A Thomas Family and the Orphan Train

Day bittersweet for ‘Orphan Train' riders 

 

By SANDRA MYERS smyers@kentuckynewera.com

Jun 16, 2001

CADIZ, Ky. — Ethel Flowers remembers the fall of 1934 as if it was yesterday and every Father's Day since has held bittersweet memories for her.  She was 7, it was the tail end of the depression, and times were hard.  It was a chilly October day; she and her two brothers and a younger sister, along with 10 or 20 other children were placed on a train leaving from the Kentucky Children's Home at Lyndon.  It was hoped by the children's home that by sending the "orphans" on the trains to find new "families," they would have a chance to lead a better life than if left in the home or left to fend for themselves.  Stories of events surrounding the "orphan trains" recount how brothers and sister were separated in the process, sometimes never to see each other again.

Flowers was one of a family of five children whose father had been killed in an accident, leaving their mother with little schooling and no means of support.  It was those circumstance that led her mother to place all except the youngest sibling, a 10-month-old baby, and her oldest child, in the Kentucky Children's Home.

A committee had been at work before the arrival of the train in Hopkinsville, trying to arrange potential families for the expected children.  Advance notices of "Homes Wanted for Orphans" were placed in key newspapers by the home. The community would be allowed to "visit" with the children and if a match was made between the adult and child, and the local committee approved, the child would leave and go to his or her "new home."

After the train pulled into the Hopkinsville station, Flowers and the others were taken to the courthouse for "inspection."  Hubert and Vada Thomas, of Cadiz, had driven into Hopkinsville to meet the train, hoping to find an infant to take in. They had recently lost their only child, a little girl who had lived but one day.   As the children paraded around the courthouse, the Cadiz couple noticed a cute little girl named Ethel, and they decided to take her to lunch.

"I latched on to Hubert and wouldn't let go. I wanted to stay with them," Flowers recalls. "She (Vada) had taken a special interest in two of the babies before we went to lunch, one with light hair, and one with dark. During lunch, she asked him which one of the babies they should take home. He answered by saying, Why don't we just take the one we have here?' "

They bundled the 7-year-old up for the trip to Cadiz and her new life.  Flowers has never forgotten that day.  "I have always remembered that they chose me over the baby they had come looking for," she said.

The effects of the Depression made it very difficult to make a living in Trigg County. By the time Flowers turned 10, Hubert Thomas was preparing to go to Detroit to find work.

Anticipating the move to Detroit, and knowing Flowers would not be permitted to leave Kentucky, the Thomases arranged for her to return to her birth family.  They took Flowers back to the train station in Hopkinsville. "I remembered it from before, but I remember it best for that night. It was pouring down rain, and the beginning of the 1937 flood," she reflected.  Flowers was taken to her maternal grandmother's home, where she lived for several years. She eventually moved with her mother to Fairmount, Ind.

In the ensuing years, Flowers and the Thomases lost touch with one another. In 1951, shortly after she married Cecil Flowers, she returned to Trigg County, determined to find her second family, the Thomases.  It was a joyous reunion for all concerned.  By 1997, Hubert Thomas had died, and Vada Thomas — not wanting to be alone — encouraged Flowers and her husband to move back to Trigg County.

Flowers remembers with mixed emotions the good and the bad of the orphan train ordeal. While it was a traumatic experience for a small child, she is grateful for the many experiences she had and the extra attention, and privileges she experienced as a child with the Thomases. "I have no bad feelings about any of it," she said. "Vada and Hubert are gone now, and I have lost my husband, but I couldn't ask for a better extended family".

"I have always thought how Hubert changed my life so dramatically, choosing to take me home, instead of the tiny baby they had come for. With my father dead, and Hubert's generous heart, I always thought of him as my father, and I always will."

By anybody's standards, the solution devised to solve the problem of crowded orphanages during and after the depression is fascinating. Unofficial reports indicate that during a 70year period, there were more than 350,000 children dispersed throughout the United States by way of "orphan trains." Not all placements were successful, but many "orphan riders" felt they were very fortunate.  And for many of the "orphan" children, their stories have yet to be told.

Three who still live in Cadiz are Charlie Butts, now 80, and his sisters Alice, 79, and Naomi, 75.  Alice was barely 7 when she arrived in Cadiz on the train. Today, she still remembers the cold December train ride. "It was Dec. 15, when my 5yearold sister, Namoi, and I came to Cadiz from Kentucky Children's Home. It was just before Christmas, the home was overcrowded with kids," she recalls. "There was no way to keep all of us warm," she said. "Naomi and I were two of a family of 10 kids. We got off the train at Cadiz courthouse and promptly paraded in front of those willing to adopt' us.

"The Litchfield brothers owned joining farms, and took us in," she said. "Some time later, my older brother, Charles, came up from the home, and was taken in by the Mathis family. He was a teenager when he arrived at the Mathis farm." The fact that the three farms joined one another brought the sisters and brother together often.

"It was the best thing that ever happened to me to come to Trigg County. We had nothing where I had come from. When I walked into the Litchfield home, I couldn't believe my eyes," Alice said. "I didn't know people had things like that."

 

 

THE LINEAGE:

(Hubert Jackson "Tige" Thomas was the son of Lucian M. and Inez B. Crews Thomas and the grandson of Jonathan Starkie and Julia Dyer Thomas.  Jonathan Starkie was the third child of William Bridges and Nancy Jane Rogers Thomas.  William was the first child of Starkie and Mary Bridges Thomas.  Starkie was the fourth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.  Mary Bridges was the fifth child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.)

Newspaper Articles on a Sad Shooting

March 8, 1902

Sad Killing

Near Maple Grove Last Saturday Night

John Thomas Shoots and Instantly kills Alfred Bridges At a Singing Thomas Escapes

Bridges Buried Sunday Afternoon

One of the saddest and most tormented affairs that has occurred in Trigg county for quite awhile is the

killing of Alfred Bridges by John Thomas, near Maple Grove, last Saturday night, both families being very

prominent in that neighborhood. The particulars of the killing as given by two eye witnesses, are as

follows:

There was a singing given Saturday night at the residence of Mr. Bridges, and quite a crowd of young

people had gathered there to enjoy the evening. Mr. Thomas, in company with a number of other from

Donaldson creek, came there drunk and went into the house and soon began talking and swearing in the

presence of the ladies. Mr. Bridges asked Mr. George Fraser to please get Thomas out of the house

which he at once proceeded to do. Bridges following on out behind them. About the time they passed

out of the door into the hall Thomas drew a pistol from his pocket, and when they had gotten well into

the hall he turned and fired twice at Bridges, the first ball taking effect in his left side and penetrating his

heart, killing him instantly, the second shot went wild.

Thomas left immediately after the last shot was fired, going out of the house and on out through a lot,

leaving his horse, overcoat, and hat, and at last accounts had not been heard of. We understand a

reward of $100 has been offered for his arrest by the relatives of Bridges.

Mr. Thomas is a young man about twenty-four or twenty five years old and a son of Mr. Scott Thomas.

While he is considered rather a wild young man, he comes from one of the largest and best families in

Trigg county, and was a clever, pleasant and social boy when sober.

Mr. Bridges was a man about forty years old and also comes from one of the largest and most highly

respected families in the county. He was a son of "old uncle" Sim Bridges and was a sober, quiet man

and highly respected, and loved by all who knew him. He leaves a wife and eight children, five by his last

wife and three by his first, besides a host of other rela tives and friends to mourn his untimely demise.

His remains were buried Sunday afternoon at 5 o'clock at his home only a short distance from the place

where he was shot. Mr. Charles H. Herndon preached the funeral in the presence of a large crowd of

sorrowing relatives and friends.

Interesting article below from the "Kentuckian" which addresses story above, but rebukes several

other newspapers' account of what happened with the above incident:

Following is the report as given by the Kentuckian's reporter.

Cadiz, KY. Mar. 9 - On last Saturday night, while on a drunk, Alf. Bridges went to the house of John

Thomas and demanded an entrance to the house, which was denied him. He then became abusive and

finally in some way gained an entrance and attacked Thomas with a chair, when Thomas fired two shots

into Bridges body, killing him instantly. Thomas made his escape, but it is thought he will be

apprehended and returned here in a few days.

Now, there are but two truths in this entire notice, and they are that "Bridges was killed" and Thomas

escaped." We would suggest to Bro. Meacham that if this is the nearest his reporters can get to the

truth that he "fire" them and wait until THE RECORD comes to get the facts about Trigg county

happenings.

THE NEW ERA gave it as follows:

Licenses for four saloons were granted in Cadiz, and they opened for business Monday, March 3, for the

first time in several years. The first killing as result of their influence occurred Saturday night, March 8th.

Scott Thomas, after drinking heavily at the new liquor houses and becoming intoxicated went to the

home of Alfred Bridges, about eight miles from town, where an entertainment was in progress. He

became very boisterous, and Bridges asked John Francis to take him outside. Francis led Thomas from

the room into the hall, with Bridges walking behind them. Thomas pulled loose and jerking a pistol from

his pocket fired at both the other men. He missed Francis, but Bridges was shot directly through the

heart, dying instantly. A second shot was fired at Frances and then, in the excitement, Thomas made his

escape and has not been capture.

You are entirely wrong, neighbor. Thomas, whose name is John instead of Scott, was not in Cadiz that

day and had not been for some time; and we understand, upon investigating the matter, that the

whiskey was not secured from any saloonist, but was secured from a "blind tiger" in the neighborhood

where young Thomas lived.

Now, we are not trying to protect or shield anyone, but we do believe in "giving the devil his dues" and

do not propose to let any such false report as this go out from out town unrebuked.

And now, Brother Bacon, when you come to Cadiz again for news, be sure and get your news first, and

get it STRAIGHT, and then you may make as many calls on our saloons as you wish: otherwise, you will

generally have trouble in getting your notes straight.           THE LINEAGE: (Alfred Franklin Bridges was the son of Simco and Emeline Martin Bridges and the grandson of William and  Mary Thomas Bridges.  William was the fourth child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.  Mary Thomas was the fifth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.) (John Sherman Thomas was the son of Winfield Scott and Cassandra Jemima Futrell Thomas and the  grandson of Perry and Elizabeth Josephine Bridges Thomas.  Perry was the third child of James and Mary  Standley Thomas.  Elizabeth Bridges was the sixth child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.)