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WILKES-BARRE — History paused Thursday for a correction and identified Ella Bates as one of the nameless orphans buried in a communal donated plot at Hollenback Cemetery.

The 3-year-old girl died in 1868 and a numbered, round iron marker weathered by age rested atop her gravesite amidst the ornate carved angels, obelisks and crypts containing the remains of the region’s famous and noteworthy.

The names of Bates and 18 others from the Home for Friendless Children were engraved in a granite marker placed on the plot and blessed at a brief ceremony. The Children’s Service Center that grew out of the Home undertook a project for the past year-and-a-half to identify the remains from cemetery records and raise money for the stone.

For more than a century, the hilltop plot along North River Street across from Wilkes-Barre General Hospital has been the final resting place for the unidentified orphans, said Michael Hopkins, president and CEO of the CSC.

“We wanted to correct that today and I’m honored to give the eulogy,” Hopkins said.

Bates died from “debility,” Hopkins said as he began offering some details about the deceased who ranged in age from infancy to adult.

The oldest of the group, John Bausch, died in 1894 from “consumption” or tuberculosis, Hopkins said. Bausch seemed too old to be living with children at the Home on South Franklin Street, but the research explained why he stayed, Hopkins said.

“However, we learned that John was blind. To me, his story illustrates the kindness of the home’s matrons. Living as a blind person on your own without family and any kind of support may have been particularly cruel in the late 1800s,” Hopkins told a crowd of several dozen.

Hopkins proceeded through the list of names.

Emma Knorr Schael died in July 1903 at age 2. “It was nice to read that Emma left the home two weeks prior to her death,” Hopkins said. “I’d like to think that she went home to White Haven to spend that short period with her family.”

Forever remembered

The brief life of Tommy Jones was chronicled in a newspaper report from the Wilkes-Barre Semiweekly on July 22, 1887. Before he died July 14 at the age of 19, he was treated by two doctors, one who took him home to live with his family, Hopkins read from the report.

“The boy developed bad habits and was then taken back to the home and then to a home of refuge. There he changed greatly, joined the Episcopal church and soon after was taken with consumption and pined to be brought back to the home. He died shortly after coming home,” Hopkins said.

Hopkins found a connection between Jones and the painting of the “Invisible Prince” that was recently gifted to the CSC. The prince is the protector of the children of Cardiff, Wales, Hopkins said.

“The painting, which now hangs in the lobby of CSC’s new clinic, represents our commitment to protecting those we serve,” Hopkins remarked. “I’d like to think that Tommy had something to do with that.”

Had the children lived they would have been the great-great-grandparents of city residents and their accomplishments would be included in family histories, mused Rabbi Larry Kaplan of Temple Israel of Wilkes-Barre in his blessing.

“Instead they perished quietly and their impact on our community was hardly known. And yet as your children, oh God, we know each of their souls as precious. And as they gather in their innocence next to your holy throne we dedicate this monument to their eternal memory that will ensure future generations will know that they existed,” Kaplan said.

Afterward, Kaplan opened a bag containing small rocks and encouraged those in attendance to place them on top of the new stone bookended by baskets containing yellow mums.

“(The significance) is that stones last forever, just like memories and the flowers are going to fade and wither,” Kaplan said.

Mike Hopkins, president and CEO of Children’s Service Center, eulogizes the late children from the former Home for Friendless Children at Hollenback Cemetery in Wilkes-Barre during Thursday’s marker blessing.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_TTL102618Orphans3.jpg.optimal.jpgMike Hopkins, president and CEO of Children’s Service Center, eulogizes the late children from the former Home for Friendless Children at Hollenback Cemetery in Wilkes-Barre during Thursday’s marker blessing. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

Some of the people who attended a blessing Thursday for a granite marker for previously unidentified orphans in Hollenback Cemetery placed pebbles on top of it to signify that stone is permanent.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_TTL102618Orphans2.jpg.optimal.jpgSome of the people who attended a blessing Thursday for a granite marker for previously unidentified orphans in Hollenback Cemetery placed pebbles on top of it to signify that stone is permanent. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

A new marker has been placed in the Hollenback Cemetery in Wilkes-Barre to memorialize the children of the former Home for Friendless Children. The stone was blessed during a ceremony Thursday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_TTL102618Orphans1.jpg.optimal.jpgA new marker has been placed in the Hollenback Cemetery in Wilkes-Barre to memorialize the children of the former Home for Friendless Children. The stone was blessed during a ceremony Thursday. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

By Jerry Lynott

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Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.