Orphan Trains: Taking the Rails to a New Life
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Reviews for Orphan Trains
2 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Orphan Trains : Taking the Rails to a New Life by Rebecca Langston-George is a middle grade non-fiction book that had me captivated from page one. This is a book that would be good for teen or adult also. The author takes specific people and tells their personal story in a way that touches the reader and makes us feel what the orphan felt. We follow that orphan on the trip from being orphaned to going on the train, new 'parents', and as they are grown. Each experience is unique and told in such a way that the reader cries, smiles, hungers, and is confused with the child. There is so many little things that are brought up in the book that touches a persons heart. This is an excellent book on history and empathy. The book is formatted in a wonderful fashion and easy to follow. The people are made real through the magic of the authors words. What a wonderful book to bring the life of these children close to children of today. I received this book from NetGalley and I am so glad I did. I am going to buy this for my grand children.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5During the 19th Century, orphans and unwanted children were sent to the Midwest to be adopted. This is an elementary/middle school level book outlining some of their stories. Interlaced with photos, the book brings this little known piece of history to life. Overall, a good learning tool.
Book preview
Orphan Trains - Rebecca Langston-George
To the children who rode the rails, and for their children and children’s children.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter One: Clutching His Brother’s Hand - Stanley Cornell
Chapter Two: Missionary to Street Rats
Chapter Three: hree Cheers for Michigan, The First Orphan Train
Chapter Four: From Newsboy to News Maker - Andrew Burke
Chapter Five: A Baby Doll of her Own - Agnes Ruth Anderson Hickok
Chapter Six: Just an Adopted Brat - Robert Hunt Hume
Chapter Seven: Three Mothers and Many Sisters - Edith Peterson
Chapter Eight: Pretending to Be Happy - Marguerite Driscoll Thompson
Chapter Nine: A Little Boy with a Big Imagination - Arthur Field Smith
Chapter Ten: What Happened to the Riders?
Chapter Eleven: What Happened to the Orphan Trains?
Orphan Train Timeline
Glossary
Read More
Discussion Questions
Select Bibliography
Source Notes
Index
About the Author
Copyright
Back Cover
There are places enough with good families in Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, to give every poor boy and girl in New York a permanent home. The only difficulty is to bring the children to the homes.
— E. P. Smith
Clutching His Brother’s Hand
Stanley Cornell
The December cold seeped through the train compartment. Dozens of children huddled together for warmth in the icy night. Sleeping bodies leaned stacked against one another on the seats. Others sprawled in tangled heaps across the wooden train floor. Below them the train wheels sped down the tracks. Six-year-old Stanley Cornell burrowed deeper under his single blanket. Curled up beside him on the floor was his younger brother, Victor.
Stanley thought again of Mama, Daddy, and baby Eloise. He hadn’t seen them for two years. But he could still picture the scene around Mama’s bed as if it had happened yesterday. Eloise had just been born. Mama was sick. Four-year-old Stanley stood next to Mama’s bed. She was crying. She must have known she was dying when she took Stanley’s hand.
In ragged breaths Mama whispered, Be good to Daddy.
And that was all.
Stanley never saw Mama again. He tried to be good to Daddy Floyd. But Daddy Floyd wasn’t well either. He’d been a soldier in World War I. Doctors said he had shell-shock. And he’d been hurt by nerve gas. His body hurt and his mind was often cloudy. Daddy Floyd wasn’t well enough to work a steady job. With Mama gone he couldn’t take care of the three of them.
Not long after Mama died, the lady in the big black car showed up. She handed Stanley and Victor each a piece of candy. She scooped Eloise up in her arms. I’ll have to take the children,
she said.
Stanley, Victor, and Eloise were put in the big black car. As the car drove off, Stanley turned to look out the car’s back window. Daddy Floyd stood on the porch, one hand clinging to the rail. With his other hand Daddy Floyd took a handkerchief from his pocket. He wiped the tears streaming down his face.
Daddy Floyd stood on the porch, one hand clinging to the rail. With his other hand Daddy Floyd took a handkerchief from his pocket. He wiped the tears streaming down his face.
The big black car took them to an orphanage run by the Children’s Aid Society of New York. Baby Eloise was quickly adopted by their aunt. But with five children of her own already, the aunt had no room for Stanley and Victor. They would have to stay at the orphanage.
Stanley, six (left), and his brother, Victor, age four, were all alone in the world — except for one another.
Orphanage life was hard for Stanley and Victor. The older kids picked on youngsters like them, stealing their food. But fighting back wasn’t a good idea. Breaking a rule meant being beaten.
Then in December of 1927 Stanley and Victor were told they’d be riding the train. The train west meant