Ten Ledgers from Detroit's St. Anthony's Orphan Asylum, later St. Francis Home for Boys, 1864-1909. [IHM Sisters].
Detroit and Monroe. 1864-1909. Item #99-4351
Sizes vary from 11.5 x 6 to 15 x 6, boards or ¼ leather with marbled boards, pagination varies from 94-356 pages. Overall covers well worn and rubbed, contents have cracked hinges, soiling, loose and detached pages, torn pages (one is in two pieces), one ledger has two pages glued together, some writing light else good condition, handwriting legible. Amount of entries vary, some ledgers have few entries and some are very detailed. In 1867, St. Anthony’s Orphan Asylum was erected on 97 acres on Gratiot in Detroit, the school was run by the IHM Sisters. Name changes occurred: in 1869, St. Anthony’s Boys Orphan Asylum, in 1877 St. Francis Male Orphan Asylum, in 1898 St. Francis Home for Orphan Boys (for the move to Monroe, Michigan). By 1906 (?), construction begins on a new and larger building, designed by the Detroit architectural firm Stratton & Baldwin. The orphans move to their new home in 1908 at 3190 Woodward Ave. in Highland Park. A short time later, in 1916, Henry Ford needs to expand his Highland Park plant and buys their property and builds them a new orphanage. This new building with a new name St. Francis Home for Boys was designed by Albert Kahn and opened in 1917 at Linwood and Fenkell in Detroit. Several decades later it closes (1992). The ledgers are as follows: 1) 1864-1865, subscription ledger, lists people/churches who donated money; 2) 1867-1877, treasurer’s ledger, lists donations, collections, picnic fundraisers; 3) 1868-1877, day book, with income including donations and expenditures; 4) 1872-1880, cash book, with donations and expenses; 5) 1872-1877, donations and expenses; 6) 1879-1889, with names of boarders?/orphans?, guardians, counties of origins, fees paid, (i.e., Rev. D Kolasinski of St. Albertus refused to pay a fee for Leo Dyson so he was sent to the orphanage), runaways, deaths etc.; 7) 1880-1884, cash book, with donations and expenditures; 8) 1886-1889, expenses; 9) 1888-1909. general accounts, including rented land, borrowed money several times; 10) 1898-1909, general accounts including income, expenditures, details on the construction of the orphanage designed by Stratton & Baldwin. Expenditures and income lists to whom, what and how much. Some of the vendors: Wagner Bakery, Ft. Gratiot Mill, Boydell Paint, Detroit Stove Works, Ferry Seeds. Expenditures were agricultural (horses, blacksmith, building a barn), household (canning supplies, kitchen goods and help), clothing (tailor, uniform stockings), religious (holy water font, rosaries). Miscellaneous expenses included 2000 brick stones for bake ovens, mortgage paid to Rev. C.H. Borgess, photographs, firecrackers, tobacco, snuff, cigars, brandy. The orphanage received income from boarders, farm produce, rent from property in Niles, Michigan, rent for Conners Creek and Highland Park houses, sale of school at Conners Creek, donations from several churches (Sweetest Heart of Mary, Holy Trinity), priests (Bishop Borgess, Fr. Korting). There were various religious orders associated with the orphanage over the years: IHM Sisters, Brothers of the Sacred Heart, Brothers of the Poor, Franciscans . . . The last names of those who resided and worked at the orphanage reflect Detroit’s French heritage and the influx of Irish immigrants: Cadieux, Chapoton, Cunningham, Delaney, McDonald, Mooney. These very detailed ledgers give good information on the running of an orphanage, the young people who boarded or who were orphans, the agricultural endeavors and so much more. Fascinating to read. Orphanage ledgers for sale are very scarce; most ledgers are only available through institutions. Sold as a lot only.
Price: $1,500.00