The Buffalo Orphan Asylum: Fact and Fiction

Since the Buffalo Orphan Asylum appears significantly in both Orphans and Inmates and A Whisper of Bones, I thought it was high time I discussed the institution and the plight of children in the early social welfare system of Buffalo, New York.  Most of this information comes either from the Erie County Poorhouse Inmate Records (soon to be available at the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library) or the Report of the Board of Trustees of the Buffalo Orphan Asylum (available at the Buffalo History Museum Research Library).

As indicated by the inmate records, the Erie County Almshouse was inhabited mostly by families during the earliest years of its existence (1829-1835).  These records also indicate that some young children came to the poorhouse unaccompanied by adults.  While there are no detailed comments provided in these ledgers, it is safe to assume that many of these unaccompanied children were orphans.  The children who came in without parents tended to stay longer than the children who entered with families.  Some died while in residence, of what, the records do not say.  Others left, although their destinations remain unknown.  Some were bound out to the lowest bidder for their care as apprentices or laborers, which was often a worse fate than the county poorhouse.

Image by Robert J. Higgins

The Buffalo Orphan Asylum was established in 1836.  Although I described it in my novels as part of the Erie County Poorhouse, the BOA was actually a privately funded charitable institution and was not located on the same piece of property the ECPH.  According to the Buffalo City Directory of 1837, it was located on “Seneca below Michigan, opposite the widow St. John’s stone house.”  It did, however, have a working relationship with the ECPH and children from the poorhouse were often sent there. 

Another piece of fiction was the role of the Catholic Church in the BOA.  The original constitution stated that one Trustee be elected each from 11 different Christian churches.  None of the Trustees were Roman Catholic.  In fact, there was often conflict in Buffalo among the Roman Catholics and other Christian churches with regard to their charitable efforts (recall the establishment of Buffalo Hospital of the Sisters of Charity from an earlier blog).  

While the Board of Trustees for the BOA was made up of gentleman, the Board of Managers, who actually ran the institution, was comprised of upwards of twenty women (many of whom had husbands on the Board of Trustees).  The structure of management evolved over time.  Originally there was a superintendent in charge of the day to day operations of the asylum (the first being Orissa Heely).  Later, there was a matron.  There was also a teacher in the early days of the asylum, and later a committee on education.

The Board of Managers, later called the Board of Directresses, solicited the funding and supplies necessary to provide for the children under their care (upwards of fifty children in the early decades).  Some reports provided detailed inventories of the food, clothing, bedding, and other necessities that were donated to the institution.  Physicians donated both their time and the medicines necessary to treat the various illnesses common among children.  Many of the early reports boasted general good health and low mortality; although no real statistics were provided. 

Image by Robert J. Higgins

When evaluating the effectiveness of this nineteenth century institution, it is important to remember that at the time of its establishment the alternatives to the Buffalo Orphan Asylum for homeless children were few, and perhaps less accommodating.  The children there were provided shelter, food, education and spiritual guidance.  It is uncertain whether they received the love, kindness and understanding that they must have desperately needed.  Therein lies the motivation for writing a series of fictional accounts in which there were characters who genuinely cared about those less fortunate.  What if there was a matron who insisted on nurturing  and caretakers who provided hope for the youngest of Buffalo’s poor? In the absence of historic documentation, we can only hope that the fiction reflects the facts.

The Buffalo Orphan Asylum: Fact and Fiction

Since the Buffalo Orphan Asylum appears significantly in both Orphans and Inmates and A Whisper of Bones, I thought it was high time I discussed the institution and the plight of children in the early social welfare system of Buffalo, New York.  Most of this information comes either from the Erie County Poorhouse Inmate Records (soon to be available at the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library) or the Report of the Board of Trustees of the Buffalo Orphan Asylum (available at the Buffalo History Museum Research Library).

As indicated by the inmate records, the Erie County Almshouse was inhabited mostly by families during the earliest years of its existence (1829-1835).  These records also indicate that some young children came to the poorhouse unaccompanied by adults.  While there are no detailed comments provided in these ledgers, it is safe to assume that many of these unaccompanied children were orphans.  The children who came in without parents tended to stay longer than the children who entered with families.  Some died while in residence, of what, the records do not say.  Others left, although their destinations remain unknown.  Some were bound out to the lowest bidder for their care as apprentices or laborers, which was often a worse fate than the county poorhouse.

Image by Robert J. Higgins

 

Sketch by Robert Higgins

The Buffalo Orphan Asylum was established in 1836.  Although I described it in my novels as part of the Erie County Poorhouse, the BOA was actually a privately funded charitable institution and was not located on the same piece of property the ECPH.  According to the Buffalo City Directory of 1837, it was located on “Seneca below Michigan, opposite the widow St. John’s stone house.”  It did, however, have a working relationship with the ECPH and children from the poorhouse were often sent there. 

Another piece of fiction was the role of the Catholic Church in the BOA.  The original constitution stated that one Trustee be elected each from 11 different Christian churches.  None of the Trustees were Roman Catholic.  In fact, there was often conflict in Buffalo among the Roman Catholics and other Christian churches with regard to their charitable efforts (recall the establishment of Buffalo Hospital of the Sisters of Charity from an earlier blog).  

While the Board of Trustees for the BOA was made up of gentleman, the Board of Managers, who actually ran the institution, was comprised of upwards of twenty women (many of whom had husbands on the Board of Trustees).  The structure of management evolved over time.  Originally there was a superintendent in charge of the day to day operations of the asylum (the first being Orissa Heely).  Later, there was a matron.  There was also a teacher in the early days of the asylum, and later a committee on education.

The Board of Managers, later called the Board of Directresses, solicited the funding and supplies necessary to provide for the children under their care (upwards of fifty children in the early decades).  Some reports provided detailed inventories of the food, clothing, bedding, and other necessities that were donated to the institution.  Physicians donated both their time and the medicines necessary to treat the various illnesses common among children.  Many of the early reports boasted general good health and low mortality; although no real statistics were provided. 

When evaluating the effectiveness of this nineteenth century institution, it is important to remember that at the time of its establishment the alternatives to the Buffalo Orphan Asylum for homeless children were few, and perhaps less accommodating.  The children there were provided shelter, food, education and spiritual guidance.  It is uncertain whether they received the love, kindness and understanding that they must have desperately needed.   Therein lies the motivation for writing a series of fictional accounts in which there were characters who genuinely cared about those less fortunate.  A matron who insisted on nurturing and compassion, and caretakers who provided hope for the youngest of Buffalo’s poor. In the absence of historic documentation, we can only hope that the fiction reflects the facts.

A wee bit from chapter two of A Whisper of Bones!

   

    

      Once home, she ate the remaining five chicken wings straight out of the fridge and stumbled upstairs.  Maude was not surprised to see a warm bubble bath waiting for her in the master bathroom.  Back in the grad school days, before they were married, Maude would return home in the evening, after teaching Comparative Primate Anatomy, to find a tub filled with fragrant foam awaiting her in the West Ferry apartment she shared with Don.  At first, she thought it was the most romantic thing he had ever done.  After a while, she realized it was his loving way of saying “Honey, you stink!”

            She chuckled as she entered the room, shedding the long sleeved t-shirt and jeans as she walked across the hardwood floor toward the bath.  “You remembered.”

            “I did.”  He replied.

            She walked in the bathroom and immediately noticed the heavy crystal tumbler with a healthy dram of whiskey perched on the medicine chest that stood next to the claw foot tub.  “Bonus!” she called out as she climbed into the pearly bubbles.

            At the same time the following evening she sat in the tub, tumbler in hand, pondering the recent turn of events.  In her wildest dreams, Maude never would have thought she would be back at the university and working on the Erie County Poorhouse Cemetery Collection.  It was like getting a “do- over,” a chance to do the project she had originally wanted.  Do-overs were rare in life and this was the best one of all.  Being no longer affiliated with any university, Maude was essentially a volunteer on the project, which suited her just fine.  She was free to study the bones unencumbered.  She had no budget to adhere to, no administration to deal with and nobody to impress.  Those complications would be dealt with by others.  Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the open door.  It was Don with the bottle of Jameson and another glass.

            “So what's the long term plan here?” he asked as he refilled her glass, then his, and took a seat on the edge of the tub.  There had been no reproach for working all through the weekend and leaving both the care of the boys and the house to him.  Don had always been supportive of her endeavors and she knew now would be no different.  Still, he had a right to know where, if anywhere, all this time in the anthropology lab was leading.  In his typical style, he asked a simple question and listened while she gave a long and complicated answer.

            “This is a big deal, Don.  They estimate they will remove nearly 400 burials between now and September.  All of the clay is making the cleaning very difficult.  We are lucky if we get two complete burials cleaned each day.  They really need my help.”

            He simply looked at her, knowing there would be more.

            “You know I am loving every minute of this.  I would give anything to be in the field helping with the excavation, but I could not justify paying anyone to work for me so that I can go volunteer, right?”

            The blue eyes continued looking at her impassively, waiting for her to find a solution.

            She continued.  “I also know that I can't continue to work long hours at the lab on weekends.  I appreciate you holding down the fort the way you did, by the way.”

            A nod this time.

            “It's a shame I can't get some work done during the day.  It's usually pretty slow after lunch.  If I could get to campus for even a few hours to clean and photograph the skeletons, maybe, between the pictures and my notes, I could work on some analysis back at the shop...  I could clear off the work table in the back so that I have plenty of room to spread out.  Do you think you could cover me for a few hours one or two days a week?”

            Finally a comment from Don, “Do you think it would really only be a few hours?  I know once you get started it will be hard for you to just stop when the clock strikes two.”

            “I will have to.  Look, Don, I know that I am asking a lot of you, but I really want to do this.  If my work on campus interferes in any way with our business, I will let it go with no argument.  Will you let me try?”

            Don got up and clinked his glass with his wife's and said “Here’s to your triumphant return to anthropology!”  As he left the bathroom, Maude detected a smirk on her husband’s face.

            “What's the look for?” she asked.

            “Oh, nothing.  I was just thinking your ghosts might have more to say about you working on this project than I do.”  He was referring to their assumption that the shop they rented was haunted.  Over the years both Maude and Don had heard strange noises and voices that occurred without reasonable explanation.  Twice when he was younger, Glen, their eldest son, claimed to have seen someone standing by the window when the shop was supposed to be empty.  Their younger son, Billy, was still not comfortable being in the shop alone.  “You better hope one of your almshouse inmates doesn’t follow you home!”

            She smiled “Well, the ghosts have been quiet recently so maybe they are bored with me.  Perhaps some new people will perk them up a bit.”

            “Be careful what you wish for!  You should get out of the tub, by the way. You’re starting to prune.”

            Maude smiled and raised her glass once again in the direction of her husband.  “Thank for this.”

With a wink and smile, Don raised his own glass and left.

More from Dr. Newman’s Ledger: The stories of real people

 Orphan By Robert J. Higgins

While doing research for The Seer and the Scholar, I transcribed Dr. James. Newman’s cholera ledger at the Buffalo History Museum.*  This ledger documents all of the cases of cholera that were treated in the city of Buffalo, New York during the epidemic of 1854. I think the most compelling parts of this record are the physician remarks.  Sadly, there were not comments for every patient, but there are a few worth sharing because they inspired characters in the story. 

The Suhn family has occupied my thoughts for a while.  Mrs. Suhn was found on July 1, 1854 at 11 a.m.  She was “confined with her stillborn child on the morning of the attack” [of cholera].  She died on July 2 at 5:30 p.m.  Her two year old daughter was taken to the hospital on July 1 at 7 p.m. and died the following morning at 5 a.m.  The physician recorded “had no medical treatment” for this child.  Mr. Suhn was taken to the hospital on July 3, no time was noted, however; he passed away the following morning.  There was no mention of any other surviving family members.  An entire family lost their battle with cholera in a matter of just a few days.

Mrs. Wilcox collapsed on July 4^th and died later that evening.  Mr. Wilcox also collapsed on the morning of July 4^th, but died the following afternoon.  The physician made the following remarks with regard to Mr. Wilcox: “His wife died yesterday from cholera- has been drinking for several days.”  Had Mr. Wilcox been drinking because his wife was near death?  Did his drinking contribute to his own death?  The record does not say.

Of all of the remarks I have read, those pertaining to young Mr. Crim provide stunning insight into the early nineteenth century American experience.  “Is a poor orphan begging his way to his grandparents in Cayuga Co.  Slept last night in a stable.  Found by police-sent to hospital.”  So, at the age of 12, this child lost his parents and set out from Detroit, Michigan, likely on foot, to find his family in New York only to be stricken by cholera upon his arrival.  What is even more compelling about this young man’s story is that he apparently survived the disease as there was no date of death recorded.  Did he make it to his grandparents?  The record does not say.

As a writer I feel it is important to tell these stories.  With a bit more research, some common sense and a healthy dose of humanity, I can fill in the gaps and create some realistic and inspiring characters for the third book in the Orphans and Inmates series.  For example, what were those hours in the cholera hospital like for the young Suhn child?  Was she separated from her mother?  Was she afraid?  Was she at peace when she passed?

What if Mr. Wilcox’s bender started because he feared losing the love of his life?  Perhaps there is a back story there about her inability to bear children.  The couple may have grown closer together after a number of miscarriages and stillbirths, knowing only the other could truly understand their devastation.  The loss of his wife may have represented a loneliness that Mr. Wilcox simply could not tolerate.  In his drunken stupor, he may not have even noticed the onset of his own symptoms.  In death he was finally reunited with his beloved wife and children.

There may have been a happy ending to young Mr. Crim’s saga.  Perhaps while he was recovering at the Cholera Hospital word was sent to his grandparents that he was in Buffalo and would be released soon.  They may have been grateful for his arrival, being no longer able to manage many of their daily activities due to their advanced age.  What if the arrival of their strapping young grandson actually resulted in keeping them out the poorhouse?

There are other stories to be told from Dr. Newman’s ledger.  Some tell the tale of the tireless work of many physicians, and the staggering number of new patients admitted every day as the epidemic raged through the city of Buffalo.  The ledger also documents the end of life for hundreds of people, some horrific and others peaceful.  All of these facts that were carefully recorded by the physicians have been woven together to create a fictional account of a fascinating part of early American history.

*Dr. James. Newman’s cholera ledger at the Buffalo History Museum http://www.worldcat.org/title/cholera-record-1854-june-21-oct-27/oclc/53904321

Why did so many Germans die from cholera in Buffalo during the mid nineteenth century?

Over the last few weeks I have been collecting data from the cholera ledger kept by Dr. James Newman, Health Physician in Buffalo during the 1854 cholera epidemic.  While I have only just begun to analyze the data, I thought it might be useful to report what I have learned so far.  First, however, I would like to correct a mistake from one of my earlier blogs.  The Cholera Hospital (McHose house, an abandoned tavern on property owned by Dr. Ebenezer Jonson, the first mayor of Buffalo) was not located near the poorhouse as I previously thought.  It was located just a few blocks away from the mysterious Hospital Street in Block 21 of the village of Black Rock, its boundaries being Ninth Street to the east, Niagara St. to the west, Carolina St. to the north and Georgia St. to the south (see the blue dot on the map).

City of Buffalo, 1849.  From the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library

With that cleared up, it is important to remember that the same hospital appears to have been used in all three major cholera epidemics (1832, 1849, and 1854).  Interestingly, I can find no evidence that the Erie County Poorhouse was used as a pesthouse during the 1832 or 1849 epidemics.  However, according to Dr. Newman’s ledger, of the 566 deaths recorded between June and November of 1854, 40 of them were at the Erie County Poorhouse.  Of these, 24 were from the insane department.  It is not known if these individuals were transferred there from their homes or if they were in residence at the poorhouse when they became sick.  I intend to check the Keepers Report for the poorhouse for that year to see if there are any details regarding the cholera epidemic.

Dr. Newman recorded cases of cholera from May 21- November 4, 1854.  The highest frequency of deaths occurred in July (n= 215).  The place of residence was not recorded consistently, but a great many deaths were recorded from Genesee Street (yellow arrow on the map), Exchange Street (red arrow) South Division (green arrow) and Jefferson Avenue (not seen on this map).  It should be noted here that few streets in the city of Buffalo that were spared from the disease, and without house numbers it is difficult to say where along any given street cholera cases may have clustered.

The demographic details of the epidemic were a bit surprising to me.  Of those who died, about 10% were under 5 years old.  Adults aged between 20 and 45 accounted for over half of the deaths (51%).  Keep in mind that the average life expectancy was about 45 for men and 35 for women during this period.  I would have expected greater mortality among young children and the aged (infant mortality was nearly 50% in many large cities during this period).  It will be interesting to compare these mortality statistics to those in Rochester during the same period (I am working with my colleagues at UB on a paper for our national meeting in 2016). 

It did not surprise me that most of the people who died from cholera were foreign born.  Mortality was higher in general among this group of people largely because the circumstances which lead them to leave their homeland often left them in poor health to begin with.  Surprisingly, 38% (n =214) of those who died from cholera were originally from Germany.  Recall that during the 1849 pandemic, the individuals who brought cholera from Europe to New York were Germans.  Only 84 deaths were recorded among the Irish (14%), and even less among other people of European ancestry. Why were Germans so vulnerable to this disease?  It will be important to understand the reasons families left Germany to come to the United States, and what circumstances in German communities lead to favorable conditions for the spread of cholera.  I would be very interested in hearing the details of individual family histories.  If you have a story to tell don’t hesitate to contact me.  In the mean time, I’ll keep searching for answers!