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In a very poor and humble home, I
was born on the 29th day of October,
in the city of Chicago, Illinois.
My father and mother were English
people, though my father became a
naturalized citizen of the United
States in 1882,
In the family were two sons, older
than I, and a daughter, Emily, who
was two years younger.
We were very poor indeed, most of
the time not having sufficient food
or clothing, and we thus came to the
notice of the charitable societies
of Chicago.
In August of the year 1891, the
Chicago Fresh Air Fund, in sending
poor children to the country, sent
to Columbia City, Indiana, a car
load of little ones for a two weeks'
outing. I was included in the
number, and we were all marked in
Chicago with tags which stated by
whom we were to be entertained.
My tag bore the name of Mrs. William
E. Heagy, South
Whitley, Indiana, which is ten miles
from Columbia City. I was at
the time a strong, healthy child.
Hearing of my poor and destitute
home, they who entertained me became
greatly interested and opened a
correspondence with my father.
After a two weeks' stay, I returned
home and in October of the same
year, my mother died, leaving me to
be the housekeeper at the age of
nine years. I did the work as
best I knew home" there was not much
to do or much to do with.
My father was a drinking man and was
in the habit of sending his children
to a neighboring saloon for liquor,
though I was sent more often than
any of the others. I remember
tasting of the liquor I carried, and
think it was always beer. In
November, 1891, and on the afternoon
of Thanksgiving Day, my father and I
were alone in the house, my brothers
being at play out of doors, and in
going about the house, I found a
bottle filled with what I afterwards
knew must have been whiskey.
Being but a child, I picked up the
bottle and drank freely from it; its
effect was almost immediate, and I
grew weak and stupefied. My
father was in an adjoining room and
called to me to go and put some wood
on the kitchen fire and I called
back that I was sick and could not
go, but he insisted and I obeyed.
I had taken the lids from the stove,
when, from the combined effect of
the heat and the liquor, my whole
being gave way and I sank on to the
open stove, unconscious. I
must have lain there some time, for
the physicians and surgeons said
that the bones of my hands and arms
were amputated three inches from the
shoulders. I was burned on the
neck and on the chest but those
burns were not serious.
We lived at this time at 548 Park
Avenue, and neighbors claimed that
my father was also intoxicated, and
that he held me on the stove until
my arms were burned, and that they
heard me screaming. The Humane
Society of Illinois took the matter
u and had my father placed under
arrest. After a trial in a
Justice Court, he was held to the
grand jury, and, on the final trial
in the spring of 1892, he was
acquitted for lack of evidence.
I
was discharged from the Hospital
February, 1892, and went from there
to spend a few weeks at South
Whitley with Mrs. Heagy, with whom I
had stayed on my outing the summer
before.
In the meantime, the Children's Home
Society of Illinois took control of
me, my father waiving all right or
claim to me or to any money which I
might ever earn. Through the
efforts of Dr. Frank M. Gregg, (now
deceased) of the Children's Home
Society, a "Kittie Smith Fund" was
raised, generous people far and near
responding to the call. This
fun was used to support and educate
me.
On returning to Chicago, I spent the
balance of the year 1892 at the
Englewood Nursery and, during the
following four years, kind and
generous people at various times
took me into their homes for a few
weeks' stay, and I made several
visits to South Whitley.
At the Home for Destitute Crippled
Children, I learned to write and to
sew with my feet, and was given
instruction in the common school
studies.
In 1896, I was sent by the
Children's Home Society to Poynette,
Wisconsin, where I lived for eight
years in a private family, the
Society my board and expenses out of
the "Kittie Smith Fund". In
Poynette I went to the public
school, and practically completed
the High School Course.
In August, 1904, the "Fund" having
theretofore been exhausted, and I
having attained the age of
twenty-one years, the Society's
obligations to me ceased; therefore
I am now left on my own resources.
As stated before, I have two
brothers and one sister, my father
having died some time since in the
Cook County Hospital. My
sister, I have not seen since 1891,
as she was taken just before my
accident by the Children's Home
Society and adopted into the home of
well to do people in Chicago, whose
identity I never have learned.
My brothers are laborers, and the
circumstances of neither are such
that they can provide for me.
In the last few years, I have earned
a little money by selling my
drawings and embroidery, and writing
cards. Being now on a visit
again to South Whitley, kind and
generous friends here, having seen
my work and desiring to aid me in
making a comfortable living, have
made it possible for me to publish
this little book. In it, you
will find reproductions of some of
my drawings and embroidery, all done
with my feet, and of a quilt, the
pieces of which I cut and sewed.
I never have had a lesson in drawing
or sketching, acquiring the little
knowledge I have on the subject by
practice, using a study which I
place on the floor at the side of my
drawing paper. I sharpen my
pencils, opening and closing the
Knife myself, and use the scissors
to cut all, cloth or any material
with which I am working. I can
almost entirely dress myself, wash
my face, brush my teeth, take my
bath, and comb my hair, when it is
not too long. Ah, yes, I am
quite a housekeeper too, for I can
sweep and dust, mop and scrub, and
even blacken stoves. I have
made several articles of furniture,
such as small book cases and writing
desks, sawing some of the lumber,
driving the nails, putting on the
hinges, and even varnishing them,
but those articles are in Wisconsin,
hence no reproduction of the work.
But being able to do the many things
which I can do, the sad fact yet
remains that I am helpless in some
ways far beyond conception.
Toward those who have helped me in
the past, my heart is filled with
boundless gratitude; and to you who
help me by buying this little book,
I shall answer and say "Verily I say
unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done
it unto one of the least of these,
my brethren, ye have done it unto
me."
Sincerely yours,
 |
Born in Chicago
of Poor Parents |
