Thank you for visiting SNEWPapers!
Sign up free
Story
March 27, 1923
Yorkville Enquirer
York, York County, South Carolina
What is this article about?
Mrs. Helen Fiest Spangs of Western Springs, IL, reunites with her brother Henry after 32 years apart since their orphanage separation. An ad in a newspaper led to their reconnection; they continue searching for sister Marie.
Clipping
OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
NEWSPAPER ADS. VALUABLE
Chicago Woman Tells Very Interesting Story.
Out of the hundreds of "Johnny-come-home" personals which appear in print every year, relates a Chicago dispatch, comes an occasional happy ending to a brief and poignant printed prayer.
Even a 32-year separations may be bridged by one of this class of advertisements—sometimes. Otherwise Mrs. Helen Fiest Spangs, of Western Springs, wouldn't be preparing a dozen huge, luscious pies for a long lost brother Henry—such as generally returns only in the movies—who is lost no more.
Thirty-two years ago little Henry Fiest sat sobbing in an orphan asylum here, just a 10-year-old boy who had lost his baby sister Helen. There were three of the little Fiests, Henry, Helen and Marie, but orphan asylums can't always keep children together. Perhaps they figure children not yet in their teens are so young that they'll soon forget. If so, they're wrong.
At any rate, a man came up from down in Armstrong, Ill., and adopted Henry, taking him away.
All of which was all of 32 years ago.
Such a long time for a family to be separated, says Helen, now married, as she plans what Henry is going to get to eat.
"I was almost a baby when we were separated at the orphanage," Mrs. Spangs recalls. "I can just remember Henry. He always picked me up when I fell.
"One day I bumped my head—and no one came to dry my tears. Then I learned that Henry was gone. One day my sister Marie was missing."
Sister Helen was the last to go. A childless couple in Cicero came for her.
She was happy, but missed her own folks a heap, she told the reporter.
When her foster parents died, the search began. Later she married and her husband helped in the search, which seemed very hopeless at first, because Helen didn't even remember which orphanage it was that she had been in.
"I followed up many clues," she continued. "Finally I advertised in a newspaper. Henry saw the notice; but he was delayed in finding me because the paper only gave my initials and the town in which I lived. He wrote to the postmaster and through a lady in the village I was finally located.
"And now Henry is on the way. He is a bachelor. He must need family ties even more than I, as I have my husband and little girl."
Marie is a harder case than Henry and hasn't yet been located.
"But we'll find her—Henry and I," insisted Mrs. Spangs.
Chicago Woman Tells Very Interesting Story.
Out of the hundreds of "Johnny-come-home" personals which appear in print every year, relates a Chicago dispatch, comes an occasional happy ending to a brief and poignant printed prayer.
Even a 32-year separations may be bridged by one of this class of advertisements—sometimes. Otherwise Mrs. Helen Fiest Spangs, of Western Springs, wouldn't be preparing a dozen huge, luscious pies for a long lost brother Henry—such as generally returns only in the movies—who is lost no more.
Thirty-two years ago little Henry Fiest sat sobbing in an orphan asylum here, just a 10-year-old boy who had lost his baby sister Helen. There were three of the little Fiests, Henry, Helen and Marie, but orphan asylums can't always keep children together. Perhaps they figure children not yet in their teens are so young that they'll soon forget. If so, they're wrong.
At any rate, a man came up from down in Armstrong, Ill., and adopted Henry, taking him away.
All of which was all of 32 years ago.
Such a long time for a family to be separated, says Helen, now married, as she plans what Henry is going to get to eat.
"I was almost a baby when we were separated at the orphanage," Mrs. Spangs recalls. "I can just remember Henry. He always picked me up when I fell.
"One day I bumped my head—and no one came to dry my tears. Then I learned that Henry was gone. One day my sister Marie was missing."
Sister Helen was the last to go. A childless couple in Cicero came for her.
She was happy, but missed her own folks a heap, she told the reporter.
When her foster parents died, the search began. Later she married and her husband helped in the search, which seemed very hopeless at first, because Helen didn't even remember which orphanage it was that she had been in.
"I followed up many clues," she continued. "Finally I advertised in a newspaper. Henry saw the notice; but he was delayed in finding me because the paper only gave my initials and the town in which I lived. He wrote to the postmaster and through a lady in the village I was finally located.
"And now Henry is on the way. He is a bachelor. He must need family ties even more than I, as I have my husband and little girl."
Marie is a harder case than Henry and hasn't yet been located.
"But we'll find her—Henry and I," insisted Mrs. Spangs.
What sub-type of article is it?
Family Drama
Personal Triumph
What themes does it cover?
Family
Triumph
What keywords are associated?
Family Reunion
Orphan Separation
Newspaper Ad
Lost Siblings
What entities or persons were involved?
Helen Fiest Spangs
Henry Fiest
Marie Fiest
Where did it happen?
Chicago, Western Springs, Armstrong Ill., Cicero
Story Details
Key Persons
Helen Fiest Spangs
Henry Fiest
Marie Fiest
Location
Chicago, Western Springs, Armstrong Ill., Cicero
Event Date
32 Years Ago
Story Details
Siblings Henry, Helen, and Marie separated in an orphan asylum 32 years ago. Helen, now Mrs. Spangs, searches and places a newspaper ad. Henry finds it and they reunite; they plan to find Marie.