I wrote that the Jennie DeKorn Culver’s daughters Lela and Rhea were at the Children’s Home in Kalamazoo during the divorce proceedings of their parents.
According to articles in The Kalamazoo Gazette, they were there from at least December 1896 to May 1897.
Here is an article about a Christmas program Lela performed in:
I find it curious that the backup singers or performers (Lela was one of them) are called “Nineteenth Century Children.” There were still three full years of the 19th century left at this point.
I’d love to know what gifts the children received–and if they were from the community. Would children like Lela and Rhea with living parents have also received gifts from their parents? Or would that have been against the rules?
1896 Christmas Tree
Since I had proof through the Kalamazoo Gazette articles that the girls were at the Children’s Home in 1896 and 1897, I contacted Lakeside Academy, the current name of what was the Children’s Home during the Culver girls’ time. I had heard through another blogger that they still had records from the late 1800s. Don Nitz, the CEO of Lakeside for Children, was so kind to search for me. Unfortunately, there are gaps in the records, and he could not find any documentation of Lela and Rhea’s stay with them.
Related articles
- Why Did Jennie Move to Seattle? (thefamilykalamazoo.wordpress.com)
- Is This Jenny DeKorn Culver in A Velvet Coat? (thefamilykalamazoo.wordpress.com)
- A Wishful Post, A Thoughtful Reader, and A Package (thefamilykalamazoo.wordpress.com)
- Uncertainty about Boudewijn’s Kids (thefamilykalamazoo.wordpress.com)
- A Sister and Her Family: How Can I Find Out More? (thefamilykalamazoo.wordpress.com)
The Family Kalamazoo 
I think that “Nineteenth Century Children” is a song sung solo by Emma Allion. The children listed after the song might have been participants in a tableau vivant or some thing like that. I have not found the song on Google, so maybe it was created for the performance.
That’s a good point–that it could have been created for the performance. My kids went to a school where the teacher wrote an entire play every year based on the available talent. So why wouldn’t they do that at the orphanage?
I thought that “Nineteenth Century Children” might be the name of a song, since it is in quotation marks, and the titles of the other songs are also in quotes. However, I can’t find a song with that title, so it makes me wonder if the name has changed over the years.
Ruth, Jeannie above had a similar idea, but yes, it is very possible that the name was changed. What an odd name, really.
I saw that!
When I started my comment, there weren’t any comments. By the time I finished my comment – writing, editing, posting – there was Jeannie already. Interesting that our take-aways were so similar.
This one made me sigh a bit. Don’t you wish you could know more about this? It seems like it was a challenging time for Jennie and the girls. But maybe it wasn’t so bad, maybe they had a good reason to go through it and they knew it was going to be for a short time. It’s not even my family and I really want to know the back story!
I know. It’s driving me nuts. I was so disappointed that the Lakeside director couldn’t find any records pertaining to our girls!!
I feel the same as thegenealogygirl. I want to know the rest of the story!
I’m glad I have such good company with you and Amberly and others wanting to know, too! There is so much unknown about this story! I probably need to find the divorce record!
Good luck, and keep us posted!
Love this stuff. My mother and her 3 sisters were sent to orphanages when my grandmother divorced her first husband. My aunt ran away from the home after seeing an infant die at the orphanage.
Wow, I’m fascinated to hear that although sorry for your mother. I guess it wasn’t that unusual to send children to an orphanage for a divorce! How horrifying for your aunt and mother and their sisters!
Luanne,
I can’t believe you found these items in the Kalamazoo Gazette. What a great story…I’ve missed your posts…you always have incredible finds! 🙂
I can’t believe they were in there either! It’s a shame that the documentation is missing from the orphanage, but the Gazette articles prove the girls were there.
I also want to know the rest of the story. I know that divorce was much more difficult in the early part of the 20th century, so maybe women sometimes needed to put their children in orphanages until they were able to get back on their feet.
Yes, I am thinking that the wife had to figure out how to take care of herself before adding the children into the mix–and maybe there is a reason she didn’t want them with the father. For one thing, maybe it would make it more difficult for her to get them back. Or maybe he wasn’t a good father. The divorce paperwork might show that!
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I wonder if the parents were invited to the program? or was it just for show for the community? Nice article ~