What became of the children?

From the Files of Virginia Aldridge

I have researched various children, who resided in the Warrick County Orphans' Home in Boonville, Warrick County, Indiana, since the year 2002.

These children are found in the census, birth, death and marriage records of Warrick and surrounding counties. Many children listed in the earliest register have no parent information listed for them.

Three important resources:

• Register of the Inmates of the Orphans'Home Warrick County, Indiana
• Articles of Apprenticeship
• History Record January 1, 1910 [second Orphans Home Register]

Children in the Orphans' Home

Name of child – Name of person to whom they were bound out from the orphanage:

Allen, Flora and William - John Klein
Berch, Birt - James Barnett
Berch, Pearl - Thomas Ringham
Birchler, Bertha - Tom Dillingham
Birchler, Conrad - Leonard Hartman
Birchler, Katherine - David E. Kauffman
Birchler, Minnie - Thomas E. Benton
Birchler, Rosa Marie - August Hirschelman
Crow, Luther V. - Monroe Roberts
Cummings, Alma - David G. Voyles
Fagway, Joe - Colton Wiggens
Fish, Rob - G. Jacob Roth
Grill, Joseph C. - James Grant
Grill, Katherine - David E. Dickey
Grill, Michael Andrew - Christopher C. Caswell
Hogan, Elza - Arthur C. Perigo
Julian, Rufus - William F. Fark
May, Elizabeth
May, Sylvester
Nicholson, Richard Earl - William L. Nicholson
Roberts, Dessie
Roberts, Rester Russell
Smith, Charles - died at age 9 months
Smith, Minnie Isabell - J.R. Huffman [Spencer Co., IN]
Smith, Shirley Augustus - Joseph Cook
Smith, Sidney Barton - Charles Gladden [taken by his uncle]
VanBibber, Ethel - sent to Poor Farm at age 13
VanBibber, Olive E. - Adam Maurer
VanBibber, Martha Mary - John and Nancy Ellis family 2 miles north of Chrisney, IN
VanBibber, Raymond J. - William E. Murphy
Wright, Viola Jane

If you have questions about the children who lived in the Warrick County Orphans' Home you may contact me on my Facebook page, look for Virginia Sutton Aldridge. Feel free to explore the registers and minutes regarding the home. They only tell part of the story. I discovered, by reading the minutes, infants and children with health issues were placed with families in the community and the women were paid for their care. I also found that not all children were listed in the registers and some who were in guardianship situations were living in the orphans home and their guardian was paying for them to live in the home. Read the minutes, they have little tidbits that give hints about the home, but do not fully explain.