Milwaukee Orphanages
The three children of Anton Mohelnitzky/Mohelnicky and Maria Schulz/Sulcova/Sulc were placed into orphanages after their approximate 1854 emigration from Seltschan/Sedlcany in Bohemia/Czech Republic:
Anton Mohelnitzky lived at St. Aemilian Orphan Asylum from March 1858 to May 1, 1859.
Julia Mohelnitzky lived at St. Rose Orphan Asylum from March 14, 1858 to June 4, 1862.
Mary Mohelnitzky lived at St. Rose Orphan Asylum from March 14, 1858 to April 5, 1861.
St. Rose's Catholic Orphan Asylum, Milwaukee, Wis.
The following communication was furnished your committee by the Sister committee:
"This institution was established in 1848, by the Right Rev. John Henni, present Catholic Bishop of Milwaukee, and is intended to shelter and support destitute female children of deceased parents, principally of the Catholic faith, although if presented, children of every denomination are received, especially if they are objects of charity.
"The work of the Asylum was commenced in the frame building in the rear of St. John's Cathedral, and the first inmates admitted on the 9th day of May, 1848. The charge of the children was intrusted by the Bishop to the Sisters of Charity, and their support has always been derived from the public generosity, the principal amounts being contributed by the Catholic congregations of St. John's Cathedral and St. Gall's Church, in the city of Milwaukee, though at the same time, the managers of the Institution gratefully acknowledge assistance received from other sources, including all classes and denominations, particularly the liberal appropriations granted at different times by the State of Wisconsin and the county of Milwaukee, amounting in the aggregate to the sum of three thousand five hundred dollars ($3,5000), from the State, and one thousand seven hundred and thirty-five ($1,735) from the county.
"The first residence occupied by the orphans, was only temporary. The two story brick building on Jackson street, known as St. Rose's Asylum, had been commenced, and as soon as completed was taken possession of by them; their number then amounted to thirty-four. Children continued to be constantly received, but applications became still more numerous during the year 1854, when Milwaukee was visited by the fearful scourge of cholera. And as the victims in such cases are chiefly from the poorer classes, there remained no resource for the orphans thus deprived of their natural providers, but the charitable shelter of St. Rose's Asylum.
The St. Amelianus [St. Aemilian] Orphan Asylum
Was established about the year 1846, when there were but few orphan boys in Milwaukee.
It was founded by the Sisters of Charity and others. In the year 1850, when the number of orphan boys on hand was twenty-five, it was thought best that the orphan society should have a legal existence, and Rt. Rev. J.M. Henni, Jos. Jollyman, J.M. Ives, J. Hathaway and Aug. Greulich associated themselves together and procured an act of incorporation under the general laws of the State of Wisconsin, October 31, 1850. From this time the number of orphans steadily increased, until it reached the number of eighty-six last summer. The directors are compelled to send out yearly from ten to twenty of the largest boys to learn trades, in order to make room for others, and keep within their means to support the same. Within the last three years there was an average number of sixty in the Asylum. It has cost the society to support the orphans within the Asylum in the year 1860, about 440 for each child. During the war [Civil War] the cost of support was increased to about $80 for each child. For the year just closed, it has cost to support, clothe and teach each of the children, the average number being seventy-five, about $63 for each orphan.
Source: Report of the Joint Visiting Committee appointed by the Governor to visit the Charitable and Benevolent Institutions of the State of Wisconsin, Made in Senate Jan. 17, 1872, Atwood & Culver, page 19 to 23.
The report includes the Hospital for the Insane at Madison; the Soldiers' Orphans Home at Madison; the Industrial School for Boys at Waukesha; St.Mary's Hospital at Milwaukee; the Protestant Orphan Asylum, St. Rose Catholic Orphan Asylum, Passavant Hospital, Church Home, Home of the Friendless, St. Amelianus Orphan Asylum, House of Correction, Seamen's Home, and St.Francis' College at Milwaukee; the State Prison; the Hospital Buildings for the Insane at Oshkosh; the Institute for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb at Delavan; and the Institution for the Education of the Blind at Janesville.
Pictures of St. Aemilian's Orphan Asylum in St. Francis, Wisconsin
"September 8, 1860, is a day ever memorable in the history of Milwaukee; a day which darkened many firesides, and sundered forever, numbers of happy families. The ill-fated 'Lady Elgin' was wrecked, and many were the fathers and mothers that found a watery grave, amid the foaming billows of Lake Michigan. What must be done with the children who are thus left orphans, and thrown so suddenly and unexpectedly on the cold charity of the world? They too must find a home at St. Rose's Asylum. But now the house has become too small, to accommodate comfortably the increased number of its inmates, and many of the newly received children are of so tender an age, that in all probability they must remain in the asylum for many years. An appeal is made to the city, which is answered by a donation of five acres of land, in the first ward, in the locality known as North Point. And now, after great and united efforts on the part of those interested in the welfare of the orphans, and not without many and painful sacrifices, the small two story brick building, known as St. Joseph's Asylum, North Point, was erected on the ground donated by the city. This house at present shelters fifty children, the greater number ranging from two to seven years of age, and is dependent on St. Rose's and provided for in the same manner.
"The report of 1859 declares the number of orphans in the asylum to be eighty; in 1863 they were 126. In the interval five had died in the institution, and ninety-four were provided with homes, whilst others had been taken by friends, or put in the way of earning their own maintenance. At the present time there are in the two asylums, St. Rose's and St. Joseph's, one hundred and forty-three children, between the ages of two and sixteen years. The whole number admitted since the establishment of the institutions is seven hundred and ten. Of these, twenty-two have died in the asylum, and the remainder, excepting the present inmates of the house, have either been adopted by respectable families or are supporting themselves. . .[continues with finance report and conditions and services supplied for the children]
"SISTER CAMILLA, "In charge of the Asylum
"December 28, 1871."
The sketching above shows the orphanage in 1854 (just four years before Anton Mohelnitzky lived there). The text on the picture is written in German and says "Knaben Waisenhaus" (boys orphanage). The photo is from a 51-page booklet, "In and Around St. Aemilian's Orphan Asylum, St. Francis, Wis" written about 1912. The booklet contains many photos of the orphanage and a description of the boy's daily activities such as classes through 8th grade, music lessons (piano, organ, violin, mandolin, guitar), sports (swimming at the beach on Lake Michigan, croquet, baseball, roller skating, football, skating, skiing, coasting/sledding), crafts (brass and copper, pyrography, Mexican painting, stenciling, needle work), mending shoes and darning their clothes by hand and with sewing machines, agriculture work on their 36-acre farm (dairy, poultry), truck gardening, work in the kitchen, refectory, dormitory, bakery, laundry, and assisting the Sisters in general house work.
