Orphans in Ocean Grove, 1878-1902: Curiosities of Ocean Grove, NJ

being an orphan is never easy but it could be especially miserable if you were a child in the late 19th or early 20th centuries most friendless children as they were sometimes called wound up living in the streets working in dismal dangerous factories and mines we're losing a limb was not uncommon and in cities like London and New York they were preyed upon by characters just like Fagin and Oliver Twist they were adopted by gangs and taught how to steal in exchange for food and a place to sleep the luckier ones wound up in orphanages and the luckiest of all got to come to Ocean Grove in the summertime Ocean Grove has a long history of taking an interest in orphans in 1877 the women's foreign missionary Society of motion Grove dedicated a day to raising money to educate an orphan they raised $30 for her and named her Sarah Elwood Stokes after Elwood Stokes the first president of the Ocean Grove camp-meeting Association orphans started coming to Ocean Grove for rest and recreation as early as 1878 when the children from the Patterson Orphan Asylum in Paterson New Jersey struck tents here during the summer when Ocean Grove marked its ninth anniversary in 1878 two children from the Paterson Orphan Asylum participated in celebratory exercises reciting the Apostles Creed and the Lord's Prayer - a delighted audience who said they spoke very well that same year the Orphan Asylum of Elizabeth New Jersey sent its children to Ocean Grove on an excursion they filled fifteen train cars the inmates of the Elizabeth asylum enjoyed a variety of field trips throughout the year the Ocean Grove summer excursion happened every August for a number of years they even had a dedicated committee to plan it it wasn't just orphans who came to Ocean Grove for a break sometimes their caretakers came without them for some well-deserved R&R in April of 1888 for example two ladies from the Bethesda home and orphanage in Philadelphia stayed at doctor bars hygienic Institute here in the Grove the Bethesda home was founded by Annie W Clement in 1859 she walked away from a lucrative business to do benevolent works for Philadelphia's destitute the Bethesda home was sustained entirely by nations which miss Clement believed were the direct result of prayer they prayed regularly at the Bethesda home and they included the employees in their worship miss Clement ran the home with her niece Ruth Anna a friend named mrs. Simpson three ladies from Sweden Denmark and Germany respectively and one gentleman from Switzerland according to miss Clement when the household came together for prayers the employees all prayed in their native languages that must have been an interesting cacophony in 1896 three gentlemen visited the Bethesda home and said it was quote a model institution and kindness is the rule which prevails everywhere one fortunate group of children enjoyed a permanent summer home in Ocean Grove they were from the Philadelphia home for infants founded in 1873 the Philadelphia home for infants was unique because it provided exclusively for homeless babies most orphanages didn't take children under the age of four the Philadelphia home took newborns through age two and a half they were also unique in that they provided services for what they called half orphans these were children with only one living parent the Philadelphia home served as a form of full-time daycare parents paid a small fee to board their child until they were able to bring them home again children who reached the age of four either had to be withdrawn by a parent or other relative if that wasn't possible the child was transferred to another institution for older children 1885 was a tough year for the Philadelphia home close to half of the babies got sick and died the home had no infirmary but finally in 1893 a physician named Elmer G wina became the doctor in charge at the orphanage and continued in that role for at least 15 years during dr. Wynn as time the mortality rate for the orphans dropped to 3% Elmer wina divided his time between Philadelphia where he lived on North 41st Street and Ocean Grove where he had a home at 14 Embry Avenue what is now known as the Philadelphia house the windows were one of the very first families to settle in Ocean Grove after it became a Methodist camp-meeting site in 1869 before becoming a doctor Young Elmer worked as a clerk in the ocean Grove post office Elmer when I graduated from Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia in April 1891 and guess what so did his dad yeah the Reverend Robert winnow was a Methodist minister but he'd always been fascinated by medicine and at the age of 52 he got his medical degree alongside his son for a while the children from the Philadelphia home for infants had their own tent in Ocean Grove but in January 1881 a gentleman named Thomas W price donated a piece of property to the Philadelphia home it was at the foot of Fletcher Lake which divides Ocean Grove from Bradley Beach it was here that the Philadelphia home for infants built a permanent summer home and this is it I haven't been able to find out what happened to the building that housed the orphanage on the spot where it probably stood there's this house if you look at it side-by-side with the home for infants you can see some structural similarities could this be the former orphanage after years of change this wasn't the only physical birth finish to exist in Ocean Grove on Corley's Avenue in what was then called West Grove or sometimes Ocean Grove Heights there existed the Willard home for destitute children named after suffragists Francis II Willard the home stood where the Midtown community elementary school stands today in Neptune the Willard home came to be thanks to the generosity and good intentions of a young Ocean Grove woman named Clara summers who had been an orphan herself when the famous evangelist Reverend Henry Wharton spoke in Ocean Grove miss summers was captivated and when she learned that Reverend Wharton had started two orphanages in Virginia one of which he called the whosoever farm it inspired her Clara summers owned a well-appointed piece of property on Corley's Avenue and in 1898 she decided to donate it to Reverend Wharton on the condition that he use it as a home for orphans of soldiers from the spanish-american war and orphans whose parents had been quote ruined by a drink Wharton accepted the property included a handsome 12 room house situated on 10 acres with several outbuildings including two barns a carriage house to Henry's and ice house and a summer kitchen it was valued at $10,000 it's interesting to note that in December of 1897 the Trenton home for orphans ran an advertisement in the ocean Grove newspaper asking who wants a child Clara summers may have seen it and perhaps it tugged at her heartstrings a married couple was hired on to be the superintendent and matron of the willard home mr. and mrs. FW Andreea they oversaw the care of 11 children the community was supportive of the willard home in 1899 for example a nearby baptist church held a fundraising benefit for the home that same year the grand avenue Reformed Church in Asbury Park gave their entire Thanksgiving Day offering to the home and the Asbury Park newspaper made a year-end appeal to locals to remember the Willard home in their charitable giving however the Reverend Wharton himself was very hands-off with the Willard home as a famous evangelist he spent most of his time traveling and speaking he was also known for showing moving pictures depicting incidents in the life of Christ for which one newspaper noted quote he realized a large thumb he also had what one newspaper described as a palatial home in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia and he had a habit of staying in very fine hotels fast forward to August 1910 as paper headline read warrant for Wharton famous evangelist dragged from Bible conference by police Reverend Wharton was arrested in Ocean City New Jersey by constable EE Hamel of Asbury Park the charge fraud and embezzlement Clara summers the woman who gave her Corley's Avenue home to Wharton to use as an orphanage found out he'd been trying to sell the property and that wasn't at all what she had in mind furthermore Wharton had taken out two separate mortgages on the property it was miss summers and the two mortgages who called for Wharton's arrest Wharton said the whole thing was a conspiracy by some people in Baltimore then he made the official statement that quote I have never received either property or money under false pretenses but will show beyond all doubt that the course that I have pursued has been right and proper in all respects Wharton was jailed and free hold on november 9th a bail of $1,000 was posted by Wharton's friend Edward s Parkinson meanwhile a charitable lady from Trinity Church in Asbury Park decided to drop in on the inmates of the Willard home what she found there shocked her all 11 children and mr. and mrs. Andrea were starving the Asbury Park Daily Press said the children were half clad some of them were barefooted some were in rags they were all ravenously hungry one poor little waif with a chalk white face seemed about to collapse but the charity worker also noticed that the floors were scrupulously clean and noted that the children looked clean and sweet like they've been recently bathed the charity worker checked the larder and found one pound of rice and a half pound of sugar in the bin there was very little coal for cooking or heat she quickly learned that for months the ondrea's had been sending wires to Reverend Wharton begging him for money first for their own wages which he hadn't paid and then for the basic needs as the children hunger had taken its toll on mrs. Andrea and she was bedridden Wharton told them there was nothing he could do and adding insult to injury he reversed the wire charges back home the ondrea's the charity worker immediately sent for the grocer and vegetable man to get some food into these children's bellies then as she spread the word and Ocean Grove in Asbury Park jumped to the aid of the Willard home the next day the Asbury Park Daily Press reported that so prompt was the response to the press appeal the children sat down to a table laden with good things there was nice warm bread and cakes potatoes and meat fruit and knickknacks that children loved their feet were encased in nice warm shoes they were clothed with all and their little eyes shone like stars it must be Thanksgiving cried a joyous girl then at the matrons request they sang praise God from whom all blessings flow it's a curious thing that Reverend Wharton was able to manifest money for travel for the upkeep of a palatial home and for $1,000 bail but when it came to starving orphans he claimed to be powerless the case against Reverend Wharton was quashed and there was some funny business around his attorneys and a failure to alert the other side of a court date in the final analysis it appears he walked away unscathed and what if the children of the willard home the home closed in 1902 the property was sold to the Lyons family of Broadway and Ocean Grove some children were placed in private homes in the immediate neighborhood and others were sent to Baltimore this ad from the Asbury Park Journal of May 11th 1901 strikes a melancholy note it reads for sale Shepherd dog good company for children Willard home West Corley's Avenue research for this video included access to some subscription websites so I'd like to thank Jean Buckley and joy Norton for their generosity in making that access possible thank you

Channel: Historical Society of Ocean Grove

Views: 17,308

Rating: 4.8045111 out of 5

Keywords: history, ocean grove, new jersey, nj, curiosities of ocean grove, video, video series, monmouth county, jersey shore, historical society, kim brittingham, orphans, orphanages, 19th century, 20th century, victorian, child welfare

Id: i73BJKurHUk

Length: 12min 22sec (742 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 28 2016