This valuable Ohio reference book documents more than 50 years of social history, telling the stories of children in need and families in despair.
In 1866, the Ohio General Assembly authorized the construction of children's homes in each county. Lawrence County opened its children's home in Ironton in 1874.
I transcribed the home's often difficult-to-read microfilm records and supplemented them with information from newspapers, penitentiary records, boys' and girls' industrial school records, schools for the blind, personal interviews, and other historical sources.
Because many children were placed in homes outside Lawrence County, these records may provide important clues for genealogists tracing family members who seemingly disappeared from local records.
The book also includes an index of the children, their parents, and other individuals mentioned in the records, making it a useful resource for family history research.