by Jane White

"I don't remember much about the train ride," Graf said. "I was too little."

Sunday, Graf had the opportunity to meet 18 other Orphan Train riders as the Nebraska chapter of the Orphan Train Heritage Society of America held its annual reunion at the Eagles Club in Beatrice.

The mass migration of more than 150,000 children from the East Coast to the Midwest occurred between the mid-1850s and 1930. Children of all ages, who had been orphaned or abandoned in New York City, found their way West on the Orphan Trains. Most children put on the trains were products of the Children’s Aid Society or the New York Foundling Home.

The Children's Aid Society is celebrating its 140th year during 1994, while the New York Foundling Home is celebrating its 125th year.

While a tough trip for many children, the chance to go West offered them opportunities for new lives with comfortable homes and good food and an opportunity to attend school.

GRAF was under the care of the Children's Aid Society of New York when be made the trip from New York to Nebraska in about 1914.

"This lady dumped me off in Tecumseh, where my foster parents picked me up," Graf said. His foster parents, Lewis A. Graf Jr. and Alta Graf, soon moved from Tecumseh to Graf, a town which was named for his foster father's family and was located east of Tecumseh.

Graf's parents had a son, after they took him in.

But in 1920, his father walked out on the family. His mother remarried, this time to a man named Chamberlain, and had two more sons. The family lived on a farm 6 3/4 miles southwest of Tecumseh, near Vesta. Although at times there were problems at home, Graf said he's never regretted the fact he was sent to Nebraska to live.

'I had a pretty good life," Graf said. "it was better than I would have had in New York."

Growing up in Southeast Nebraska, Graf worked on the family's farms and attended rural schools. "Farm life is the best life there is," Graf said.

When he was older, Graf said his adoptive mother told him how he came to Nebraska on an Orphan Train.

"She gave me a little information, but not too much," Graf said. "I should have learned more, but she didn't tell me much." Graf doesn't know what happened to his birth parents or the three sisters he knows were part of his family. He never saw, or heard from any of them after his move to Nebraska

Later, Graf served two stints in the Army. Following his time in the service, Graf worked for Lincoln Telephone. He stayed with the company for 20 years, before retiring.

While working for the telephone company, Graf needed to verify his birth date, so he sent to New York for his birth certificate. The only papers he'd had were his adoption papers, which listed his birth date as Jan. 11, 1913. When he got his birth certificate back, he found out his was actually two years older than he had assumed. The birth certificate said he was born June 9, 1911, at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. It also gave the names of his birth parents, their ages, birth places, address at the time of his birth and occupations.

Graf had known, through his adoption papers, that his birth name was George Engelhardt. Now, he also knew the first names, of his birth parents, George and Augusta (Sabastian) Engelhardt. His father was born in New York and was 50 at the time of Graf's birth. He was a bricklayer.

Graf's mother, who was 30 at the time of his birth, was of German decent.

When he was born, his parents lived at 420 W. 31st St. in New York City.

Graf married in 1951, but was divorced 22 years later. He has two sons, both of Lincoln.

Upon his retirement, Graf moved from Lincoln to Grand Island, where he lived in the Veterans Administration Home. He later moved to another VA home at Leavenworth, Kan.

When government policies changed regarding veterans housing income guidelines, Graf was forced to move again, He settled in Virginia for a while, before moving to the Paddock Kensington in Beatrice.

 Sunday was the first time Graf had attended an Orphan Train Reunion. Graf said the reunion in Beatrice was "just swell." "It's sure a good thing," Graf said. "I learned quite a bit today."

Graf said he's happy for other Orphan Train riders who have found members of their birth families, including brothers and sisters. At least one of his "real" sisters was on the Orphan Train with him, Graf said. But he doesn't know what happened to her or the others.

Although Graf didn't know it at the time, he grew up just about 3 1/2 m miles from another Orphan Train rider, Agnes Siegel, who now lives in Beatrice.

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