Grimes County Orphan Train Children

ORPHAN TRAIN SOCIETY

I am looking for information on children that were adopted from the Orphan Trains by Grimes County Families!

Submit your information to Vanessa Burzynski

Child's Name	Born	Died	Adoptive Family	City/Town	Comments/Additional Information
Edna Kolm	5/8/1902	3/1/1984	Burzynski Family	Anderson, Texas	Adopted around 1905 born in New York
Marian Cameron	1901		Urbanowski Family	Richards, Texas	Adopted around 1901 born in New York
August Kolbachinski	4/21/1901	7/4/1991	Kolbachinski Family	Anderson, Texas	Adopted around 1913 born in New York
Bernard Hirsch			Urbanowski Family	Richards, Texas	Born in New York
Robert McIntosh	3/30/1901	12/12/1960	Posinski Family	Anderson, Texas	Born in New York
Alice O'Connor	1902		Pavlock Family	Plantersville, Texas	Born in New York
Agnes Stilwell	1901			Plantersville, Texas	Born in New York
Anna Elizabeth Taylor	1902			Plantersville, Texas	Born in New York
Caro Jolly	1904		Edmund Yargo Family	Anderson, Texas	1910 Grimes County Census age 6 born in New York
Hattie Johnson	1904		Edmund Yargo Family	Anderson, Texas	1910 Grimes County Census age 6 born in New York
Julie Smith	1897		Stash Pavlock Family	Plantersville, Texas	1910 Grimes County Census age 13 born in New York
Julius Cicero	1906		Ed Yargo Family	Anderson, Texas	1920 Grimes County Census age 14 born in New York
Mary Brooks	1902		Burzynski Family	Anderson, Texas	1920 Grimes County Census
James S. "Jimmy" Griggs	1892		John Tadlock Family	Anderson, Texas	1920 Grimes County Census
Agnes Osborn	1903		Stash Sechelski Family	Anderson, Texas	1920 Grimes County Census
Will Smith	1900		Klodzinski Family?	Anderson, Texas	1920 Grimes County Census
Katie Carns	1905		Klodzinski Family?	Anderson, Texas	1920 Grimes County Census
Mark Szymczak (Shimshack)	4/24/1899	12/28/1958	Ed Szymczak Family	Anderson, Texas	1930 Grimes County Census age 30 born in New York
Tommy Ubnoski	1900		Ubnoski Family	Plantersville, Texas	1930 Grimes County Census age 30 born in New York

Books written on the Orphan Trains

	*The Orphan Trains: Placing Out in America* *by Marilyn Irvin Holt* Marilyn Irvin Holt relates the story of the many orphan children who were shipped out West on the Orphan Trains. It also mentions that Ellis County, Kansas was the destination for many of these abandoned children. 248 pgs. size 8 1/2 x 5 1/2
	*Orphan Train Rider: One Boy's True Story* *by Andrea Warren* This book chronicles the travels of an orphan train child, Lee Nailling, who rode the train to Texas where he was adopted with his brother. Unfortunately, the family did not keep him and he was sent to another family. The book bounces between the story of Lee Nailling and the history of the orphan trains. It shows the positive and negative outcomes of the orphan train children. It covers a great deal of history and does end with a happy reunion between Lee and his brother.
	*Cobblestone; American History for Kids;* *Orphan Trains, Traveling West to a New Life* *April 1998, Volume 19, Number 4*
	*Texas Orphan Train - An Avalon Western* *by Kent Conwell* When loner Will Hunter hired on to drive a wagon load of people out of San Antonio, he wasn't expecting a dozen orphans, a New York Placing Agent, and the biggest tomboy in town, Amanda Jean Haywood, who knew more about horses than Will had ever dreamed. Forced by the Agent's untimely death to head up the Orphan Train, not only does Will run into the expected late winter blizzards, floods, stampedes, thieves, and Comancheros, but he also, with Amanda's help, has to figure out how to handle the plagues of hornets, buffaloes, and snakes that the dozen children bring upon the wagons. By the end of the arduous trek, Will realizes that a loner is the unhappiest man in the world; that only by taking on the problems of those for whom you love and care, can a man truly be content.
	*The Texas Orphans: A Story of the Orphan Train Children* *by Rita Kerr* In September, 1904, five orphans are put on a train in New York City bound for Seguin, Texas, where they are to start new lives with new families. The four boys and one girl travel with two nuns. On arrival, after initial doubts of acceptance, the children are warmly received by the awaiting parents. Adjustment to their unaccustomed surroundings is pretty easy and quick. Life goes on as usual, with some mishaps including a wild chase by a bull and a mill fire. The writing is stilted and dull without any intrigue or feeling. The story progresses as a list of events. Characters are flat and one dimensional, and there is little to make readers interested in the book's outcome. Joan Lowery Nixon's ``The Orphan Train Quartet'' (Bantam) gives a better view of this part of America's history and is told with suspense, drama, and emotion.-Rita Soltan, Baldwin Public Library, Birmingham, MI