Page 43 - The CRAIG family

When their mother died in February 1929, Eva was 21, Charlotte was 12, Ed was 9, Gin was 7, Ralph was 5 and George was 3. Aunt Eva had been married since 1925 so she was out of the house and on her own. With the help of family and friends, Marshall did his best to take care of the younger children, however it had to have been very difficult for him because as we now know he was diagnosed with stomach cancer around October 1929, just 8 months after the death of Jean and 3 months before he died but he was probably in ill health months before his diagnosis.
It is my Daddy’s recollection that his daddy tried to take care of them but that he was also gone a lot and spent time with his cousins Jack and Charlie. He said that Helen Sparks came to their house and took the children to their grandparents (Colmore and Lora) home. When the April 1930 census was taken Aunt Charlotte was living with Aunt Eva, her husband and 4 babies (ages 3, 2, 1 and 1 month old) in Lockland, Ohio. Uncle Ed, Aunt Gin, Daddy and Uncle George lived with grandparents, Colmore and Lora, Aunt Mildred and Helen Sparks.
Daddy often spoke of going to an Orphanage, but he couldn’t remember where or when that was. He always said that Aunt Charlotte stayed at the orphanage until all of the kids were “placed”. I found the orphanage records, and this is what I learned.
The records of the Cornelia Memorial Orphans Home were established in 1877 by William S. Culbertson and named for his second wife Cornelia. He purchased land at 1801 Elkin Avenue, New Albany, Indiana, and paid for the construction of a very nice Gothic Revival style facility built in 1882. After it was built he turned it over the management to trustees. It was a very nice home and according to all of the information that I researched that included minutes of the meetings, intake records, etc., it was a very well-run facility.
I went to the address and the building is no longer there. Records show that it was demolished in 1963 and is now the site of Whitehall Manor Apartments.
The outside and an interior shot of the Orphans Home was taken November 1, 1923
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