Wittenmeyer Soldiers' Orphans Home

In 1864, the efforts of Mrs. Annie Wittenmeyer of Keokuk to provide for the orphans of Iowa soldiers who hail died in the Civil War resulted in the erection of the Soldiers' Orphans Home just above Farmington.

Nearly one hundred children were admitted during the first six months and school was conducted for them. The home was maintained by popular subscription until 1864, when various orphans' homes in Iowa were consolidated into a state-supported home at Davenport.

The orphanage at Farmington, a three-story brick building, stood near the dam and locks. E. H. Alton, one of the children in the home, recalls the trip to Davenport. He says that all of the children rode in freight cars to Keokuk, and then were sent by boat to Davenport. Mrs. Mary E. Scott of Farmington remembers the children marching from the orphanage to the old Lawrence Hotel to Sunday School.

Source: Van Buren County Iowa American Guide Series 1840