An orphan boy comes to a strange town by train, gets adopted by a local couple and grows up to become a prominent physician who serves his community for decades.
That’s not the plot of some bestselling novel or Hollywood movie.
It’s the true story of Dr. J.W. Bachelor, who practiced medicine in Oxford for 43 years before retiring in August 1938 and passing away the following month.
Folks can hear his story along with the stories of others like him when the Oxford Public Library presents ‘The Orphan Train in Michigan? program on Tuesday, March 31 at 6:30 p.m.
The program will consist of a lecture and video documentary about trains that once traveled from town to town along the Michigan Central Railroad, looking for families willing to take in orphans from the East Coast.
It will be presented by Al and David Eicher, the father-son team who operate Program Source International, a television production company in Bloomfield Hills.
‘It’s kind of a mystery,? Al said. ‘You never read anything in history books about this. Most people have never heard of it before.?
Between 1854 and 1927, the Orphan Train, or the Baby Train as it was sometimes called, placed approximately 12,500 children from New York City and the Boston area in Michigan homes. Most of the children came from the New York Children’s Aid Society (CAS) and the New England home for ‘Little Wanderers.?
‘There weren’t many orphanages and there was no welfare system (to handle these children),? Al noted.
Not all of the children who ended up on these trains were orphans in the strictest sense of the word, meaning both parents were deceased.
Al explained there were children whose parents could not care for them for one reason or another, so the legal system stepped in and removed them. There were also children given up by widows and widowers because they were planning to remarry and their new spouse didn’t want ‘any baggage.?
‘You could be a half-orphan and still go,? he said. ‘Many of them wanted to know why they were given away. Many times they didn’t know if their mother or their father had died.?
The children who rode these trains were age 3-16. Sometimes babies were aboard as well and they traveled with nurses, Al noted.
The first Orphan Train riders arrived in Michigan at Dowagiac, a city in Cass County, in 1854.
Telegraph operators notified townsfolk the Orphan Train was coming by posting announcements in public spaces.
‘They usually had pretty good turnouts,? Al said.
When the train arrived, the children were typically shown at the station, city hall or a local church. Al said prospective parents would take kids home for the day, then return them at night. If it seemed like a child was a good fit for a particular household, he or she would leave with their new family.
‘If not, the child gets back on the train and goes to the next town,? Al said.
There were many reasons locals took in these children.
Some were childless couples who wanted a family. Some were widows looking for companionship. Some were farmers looking for help to work their land.
By 1927, a total of 43 Michigan towns had received children from the Orphan Train.
The Eichers first learned of the Orphan Train’s existence years ago while doing research at the Northeast Oakland Historical Society’s museum in downtown Oxford. They were making a documentary about the town called, ‘The History and Pioneers of Oxford: The First 130 Years.?
‘We discovered some people in the Oxford area had been picked up (from) the Orphan Train,? Al said.
One of those people was Tommy Mack, the uncle of Mildred Schmidt, a founding member of the historical society who passed away in 2007 at the age of 99. Mack was picked up when the Orphan Train stopped in Thomas, an unincorporated community located in the northern part of Oxford Township.
Another was Dr. Bachelor, whose last name was Pringle prior to his adoption.
The doctor’s front-page obituary in the Sept. 30, 1938 edition of the Leader mentions the Orphan Train.
It states, ‘Dr. Bachelor was born in Fall River, Mass. on June 14, 1875 and (as) a small boy he came to Oakwood on a train with a group of other children, where he was adopted by Dr. W.J. and Essie Campbell Bachelor.?
Bachelor graduated from Oxford High School and the Detroit College of Medicine. He used his medical skills to serve his country during World War I. At the time of his death, he was survived by a brother in Wisconsin and sister in Detroit.
The Eichers spent a year-and-a-half researching the Orphan Train, then produced a documentary about it in 2003.
‘We started to investigate and found a lot more (riders),? Al said. ‘We’re always looking for more Orphan Train riders. We have a list of about 118 right now, (all) documented and placed here in Michigan.?
Al noted CAS did a poor job of keeping tabs on the children it placed.
‘The deal was whoever takes a child is supposed to keep a record of how the child is doing and report to the New York Children’s Aid Society annually. It didn’t happen.? he said. ‘Those things just slipped through the cracks. People were on the move. So, the (CAS) really lost track of where they were.?
Many of the stories Al tells during his lecture are taken from the diaries of CAS agent Herman D. Clark, who placed 10,000 Orphan Train riders. His diaries span a 10-year period at the end of the 19th century.
Clark actually cared about the kids he placed. Al said he visited them, got them ‘out of scrapes? and personally removed them from bad situations.
‘He had sheriffs and marshals after him because he was taking children out of families that he didn’t think were worthy to keep them,? he said. ‘When the kids had a problem, they usually wrote to the agent.?
The Eichers discovered one of Michigan’s First Ladies was an Orphan Train rider.
Her name was Mae Pierson. She was adopted by the Pierson family in Lapeer and went on to marry Kim Sigler, who served as Michigan’s 40th governor from 1947-49.
‘That was a real surprise,? Al said. ‘It is a fact. I checked.?
The Eichers have been traveling around, giving the Orphan Train lecture for 10 years.
It’s one of 17 topics offered as part of Program Source International’s Michigan History Lecture Service.
In all those years, Al said they’ve only encountered one Orphan Train rider.
It was about three years ago at a lecture in Rochester. A lady brought her grandfather, who had been on the train in 1927. He was only 3 years old at the time, so unfortunately, he had no memories of his experiences on the train.