The American Civil War (1861-1865) left many men disabled in body and mind, or dead from wounds or disease, their widows with little to no support. Before the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Orphans Home was founded, children were residing in county children’s homes, infirmaries, state mental asylums, prisons, and other institutions, sometimes with a mentally or physically ill parent. Some home situations were heart-rending, such as the children of a previous marriage unwanted by the second spouse, or a widowed parent unable to care for the number of children living in the household. Students at the Home were usually not “true orphans,” without both parents, but that term was used for all. The Home accepted children of all races, who lived and studied together.
Founded originally by veterans’ organization Grand Army of the Republic and supported by Lucy Webb Hayes, wife of US President and Ohio governor Rutherford B. Hayes, a Civil War veteran himself, other locations were considered for the Home, but Xenia was a well-established location on railroad and turnpike systems in Ohio. Its location near the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Dayton, now the VA facility, also added to this site’s appeal. The first OS&SO Home was located on the north side of East Main St in Xenia, a rented building in the block between Greene and North Whiteman Streets. Between 22 and 29 December 1869, 44 children from all over the state had been received, from age 3 to 13; by 26 January 1870 this number had grown to 81, and in July 1870 when the facility moved to its new location, 100 acres south of Xenia formerly owned by the Pelham family, there were 125 students enrolled.
After it was taken over by the State of Ohio and moved south of town, the Home remained there for the entirety of its existence. The Home was a self-sufficient, efficient, true home for most who lived and studied there. It encompassed living quarters and buildings for industrial, agricultural, academic and vocational education, religious, and recreational purposes. It even had its own high school, Woodrow Wilson HS, home of the Cadets. There was an on-site physician for health scares, such as measles and diphtheria; the cemetery behind Collier Chapel holds many of those casualties from 1889-1890. The chapel, administered by Athletes in Action, was restored and upgraded in 2021; it is one of the few early buildings still extant.
The name was changed in 1978 to Ohio Veterans Children’s Home (OVCH), to reflect changes in services; children of non-veterans could be admitted, and students stayed for shorter periods. Most students had good experiences; the Association of Ex-Pupils still meets on July 4th weekend, and an AXP Museum run by volunteers is on the campus. There is a memorial garden on the site of the former hospital/superintendent’s residence. The old OS&SO Home is now a multi-owner facility, with Athletes in Action, Legacy Ministries, and National Church Residences all having space there. Over 13,500 children lived at the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Orphans Home during its 125-year history. The history of the Home lives in books, such as Pride of Ohio (1963) and A Home of Their Own (2010), and in the memories of its ex-pupils.