Oklahoma has many orphans, orphanages, asylums, institutions, and children’s homes. Check out the resources below the case study.
Case Study: Family members are searching for additional information about Lois Kilby and Josephine Kilby.
Unfortunately, the two sisters mentioned in the article above were not placed together. Three-year-old “Little Joe,” or as she was officially named Josephine Kilby, said she wanted somebody to love her. She was lonesome for a mother. The newspaper article was saved for her descendants. Josephine’s sister, Lois, 5 years old, wanted a home too; but it is unknown what happened to Lois Kilby. Her father had a son with another woman twenty-three years later. Lois’s much younger brother is still alive and is eager to learn what became of his older sister.
Search the Oklahoma State Resources for information and clues about orphans, orphanages, asylums, institutions, children’s homes, and their records.
Oklahoma State Historical and Genealogical Resources
Oklahoma Genealogical Societies
Oklahoma Historical Society Cornish
Oklahoma Historical Society Research Center Guide to Manuscript Collections Check out these collections!
The Gateway to Oklahoma History Check out pages about orphans using the Keyword Search Orphan – the results from this search are incredible. If you use filters and repeat this search and narrow it down to pages of interest, you might find outstanding results!
Oklahoma Birth and Death Records Online Database Free Search
Oklahoma Unemployment Relief Census 1933 (Searchable database)
Oklahoma State Orphanages
Baptist Orphans’ Home
6300 Waterford Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73118 (1903) Also known as Oklahoma Baptist Orphans Home and Oklahoma Baptist Children’s Home. Rev. J.A. Scott founded the orphanage in March 1903 under the auspices of the Oklahoma and Indian Territories Baptist Conventions. In 1907 the orphanage was relocated to a twenty-building site. Over 4000 children were cared for during the seventy-five years at this location. Moved to 16301 South Western, June 1982. Missionary Baptist Church (orphan children) (white, racially mixed – part Indian) (M/F)
Children’s Receiving Home, Guthrie – Oklahoma Children’s Home Society (1900) (normal, homeless, dependent) (under age 15)
The monthly newspaper published by the Oklahoma and Indian Territory Children’s Home Society in Guthrie, Okla. This paper “seeks to save the orphans and other dependent children and make useful citizens of them, by placing them in select family homes with moral, educational and Christian advantages.” This collection is available through The Gateway to Oklahoma History. You can filter your research to include specific years of interest.
Sadly, no one has located the record yet for Lois Kilby.
Cherokee Orphan Asylum, Cherokee Nation, Salina, OK, The Children’s Play Ground was a publication published at the Cherokee Orphan Asylum 1881, see the two issues:
Chilocco Indian School Index, boarding school for Indian children
Cornish Orphan’s Home had a publication called Orphans’ Home Journal
- Newspapers.com has issues of the Orphans’ Home Journal
Cross and Anchor Orphanage
Creek Orphan Home
- Photo 1901 ten children with Mrs. Tiger
Goodland Indian Orphanage, near Hugo, OK. Also known as the Goodland Presbyterian Children’s Home,
- Book The Goodland Indian Orphanage: a story of Christian missions, by Sammy D. Hogue
- Digital Version of The Goodland Indian Orphanage: a story of Christian missions
- History, The Indian Arrow Newspaper (Goodland, Oklahoma) 1925-19??
- 150th Anniversary
- University of Oklahoma Library Collection
- Newspapers/Brochures/Souvenirs
- Image
- Magazine- King’s Business – 1946-06
- Photos, Newspaper article
- Red River Historian w/photos
Guthrie Children’s Home Society
Masonic
“During territorial days, Masons began to discuss plans to create facilities to care for orphans, widows, and the elderly. By 1907 they had opened their first facility for children. Pamela Webb explains how the Masonic Children’s Home came to be, and portrays the life of the children who were nurtured in that environment.“
“Taking Care of Their Own: History of the Masonic Children’s Home in Guthrie, Oklahoma,” by Pamela Webb
Mattie Mallory’s Home for Children (1898)
- The Oklahoman News Article about a scrapbook containing information about the home – Photos accompanying the article
- History
- History, includes information about the Meyers children
- Charles Edwin Jones, “Miss Mallory’s Children: The Oklahoma Orphanage and the Founding of Bethany,” The Chronicles of Oklahoma 71 (Winter 1993–94).
“Miss Mallory’s Children: The Oklahoma Orphanage and the Founding of Bethany,” by Charles Edwin Jones, 392–422
“Mattie Mallory, a holiness worker and astute businesswoman, came to Oklahoma in the 1890s to care for neglected and orphaned children. The foundation she laid remains today as the City of Bethany, the Children’s Center, and Southern Nazarene University. Charles Edwin Jones provides a fascinating study of Mallory’s work, her association with other groups, and her use of land speculation as an adjunct to ministry.“
“Miss Mallory’s Children: The Oklahoma Orphanage and the Founding of Bethany,” by Charles Edwin Jones, 392–422
Methodist Orphanage Home
Morrow Indian Orphans’ Home, Bacone – American Baptist Home Missionary Society (1902) (Indian orphans) (M/F)
Oklahoma and Indian Territory Children’s Home Society in Guthrie, OK
Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children
Oklahoma Benevolent and Cornish Orphanage Association, Ringling Oklahoma (includes images of children)
Oklahoma Children’s Home Society
Oklahoma Orphanage, R.D. 4, Box 167, Oklahoma City (1898) (orphans, indigent) (M/F)
Oklahoma Orphan Train Digital Prairie Radio Program
Putney Orphans Home, also known as the Oklahoma Children’s Home Society
Sand Springs Orphan Home
- article with photos
St. Joseph’s Orphanage, Oklahoma City, OK
- The Orphan’s Record, St. Joseph’s Orphanage, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, BX1415.O4 O76, Vol. 3, no. 3 (March, 1917)
Sunbeam Orphans’ Home, 431 East Eighth Street, Oklahoma City (1910) (needy, helpless) (M/F)
Whitaker State Orphans Home, Pryor, OK
Oklahoma Historical Society Research Center Guide to Manuscript Collections
Books
Report of the Commissioner of Charities and Corrections – searchable digital version
Additional Resources
Oklahoma Archives, Genealogical Societies, Historical Societies, and Libraries Check out this OrphanFinder.com resource list for Oklahoma State and the 77 counties in Oklahoma. It is amazing!
Oklahoma County Courthouses, Government Records, and Histories
Oklahoma has 77 counties. Some of the county boundaries have possibly changed over time. It is important to check the history of the county to learn about the formation of the county.
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