St. Joseph's Home - "One of the Oldest Childcare Centers in the Country"

St. Joseph Home Complex 1965

I find it interesting that whenever I check my blog stats, consistently the most visited posts are the ones I did on St. Joseph’s Home in Peekskill, New York.  If I still lived in that area, I would be inclined to do additional research on the home and the children it housed in order to assist other genealogists.

Our research field trip to Peekskill in 2010 included a visit to the Field Library. I called ahead to make sure that the Local History Specialist was available to give us access to the Colin T. Naylor Archives where the files on St. Joseph’s Home reside.  Down in the archives I was able to browse through the files and copy whatever I needed. I copied an article written by Radford Curdy from the Peekskill Evening Star dated Friday, December 3, 1965 on the 100^th Anniversary of the Franciscan Sisters arrival in America. The article featured the above photo. 

It was Mr. Curdy who wrote that St. Joseph’s Home was “one of the oldest childcare centers in the country.”  He reports that the Franciscan Sisters order began in 1857 in Gemona, Italy; in 1865 the Franciscan Friars requested teachers for the German parish of St. Francis of Assisi in New York City.  Three sisters of the Franciscan order answered the call and arrived in New York in December 1865. The need for teachers and childcare expanded during this time, which prompted the order to purchase the Townsend Estate in Peekskill. The property had a wonderful location as it overlooked the Hudson River.

The sisters first opened a boarding school for girls, Our Lady of Angels Academy. That academy was moved to Highland Falls, later into Ladycliff College, in order for the facility to house more children, male and female and become known as St. Joseph’s Home. 

When St. Joseph’s Home opened in 1879 it had 25 children; by 1899, just a year before my grandfather was there, the home housed 1,100 children.

I thank Mr. Curdy for his article and Franciscan Sister M. Jane Thomas Gorman for her March 1, 1947 Fordham University Dissertation for the history on St. Joseph’s Home.

Please see Carmen Velez’ comment on my March 10, 2011 blog post on St. Joseph’s Home if you wish to connect with other St. Joseph’s alumni.  There is a Facebook page and alumni events listed. 

St. Joseph's Home, Peekskill, NY

In the 1905 NY Census viewed at the Westchester, NY Archives, I found five of my grandfather’s (Harry Nunn) siblings at St. Joseph’s Home in Peekskill, NY – Emma Nunn, Emilie Nunn, Joseph Nunn, Katie Nunn and George Nunn. There, also, I found a 1946 doctoral dissertation by Sister M. Jane Thomas Gorman, FMSC on St. Joseph’s Home.  I learned from that dissertation that this home began in 1879 when the New York Department of Public Welfare requested the Franciscan Missionary Sisters accept orphans at their property in Peekskill, NY. During the mid-1800s many children lacked family support.  By 1899 St. Joseph’s was similar to a small city housing 1,100 residents. The nuns at St. Joseph’s offered traditional education, becoming one of the first institutions to be placed under the New York State Regents, as well as technical training, carpentry, sewing, shoemaking, etc. According to the “Notice of Discharge, Transfer, Home, or Death,” document, Harry had been placed on a farm in Middletown, N.J. on May 12, 1904.

In 1979 an arson fire destroyed the buildings, and the school was taken down in 1980. However, the Franciscan Missionary Sisters continue to have a small office in Peekskill, and therein are where the records of the Department of Public Charities Out-Door Poor children are kept. I am forever thankful that the Sisters keep these archives safe and shared the documents with me. 

 Harry Nunn - 1950s