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At the turn of the nineteenth century a broad mix of nationalities had intermingled within the United States, creating a nation of cultures that were unique. Sometimes the mixtures created personalities that exhibited indifference, coupled with the hardness of granite. Due to the hardships encountered in an unforgiving environment, harshness of personality became common. Especially on farms whe... More

At the turn of the nineteenth century a broad mix of nationalities had intermingled within the United States, creating a nation of cultures that were unique. Sometimes the mixtures created personalities that exhibited indifference, coupled with the hardness of granite. Due to the hardships encountered in an unforgiving environment, harshness of personality became common. Especially on farms where families were intentionally large in order to insure that there would be enough hands within the household to handle the work involved in tilling the soil and harvesting the crops the fields hopefully would yield. In this environment, children were no more than a product and often treated no more humanely than the cattle. Many times as one group of children was raised and approached adulthood, when they often left the farm, more children were born to take their place. It wasn't uncommon for a family to consist of nine to twelve children or more, whether by birth or by procurement through one sort or another. This was the era of the Orphan Train. A time when children who were placed in state custody because their parents were unable to support them, were shipped to all parts of the country to be adopted or placed into servitude as foster children. Children were compelled to grow up fast as a result of the burden of work forced upon them at an early age. In many families the natural born were treated no better than those procured. That was the case for Maggie Blackford. This is Maggie's story.

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