Cecelia Wisniewski and the Lives of Her Daughters - Series Post #3

Welcome to my blog! Today I'm sharing a trove of information about the orphanage where Esther and Ruth Caskey were raised. Please read the first two posts in this series for more background on how they came to be orphans.

I wrote to Concordia Lutheran Ministries and received a quick and gracious reply. Their staff were eager to search the archives and share surviving records of my relatives, Esther and Ruth Caskey. They also mailed me a beautiful history book of the organization, which includes many photos and stories from the past 140 years of their ministry.

They didn't find any intake records for either child, but there was one surprising note created just a few days after Ruth left the Orphans' Home. It says she entered the home on April 10, 1927. Her mother, Cecelia, didn't die until October 22, 1927. Of course, this record appears to be a relatively informal note, written on a calendar page for June 9, 1941, about one week after it says Ruth left the home.

Handwritten note from Concordia Lutheran Ministries Archives. Shared with permission.

For me, this raises more questions about why the sisters entered the home. In some cases, children went to the home who weren't orphans when they had lost one parent and the other couldn't care for them on their own, or even when both parents were alive but unable to support the family. Perhaps Esther and Ruth's father was admitted to the mental hospital before Cecelia's death and she couldn't care for them on her own. I've requested Jacob Caskey's records from Mayview Hospital to see if they will help fill in some of the gaps in their story.

Another wonderful nugget that was shared with me was Ruth's high school commencement program. She graduated with honors from Winfield Township High School on May 28, 1941. She left the orphanage just a few days later.

Inside of Commencement Program for Winfield Townships High School, Butler County, PA. May 28, 1941. Shared with permission, courtesy of Concordia Lutheran Ministries.

Here is a photo from 1932. Both Esther and Ruth were living at the orphanage then, and would likely have been in this picture, but the individual children are not named. At that time, Esther was about 12-13 years old, and Ruth 9-10.

Photo of "The boys and girls of the home (Concordia Orphans' Home), 1932". Appears to be signed by Sheffler Foto. Shared with permission, courtesy of Concordia Lutheran Ministries.

I think the most remarkable information I received from Concordia, which actually brought me to tears, was a set of documents showing that Frank and Mary, Cecelia's parents, and her sister Ann, tried on multiple occasions to have Esther and Ruth released from the orphanage into the family's care. Unfortunately, the girls were not released, and no records remain to indicate why.

The first attempt seems to have been during the last year of Frank's life, 1933. He enlisted a law firm to write a letter requesting information about how to release Esther and Ruth from Concordia into his care. They wrote twice, but we don't have any record of a reply. In the letter, it sounds like Frank has just become aware of Cecelia's death and the children's plight.

Excerpt of first letter from attorneys representing Frank Wisneski inquiring about Esther and Ruth. 

January 5, 1933. Shared with permission, courtesy of Concordia Lutheran Ministries.

I can only speculate why Frank did not learn of Cecelia's death until much later. Her older sister Agnes was the informant on her death certificate, so she knew. But perhaps Cecelia was estranged from her parents because of her pre-marriage pregnancy and elopement. Or maybe religion played a role, since Jacob Caskey was Lutheran, not Catholic. The explanation might be simpler and more mundane than those; Cecelia and Jacob lived in Pittsburgh, rather than Washington near the rest of her family, so they may have found communication difficult. I'm not whether the families had access to telephones at that time, and they may not have had cars money for other transportation to visit one another.

What I know of my family's values is that we care for one another. No one gets left behind. I'm grateful to Concordia Lutheran Ministries for sharing records from their archives that prove my cousins were not forgotten by their extended family, despite difficult circumstances.

Thank you for continuing to follow Esther and Ruth Caskey's story as I learn more about them. If you're interested in reading more about the history of Concordia Orphans' Home, you can find a wealth of information here: https://concordialm.org/blog/140-years-of-caring-concordia-s-history-of-service/