Skip to Main Content

Genealogy Guide: United States

History of the Orphan Train Movement

The Orphan Train Movement was conceived by the Rev. Charles Loring Brace of the New York Children’s Aid Society with the aim of taking orphaned, abandoned, abused, and runaway children off the streets of the city and finding them homes in more rural areas in the Midwest and West. On September 20, 1854, the Children's Aid Society sent out the first train of 46 children, all of whom were placed in homes. Soon afterwards, other charities in New York and Boston followed suit, and, by the end of the 1800’s, charities in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois began sending children to states farther west. Between 1854 and 1929, an estimated 200,000 children were relocated to new homes via the Orphan Trains. “This period of mass relocation of children in the United Statesis widely recognized as the beginning of documented foster care in the United States” (“Orphan Train History.” National Orphan Train Complex, Inc. n.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2012.).
Sources: “Orphan Train History.” National Orphan Train Complex, Inc.; “The Orphan Trains.” The Children’s Aid Society; “The Orphan Trains: About the Program” PBS’ American Experience.

 

Locating Orphan Train Records

Records of Orphan Train transfers may be found at the charities that participated in the project or in the deed books, justice of the peace dockets, guardians’ records, county order records, and board of supervisors’ minutes of the courthouses in the counties that received the children. County deed books are especially useful, as they were commonly used to record adoptions (usually males under ten and females) and apprenticeships (usually males ten and over).

The New York Children’s Aid Society & The New York Foundling Hospital

The New York Children’s Aid Society and the New York Foundling Hospital were the most prolific participants in the Orphan Trains project.

New York Children's Aid Society
Address: Attn: Records, Lukas Weinstein
150 East 45th St.
New York, NY 10017
Phone: (212) 949-4847
Email: lukasw@childrensaidsociety.org

$25 Research Fee

New York Foundling Hospital
Address: Record Information Department
Attn: Yvonne Wintz
590 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10011
Phone: (212) 206-4170

 

Records of the Children’s Aid Society and the Foundling Hospital are housed at the New York Historical Society. For guides to these collections, which include Orphan Train records.

Many of the children who lived in these charities’ boarding facilities were later transferred to adoptive families via the Orphan Trains. Thus, one potential source of information on Orphan Train ridersis the census records for these institutions. The following census record indexes are not available at the Center for Jewish History (please use Worldcat.org to find the nearest locations for these books):

  • Inskeep, Carolee R. The Children's Aid Society of New York: An Index to the Federal, State, and Local Census Records of Its Lodging Houses, 1855-1925. Baltimore, Md: Clearfield Co., 1996.
  • Inskeep, Carolee R. The New York Foundling Hospital: An Index to Its Federal, State, and Local Census Records (1870-1925). Baltimore, Md: Printed for Clearfield Co. by Genealogical Pub. Co, 1995.

 

The National Orphan Train Complex

The National Orphan Train Complex is a museum and research center dedicated to preserving the history of the Orphan Train Movement. They maintain a rider registry and online resources.

Address: P.O. Box 322
Concordia, KS 66901