They Meet After Twenty Years

New York, 1895

The Strange Reunion of Two Brothers and a Sister.

There was an interesting family reunion at Southampton a few days ago. Katie, Benjamin and Thomas Bade were born in Brooklyn. Thomas was the youngest of the family, and was only three years old when his parents died. Katie went to live with an aunt in East Marion, where she remained until five years ago, when she went to Southampton.

Benjamin lived with his uncle at Water Mills and Thomas took up his residence with relatives at Southold. A few days ago Thomas went to visit his sister. Charles Wilkerson saw him, and asked him if he had a brother named Benjamin.

"I have," said Thomas, "but have not seen him for the last twenty years."

Wilkerson told him to call on Benjamin, who lives across the way from his sister.

The two men proved to be brothers, and then only did Benjamin learn that Katie was his sister. He had lived in the same village with her and passed her many times in the street without even suspecting their relationship.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, Jan. 25, 1895, p. 12.

Own Home Is Lost By "Home Mender"

1920 (Click graphic for bigger)

MRS. DANIEL F. SULLIVAN AND HER WAIFS.

Don't for a moment think that the babies in the arms of Mrs. Daniel F. Sullivan in the above picture are all the "family" of "waifs" she has adopted. No, no! These are just all she could hold of the scores of infants she has made happy in her luxurious home. But now Mrs. Sullivan faces the loss of that home thru the alleged desertion of her husband. She is suing for divorce and alimony on those grounds.

WOMEN WHO HELPED WAIFS DESERTED BY MATE.

Is Now Alone After Having Helped Needy of City for Three Years.

One, who for three years has made the homes of others bright and cheerful, today finds herself without a home.

Hungry urchins and needy families came to her when in distress and found solace and food.

And now Mrs. Daniel L. Sullivan of Chicago has lost her own home in the process.

She established the fact when she filed action for divorce against her wealthy husband, who was first interested in her charitable project and then bored to distraction and desertion.

It was in seeking for a suitable memorial for her son, McKenzie Lowndes, that Mrs. Sullivan decided to bring the suffering children of poor parents into the beautiful Sullivan home in Chicago. She began with five and there were times when she had fifty.

She Made Them Happy.

They were fed, dressed well, given toys and medical attention and when they were quite happy Mrs. Sullivan usually took steps to return them to their own home, made materially comfortable for their home-coming.

Mrs. Sullivan began plans to make it a permanent institution, encouraged by thousands of letters commending her work or thanking her for priceless aid to individuals. Her husband was worth nearly a half million dollars, the home was ideally located and fitted for the charity and the routine of "trouble seeking" had been established. Families in misery knew where to apply.

Then, just as the organization was to be enlarged and the work amplified, Mrs. Sullivan received a telephone message from her husband to have dinner with him. She kept the appointment and waited for hours, but when she finally returned to her home she found a note pinned to her dresser in which Mr. Sullivan explained that he had left the house forever.

Three times thereafter Mr. Sullivan returned for brief visits, but for a year he has not even communicated with his wife.

Mr. Sullivan went away for the last time late in 1918.

Foundlings Brought Her Trouble.

Mrs. Sullivan states in her bill of particulars that she was married at Milwaukee, Aug. 21, 1911, and that for years she lived very happily with her husband. The beginning of their troubles came one year after Mrs. Sullivan had taken in the first foundling in the endeavor which subsequently made her known and loved thruout the poor sections of the city.

The plan for making the memorial a charity on a great scale has failed with the absence of Mr. Sullivan, but "the mender of broken homes" is still active in a limited sphere along the same lines proposed at the time of her own problem's development.

In her action Mrs. Sullivan will ask substantial alimony, contending that her husband is worth at least $300,000 and has an income of not less than $30,000 a year.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Aug. 7, 1920, p. 4.

Baby Offered For Sale Given Away

1920

Declares She Needed Money to Restore Her Health, Is Excuse of Mother.

NEW YORK, N. Y. — Baby Margaret McNulty, who was offered at public sale recently for $250, has been withdrawn from the market and went to James F. Sweetman as a gift.

The mother, Mrs. Catherine McNulty, retains an undivided interest in the child's affection and will have permission to see her whenever she wishes.

Mrs. McNulty, whose husband died recently, offered her baby for sale when she found herself unable to earn an adequate living. She hoped the money she asked for the baby would give her an opportunity to regain her health, and at the same time she would know that Margaret was receiving proper care.

She changed her mind about the sale before the first of the scores of would-be purchasers arrived at her home and gave the child to Mr. Sweetman.

Worried for Weeks.

Margaret was in the Sweetman family once before. She came back to her mother when Mrs. Sweetman died. At that time Mrs. McNulty feared that Mr. Sweetman would be so occupied with the care of his own motherless child that he could not give Margaret adequate care.

It was only after the worry of weeks became desperation that Mrs. McNulty finally felt that circumstances had driven her to part with her baby.

She worked beyond her strength to care for the little daughter and her brother two years older. A year ago she was stricken with influenza. It was afterward the doctor first mentioned a fighting chance, which would cost money for transportation to the country, milk, eggs and rest.

Baby's Price List.

Her mind always brought up against the balance between this and the price list following:

Feel of one pair of little, clinging hands, $50; Weight of a tiny body, drowsy in the twilight, $50; 2,555 "good night" kisses, distributed over next seven years, $50; Sound of a baby voice prattling "I love you," $50; Thrill of the word "mother," $50. Total $250.

Her story went on:

"There wasn't any balance. But as I felt less able to be about I came to see that it wasn't what I wanted, but what is best for her.

"Some day she will be old enough to understand what I am doing and why. I shall not be with her then.

"Either way, whether I let her go voluntarily now or not, I should not be with her. But looking backward thru the understanding years she will know that I tried in the only way open to me to raise money to save her mother's life. She will feel that it was for her that I tried.

Has Right to Mother.

"Every baby has a right to a mother.

"And if taking money in exchange for my baby is the only way I can save her mother for her, am I not doing what is right?

"Some day, if I live thru the next few months, I may meet her again as my daughter, if the plan works out. Otherwise the doctor says I shall be here only a little while. This way I can find the right ones to take her; the other way she would be put in an institution."

Altho she made public her offer two days ago, Mrs. McNulty has hidden herself away with her two children, refusing to see any of the dozens who have called for inspection. After having brought herself to agree to the sale, she said she was not yet strong enough to take the next step.

Her only relatives, also in poor circumstances, live in Belfast, Ireland.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Aug. 7, 1920, p. 3.

Stork Brings "Quads" to Indian's Tepee, But Three Are Given Away

1919

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Head Chief Shot-Both-Sides, son of the famous Chief Crop-Eared Wolf of the Blood Reserve, near Lethbridge, just now is the pride of all Canadian Indians. His squaw has given birth to quadruplets, two boys and two girls, all living and healthy. For all that he is a chief with a formidable name, the family tepee was not built to accommodate such a rapidly growing family, and after a prolonged pow-wow, Mrs. Shot-Both-Sides picked out the man-papoose she liked best and the other three babes were quietly disposed of.

Indian women do that kind of thing as a matter of course when their families get too big — and the foster mothers bring them up just like their own. These "overs," being from the ranks of the tribe's "400," there was keen competition among the squaws for possession of the mites, which were finally given to Lizzie Long-Run-Home, Mary Saltfish and Little Glow Worm, who almost in one voice declared that they could have received no more welcome Christmas present.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 8.

A Puppy Adopts a Brood of Chickens

1896

Rather a pathetic story comes from a small town on the outskirts of Philadelphia, the truthfulness of which is vouched for by a prominent citizen of the place.

This P. C. is an extensive chicken raiser, and some time since set a favorite hen upon a nest of eggs, expecting them to hatch in the usual period of three weeks. Three, four and five weeks passed and no chickens, and it was not until the end of the sixth week that the new poultry appeared, but with them came the demise of the old hen, presumably as a result of her unusually long continued sedentary occupation.

The chicks, not knowing, of course, that their mother was dead, attempted to crawl under her wings and keep warm. Their owner, seeing the trouble they were in, pressed a small Newfoundland pup into service, and, placing it in a closed coop, put the chicks in after. The soft fur of the pup made a pleasant retreat for the little ones, and now pup and poultry are inseparable. — Philadelphia Call.

Father, Son Reunited After Fifty Years

1913

FINDS SON AFTER FIFTY YEARS SEARCHING

Centralia, Ill., Nov. 11 — John Waters of Summit, N. J., was to-day reunited to his son, for whom he had been searching for fifty years.

After the Civil War broke out Waters entered the navy under Admiral Farragut, serving five years. He placed his year-old son in the care of a Mrs. Fitzpatrick, his wife having died. The boy later was placed in an orphanage in Orange county, N. Y., and at the age of three was brought West in a carload of orphans to be distributed among pioneer families.

The child was adopted under the name of James Fitzpatrick into the home of Charles Jennings. He is today a well-to-do farmer. He had placed frequent advertisements in Eastern newspapers, seeking to get some trace of his relatives. Last week his father saw one of these advertisements in a New York paper. He came to Centralia and visited the house of Fitzpatrick.

"James, put your hat back from your forehead so I can see your face," he said. Fitzpatrick obeyed. Then the father threw his arms around the son's neck. The father is 76 and the son 54.

—Orange County Times-Press, Middletown, New York, November 14, 1913, page 3.