Real Name: Margaret Murphy
Case: Lost Sister
Location: Yonkers, New York
Date: September 1928
Case[]
Details: Around the turn of the century, the streets of New York City were filled with starving immigrant children who had no one to care for them. The city orphanages overflowed. School classes and afternoon naps often took place outside, even in the bitter cold. To alleviate the crowded conditions, the Children's Aid Society of New York came up with a unique plan. They began to put orphans on trains bound for the South and the Midwest, hoping they would be adopted by farm families along the route.
Between 1890 and 1929, scores of trains carried at least 150,000 orphans into the heartland of America. Sadly, many of them were separated from their siblings, whom they would never see again. In 1910, two brothers named Algie and Johnny rode in an orphan train. Along with a group of other orphans, they headed for Arkansas, hoping to be adopted. Algie remembers that when they left New York City, none of them knew where they were going. But the man that took them knew where they were headed: Fayetteville, Arkansas.
When Algie and Johnny's train arrived in Fayetteville, prospective parents were waiting to look the children over. Algie and Johnny hoped they would be able to stay together. Algie remembers that they lined all of the children up beside the track. He remembers wondering what they were going to do with him and Johnny. He hoped that they would be placed in a home together. According to him, some of the adults took the children to make farmers or "slaves" out of them. Some people took them because they wanted to love and take care of them.
When it came time to make the decision, the couple who took Algie only wanted one child. He and Johnny held onto each other's hands, but were torn apart. One family took him and the other took Johnny. Eventually, Algie was able to accept the separation. But often, he wondered where Johnny ended up. Happily, Algie and Johnny have since been reunited.
Orphan Train riders who are still living have since formed an organization called the "Orphan Train Heritage Society" in Springdale, Arkansas. Two other riders, Francis H. Murphy and Sylvia Wemhoff, have been unable to find their lost siblings. Francis was born on September 29, 1916, in Boston, Massachusetts. When he was five, he became a ward of the Children's Aid Society and was placed in one of their lodging homes in Yonkers, New York. His teenage mother, Hilda, was too poor to take care of him. In September 1928, when he was eleven, he rode the orphan train; in fact, he was one of the last children to do so. Hilda and his newborn half-sister, Margaret, were both left behind. He says that when he got on the train, he did not feel like he was being "wrenched away" from somebody. He did not know much about Hilda, so it was not a matter of them tearing him away from her, because he was away from her all the time anyway. More than anything else, it felt like a "big adventure" to him.
Being a child in New York City, Francis did not know much about the West. What he did know was from the picture shows he saw about cowboys, Indians, and engineers. Going that direction, it was one of the biggest thrills that a kid of that time could expect.
Francis' excitement soon turned to sadness. At stop after stop, potential adoptive parents would be waiting to pick their child from the crowd. But not all the children found new parents. Francis, who had boarded the train in New York City with such high hopes, began to realize that none of the families along its route wanted him. When the other children would get off of it, he would take his belongings and try to join them. But the Children's Aid Society workers would tell him that he should stay on board. He would see the crowd get smaller and smaller until finally he was the only child left on board.
Francis never was adopted. He ended up in Wichita, Kansas, going from family to family as a foster child. In spite of his early hardships, his life turned out well. After graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1946, he became a high school teacher, married, and had five children and six grandchildren.
Extra Notes:
- This case first aired on the January 25, 1989 episode about orphan trains, along with that of The Brother of Sylvia Wemhoff.
- Mary Johnson of the Orphan Train Heritage Society was contacted by the show's producers in April 1988 to produce a segment on orphan train riders. Francis was contacted after it was learned that he was one of the last riders before the program was shut down.
- Francis was interviewed for the show at Mary's home in Springdale, Arkansas. Immediately after he was interviewed, he asked, "Will this really be shown on national television?" and a producer confirmed this. He then said, "I think I need to lie down." He slumped forward in his wheelchair, suffering from heart failure. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he died.
Results: Unsolved. Francis developed heart disease in 1987. Sadly, he died on November 3, 1988, soon after his interview was filmed at age seventy-two. His wife and family have continued his search, and they asked that the show present his story, despite the fact that he is gone. They hope to unite the family who still loves him with the family he never knew and wanted so desperately to find.
According to Francis' widow, Christine, it was extremely important for him to go ahead with his interview. He had been looking forward to it for months. Just the hope that he would find somebody, particularly his sister, was important. Christine says that he did not know much about love growing up. However, he found out as he got older and had a family of his own. She thinks that finding Margaret would be an extension of that love. She says that it is still very important to her and their family that they finish what he tried to do.
Margaret was born around 1927. She has red hair. She was probably born in either Yonkers or New York City, and she may have been adopted. Her and Francis' mother was Hilda Harding Murphy; she died in 1929. Their grandparents were John and Elizabeth Harding from Nova Scotia. Francis' father was Martin Murphy. Due to the passage of time, it is possible that Margaret is now dead.
Sadly, on May 30, 2006, Christine passed away at age eighty.
Links:
- Orphan train movie on television - November 12, 1988
- Orphan train show airs Jan. 25 - January 7, 1989
- Unsolved Mysteries to feature former Skyline teacher - January 19, 1989
- Show features ex-teacher in Urbana - January 25, 1989
- Francis' Obituary
- Christine Murphy's Obituary
- Orphan Train Website