How to Research Your Orphan Ancestors
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Post updated September 9, 2021
Have you come across clues or documents that you have an orphan ancestor?
If so, don’t worry that it’s the end of the road of your research into that branch of your family. There’s still hope for your genealogy research for orphans!
Although orphanages have faded away and been replaced by other types of social services, many records were created when they were around that may help you identify their parents or other facts about them.
Who lived in orphanages?
One important point I want to start with is to not assume your ancestor was an orphan because you found them in a children’s home.
Not every child who lived at an orphanage was actually an orphan.
Some had one or both parents, who simply couldn’t take care of their children at that time.
Common causes for placing a child were poverty, intemperance, or getting remarried. Generally, the reason for placing the child in the home are in the admission records, but later records tend to have more detail in my experience.
Kids with a living parent were called “half-orphans” and could be identified as such in admission papers.
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San Francisco orphanages
San Francisco had a number of orphanages, beginning shortly after the city began to grow in 1849.
These were often segregated by religion, but some were secular.
San Francisco had:
San Francisco Protestant Orphan Asylum
Homewood Terrace (Jewish)
Mount St. Joseph’s (Catholic)
San Francisco Methodist Orphanage
Maria Kipp (Episcopalian)
Pacific Hebrew Orphan Asylum
San Francisco Nursery for Homeless Children (secular)
and more
There were other ones in the greater Bay Area, also often organized by religion.
For example, Fred Finch in Oakland was Methodist, and St. Vincent’s in San Rafael was Catholic.
This site has a great list of orphanages in California. Several of these former orphanages still exist today as social service agencies. Fred Finch is still in Oakland, the San Francisco Protestant Orphan Asylum is now Edgewood Center for Children and Families, and Mount St. Joseph’s is now the Epiphany Center.
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How to find old orphanage records
To start finding records, first you have to identify which home they were in. If you don’t already know that, you’ll need to find which asylums were around in the place and time your ancestor was a child.
Let’s go over some record types that are really helpful in identifying which institution they lived in.
1) Censuses
The census is one of your best resources when researching your ancestor in an orphanage. Like everyone else, orphans were enumerated in the census. You can get clues to their age, state of birth, and the general timeframe of what they lived in the orphanage.
This is an image of the 1930 census for the San Francisco Protestant Orphan Asylum. The orphan names go on for 3 pages.
Image source: Ancestry
2) Newspapers
Newspapers often ran articles featuring orphanages. The articles were usually around events at the orphanage.
Pictures or drawings of the kids, the buildings, grounds, and the rooms they lived in, and news about the orphanage were common.
Image source: San Francisco Call, 14 November 1909 via Newspapers.com
And sometimes, children were named (score!).
Image source: San Francisco Examiner, 2 January 1916 via Newspapers.com
3) The Online Archive of California (OAC)
The OAC is a great resource in general.
If you’re looking for records on an orphanage, especially in California, try searching for it on OAC. Board records, photos, admission papers, and more are held in archives.
If the orphanage still but under a new name, try searching the old and new names of the organization. For example, searching for “Edgewood” brings up not only the main collection for the San Francisco Protestant Orphan Asylum at the San Francisco History Center, but items at the Bancroft Library and other archives.
Oftentimes, only key people like founders or board members are named in finding aids. It’s less common that children are named, so it’s best to search for the orphanage name. But you can try searching by a person as select lists of children’s names are sometimes in finding aids.
OAC is best for California archive collections, but there are sources for other states, including personal papers of former orphans.
4) ArchiveGrid
Like the OAC, ArchiveGrid is a resource for archival collections, but for the whole US. And like the OAC, it’s best to search by the orphanage name, but orphans may be listed, depending on the collection.
5) Local history books
The orphanage you’re researching may be in books on the area’s history. There could be images of the orphanage or other information included. Look in your local library or online at sites like the Internet Archive.
6) Oral histories
Another resource to try is oral histories. Your ancestor may have been interviewed for an oral history project.
While the oral history interview may not have been done by the organization itself, it could still have stories of their life while growing up there.
For example, many orphans joined the military when they turned 18 and aged out of the system. There weren’t as many social supports then, so a lot of them enlisted to keep getting room and board. There are various veterans oral history projects, like The Library of Congress’ Veterans History Project, and they may have been interviewed.
7) City directories
If you don't know which orphanage your ancestor was in, check local city directories for the time to see what children’s homes existed. Directories are also helpful for finding the address and the tracing years the orphanage existed. Orphanages are usually listed under terms like “Asylums” or “Hospitals and Asylums”.
8) Religious records
For religious orphanages, try the local diocese/religious headquarters, which could have received the records when the orphanage closed. If they don’t have the papers, they may be able to tell you where they went.
9) Local historical and genealogical societies and libraries
Check out your local society’s collections to see if they have information about the orphanage. If you have a genealogy library nearby, such as the Sutro Library in San Francisco, try them as well. There may be books or primary sources, like photographs or letters, about the orphans.
10) The institution itself, if it still exists
As I said earlier, some former orphanages are still around today but do different work. If it still exists, contact them to see if they have records about your family member, but be patient.
As a former staff person at one of these organizations, I can almost guarantee they don't have someone assigned to help with these requests. Staff help with these requests as they have time, so it may take a while to get a copy of the records.
Also, always call ahead if you want to visit. Don’t drop in without an appointment trying to access records or see where your ancestor lived. First, they may not have time to help, and more importantly, the records may be stored offsite and it could take some time to retrieve them. It will save you time to schedule a visit in advance.
Types of orphanage records
Now that we’ve identified some places you can find orphanage records, what types of records can you expect to find?
1) Admission and discharge papers
The earlier admission records might be as simple as the name of the child and the date of admission and discharge. You may not find the parents’ names or any details about the child other than their name and age.
Admission record. This was it for this family of children. Note it says “father living” and they were “half orphan girls”. Source: my personal photo
In later years, admission and discharge papers became more thorough and could have medical records, report cards, baptism records, and other important genealogical information.
While individual papers for each orphan might be sparse, there may be a register with more information about the children and their parents. There may also be adoption or indenture papers, or even letters from later in life that give clues to what happened to them.
Images: a marriage certificate (folded and unfolded) and photo of a father. Sources: my personal photos
2) Board of Trustees papers and other administrative papers
While these records usually don’t name the orphans, they can give you insight into what was happening at the time your ancestor lived there. This can be a great way to learn more about what they were experiencing.
Measles outbreaks, moving locations, financial issues, field trips, and other events are in these types of records and are a good snapshot of the time. Even minutiae like what the children ate and how they were educated (school and religion) can be in these papers.
3) Photographs and ephemera
Some collections may have photographs of the children, or of the grounds and rooms the children lived in. There may also be ephemera like scrapbooks or newspaper clippings. There may even be objects like dolls or other play items.
4) “Alumni” records
Former orphans were often referred to as “alumni” by both themselves and the orphanage. These alumni sometimes stayed in touch with each other and met up for informal reunions. Photos, reunion programs, and other records might have been created. These records may take more hunting down but probably live at either the former orphanage or wherever the orphanage records are housed now.
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Why You Need to Use Libraries and Archives in Your Genealogy
Why Isn’t My Ancestor in the Census?
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Final thoughts
If you’ve discovered your ancestor was an orphan, don’t assume it’s a brick wall. It may take a lot of digging, but there are many resources and types of records out there that can help you find some answers.
Even though you may not find the names of their parents if it’s an older record, you can still find other fabulous genealogical details like their religion, physical description, why they were in the home, and who took them in later.
Keep in mind that not every kid in an orphanage was a full or half orphan. Their family may just not have been able to afford them.
And remember that some still exist today as social service agencies.