Saint Joseph Home Records, 1835-1988
The St. Joseph’s Home for Boys employee and resident records were transferred to the Archives and Records Center in June 2002. Originally known as St. Joseph’s Male Orphan Asylum, the Home was established in 1835 to take care of boys between the ages of 5 and 12 but retained boys until 14 and 15 to provide them opportunities to finish the 8th grade.
St. Joseph’s Home was one of the first institutions to permit resident boys to attend parish schools within the community. The final dismissal entries were made in the registers on July 29, 1988.
In the early years, the only extant records are the lists of boys admitted and dismissed. Later small files were retained on each boy admitted. Files after 1930 are restricted to the individual named in the record or their direct descendants. No adoption information is included.