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This entry is part 154 of 342 in the series Belle's Box

2 comments

    • Apple on February 28, 2009 at 1:27 pm

    I know I’ve read about the orphan trains going through Orleans County, just west of Monroe County but I’ll be dipped if I can remember the time frame, but that thought popped into my head as I was reading this. I know the obit says he was born in Spencerport and he probably was.

    From the mentions to him in the post cards he sounds like an all around nice guy.

    Appleā€™s last blog post..Weekly Rewind

  1. I’m sad whenever I think of the Orphan Trains. I first heard that song, perhaps 30 years ago, at a folk music festival. Actually, Utah Phillips, the writer of the song was there, and we saw him sing that song, and many others and tell stories. He was a good story teller and certainly could inspire people to think.

    There is a book on my bed right now called The Orphan Trains, which was in my mother’s belongings. Her father died when she was 3, in 1929, and she lived in a series of foster homes. She never really felt wanted, and the memory of being left somewhere by her mother scared her forever. Once, at a concert Ron Thomason of the Dry Branch Fire Squad sang Orphan Train, and mom cried through the whole thing.

    I’m not sure that Utah met “Orphan Train” to be a sad song, but it turned out that way for her, and it always seems sad to me. I believe the orphan trains ran for quite a short period in our history, but affected quite a number of families. There are many websites on them, and I think I’ve read them all, plus several books.

    I don’t know if Charlie was a train rider, but he makes the third “adopted” child I’ve found in my research, and that doesn’t count the currently adopted children in our families.

    Thanks for the comment, Apple.

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