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| Allamakee Co. Orphans & Orphan Train Riders (this page was updated on 02/03/07) |
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 |
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| 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 |
~~~~~~~~~~
Some of the Orphan Train Riders to Allamakee County, Iowa
| Addison, McNear family: Schierholz, H. place: Lansing |
Bencke, Oscar C.
family:Rumph, John C. place: Waukon |
Black, Braddock family:Bascom, E. B. place: Lansing |
Clark, John
family: not given place: Lansing (returned to Chicago) |
| Cronin, George family: Carr, Daniel place: Lansing |
Dunn, Charles
family: Michael S. Brady place: Lansing |
Eadie Gilbert
family: (2) Uncle Dan & Aunt Nett Kelly place: Waukon |
Eldridge, Edmond family: John Lindstrom place: Lansing |
| Ellsworth, Charles
family: John Edgar place: Lansing |
Frederick, Elsie family: Rev. Vornholt place: Waukon |
Garry, John family: Conrad Steiber place: Lansing |
Hanson, Olga
family: A. D. Bender place: Waukon |
| Hanson, Sophia
family: A. D. Ingalls place: Waukon |
Hooligan, John
family: John Mahoney place: Lansing |
Jackson, William
family: John Hoy place: Lansing |
Jennings, Sherman
family: William Weham place: Lansing |
| Kench, Arthur family: George Thompson place: Waukon |
Kench, Helen family: George Thompson place: Waukon |
Kerns, Margaret family: Reuben Bakewell place: Waukon |
Kesselburg, Jacob
family: Henry Kostbauer place: Lansing |
| Kesselburg, William
family: Charles Kunner place: Lansing |
King, Edward family: Patrick O'Brien place: Lansing |
Merker, Charles
family: O. A. Ross place: Lansing |
Merrill, Andrew
family: L. Crane place: Lansing |
| McLaughlin, Andrew family: Patrick Kernon place: Lansing |
Piederit, Theodore
family: W. H. Robbins place: Waukon |
Preston, Louis
family: James McNerney place: Lansing |
Riehl, Frank
family: A. H. Gast place: Waukon |
| Riehl, Helen
family: John Buntrockk place: Waukon |
Riehl, Josephine
family: O. B. Kelley place: Waukon |
Rogers, John family: Leopold Trentle place: Lansing |
Rude, William
family: T. C. Medary place: Lansing |
| Ryan, William
family: James M. Thompson place: Lansing |
Schaefer, Henry family: John Arnold place: Waukon |
Schaffer, William
family: Stephen Neal place: Lansing |
Schoner, Ladislau
family: John Dornbush place: Lansing |
| Simpson, Clinton
family: Otto Helming place: Waukon |
Stair, Harry family: J. W. Foster place: Lansing |
Stevens, George
family: Henry Steiber place: Lansing |
Stork, George
family: A. C. Hagemeier place: Lansing |
| Taylor, George W. family: William Wendell place: Lansing |
Travers, Anna
family: George Clark place: Waukon |
Travers, Lena
family: George Clark place: Waukon |
Traynor, Michael
family: John C. Conrad place: Lansing |
| Uhl, John family: unknown place: Lansing |
Veritzen, Minnie
family: Nelson place: Waukon |
Weir, Henrietta
family: Lillard place: Waukon |
Wilson, Erma V.
family: John Rumph place: Waukon *see story above |
| Quince, Bella family: 1) T. C. Hatten place: 1) Sidney family: 2) W. H. Robbins place: 2) Waukon family: 3)Stazell place: 3) Oakland |
Reese, Emily F.
family: 1) Parker place: 1)Chicago Mar. 1906 family: 2) Brown place: 2)LeClaire, Ia Aug, 1906 family: 3) Kellogg place: 3)Lansing 8 Jan.1908 family: 4) C. H. Mikkelson place: 4)Wisconsin 1908 family: 5)Geo. Courtney place: 5)Janesville, Wisc. April 1910 |
Source: The Iowa Orphan Train Riders, an IAGenWeb special project - Allamakee co. information extracted with permission
~~~~~~~~~
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
~~~~~~~~~~

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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