The alternative was having street urchins living rough and begging passers by for money. This was before DYS, foster homes, and other government social services existed. Orphans and "wayward" young women most often got taken in by religious based orgs. The Shakers were celibate, so relied on their orphanages to recruit new members.
Many such children actually had at least one living parent. Some were from large families, who couldn't feed another mouth. Others from widowers and widows.
About 10 years ago my mom found a letter from a family matriarch to my grandmother, written in the 1930s, telling her to put her two small children (my mom & older sister) into an orphanage and go to work to support the family, since my grandfather had been in some kind of an accident and was in the hospital with badly burned hands. (My grandmother didn't do it, though she certainly did work through much of her adult life.)
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The L.H.H.S.T.H.D.J.C. The
The L.H.H.S.T.H.D.J.C. The poor Jewish kid's home for short.
Boston seems to have been full of these ethnic and religious based orphanages and schools at one time.
The alternative was street urchins
The alternative was having street urchins living rough and begging passers by for money. This was before DYS, foster homes, and other government social services existed. Orphans and "wayward" young women most often got taken in by religious based orgs. The Shakers were celibate, so relied on their orphanages to recruit new members.
Many such children actually
Many such children actually had at least one living parent. Some were from large families, who couldn't feed another mouth. Others from widowers and widows.
Almost happened in my family
About 10 years ago my mom found a letter from a family matriarch to my grandmother, written in the 1930s, telling her to put her two small children (my mom & older sister) into an orphanage and go to work to support the family, since my grandfather had been in some kind of an accident and was in the hospital with badly burned hands. (My grandmother didn't do it, though she certainly did work through much of her adult life.)
Shakers didn't compel their adoptees
They adopted kids because, well, WWJD! They didn't compel them to participate or join. Some did, but they had to do it of their own free will.