By Rebecca Ball Mary was the child of Roman Catholic parents, and although she had been a wanderer and an outcast for many years, subject to the insults and scoffs of those whose fortune had placed them above the wants and privations from which she suffered, still her mother’s early teachings had not been forgotten. And although taught to believe in many errors, this little disciple of a false creed wished to do what she believed to be a duty. So, one evening, just as the sun was setting, she called Mrs. Doty to her and said, “I feel the life going out of me. I feel it right here, laying her hand on her breast, and I want to confess. Won’t you bring the priest? My mother had no priest with her when she was dying; I don’t want to die so. You’ll bring him to me, won’t you, Mrs. Doty?” Mrs. Doty told Mary that she would go then, before the night set in, and turned to leave the bed, but Mary called her back and said, “Come very close and bend low down that you may hear me, for I want y...

A Second Visit to the Shanty Rebecca Gordon Ball One morning shortly after my first visit, I went again to the shanty. This time I found the children quite alone. Little Cathy met me and told me that Aunty had gone somewhere, she did not know where; but she often went away and left them alone, and that sometimes they were very cold and hungry, and that when Aunty came home, if she had the “staggers,” she would beat them O’ so hard. “Well, but, Cathy, said I, “don’t you remember you told me, some time ago, that the old woman was good to you?” “Yes, ma’m,” said she, “I was afeard to say she wasn’t, ‘cause when you’d go away, then she’d beat me.” “Which do you fear the most, Cathy,” said I, “God, or the old woman?” “Oh!” she answered quickly, “I’se most afeard of the old woman.” “But, don’t you know it’s very wicked to lie?” “Yes, ma’m,” said Cathy, “but the old woman said she would get Father Dennis, the priest, to rub it out, and then God wouldn’t know it.” “But,” said I...

 Part One of this story was written by Rebecca Gordon Ball for the Lafayette Journal after the Civil War during a time when orphan children were sent from New York to parts of the Midwest to find homes. Rebecca was an eyewitness to a tragic scene at the train depot in Lafayette, Indiana. This riveting encounter with a little orphan girl and her wicked caretaker will touch even the coldest of hearts. Rebecca Gordon Ball  (Courtesy of A. Winter Ball Bottum) I had just returned from the depot, where I had seen, gathered together, a large number of  children and youths, taken from the highways of New York City and sent West to claim that charity which, I think, in many cases might be invested at home, for although the old adage of “Charity beginning at home” is by many voted a selfish one, I cannot but think it a truth which through a mistaken zeal is too often overlooked; however, I with others, had gone and looked upon the group of orphans, and dropped a tear at the sad tru...

Did you know an orphan from Lafayette, Indiana, gained national and international fame for creating a multi-million-dollar carnival empire in the early 20th century? The humble beginnings of Con T. Kennedy, “the Carnival King” and his rags-to-riches rise to fame is an inspirational, true story about a boy who overcame many obstacles in life. He ran away from a Lafayette  orphanage at twelve years old, headed west, and "grew up with the country."    This story will evoke a roller coaster of emotions. It’s long, but worth the investment of your time.  Orphan Never Felt the Loving Arms of a Loving Mother St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum (Photo courtesy of Preserve Historic Lafayette) The story begins with Cornelius T. Kennedy, an orphan about whom little is known regarding his family background.  Cornelius was born in 1870 to parents of  Irish descent.  The 1870 census records show Cornelius residing in Jackson, Ohio, with his parents, Thomas and Hanora Kenn...