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Tag Archives: Annie Wittenmyer Home
What’s in a Name? The Annie Wittenmyer Home
On November 16, 1865, one hundred and fifty orphans arrived in Davenport to take up residence of the newly established Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home. Over the years, evolved and expanded over the years as the original residents grew up, eventually accepting … Continue reading
Posted in Local History
Tagged Annie Wittenmyer, Annie Wittenmyer Home, Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home, place names
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A Genealogist’s Walk: Oakdale Memorial Gardens
Favorite haunts of genealogists and local historians seem to be indoor locations a great deal of the time. We feel at home in local libraries and history centers pouring over books, faded documents, and microfilm until our eyes feel dry and … Continue reading
The 1940s Census is here! And it works!
Ancestry Library has finished uploading all of the 1940 Census images to its database. They are now working on indexing—at this posting, Delaware was finished and everything else is pending. Meanwhile, you can find your relatives by browsing the right Enumeration … Continue reading
Ode to Oakdale
One of the difficulties in locating death records in Iowa is that they did not exist prior to 1880.* This means that roughly fifty years worth of ancestors passed away in our state without leaving behind that vital (if you’ll pardon … Continue reading
A Soldier’s Letter Answered
Approximately 76,237 Iowa men fought in the Union Army during the Civil War. Of these men, 13,589 did not survive the war, and many others were in no condition to support their families. Annie Wittenmyer, Iowa’s first female Sanitation Agent, … Continue reading
Posted in Local History
Tagged Annie Wittenmyer Home, Civil War, Davenport, Iowa, Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home, Local History, Orphanages
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The Orphans of Oakdale Cemetery
One of the most persistent local legends in Davenport centers on Oakdale Cemetery on Eastern Avenue. In this cemetery is a special section where children from the Iowa Solders’ Orphans’ Home*, standing just across Eastern Avenue, were buried. And it is said that if you … Continue reading
Dreams of Olympics Past–Victor Hopkins
Victor Hopkins was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on July 19, 1904 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, by a single mother and was adopted at a very young age by Mr. and Mrs. Jakob Hopkins, an older couple who died when … Continue reading
