Orphan Trains of Illinois

Charles Cordis came to Illinois is 1883 at the age of fourteen. He lived with O. M. Hawkes in Rosamund, Illinois. He was something of a...

James and John Scott were sent to Illinois the same year and we do not know if they were brothers to each other or not. James stated in...

Hedwig and Marianna Schutze were sent to LaSalle County, Illinois in 1889. These sisters may have been two sisters who arrived in America...

Kate Tonkins was nineteen when she wrote the history of her life. She was born in New York City on June 17, 1873. Her mother died when...

Soon Whiteside County will have its own memorial to the Orphan Trains. I was contacted by a woman whose grandson has taken on this task...

One of the purposes of sending children to the West was so that they might fit themselves to be farmers and live the good clean life of...

Clarence wrote in 1895: Clarence Waugh was still greatly influenced by the Asylum at the age of 21 when he wrote this letter in 1895. He...

Charles Wachsmuth (b. 1874) came to Illinois and lived with C F Kuhnen in Highland, Madison County. Mr. Kuhnen wrote a letter reporting...

James Wharmby (b. 1871) was the indentured boy of Mr. Chenoweth of Atlanta, Illinois. He wrote his first letter to the Asylum in 1887,...

A letter from Frances reached the Juvenile Asylum in 1892, when she was eighteen years old. She had come to Illinois in 1883, when she...