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The Arizona Orphan Abduction
The Story Behind the Play
On October 2, 1904, Sisters Anna Michaella and Teresa Vincent arrived in Clifton, Arizona with 40 small children between the ages of 1 and 6 - Irish Catholic orphans from the New York Foundling Hospital. They had arranged with Constant Mandin, the parish priest in Clifton-Morenci for the children to be adopted by Catholic families there. These families, like most Catholic families in Arizona at the time, were Mexican. When they children arrived, the nuns dressed the children in their best clothes, brushed their hair, and prepared them to meet their new families, who welcomed them. When the Anglo families saw these white children being given to Mexican parents, they became enraged. They formed a mob to kidnap the children and redistribute them to white families. The Mexican families and the Catholic church sued to get their kids back and the lawsuits went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. The courts ruled in favor of the kidnappers.
Life in New York City, 1904
Around 1830, the number of homeless children in large Eastern cities such as New York City exploded. In 1850, there were an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 homeless children in New York City. At the time, New York City's population was only 500,000. Some children were orphaned when their parents died in epidemics of typhoid, yellow fever or the flu. Others were abandoned due to poverty. Many children sold matches, rags, or newspapers to survive. There were very few systems in place to support impoverished families, and some were separated from their families through arbitrary “truancy laws.”
Many of these children were of Irish descent. The 1845 famine in Ireland caused millions of deaths but also significant emigration to New York City. In the 1840s, the Irish comprised nearly half of all immigrants to the US. Anti-Irish sentiment combined with extreme poverty and long working hours made parenting extremely difficult for many families, - it was hard for Irish people to get jobs, find housing, or build stability for their families, resulting in many children being left to orphanages or hospitals - including the Foundling Hospital where our story begins.
Life in Clifton / Morenci 1904
In 1904, Morenci and Clifton were tough mining towns, more camp than town really, with high cliffs on all sides and rivers that flooded frequently, washing away houses and businesses. Violence was routine and health and sanitation were poor. Morenci had no sewer system, and a typhoid epidemic swept through in late October 1904, shortly after the orphan episode. Both towns had bad water and bad air, polluted by the smelter's sulfurous emissions. There were high rates of infertility in both towns, likely related to this pollution, as well as the general hard living, even for wealthy families.
Mexicans and Mexican Americans (called Mexicans no matter where they were born) were a majority in both towns but the copper mines enforced a rigid hierarchy in jobs and wages. It was a given that whites got the best jobs and the best pay. But "white" was more broadly defined here: It took in Americans of English descent, Scotsmen and, a notch down, Irish, Italians and Spaniards: anyone, in short, who wasn't Mexican or Chinese.
The local Anglos were not particularly religious--in 1904, Clifton had only one Protestant church, Presbyterian--but Mexicans were generally devout Catholics. It was the Mexicans' religious faith that inspired the nuns to place Irish New Yorkers in an Arizona mining camp in the first place. The nuns held fiercely to the idea that Irish Catholics, no matter how poor, had a right to their own religion. For their immortal souls to be saved, the orphans had to be raised in the "one true church."
The Orphan Trains
The Orphan Trains were part of a social welfare program that transported children from crowded Eastern cities in the United States to foster homes located largely in rural areas of the American west. These orphan trains operated between 1854 and 1929, relocating about 200,000 children. The co-founders of the Orphan Train movement claimed that these children were orphaned, abandoned, abused, or homeless, but this was not always true. Some were orphans, others were the children of new immigrants and the children of the poor families living in these cities. The program was primarily run by Charles Loring Brace and the Children’s Aid Society in New York, who believed that “street children would have better lives if they left the poverty and debauchery of their lives in New York City and were instead raised by morally upright farm families.” Brace also recognized the need for labor in the expanding farm country. Children were taken from the city on a train with stops throughout the west. While it’s clear that many children found loving homes in their new communities, many others were abused and exploited. Criticisms of the program include ineffective screening of caretakers, insufficient follow-ups on placements, and that many children were used as strictly slave farm labor. What is most clear to us as modern readers of this history is that the children themselves had little to no agency in what happened to them on these trains and beyond.
October 2, 1904
On October 2, 1904, Sisters Anna Michaella and Teresa Vincent arrived in Clifton, Arizona with 40 small children between the ages of 1 and 6 - Irish Catholic orphans from the New York Foundling Hospital. They had arranged with Constant Mandin, the parish priest in Clifton-Morenci for the children to be adopted by Catholic families there. These families, like most Catholic families in Arizona at the time, were Mexican. When they children arrived, the nuns dressed the children in their best clothes, brushed their hair, and prepared them to meet their new families, who welcomed them. When the Anglo families saw these white children being given to Mexican parents, they became enraged. They formed a mob to kidnap the children and redistribute them to white families. Children were forcibly taken from their new parents and moved to the Clifton Hotel for the night, where it took until 2am for all of them to finally fall asleep. The nuns who arrived with the children were driven out of time, as was the parish priest who originally set up the adoptions.
Court Cases
The Mexican families and the Catholic church sued to get their kids back and it was over a year before the suits were settled. Every court, all the way The courts ruled in favor of the kidnappers.
According to Linda Gordon:
“The families’ return to Clifton was a festival. Hundreds gathered at the train station and when their train came into sight, a brass band struck up “America.” The crowd screamed as the first mother and child alighted, and the cheers grew louder as each successive family appeared. The Mexican people stayed home that day but it is hard to imagine whether they laughed, or cursed or did both."
The Kids
Record keeping and documentation of what happened to each child is minimal. We only know small details on a few of the children who were part of this event, and as they were so young at the time there are no firsthand accounts of their memories available. We can assume that some went to loving families and others were faced with abuse and hardships as they grew into adulthood. We also wonder about some of the other possibilities. According to writer Elena Díaz Bjórkquist, who grew up in Morenci in the 1940s and '50s, a legend persisted in the Mexican community that one of the orphans escaped the vigilantes, fleeing with her new family into the stormy night. When the family returned after some years, they had a pale-skinned daughter in tow, and her hair was flaming red” (Tucson Weekly)
Pictured above, 5 of the orphans after they had been adopted by Anglo families in Clifton / Morenci, From L to R, Anna Louise Simpson (Doherty), Leah Abraham (Elizabeth Kane), Raymond Hill (Spencer), Gladys Freeman (Sadie Green), Katherine Wright (Fitzpatrick)
Of the 40 children who were part of this train of children, we know 20 names, and detailed information on even fewer of them. Our research so far on these children is listed below:
Josephine Corcoran
Age in 1904: 2
Originally adopted by:
Angela Flores and Juan Esquivel (US born, moved to Clfiton from New Mexico. Lived in a neat, frame house on the east side of town)
Ultimately adopted by:
Mr. and Mrs. Jake Abraham (wife’s first name unknown)
Name Changed to:
Josephine Abraham
What happened after 1904:
Died of pneumonia in December 1904 (had been sick ever since her night at the hotel)
Other Facts: “described as ‘the liveliest of all the kids” singing wildly and for a long time until she fell asleep at the hotel around 2am on October 3, 1904
Edward Cummiskey
Age in 1904: 3 ½
Originally adopted by:
unknown
Ultimately adopted by:
Mr. and Mrs. JT Kelly, and was given as a gift from Jeff Dunagan (deputy) to curry favor with the Kellys “since the children were staying anyway, why shouldn’t he get to choose some”
Name Changed to:
Edward Kelly
What happened after 1904:
unknown
Anna Louise Doherty
Age in 1904: 3
Originally adopted by:
Abigai de Villescas and Andrès Villescas
Ultimately adopted by:
Tom Simpson and Mae Wright Simpson
Name Changed to:
Anna Simpson
What happened after 1904:
remained in Clifton
Katherine Fitzpatrick
Age in 1904: 4
Originally adopted by:
Cornelio and Margarita Chacon, a widely respected Mexican family in Morenci
Ultimately adopted by:
Harry and Muriel Wright
Name Changed to:
Katherine Wright
What happened after 1904:
Grew up relatively wealthy with her adoptive family. Stayed in Clifton
Other Facts: Was featured in the supreme court trial. “At one point, Katherine Fitzpatrick, now in the possession of Muriel and Harry Wright was brought forward and placed on top of a desk. ‘She turned her attention to the justices, laughed and waved her little hand at the court en banc" and pretty much put a stop to the judges' efforts to keep the courtroom quiet.’ She was credited with inducing the judges to quit trying to maintain silence in the courtroom”
Edward Gibson
Age in 1904: 4
Originally adopted by:
Trancita and Francisco Alvidrez
Ultimately adopted by:
Mr. and Mrs. Hargis (first names unknown)
Name Changed to:
Edward Hargis
What happened after 1904:
Unknown
Sadie Green
Age in 1904: 3
Originally adopted by:
Josefa Villescas
Ultimately adopted by:
Olive and Charles Freeman
Name Changed to:
Gladys Freeman
What happened after 1904:
The Freeman family moved to LA with Sadie (Gladys). There, in 1914, a grocer raped her and made her pregnant (she would have been 13). This was reported back to the Foundling sisters as Gladys having “got in trouble” (the typical and brutal double standard of the time)
Elizabeth Kane
Age in 1904: almost 2
Originally adopted by:
unknown
Ultimately adopted by:
Sam and Laura Abraham
Name Changed to:
Leah Abraham
What happened after 1904:
unknown
Hannah Kane
Age in 1904: : 3
Originally adopted by:
unknown
Ultimately adopted by:
Mr. and Mrs. George Frazer (wife’s name unknown). Was given as a gift from Jeff Dunagan (deputy) to curry favor with the Frazers (his boss) who said “since the children were staying anyway, why shouldn’t he get to choose some”
Name Changed to: Hannah Frazer
What happened after 1904:
Unknown
Pearl Kendricks
Age in 1904: unknown
Originally adopted by: unknown
Ultimately adopted by: unknown
Name Changed to: unknown
What happened after 1904: unknown
Ambrose Lamb
Age in 1904: unknown
Originally adopted by:
unknown
Ultimately adopted by:
unknown
Name Changed to:
unknown
What happened after 1904:
Unknown
Violet Lanwick
Age in 1904: 4
Originally adopted by:
unknown
Ultimately adopted by:
Rebecca Tong (husbanbd’s name unknown, he was a machinist who worked for Arizona Copper in Metcalf, and was not present the night of the abduction)
Name Changed to: Helen Tong
What happened after 1904:
unknown
Marie Mack
Age in 1904: 6
Originally adopted by:
Roja Guerra (a 55 y/o widow who ran a large boardinghouse)
Ultimately adopted by:
Mr. and Mrs Tyler (first names unknown)
Name Changed to:
Marie Tyler
What happened after 1904:
Unknown
Agnes Mullen
Age in 1904: unknown
Originally adopted by:
unknown
Ultimately adopted by:
unknown
Name Changed to:
unknown
What happened after 1904:
unknown
William Norton
Age in 1904: 3
Originally adopted by:
unknown
Ultimately adopted by:
John and Louisa Gatti
Name Changed to:
William Gatti
What happened after 1904:
Unknown
Henry Potts
Age in 1904: 6
Originally adopted by:
Josefa and Rafael Holguín, who had made clothes and cookies to welcome him to their family and fought hard to keep Henry with them, only giving him up when threatened with guns
Ultimately adopted by:
unknown
Name Changed to:
unknown
Joseph Ryan
Age in 1904: 4
Originally adopted by: Baleria and Ramón Ballesk who immediately renamed him “José” and had made clothes for him
Ultimately adopted by:
Etta Reed (husband’s name unknown)
Name Changed to: Joseph Reed
What happened after 1904:
unknown
Other Facts:
Before being placed in the orphanage he lived with his mother until he was 8 months old
Jerome Shanley
Age in 1904: : 3
Originally adopted by:
Cornelio and Margarita Chacon, a widely respected Mexican family in Morenci
Ultimately adopted by:
Mr and Mrs.Pascoe (first name unknown)
Name Changed to:
Jerome Pascoe
What happened after 1904:
unknown
Raymond Spencer
Age in 1904: 4
Originally adopted by:
unknown
Ultimately adopted by:
Rose and Henry Hill (richest family in Clifton - he’s a member of the County Board of Supervisors)
Name Changed to:
Raymond Hill
What happened after 1904:
Unknown
George Weber
Age in 1904: unknown
Originally adopted by:
unknown
Ultimately adopted by:
unknown
Name Changed to:
unknown
What happened after 1904:
unknown
Gabriella Welsh
Age in 1904: 2 ½
Originally adopted by:
Trancita and Francisco Alvidrez
Ultimately adopted by:
Mary Quinn (husband’s name unknown)
Name Changed to:
Gabriella Quinn
What happened after 1904:
Unknown
From the New York Foundling Hospital
Sister Anna Michaella, assistant secretary
G. Whitney Swayne, western placement agent
Sister Teresa Vincent, head sister
From the Arizona Catholic Church
Henri Granjon, bishop of Tucson
Constant Mandin, Clifton-Morenci parish priest
Clifton Morenci Mexican Families
Cornelio Chacón, smelter worker
Margarita Chacón, teacher and foster mother
Franscisco Alvidrez, smelter worker
Trancita Alvidrez, foster mother
Rafael Holguin, smelter worker
Josefa Holguin, seamstress and foster mother
Ramón Balles, shopkeeper
Baleria Balles, foster mother
Lee Windham, smelter worker
Fefugia Windham, foster mother
Juan Esquivel, mill worker
Angela Flores, foster mother
Clifton Morenci Anglo Families
Charles E. Mills, superintendent, Detroit Copper Company, Morenci
James Colquhoun, superintendent, Arizona Copper Company, Clifton
John Gatti, rancher and butcher, Clifton
Louisa Gatti
Jake Abraham, Clifton Hotel Manager
Mrs. Jake Abraham
Sam Abraham, Clifton Hotel Owner
Laura (Mrs. Sam) Abraham
George Frazer, smelter superintendent, Arizona Copper Company, Clifton
Mrs. Frazer
Neville Leggatt, deliveryman, Arizona Copper Company store
Tom Simpson, locomotive engineer, Clifton
May (Mrs. Tom) Simpson
Harry Wright, saloon owner, Cliftonm
Muriel (Mrs. Harry) Wright
A.M. Tuthill, M.D. Detroit Copper company physician and state legislator, Morenci
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