Yellow fever epidemics up to the 1790s. Click on the link below for details. http://www.scdhec.gov/administration/history/timeline.htm
American Revolution resulted in death of parent(s) in
battles, from infection (gangrene) due to wounds, or
death by other means such as friendly fire or accidents.
Before the revolution, the destitute, orphaned, and abandoned children of Charleston became charges of the Anglican parish of St. Philip’s Church. As representatives of the established church, wardens were empowered to collect and distribute poor rates as they saw fit. Usually they arranged for local families to care for waifs in exchange for a small stipend.
Upon disestablishment, poor relief responsibilities devolved on the city of Charleston, supported by a very small payment from the state of South Carolina. Ever seeking to cut costs, the city closely studied how the orphanage founded by George Whitefield operated in nearby Savannah, Georgia. Expecting that a central home for children would cost less than outdoor relief, the city council established the Charleston Orphan House.
Be it ordained, That a lot of land, not
less than two hundred feet square, shall be
immediately laid out by the Committee of the City
Lands, on the most healthy and convenient spot, and
reserved for the building and erecting an Orphan
House, as soon as the funds of the corporation will
admit, or any practical plan to defray the expense
thereof can be devised. And that all such poor orphan
children and children of poor distressed or disabled
parents as shall be deemed proper objects of admission
by the Commissioners, who shall be vested with powers
for managing the said Orphan House, shall be admitted
into the same, and shall be supported, educated and
maintained at the expense of the corporation, during
such term and under such regulations as the City
Council shall from time to time prescribe or sanction. Until the said Orphan House
shall be erected, a proper house and lot of land
conveniently situated, shall be rented as an Orphan
House, by the Commissioners [elected by City Council]
who shall have the direction and management of the
same, and who shall admit, and take charge of the
clothing, maintenance and education of the children of
the Orphan House; and it shall be the duty of the
Commissioners to choose and appoint proper assistants,
nurses and domestics, and to superintend and manage
the Orphan House, the officers and servants thereof,
and the children therein, to the best of their
judgment and skill, subject to the control of the City
Council. It shall be the duty of the
Steward of the Orphan House to see that good and
wholesome provisions are sent for the use of the
children and other persons residing in the Orphan
House, by the butchers, bakers, and other persons
employed to furnish such articles as may be necessary;
to take care of the articles delivered him for the use
of the Orphan House; to keep a book of fair and
"regular accounts of all receipts and expenditures,
which shall be subject at all times, to the
examination of the Com- missioners, to perform all the
duties of a good Steward, to obey the directions and
regulations of the Commissioners; and to enable the
said Steward to discharge faithfully the duties
required of him, he shall reside in the Orphan House,
and shall receive necessary provisions for himself. A Matron of good capacity
and character shall be elected by the City Council on
the last Monday in October, annually, but if no
Council shall meet on that day, then on the first day
of the Council thereafter, as School Mistress and
Matron of the Orphan House, whose duty it shall be to
teach the children to read and sew, to take care that
their clothes are properly made, washed and preserved,
to keep the children and their rooms cleanly, and to
watch over their morals and conduct; to direct the
assistants and nurses, and to see that they discharge
their duties faithfully, and to distribute them
properly among the children, in the different rooms;
to take care that the victuals provided for the
children are wholesome, cleanly and well prepared; to
preserve order and decorum at table and elsewhere, and
to conduct the children regularly to some place of
worship on the Sabbath, and to obey all the directions
of the Commissioners. And to enable the said Mistress
and Matron to perform her duties she shall reside in
the Orphan House, and shall receive necessary
provisions for herself. The Commissioners who shall
be appointed by the City Council, shall have power and
authority to make and frame such rules and regulations
as they may think necessary, for the good government
and conducting the business of the Orphan House, and
all persons therein. Provided, all
such rules and regulations are presented to, and
approved of by the City Council, within ten days after
the same are framed, and that the City Council shall
and may confirm, alter and amend or annul the same. Reference: http://www.hnet.org/~child/Bremner/Volume_I/30_P2_IV_B_Institutional_Care_of_Poor_Children.htm |