Saturday, April 6, 1872: Another foundling
Posted on February 14th, 2006 – 11:48 PMBy Ben Welter
By today’s standards, the Daily Tribune’s brief account of a baby left at a Minneapolis boarding house feels a little flat. But Oh! – the heartbreaking note left by a young mother more than 130 years ago will leave some modern readers a little verklempt.
ANOTHER FOUNDLING
A Mother Leaves Her Baby on a Porch.
It is Adopted by a Minneapolis Lady.
On the north side of Third street, two doors west of Ames, is a boarding house kept by Wm. Farrington. The porch is enclosed, having a door in front, and on this porch a little baby was left on Thursday night.
One of the boarders came in a few minutes before nine o’clock on the night in question, at which time the porch was clear, and just as the clock struck nine three others arrived. One of them stepped on a small bundle and the trio were greatly surprised at a noise coming from it. The bundle was taken into the house, and a critical examination revealed the fact that it was a very small and delicate female infant, dressed in coarse clothing, and accompanying it was a change of clothing and a note, the whole enwrapped in a soldier’s cape. The note read as follows:
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| No photos appeared with the foundling story. I found this 1870s image of an unidentified mother and infant in the Minnesota Historical Society’s photo collection. (Courtesy mnhs.org) |
“Dear Lady – It is with an aching heart that I leave this dear little infant at your mercy, but oh! For the love of Heaven, be kind to her I beseech you. If you have ever been a mother you can perhaps imagine what this moment’s anguish is to me. It is through necessity and the fear of angry parents that I am obliged to leave her at your door.
“Do not blame me too severely, dear lady, for if you could know the suffering of one who has gone astray, you would not blame me too harshly. But, oh! Be kind to this little one, and God and Heaven will reward you ten-fold.
“If you think it impossible for you not to do it, I beg you not to send her to the almshouse. Keep her a little while, and you will find some one to take her and care for her and shield her from the temptations of this deceitful world.
“But, oh! Love her, and care for her, and you will daily receive the blessing of Heaven and the prayers of a poor, heart-broken penitent. The babe was born March 15th, 1872.”
There was no signature, although it was evidently written by the mother, and she seems to have known that the family were kind-hearted people.
The little waif had apparently been dosed to make it sleep well, and slept soundly through the night, but yesterday was quite bright. A number of persons called to see the little one, among them the daughter of Mrs. Edwin Ames, living corner Smith and Second streets, who hoped her mother would adopt it, and about dusk last evening Mrs. Ames called for it, promising to see it well cared for.
Short as was the little waif’s stay at Mrs. Harrington’s, the latter, with true motherly instincts, became quite attached to her, and last night was regretting that she had parted with her, and declared that the next child left on her doorsteps should be kept by her, especially if as handsome as the one that was left.
4 Responses to "Saturday, April 6, 1872: Another foundling"
Sounds barbaric for someone to just take the child, but were her chances of being abused any greater that way than living with multiple sets of foster paents or even her own parents in today’s world? Witness the 10-year-old allegedly killed by her drug-using father and his girlfriend. Some (certainly not all) foster parents take child after child and don’t give any of them good care or affection, but the checks keep coming…..
My father was abandoned under a lilac bush in south Minneapolis on May 28, 1946 with a note pinned on his blanket that said, “My parents are Catholic, I am German and Irish.” He was found by a paperboy. He was taken to the hospital where he was examined and found to be healthy, placed in a Catholic orphanage and later adopted by my grandparents, who happened to adopt 5 other children during that time.
About 55 years ago, my now-cousin was aborted as a near term fetus at approximately 25-30 weeks. She was then thrown into a dumpster, either assumed dead or to die. Miraculously, she was found in the dumpster and survived. She was ultimately adopted into my family.
I truly believe in what we now call the “Baby Moses” program. Desparate mothers should be able to leave their babies at a hospital or fire station with no negative consequences to them. It is the right thing to do for the child.
It’s easy enough to say what you’d do in a case, but you have to remember the times the mother lived in. She was, I suspect from what she said, unwed (the soldier’s cloak made me wonder if perhaps the father wasn’t in the military). Society back then did not look on unwed motherhood with any sort of kindness, and the mother was generally blamed.
If the woman still lived with her parents, it wouldn’t have mattered how old she was-they would’ve been within their rights to have the child taken away from her. In such a case, it most likely would’ve gone to an orphanage, and the orphanages in that era were essentially nothing but warehouses for children no one wanted.
I think she took what she saw would be the best action for the child. It WAS possible to get an abortion back then, though the attempt often killed both mother and baby. She’d somehow managed to hide the pregnancy, but probably knew all along she couldn’t keep the child. She may have even known the people who ran the boarding house in a roundabout way, and knew that they would make sure the baby was well taken care of.
In the end, the child was adopted by someone who loved her and could give her a good life. It’s a much better life than she would’ve had as the child of an unwed mother in the 19th century, and a much better life than she would’ve likely lead as an orphan.
