|
| |
ORPHAN TRAINS
Trains brought over 150,000 orphans westward from the more populated east from 1854 to 1929. In Attica the children were lined up in front of the old Presbyterian Church. In some instances the children and their new families were already matched - in others, the people just picked whom they wanted.
William Geeding was given a Bible on June 21, 1879 and the next day, his seventh birthday, he was put on an "Orphan Train" by the Children's Home of Cincinnati. He was the son of William and Mary Geeding and had a brother, Simon. Will was descended from one of the three founders of the Brethren Church. The
Geedings originally were from Germany.
Catherine Meitzler, a spinster, was the one who chose Will. She lived in a duplex on Jackson St. where the fire station now stands. She only had to walk one block to find him. He later married Ruth Martin of Covington who worked at the Sterling Remedy Co., which was located at the corner of Jackson and Perry Sts., one block west. The Geedings had two children and one child, Martin, survived childhood. The couple lived most of their married life in the brick house at 406 E. Washington St., Attica.
Will died on Sat., May 24, l947 at four in the evening.
Article By: Betty and Dale Clawson. Resources: Virginia
Geeding, Isabel Miller, Barbara Taylor and the Orphan Train Heritage Society of America.
|
