The Children's Orphanage

The children's orphanage (The Middlesworth Home/Illinois Children's Home and Aid Society)

Applications were sent to New York, in 1877, for those people of Shelbyville that would apply for the right to indenture children. In October 18, 1877, a company of children, mostly boys, arrived in Shelbyville. The children had come from the New York Juvenile Asylum. Their ages varied from seven to fifteen years of age. When they first got to Shelbyville, they stayed at the Ellington House, a hotel of the town.

The children were considered to be of good parentage and were promising and desirable children. It was requested that they were put in homes with families where they would continue to receive good care and training. These children were accepted into a home for a trial period of ten days, and if all parties were satisfied, they would be indentured until they were of age to take care of themselves - girls; age 18 and boys; age 21. When they became indentured, a small payment was made to cover the expenses of the trip to Shelbyville, from New York.

Mr. & Mrs. Abram Middlesworth donated property to what was to be the Illinois Children's Home and Aid Society. This home was the third to be used in the state as a receiving home. It was said to have been the most valuable gift ever received by the Society.

In May of 1900, the Middlesworth Home was opened and used simply as a temporary shelter for orphaned and indigent children. The home was located on a four-acre tract of land in the southern part of Shelbyville. The house overlooked the city. The building consisted of a substantial brick structure, a cottage, and a barn. The main building had ten rooms and could hold up to twenty-five children. Some of the furnishings were donated by some of the churches of the city.

A school was maintained in the home and the children were taken to one of the City's churches, every Sunday. The first superintendent was Annie M. Wilcox. After Annie's failing health forced her to seek a change of climate, she was succeeded by Anna Simmons. Anna was there only a few months when she handed the job to Mrs. M. M. Johnson. Mrs. Johnson remained at the children's home until 1903.

Shortly after 5:00 am on October 1904, fire broke out at the orphans home. Mrs. Jennie Frazier, the matron, got all thirty-one children out safely. Two boys re-entered the building to gather their clothing and were suffocated in the fire. After the fire, the building was no longer used for the children and became a private residence.

If you go out to Glenwood Cemetery, in Shelbyville, a large monument tombstone marks the graves of the "Middlesworth Orphans", who were killed in the fire.


You may find this information, and more, at the Shelbyville Historical and Genealogical Society on E. South First Street, Shelbyville. (This accounting obtained by reading "Shelbyville, Past and Present". )