by Shannon Butler
Growing up in the 19th century could be tough if your family didn’t have any money. It was even harder for those children who lost their parents either through death or just plain old abandonment. Before 1850, there was almost no place for an orphan to go to for safety, shelter, and food. Generally, they would end up in an almshouse (also known as the poorhouse) with adults who had also fallen on hard times. Ending up in a poorhouse meant no schooling or any kind of a proper education, at least until a group of concerned well-to-do women from the area decided to create an institution to house and care for children and homeless women (a.k.a. the friendless).
It was in January of 1847 when a group of women – including local names like Adriance, Wilkinson, and Bartlett – got together and formed a society known as the Female Guardian Society. Their goal was to house, feed, educate, and care for children and women who were destitute. There was no real money to work with at first, other than what the ladies managed to contribute through donations, which remained the main source of income throughout their work. The society received a state-issued charter in 1852 and officially made their plans known for the creation of “The Poughkeepsie Orphan House and Home for the Friendless.” All they needed now was an actual home. In the Poughkeepsie Eagle on July 24, 1852, a letter to the editor from the Female Guardian Society explained the need for such a home and how it would be different from other asylums (or orphanages) in that they would not only follow up on the care of children who ended up in foster care, but they would also make sure that any destitute women who stayed in the home would be put to work based on their abilities. The ladies continued to place articles in the papers stressing the need for such a home:
“Shall these plans be carried into execution, and thus provide for the innocent, dependent outcast a home: those who have no mother’s tender love to watch over them and no kind father’s care to guide them, whose inherited poverty and degradation are such powerful propellers to drive them into those ways which a naturally depraved appetite and passion covet, and finally after having spent a life of indescribable suffering and woe, go down into the dark grave without one ray of hope for the future world? … we are compelled to say to our husbands, fathers, and brothers and to all gentlemen of Poughkeepsie – ‘We need funds, and we need them now, to carry out this project. Are you willing to aid?'”
In 1854, they began making plans to purchase some land on South Hamilton Street, and on November 15, 1855, the cornerstone was laid with the help of Mayor James Emott. The mayor also gave a speech on the importance of the work the society was doing (and how it made the City look good). However, they still needed money for the completion of the building itself. By May of 1856, the building still needed another $4,000 worth of work, including plumbing, painting, furnace, and fences. By February of 1857, the house was finally ready for use and it quickly filled with the needy. 30 children were housed and cared for within the first year. Other notable contributors came to the aid of the home, including Matthew Vassar and Samuel F.B. Morse.
By 1862, the home decided to focus solely on children and no longer accepted destitute women. They discovered that the need for the care and education of children was of greater concern. Sickness was a problem early on in the home’s history as there were several outbreaks of scarlet fever and diphtheria, as seen in the secretary’s report in 1862: “One dear little nursery child was apparently recovering, when the fatal diphtheria set in and closed her eyes in death- like an untimely frost upon the sweetest flower of all the field.” That same year brought problems due to the war (The Civil War, that is),
“We have three families of half-orphans, whose remaining parents are spending the winter on the banks of the Potomac. The children were received as boarders-but no item of the soldiers’ pay comes to cancel the obligation; and we are led to question the patriotism of the man who will not, when he can, provide for his own household.”
By 1882, over 1,000 children had been helped by the home, and by the turn of the century, the children were taking field trips and expanding their learning to include music and outdoor exercise. The name of the home was changed in 1919 to “The Children’s Home of Poughkeepsie.” However, the old building was badly in need of repairs and expansions. By the early 1920s, the home abandoned its original location once a new facility had been built on Fulton Street (after much fundraising had been done). It still remains there today and continues to serve children in need after over 170 years. The old home still stands on the corner of South Hamilton and Franklin Streets and is currently used as apartments.
Resources:
Poughkeepsie Eagle News – 24 Jul 1852
27 Nov 1852
17 Nov 1855
17 May 1856
Annual Reports of the Poughkeepsie Orphan House and Home for the Friendless – 1862-1918, LH Collection 362.732 c.
www.childrenshome.us/about/history
Images:
01 – Cover of Annual Report from 1862
02 – Image of Lithograph of Poughkeepsie Orphan House and Home of the Friendless
03 – Photo of the original building as it stands today, taken by Kira Thompson
