A Home for Soldiers' Orphans

Iowa was a new state in the decade leading up to the Civil War, granted statehood in 1846, and caught up in the national struggle to maintain the balance between slave and non-slave states being formed out of the new territories west of the Mississippi.

In 1854 the slavery issue became paramount when Stephen A. Douglas proposed that the Nebraska territory be divided into two territories – Kansas and Nebraska, each with the right to decide the slavery question based on popular sovereignty, thereby negating the 1820 Missouri Compromise which had limited the extension of slavery north of the 36o 30’ north latitude line (the southern boundary of Missouri).

In 1860 the Republican Convention nominated Abraham Lincoln for President. Their platform stressed non-extension of slavery, federal aid to railroads, free homesteads, protective tariffs, and federally sponsored internal improvements. Lincoln won both Iowa and the national election.

In December 1860, South Carolina seceded, followed in January 1861 by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. As Congress and the President grappled for a diplomatic solution, the South fired upon a federal installation, Fort Sumter, on 12 April 1861. President Lincoln called for troops, and the Civil War commenced.

Nearly 80,000 men enlisted from Iowa, and around 13,000 died. Keokuk resident Annie Wittenmeyer, working with the Iowa Sanitary Commission was acutely aware of the difficult conditions under which soldiers were living in camps and worked with local aid societies throughout the war to raise money and send food and aid to military hospitals.

In late 1864, Wittenmeyer’s attention shifted to a new population that needed aid - the orphaned children of Civil War soldiers. The process of building and supporting a Soldiers’ Orphans Home became a rallying point of concentrated community effort as the war drew to its conclusion.

The first classes were held at the Iowa State Normal School on September 6, 1876. The building which had been built for soldiers' orphans was the only building on campus at that time. As more buildings were added, it was later called "North" and then "Central Hall."

A fire destroyed Central Hall on July 22, 1965.

For more information:

Cedar Falls Historical Society archives and collection.

Special Collections, University of Northern Iowa.

George Gallarno. "How Iowa Cared for Orphans of Her Soldiers of the Civil War" Annals of Iowa, January 1926, Vol. XV, No. 3. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/61082199.pdf

Objects in This Exhibit

Featured Objects

	2018.018.136 [Print, Photographic] Cedar Falls resident Peter Melendy was instrumental in generating enthusiasm and support for the building of a State Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home in Cedar Falls. Due to the pledges he helped raise and the support of the citizens of Cedar Falls in responding to his plea to help children orphaned by the Civil War, the Iowa Orphans’ Home Association opened a branch home in Cedar Falls in 1865 in the American House Hotel. The capacity of the American House to provide for 85 children was not adequate to the need. Within one year the number of children living there had increased dramatically, to 220 children. Working with Senator J. B. Powers, Melendy brought the matter to a citizens’ meeting where once again the citizens of Cedar Falls responded by underwriting the amount necessary to purchase land for a new building. The state legislature accepted the land and $25,000 was appropriated for building.
	2018.018.139 [Print, Photographic] Cedar Falls contractor Azel D. Barnum built the new home, bidding $19,785 to construct a three story brick building. The building had a chapel, kitchen, dining room, and basement. Hundreds of shade trees covered the 40 acre tract. The new home opened 15 October 1869. and provided a home for hundreds of children until 9 January 1876, when the remaining children were moved to the Davenport, Iowa Orphans' Home. Special Collections, University of Northern Iowa, holds the original building specifications.
	2018.018.126 [Plate, Dinner] The need to feed hundreds of children led to the development of a vegetable garden that produced potatoes, beets, turnips, beans, sweet corn, and melons. The Orphans Home had a working farm and a bakery. This ironware was used at the Orphans Home. The weekly, menu, as remembered by George Gallarno, who lived at the Home: Breakfast: Baked beans, boiled rice, hominy and salt fish, corn bread, fried mush and pancakes Dinner Monday: Roast beef, baked potatoes, bread (white & brown). Tuesday: Boiled beef, vegetables, bread (white & brown). Wednesday: Beef soup, potatoes, bread (white & brown), and pudding Thursday: Roast beef, vegetables, bread (white & brown) Friday: Stewed beans with beef and pork, bread (white & brown) Saturday: Stewed meat and vegetables, bread (white & brown) Supper White bread, fried potatoes, biscuits, graham bread (once per week), cold meat, milk toast, cakes and pies (occasionally), butter, syrup and sauce of dried or green fruit.
	2018.018.130 [Card, Mourning] William W. Barry (Co. B, 31st Iowa Infantry), was born ca. 1833 New Brunswick and died 25 August 1863 of congestion of the lungs at Camp Sherman, Black River, Mississippi. He left a widow, Sarah, born ca. 1834 Indiana, and three children: Amelia A., age 7, Elnora E., age 5, and Mahala A., age 9, who were sent to the Orphans' Home. The children did not stay in the Home very long. By the time the 1870 census was taken, the older girls were living with the Kennison family, and the youngest was living with her widowed mother. Minnie (Mahala) Barry Fegles, of LaPorte City, Iowa, attended the 27 June 1890 reunion of Soldiers' Orphans' superintendents, teachers, and children.
	2018.018.134 [Newspaper] Life at the Orphan’s Home was busy. Children worked on the farm and in the garden, attended lessons and chapel, and published a newspaper. This first edition of the Orphans Casket is the only known issue.
	2018.018.128 [Block, Engraving] When no longer needed as an orphanage, Peter Melendy and S. N. Pierce urged its conversion to a State Normal School, which was accomplished on 15 March 1876. This single act had a major impact on the growth and development of Cedar Falls, as the State Normal School developed into what is now the University of Northern Iowa. Successful passage of the Miller Bill was attributed to Representative Herman C. Hemenway. This large printing block shows the original Soldiers’ Orphans Home and the Old Administration Building on the campus of the State Normal School.
	2018.018.135 [Print, Photographic] Herman C. Hemenway was elected to represent Black Hawk County in the Iowa House during the 16th General Assembly. As a Representative in the General Assembly he secured passage of the previously introduced Miller Bill establishing the Normal School in Cedar Falls. Because of his expertise in moving the bill to a successful adoption, Hemenway was thereafter known as the "Father of the Normal School." In April 1876 Governor Kirkwood appointed H. C. Hemenway as Trustee of the State Normal School. Within sixty days of his appointment, a joint meeting of the Normal School Trustees and the Orphan's Home Board was held to take the first steps in turning Central Hall into a Normal School. At this meeting the Board elected H.C. Hemenway as President.
	2018.018.138 [Print, Photographic] An 1888 image of some of the buildings on the campus of the Iowa State Normal School included (left-right): Gilchrist Hall, Administration Building, Old Central (Orphans’ Home), and the President’s Cottage. Old Central was destroyed by fire on July 22, 1965.
	2018.018.141 [Plate, Commemorative] Remembrance and commemoration of life at the Orphans' Home took many forms. July 25-26, 1890 Annie Wittenmeyer, Soldiers’ Orphans’ home superintendents, teachers, and former residents reunited at Old Central, the reunion presided over by George Gallarno, President of the Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home Association. Gallarno’s father, George Gallerno, served in the 3rd Iowa Artillery and was killed September 2, 1864. Five of his children were sent to the Orphans’ Home, ranging in age from four to fourteen. Gallarno wrote his memories of his time at the Home in "How Iowa Cared for Orphans of her Soldiers of the Civil War." Annals of Iowa, January 1926, Vol. XV, No. 3, p. 163. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/61082199.pdf This commemorative plate was commissioned by a Cedar Falls merchant from a German manufacturer.
	2018.018.127 [Silhouette] The establishment of the Orphans' Home had a profound effect on the community of Cedar Falls. Citizens worked together for its establishment, to provide special meals and treats for the children, and ultimately to support its conversion to the State Normal School. Old Central is memorialized in many ways including this silhouette by Cedar Falls, Iowa, artist Marie Cook.