The Emma Ferrer Letters, Part 3: The Application

The application Emma completed for her children to be placed in the Alabama Methodist Orphanage offers much in the way of genealogical proof. In addition to the years of each child's birth, the full name of their mother and father is also included. We also learn that the children's grandmother (presumably Emma's mother, Mary E. Johnson) is still living, but unable to support them. Sadly, on the line for Value of orphan's property , present or perspective, Emma wrote, nothing.

On the Alabama Methodist Orphanage: In January of 1890, the Methodist Episcopal church opened the Alabama Methodist Orphanage in the old Centenary Institute building. It operated there until 1911, when it moved to Selma.

This 1934 photograph shows the ruins of the Centenary Institute building, which was the home of the Alabama Methodist Orphanage while the Ferrer children lived there. The building no longer stands.

Next Week: Emma needs more than six months.