of girls in Europe--they had been kidnapped by Nazis.  Gone, too, were children between 7 and 13--they could not survive without parents.   The children brought to the U.S. are today fitting happily into the American scene and show promise of becoming stalwart new citizens.

Source: Des Moines Register, January 4, 1948 Contributed by Errin Wilker

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Some of the Orphan Train Riders to Allamakee County, Iowa

Source: The Iowa Orphan Train Riders, an IAGenWeb special project - Allamakee co. information extracted with permission

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More 'potential' Allamakee co. orphan train riders contributed by Allamakee researchers:

"I was going through the 1880 Census and noticed that my Gr-Gr-Grandparents Michael and Margaret Degnan had a son Peter Mullen age 13 born in New York who had to have been adopted. Degnan's had 2 daughters I know of and they were born in Iowa. While I was looking through the census I noticed just in the Harpers Ferry area/Taylor Township that there were a minimum of 9 boys between the ages of 11 and 14. Was there some sort of a Orphan Train or did the churches coordinate this? I have listed all the ones I have found by the head of household and their age, then the name of the child. In case you wanted to look into this. All the boys listed were born in New York. It would be great if someone knew the story behind these boys" contributed by Betty Palmer.

Michael Degnan 68 - Peter Mullen 13
James Murphy 68 - Paterick Foley 13
Thomas Sullivan 60 - John Duffy 13
William Seanlin 59 - William Hoey 14
Margaret Ryan 50 - John Owens 14
Edward Owens 74 - Michael Calaher 11
Michael Clark 56 - Henery McQuade 13
Thomas Gilliece 50 - Cornealis Calaher 12
Michael Barry 65 - Edward Owens 11

"In the Allamakee Co census for 1880 listed with the family of Patrick Kernan is '1st waif from New York'. The family history mentions an orphan from the orphan train. His name may have been Andrew McLaughlin age 15." contributed by Mary Kay Simon Gleisner

"I have found in the 1880 census for Hanover Township:
P. Alton age 8 born New York
Dan Buckley age 14 New York
Both of these boys were adopted by Morris and Hanora Bresnahan. Was there an orphan train that came through Allamakee?" contributed by Sheila Mellick

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Iowa Orphan Train Riders is an IAGenWeb special project.You will find a lot of information at the site .. including newspaper articles, historical information, the names of orphans coming to Iowa, and much more. Click the logo to check out the website!

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