Berachah Haven Unwed Mother's Home
BERACHAH HAVEN – 29 GUERNSEY STREET - TODAY 2064 WEST 55TH STREET – CLEVELAND, OHIO
THE HOME IS NO LONGER STANDING
(See the Adoptions Tab on this Website for Information on Other Unwed Mother's Homes)
The Berachah Haven, an unwed mother’s home, was located at 29 Guernsey Street (today 2064 West 55th Street), on Cleveland’s west side. It was founded in 1894 and closed in 1901. The matron was Olga Peck-Hamlin (1850-1901). She attended Vassar College and graduated from there in 1872. Records there show she was using the name of Sarah O. Peck. According to the 1939 Vassar Alumnae Directory, Peck was an adopted name, and she resumed using her family name of Olive Hamlin in 1899. Her obituary of April 20, 1901 shows her name as Miss Olive Hamlin (Sarah O. Peck). For the purposes of this article, we’ll call her Sarah.
Sarah taught at Sing Sing, and then was a “matron” at the Reformatory Home for Young Women from 1884 until her death in 1901.
1886-1894 – Matron of “The Retreat” at 934 St. Clair
1895-1896 – Matron of “The Home for Fallen Women” at 160 Courtland
1896 – Founder of “Berachah Haven” at 160 Courtland
1897-1901 – Resided at Berachah Haven at 29 Guernsey (today 2064 West 55th Street in Cleveland)
Sarah did not own the property that housed Berachah Haven. From 1896-1901, the years that Berachah Haven was in operation, the property was owned by Sophia Strong Taylor, the head of the Taylor Department Store at Euclid and Prospect Avenues in the old Arcade Building. Sophia had various religious and missionary interests. Henry W.S. Wood was a previous owner. He was the chairman of the dedication committee of the Detroit Superior Bridge, President of the United Banking & Saving Co., and owner of Wood Brothers Real Estate Company. Considering the stature of Wood and Taylor, it is possible that 29 Guernsey was a fancy, beautiful home.
The 1900 Census for Berachah Haven at 29 Guernsey Street shows:
Olga Peck-Hamlin, born 2/1850, Michigan, age 50
Lydia Austin, born 5/1879 (should be born 1860), Michigan, Boarder (Marriage record below shows she was born 1860, NOT 1879)
Mary Dockstettler, born 10/1842, Ohio, age 57, Boarder
Nellie Buschi, born 8/1877, Ohio, age 20, Boarder
May Adams, born 5/1881, Hungary, age 19, Boarder
LYDIA AUSTIN
1901 – Marriage notice from Cleveland Plain Dealer: Lydia Austin, age 41, to marry George H. Dykes of Lakewood. (This marriage notice is WRONG, because on the marriage record below of Lydia Austin to George Bishop Staley, the next entry is George W. Dykes married Emma B. Staley, sister of George Bishop Staley. It was a double wedding.)
1901 Marriage record:
Lydia Austin married George Bishop Staley on March 26, 1901. Lydia was living at 29 Guernsey Street, age 41 (SO BORN 1860), born St. Clair County, Michigan, a Nurse, daughter of William Austin and Margaret Condon. She had no prior marriages. George Bishop Staley, age 43, born England, lived in Lakewood, Ohio, born England, a molder, son of Robert E. Staley and Sarah Fisher. He was married once before. They were married by Rev. R.N. Bonck, Cedar Avenue.
George Staley died June 11, 1909, living at 6009 Cedar Ave. Born 2/24/1858 in England, son of Robert Staley. Died of gross injuries due to a machine accident where his ribs and legs were crushed. He was widowed and a carpenter. Buried Monroe Cemetery. (First wife was Florence Staley who died in 1892 and is also buried at Monroe Cemetery, along with son Robert who was born 1892 and died of drowning in 1895)
MARY KATHERINE DOCKSTADER
Death Certificate:
Born 10/7/1840 Cleveland
Died 9/9/1919 Cleveland at 9682 Easton Street
Retired Housekeeper
Unknown disease, viewed remains at Division of Health
Daughter of Richard Dockstatter, born New York, died 1848
Daughter of Mary Ann Comer, died 1866
Informant was Mrs. Irene Brush, 1010 Rose Building
(Irene was the secretary of the Benjamin Rose Institute which was located at 1010 Rose Building on Prospect and E. 9th. The Benjamin Rose Institute (still in operation today) offered assistance for respectful and needy aged people and children. Benjamin Rose had other business interests, including The Cleveland Provision Co.
NELLIE BUSCHI (ACTUALLY SPELLED BUYJI)
Birth Certificate for a child Nellie had:
June 6, 1900
Female child born at 29 Guernsey to John Buyji (age 22 born Slavonia) and Rose Nellie Healey (age 21 born Sandusky)
12/28/1900 Plain Dealer Article:
MYSTERIOUS CASE
Coroner Will Investigate Closely the Death of Baby – Post Mortem Held
The cause of the death of an eight-month-old babe at No. 29 Guernsey Street is still puzzling Coroner Simon. The coroner at first thought the child came to its death by violence, but an autopsy made by Dr. W. Bard last night does not fully substantiate that theory and leaves the case a mysterious one. Although Dr. Bard could not connect the marks on the body with the child’s death, and decided that the baby died in convulsions while its mother was sleeping, the coroner is not satisfied, and though probably no inquest will be held, he will investigate the matter further. Little WINFRED BUYJI died early yesterday morning at No. 29 Guernsey St., where the child’s mother lived in the garret. The rest of the house is occupied by a maternity home, conducted by a Mrs. Olive Hamond (sic Hamlin). Mrs. Buyji has separated from her husband. According to the mother of the child, it was alive and well at 4 o’clock yesterday morning. At 6 o’clock, or two hours later, Mrs. Buyji says she woke up and found the baby dead. When Coroner Simon viewed the body, he found marks looking like bruises and sores that seemed to have been made by a knife or sharp pointed instrument. What appeared to be a bad scald was also visible on the dead child’s left leg. The coroner said the wounds appeared to be new ones. When closely questioned Mrs. Buyji, Dr. Simon says, was not able to give a satisfactory explanation of the presence of the cuts and bruises. He at once ordered Dr. S.W. Bard of Lorain Street to make a post-mortem examination of the child’s body. Before the examination was started, Dr. Simon said it was possible that the cuts on the baby’s body were made by the teeth of rats.
MAY ADAMS
I believe this is her:
Marriage:
Ethel M. Adams married Frank Koechel in 1906. They were both living at 446 Holton Street in Cleveland. Frank was born 1865. He died in 1928 at age 63. Cemetery records show he was moved from Warrensville Infirmary to Monroe Cemetery. Buried at Woodland Cemetery is a Fletcher Koeckel, born 1909, died 2/6/1910. Son of Frank and Matilda Adams. He was living at 2303 E. 103rd St.
ANOTHER BERACHAH HOME IN ARLINGTON, TEXAS
A book called “Home for Erring and Outcast Girls” by Julie Kibler speaks about the Berachah Home in Arlington, Texas from 1904-1905. This timeframe is close to the 1894-1901 timeframe for Berachah Haven in Cleveland, so it is indicative that the Berachah Homes were somewhat of a “national movement.” This book was based on historical information from “The Purity Journal”, the publication of the Berachah Home in Texas. The first mention of the Berachah Movement was in 1884, and there were various locations all over the United States. The book explained that the Berachah Home was a quiet and loving place, where all the girls helped each other. The girls would watch the children of other girls who went out to work during the day.
THE START OF THE BERACHAH HOME MOVEMENT
Now that we were cognizant of the fact that Berachah was part of a national movement, we dug deeper to learn about its founding. We learned that it traced back to one Albert B. Simpson. Simpson was born in 1843 on Prince Edward Island in the Gulf of the St. Lawrence. He was born to a fairly well-to-do family and was baptized by John Gettie, a Canadian Presbyterian foreign missionary. Prior to 1847, Simpson’s parents were wealthy merchants in Prince Edward Island. In 1847, the family moved to Ontario, Canada, near Chatham to become frontier farmers. A.B. Simpson experienced a strict Puritan upbringing. In 1859, he graduated from high school at the age of 16, and then took a job as a school teacher with the hopes of raising some money to enable him to study for the ministry. He entered Knox College in 1861. Knox College was the Presbyterian seminary associated with the University of Toronto. Albert graduated from Knox College in 1864, and in September of 1865, he took a position at Knox Church in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Simpson was successful there, and was also active in The Evangelical Alliance. At one of their conventions, he met some delegates from Louisville, Kentucky. Those delegates returned home and spoke of this great preacher from Canada. The Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church needed a pastor, and so they called Simpson and asked if he would consider being their pastor. Simpson accepted the position and began his ministry in January of 1874. In November of 1879, Simpson resigned the Louisville position and moved to New York, becoming the pastor of the 13th Street Presbyterian Church. While in New York, he founded a missionary magazine to promote missions. This magazine, called “The Gospel in All Lands,” was the first illustrated missionary monthly magazine in North America. In 1881, Simpson resigned his position and formed “The Gospel Tabernacle” in New York in 1882.
Prostitution was a large societal problem in New York. Simpson’s home for fallen woman was meant to give these women an alternative to life on the street. Simpson realized the need for training for his missionaries, and in 1883, the Missionary Training Institute was founded. This institute was the beginning of what would later become Nyack College, an Alliance Christian liberal arts institution. Also in 1883, Simpson founded BERACHAH HOMES, a rest home dedicated to divine healing. Simpson operated this out of his own home. Soon, it was moved to another location, and Sarah Lindenberger was ordained as a Deaconess and was placed in charge of it. Simpson then opened several rescue missions in 1885. In 1886, he opened an orphanage and named it BERACHAH, meaning “blessing.” In 1891, Simpson founded a “Door of Hope” mission for girls. Simpson would go on to be a part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. By 1891, there were 15 missions, and by 1895 there were 300 missions overseas. In 1897, THE BERACHAH HEALING HOME moved out of New York to Nyack. Albert B. Simpson died on October 29, 1919 in Nyack.
WOMEN OF CLEVELAND AND THEIR WORKS
SARAH FITCH AND SARAH OLGA PECK-HAMLIN
FROM: WOMEN OF CLEVELAND AND THEIR WORK. Pgs. 147-164, CHAPTER XV.
SARAH E. FITCH - THE WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION - THE RETREAT - ITS FOUNDER - MRS. MERIBAH FARMER AND MRS. TATUM - MRS. A. P. DUTCHER - THE BOARDING HOME - HOME FOR AGED WOMEN - DAY NURSERY AND FREE KINDERGARTEN BRANCH ASSOCIATION - THE EDUCATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL UNION - ELIZA JENNINGS HOME FOR INCURABLES - HONORABLE MENTION.
We are glad to know that taking up the work of today will afford "a fountain and seventy palm trees" to thirsty readers and faint pilgrims, not so much for the manner of this pen's utterance as for its subject, always beloved by the citizens of Cleveland, viz., the work of its women. We delineate in this chapter her, who for years has stood in this city at the head of laborers for humanity, Miss Sarah E. Fitch, president of the Woman's Christian Association. She possesses the rare grace of modesty with much dignity. She is an unwavering faith, an absolute evenness of temper under all provocation to the reverse. She is unselfish, hence love for human souls and patient: sacrifice mark every step of her way. Entirely wanting in any form of self-aggrandizement, she possesses in eminent degree the love of women everywhere - of those who meet her in the council of association work, and of any who are touched even remotely, by her influence - but especially does she live in the hearts of the women of Cleveland, whether they, occupy the drawing rooms of the avenues, or the close apartments of tenement houses. Best of all, the fallen love her. One of our cherished writers, Mrs. Fairbanks long connected with her in membership in that grand old church - the First Presbyterian - leaves this line: "It is a gracious privilege to testify to the worth and work of Cleveland's noblest woman." Mrs. Mary H. Severance adds a laurel leaf to our wreath of testimonial, having known her from childhood. Miss Fitch consecrated herself to good work in youth; her first efforts were in the Sunday school. In looking after children in their homes, the needs of the poor and sorrowing were revealed to her and so aroused her sympathies as to lay the foundation for these succeeding years of charitable and helpful labors. The great secret of her success as teacher and leader in these varied ways of usefulness from the first seems to have been due to unimpassioned, excellent judgment and steady perseverance, self-abnegation and whole-souled devotion to work. This made her a helper to her pastors, Rev. Dr. Aikin, Rev. Dr. Goodrich, and their successors. Dr. G. once said, "It would be like losing my right arm to have Miss Fitch laid aside." Mrs. S. truly states: "Others may have had more brilliant talents, but very few have been so steadfast and true to their convictions of duty, and so successful in winning the respect and confidence of the varied classes to whom she has been a blessing." When the Woman's Christian Association was formed here in November, 1868, by H. Thane Miller, of Cincinnati, Sarah E. Fitch was unanimously chosen president. This is the oldest branch of entire woman's work here now in active and progressive labor, except the Board of Managers of the Cleveland Protestant Orphan Asylum - its growth has been marvelous. We may add that the Young Ladies' Branch, Mrs. J. B. Perkins, president, was organized in 1881, and devoted to work for children. Miss Fitch, the wise counselor and head of the beneficent and systematic labor bestowed by scores of Christian women, would desire that no words of eulogy be pronounced upon herself, but good angels looking down write her name in the Lamb's Book of Life as she goes patiently, quietly upon the way, herself a ministering spirit to the sin-laden.
The records of the Retreat read like a romance. This chronicle would not lay bare the secrets of a single unhappy life there registered. We all know too little of this mission with the Scarlet Letter. Many who come here are very young girls, who have erred through lack of parental restraint, and have but just begun a sinful life; others, again, are incorrigible and to free them from the power of evil associates, are placed here by their parents.
The work of SARAH E. FITCH and of SARAH O. PECK lie close to the heart of the Crucified One, dear women! so sacred is it we may scarce unveil its depth. The Retreat encourages no idlers. It is a beehive for industry; everybody must have something to do. Beautiful hand-work and painting with the needle, the care of plants which convert the reception room into a bower of tropical beauty - all arts of skilled housewifery are here taught and practiced. The matron, MISS SARAH O. PECK, born in Michigan and educated at VASSAR, gives her life-work to these girls; her sympathy and faith render her a power in the institution.
Another lady - one of the Board of Managers from the first, who has always been interested in girls' reform - taught the Bible class when the Retreat was simply a private house at 267 Perry street- Mrs. Dr. A. P. Dutcher. She has passed into the skies, leaving a memory absolutely fragrant. She devoted all her energies to reclaiming the unfortunate who came within reach. While the Retreat was on Perry Street, it was within a few doors of her residence. Then her visits to the inmates were daily and her influence for good cannot be overestimated. She took the inmates to her home, taught them sewing and different work, read to them from good books, and cheered them with her sweet, sunny smile that always beamed with Divine love. Sometimes Mrs. Dutcher would take an inmate to her home, share her bed with her, become her inseparable companion, striving by night and day to direct the thoughts of the erring one to things higher and holier than this life. Such women may leave but a faint impression on the external affairs of the world, but in the hearts of the few who feel their holy influence they leave an impress that enchains us to them in the better world to which Mrs. Dutcher has been called. Her daughter, Mrs. J. C. Covert, is enlisted in the same reform.
At the opening of that work for fallen women, the chairman of its Board of Managers was Mrs. Meribah Farmer, a minister in the Society of Friends. Her private charities were numerously known to intimate associates. She, too, is among the hospital workers of the past.
The founder of the Retreat is a niece of Mrs. Farmer, Hannah B. Tatum, also a minister among the Friends, who, in her loved mission work in houses of ill-fame in this city, felt the, need of a home to which to invite those girls who desired to reform. She enthusiastically laid the subject before the Board of Managers of the Woman's Christian Association, and they were able to respond in 1869, through the beneficence of a well-known citizen, who paid the rent of their little building. Several of the first inmates were some with whom Mrs. Tatum had prayed and plead in their abodes of shame. Six months after its opening this lady became matron, but in one year resigned, to engage in outdoor philanthropy. Her labors in Ohio and the South are well known. Her voice has singular sweetness and power, and her saintly face and Quaker garb render her a marked woman in assemblies.
The Woman's Christian Association owns property valued in the aggregate at $200,000 and upwards. Its headquarters are the parlors of the "Home," at No.16 Walnut Street. This "Home" has the same relation to our Association and to Cleveland that the Margaret Louise Home, No. 14 East 16th Street, bears to the City of New York, and to its Y. W. C. A. It is simply an attractive boarding place for young women who are self-sustaining. Its privileges are especially available to persons seeking employment, or as a stopping-place until permanent quarters are obtained. Music and a choice library, a substantial table, and a matron's careful attention render the Home such as its name implies. The munificence of Stillman Witt gave the grounds and original house to our city, in 1868; since the death of this gentleman, Mrs. Witt has made additions and other improvements, until now the building presents an imposing appearance. It is filled to overflowing with boarders and needs still further enlargement. E. I. Baldwin has filled one large case with encyclopedias and other standard books of reference, poetry and the best of fiction.
The head of the committee controlling the Walnut Street "Home" is Mrs. E. H. Huntington, the eminent president of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, of Cleveland Presbytery. She and Mrs. James Barnett, two old-time friends of Miss Fitch, are at her side through the years. All of the institutions pertaining to the Association are well furnished throughout, exponent of the wealth and liberality of leading citizens. Of these, a universal favorite with Cleveland people is the Aged Woman's Home, on Kennard Street, with whose origin is connected an interesting fact. Mrs. Dr, Lewis Burton, one of the oldest members of the Association, in her missionary visits at the Infirmary, occasionally encountered women of refinement, condemned by circumstances to spend unhappy lives in the dreary companionship of ordinary paupers. "It seems to me," said Mrs. Burton, one day, in a meeting of the Board of Managers, "that we need in Cleveland a home for aged women." The ladies took the suggestion into consideration, and as a result there was opened in July, 1877, another magnificent "Home," thus making possible an old age of comfort to many a lonely woman. This has been accomplished through the liberal devising of our lamented townsman, Amasa Stone. Mrs. Stone was also deeply interested in this benevolence, as, also, her daughter, Mrs. John Hay.
A glance inside the Kennard Street mansion reveals most attractive rooms; the larger sleeping apartments each contain large closets and two beds; the smaller, one. There are rocking chairs and lounges, soft carpets and foot-stools. Comfort, even luxury is in every appointment. It is altogether probable that the aged ones residing here -at least the majority of them - have never before enjoyed a tithe of such embarras de richesse. Those aged veterans who choose to work are busied with piecing quilts, with making aprons, with dressing dolls, all of which are kept constantly on sale at the institution. The entrance fee, entitling one to life residence, is $150, but in order to enter, each must be sixty years of age and citizens of Cleveland or its immediate vicinity for a period of five years. Women of property are admitted on condition that at decease their investments accrue to the association for this Home's maintenance. Affairs are administered by a committee of competent ladies, who have secured as matron Mrs. Comstock, a woman of dignified presence and keen appreciation of the untiring efforts of the noble women in charge for those residing tinder their roof tree. She is fitted for this delicate and unusually responsible position, being prudent, just, and humane. Any one is happy here who is happy anywhere; some people always are discontented, even tinder fortunate and fostering, circumstances.
In 1882, the Voting Ladies' Branch was merged into the Day Nursery and Free Kindergarten Association, a beautiful and favorite charity presided over by Mrs. M. E. Rawson; Carolyn Kellogg Cushing, secretary. The nurseries are five: Perkins, the gift of the lamented Joseph Perkins; Louise, aided by Mrs. J. J. Tracy; Wade, presented and supported in part by Mr. J. H. Wade Bethlehem, supported by Mrs. Flora Stone Mather, who owns the building; Marv Whittlesey Meniorial, the benefaction, in every sense, of Miss Florence Harkness. This branch association supplements all beneficence by vigilance and admirable management in collecting and disbursing funds. In 1886, the Woman's Christian Association established a new branch, the "Educational and Industrial Union," for the encouragement and training of self-sustaining young women. This important department grows in usefulness, and we hope at an early day to see a building erected commensurate to its needs. Mrs. Levi T. Schofield, a noble woman, is in charge, assisted by the excellent judgment and generous aid of Mrs. Geo. W. Gardiner. Mrs. S. S. Gardner and Mrs. Sanborn render efficient service. Miss Clara A. Urann, chairman of the Class Committee, has been of invaluable help in organizing and maintaining a course in English Literature. Mrs. Annie E. Hull is a host in herself; bright, energetic and hopeful. Instruction is given in plain cooking, dress-fitting and making, millinery, penmanship, elocution, physical culture, literature, music-vocal, piano, and guitar; the common branches taught in the free classes.
The youngest institution of the association is the Eliza Jennings Home for Incurables, on Detroit Road, West Cleveland, established in 1887, and bearing the dear name of its founder. Of this, Mrs. A. P. Buel is chairman, and Mrs. L. Lescelles, secretary. It is a quiet, charming hospital. Rose Day there, on "a perfect day in June," is a luxury. The workers in this very large Society include now, and have included in past years, the most active and influential in the whole city. Some of them are quite advanced in life; not a few are widows of wealthy and public-spirited citizens. Women of culture, of unaffected modesty, are upon its committees. Unanimity and sweetness of spirit characterize their deliberations. Their methods are conservative.
Obituary:
Name: Fitch, Sarah E.
Date: April 13, 1893
Notes: Fitch- In this City, on Monday, April 10, 1893, Sarah E. Fitch, aged 74 years. Funeral services at the residence of her brother, James Fitch, 833 Logan Ave., on Thursday, April 13, at 2 p. m. Burial private.
http://www.heritagepursuit.com/Cuyahoga/Cleveland301.htm
First Families of Cleveland
1826- FITCH
Gurdon Fitch of Lebanon, Conn., son of James Fitch, married Hannah B. Peck of Franklin, Conn., about 1815, and after their first child was born, they removed to Cherry Valley, N. Y. In 1826, Gurdon Fitch, aged 40, with his wife and five children removed to Cleveland, and lived for many years on the corner of Water and St. Clair streets, where Mr. Fitch kept a village tavern. He was a valuable member of the community, a justice of the peace, and active in the organization of Cleveland as a city in 1836. Mrs. Fitch was the daughter of Darius and Hannah Warner Peck of Franklin, Conn. She was a typical New England woman of that day, strong, self-reliant, and always a helpmate for her husband in his business, and a wise, conscientious mother to her family of unusually bright children. She probably was responsible for the exceptional advantages of education given to them, and she lived to see her two sons rank high in their chosen profession, and one of her daughters occupy a unique position in the philanthropic work of the city. The family moved from the Water Street tavern before 1836 to the east side of Ontario, corner of Hamilton Street, where Mr. Fitch died of consumption in 1830, aged 54 years. It continued to be the home of his widow until her death in 1874 at the advanced age of 87. Silas Belden was appointed administrator of the Gurdon Fitch estate in 1841.
Gurdon and Hannah Peck Fitch had Sarah Fitch, born 1819, died 1893. SARAH ELISABETH FITCH was a prominent and beloved figure in the religious and philanthropic element of Cleveland for many long years. Perhaps no other woman of the city ever filled just the niche she occupied. Remaining unmarried, she had freedom to give her time and services to every cause that demanded them, and her whole life was spent in maturing plans of benevolence, and in seeing them executed. From 1840 to 1856 she taught in the private school held in the Huron Street Academy. Upon the pupils of which her sincere, loving character made life-long impressions. As womanhood developed, she gave more and more of herself to personal ministrations among the poor. She was especially tender to those who had sinned, and it was mainly through her efforts that the "Retreat" for erring women was established. She assisted in the formation of the Woman's Christian Association, and was its first president, continuing in that office until her death. For some years of her later life, she was the recognized pastor's assistant of the Old Stone Church. "Cast in a grand mold, her image is set up in many a heart a perpetual type of lofty womanhood."
TWO BOOKS ABOUT MATERNITY HOMES IN CLEVELAND
“And Sin No More: Social Policy and Unwed Mothers in Cleveland, 1855-1990”, Marian J. Morton, Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio.
“Seduced and Abandoned in an American City: Cleveland and Its Fallen Women, 1869-1936”, by Marian J. Morton (A book chapter in, “The Other Americans, Sexual Variance in the National Past”, edited by Charles Jackson), pp. 139-156.
From these books I learned the following:
At the time that our relative gave birth – 1898 – The Retreat and the other unwed mother’s homes required a six-month stay, and adoption was more frequent than keeping the baby. Adoption was encouraged because it would more effectively hide a woman’s shame and because she was more likely to get a job if she did not have a child with her. The homes would train the ladies in domestic work and would also find them a job in a domestic situation. In the 1910’s, it was more common for the homes to place them in domestic service in a place where they could take their children with them.
“With little or no financial support from the child’s father and probably limited education and job skills, the unwed mother with an infant faced an economic situation like this: “On the question of what work girls with illegitimate children were able to find, the Salvation Army officer stated a case of her own experience. A most ignorant and inexperienced girl, an orphan who had not hardly any advantage in life, became a mother at 16 years of age... After the usual stay in the Salvation Army Rescue Home, she secured a position with her baby in a private family where she remained until the baby was more than a year old. After that she boarded the baby in the home. The child is now six years old. The mother is making $6 a week as a domestic and has a bank account. She has always paid for the baby’s board at the home.”
Our relative came to just such an agreement with the family who adopted her son. She did say that she did housekeeping for them, and it is likely that she moved in with them upon her arrival in Cleveland. The family adopted the child on February 27, 1900 and baptized him on March 14, 1900. So, it seems that they did wait a while to adopt him. It was also said by our relative that she would go out to South Euclid every weekend to pay her child’s room and board. So, perhaps she worked for them until he was weaned and then the Berachah Haven found employment for her elsewhere, but she still continued to pay room and board until the family adopted the child.
Regarding “The Retreat” from “And Sin No More”:
“It is the aim of the Matron to teach these girls to earn an honest living and to govern all their actions upon Christian principles. The proper environment was also crucial, for woman could reclaim and be reclaimed best within her domestic sphere. Although the first Retreat was rather modest, the second building was a massive and imposing brick edifice with Italianate elements in a style popular for both public institutions and private homes of the wealthy. High stone walls enclosed the home and grounds. The cloistered privacy hid the inmates’ guilty secrets and preserved their families’ good names. Within this domestic and familial environment, the matron and the board could discipline inmates just as mothers discipline their children. “The life at the Retreat is in every sense a home life. Our girls live together as one family, and the superintendent endeavors to be a true house mother to them all.” (The term inmate did not suggest, at least to the Retreat managers, that the institution was a jail. Victorian women described their family members as inmates of their own homes.) The regimen imposed discipline: the “girls are required to devote their forenoons to housework. In the afternoons they sew for their personal outfits. During four evenings each week, they study, under efficient teaching; one evening is devoted to a prayer meeting, and the remaining one to recreation.” Girls who did not conform might be dismissed. The regimen nurtured woman’s domestic instincts and skills. The care of infants, for example, encouraged mothers to develop their "God given desire for maternity." Women were taught domestic skills at the Retreat so that they could earn a living. All girls are taught plain sewing, nursing, and cooking. Annual reports regularly recorded the large number of women who left the Retreat to go into service. The YWCA has been charged with being primarily a producer of domestic servants for its middle-class patrons, but such training made sense, given women’s limited job options. About equal numbers of women went into service as “returned to friends”. Very few married.”
“Women entered the Retreat for a variety of reasons and stayed varying lengths of time. Some simply needed shelter, perhaps having been banished from their homes. The home also had a small paying clientele, probably young women committed by parents because they were pregnant. By the 1890s a minimum six-month confinement was required, and in 1902 the average stay was more than eight months. In 1912, the facility received 53 girls and 54 babies were born. About half the children left with their mothers, and about half were put up for adoption by the Retreat or by the Protestant Orphans Asylum.”
“It should be first and foremost a home, not an institution: “A true home – God’s home – where a girl will experience safety and love.” The homes inmates should be a family, in which shared domestic tasks would teach the girls useful skills. We believe that every lady should know how to cook, wash, and iron. When one inmate’s mother protested that her daughter should not have to do housework, Dr. Barrett responded, “My dear woman, if I had been so unfortunate in training my daughter that when she was eighteen years old, I had to bring her to a rescue home for the cause you have brought your daughter to us, I would be very glad if someone else would try a different method in dealing with her from what I had tried.” Dr. Barrett wrote, the Home should be a big, old fashioned roomy house in a quiet part of the city, with large sunny bright rooms, with books and magazines on hygiene, child study, and self-culture, and an especially pretty room for the nursery, because no home is complete without a baby. Barrett believed that an unwed mother and her child should remain together in the home so that the mother might be reclaimed. In 1914, the conference recommended that “in every possible case the mother be expected to nurse her child” because “maternity has no reforming impulse unless the mother has the care of the child for some time. . . if a woman does have the responsibility of motherhood, she is much sobered thereby.” Thus, maternity homes continued to keep women and children together for weeks or even months after confinement. The long-range goal of maternity home care, was to prepare women to take care of their children permanently. If a woman was unable to take her child with her into domestic service, the homes sometimes boarded the child, with the mother remaining financially responsible for it. If she was unable to pay, the Cleveland Humane Society might help. The arrangement may not fit the definition of “together,” but the mother at least did not officially give up custody of the child and she might eventually be able to maintain it in her home. A Salvation Army officer described a happy outcome – “A most ignorant girl, an orphan, who had not hardly any advantage in life, became a mother at 16. Hard to handle before the baby was born, she afterward became exceedingly tractable. She was very fond of her child. After the usual stay in the home, she secured a position with her baby in a private family where she remained until the baby was more than a year old. After that she boarded the baby at the home. The child is now six years old. The mother is making $6 a week as a domestic and has a bank account, and she has visited the child twice a week. She has improved wonderfully and is soon to marry and take her child with her.”
Updated July 14, 2024