An Orphan's Plea from the Sagebrush
An eleven-year-old boy in a Seattle orphanage writes to the local newspaper in hopes of finding a new home in Kennewick’s sagebrush country.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Courier-Reporter is in receipt of the following letter from a little unknown friend in the Children’s Home, over in Seattle. We have never seen the little fellow, but we will bet he is all right and just the kind that will bring a lot of sunshine into some childless home. We are publishing his letter in the hope that it may reach some family who needs a Charlie in their home: 'To the Man Who Prints the Newspaper: Dear Sir, Do you know anybody who wants a boy? I am eleven, and just now I am in the Washington Children’s Home at Seattle. The Home is a good enough place to stay for awhile, but I don’t like the country, there are so many trees. I like the sagebrush country. I was there with some folks on a homestead, and I liked it, but they had bad luck and couldn’t keep me. I am in the 5th grade at school, and I can carry in wood and do chores and I can wash dishes. There are more than twenty other boys at the Home, mostly the people who come ask to get a girl. I don’t know why. I can wash dishes as good as any girl, and I try to be a good boy. If you know any one who wants a boy, tell them to write to Mr. Covington, at 19-20 Lippy Building, Seattle, and ask for Charlie, so no more. Your friend, Charlie S.'
“There are more than twenty other boys at the Home, mostly the people who come ask to get a girl. I don’t know why. I can wash dishes as good as any girl.”
This letter captures the precarious reality of children in early 20th-century Washington, where foster systems relied heavily on public appeals and the labor value of children. Today, the Children’s Home Society of Washington still operates, though child welfare has moved from public solicitation to regulated, privacy-protected placement.
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