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Orphan & Orphanage Records
Orphan Home School Building from Across the Lake in Ohio 1906
Photo courtesy of Family Tree Connection. Family Tree Connection has many orphan records online and Olive Tree Genealogy is grateful for permission to use these photos of orphans and orphan homes.
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Thomas Asylum for Orphan and Destitute Indian Children, Versailles
This asylum was established in 1854, through the efforts of
missionaries of the "Cattaraugus Indian Reservation," and
incorporated by an act of the Legislature passed April 10th,
1855. Its location is in the town of Collins, Erie county,
near Versailles.
The asylum building is constructed of wood, and consists
of a main
edifice thirty-six by forty-six feet on the ground, and two
wings, each thirty by forty feet. The former is tow, and the
latter one and one-half stories in height. The building is
plain but substantial, and will suitably accommodate one
hundred inmates. There are also several out-buildings and a
well-conditioned school-house. Connected with the
institution are fifty acres of land, over one-half of which
is under good cultivation, and it is said to be quite
productive. The house is surrounded by well kept gardens and
grounds, and the place presents a neat and attractive
appearance.
The institution is under the control of a board of
trustees, composed of
five white and five Indian members. It is sustained by
private donations, by appropriations for the State treasury,
and annual allowances from the Indian department at
Washington. Its property of all kinds is estimated to be
worth $14,000, and it is nearly free from debt. The total
receipts the past year were $12,114.51, and the expenditures
amounted to $12,376.55. Included in the receipts were $1,333
donations, and $8,329.72 from the State; $4,000 of the
latter amount being a special appropriation. Embraced in the
expenditures were $4,029.80 for indebtedness; $4,434.93 for
support and maintenance, and $548.75 for repairs and
improvement of the buildings and premises.
Orphan and destitute Indian children of both sexes are
admitted. They
are received from all parts of the State, the greater
portion, however, being from the Cattaraugus Reservation.
The total number admitted since the opening is two hundred
and forty-six. There were ninety-two supported the past
year, and ninety-one remained October 1st. Fifty-one of
them were bys, and forty girls.
The inspection was made July 28th. The institution is
under the charge
of a superintendent, who has held the position from its
opening. There are also a matron and two female teachers.
The children are taught the elementary branches of an
English education, and are also instructed in religious
truths. The older ones are trained to industrial pursuits,
the boys in cultivating the farm, and the girls in the
domestic work of the house. They are placed in families by
adoption whenever suitable situations offer; and it is
believed the children have generally become good and useful
citizens.
The institution at the time of inspection was in
excellent order. The
superintendent and subordinate officers appeared to be
earnest and faithful in the discharge of their duties, and
the children were orderly and attentive to their studies.
The institution seems to fulfill admirably the designs and
objects of its founders, and it is believed that the best
interests of the State will be subserved by the continuance
of appropriations to it, adjusted so as to meet fully its
necessities.
* source: Board of State Commissioners of
Public Charities of the State of New York, 1870; Argus
Company, Printers, Albany, p. 129-130 * transcribed &
submitted by Linda Conpenelis Schmidt, 17 July 2007.
Published on Olive Tree Genealogy with permission
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