A Secret Life_ The Lies and Scandals of President Grover Cleveland - Charles Lachman [43]
Each youngster at the Buffalo Orphan Asylum had a sad story to tell. About 10 percent of them had lost both parents, but most were so-called half-orphans, meaning one of their parents was alive but unequipped or unwilling to assume the responsibilities of parenthood. The superintendent had nothing but contempt for the parents who—in her words—were “poor and shiftless,” though the staff recognized that sometimes decent families could be overtaken by some disaster and require a helping hand. They also made efforts to place orphans in good Christian households. A letter of recommendation from a pastor or a family physician or some other prominent person was required of anyone interested in adopting. A three-month trial period followed. If a home inspection revealed some issue of cruelty or neglect, the adoption contract would be declared void, and the orphan would be returned to the asylum. Some of the children stayed in touch with the staff and each other after they were adopted, either from gratitude or a desire to communicate with a sibling who remained behind.
“I will send my likeness, and you will please send it to my dear little sister,” one girl beseeched.
“I often think of you all, and wonder if any of the boys I knew are there yet,” wrote one boy.
Corresponding from her new home, a youngster reported, “I like my new Pa and my new Ma very much, and they are very kind to me.”
Overcrowding was a serious problem. There was not enough land to offer the children a playground that was more than a patch of earth covered with gravel. On rainy days, the children were shuffled into the basement where the laundry was done. In 1876, the year Oscar entered the orphanage, two children managed to escape, apparently never to return; fifty-two were returned to their parents, and thirty-five ended up adopted. In general, the Buffalo Orphan Asylum received good marks on its state inspection reports.
When Maria Halpin reappeared in Buffalo, Grover Cleveland once again found himself thwarted by this headstrong woman. She went to the orphanage and demanded to see her son. After Cleveland consulted with Judge Burrows, he tolerated her visits there for the time being, but he must have issued some word of warning to the staff, because the attendants kept a watchful eye on Maria, always hovering nearby when she strolled the grounds of the asylum, holding hands with Oscar, in the spring of 1876.
As the weeks wore on, the staff relaxed their guard when, in their opinion, Maria seemed to be “reconciled to the separation” from her son—but it was a feint. On April 28, forty-eight days after Oscar was sent to the orphanage, when no one was looking, Maria scooped Oscar up and fled with him. In the words of the incident report submitted by the supervisor on duty, Oscar had been “stolen by M. B. Halpin–mother.”
Cleveland, in a panic, leaped into action. Local law enforcement agencies went on the hunt, but quietly, without the public’s knowledge. They checked out the place in Niagara where Maria had been living, and her apartment at 11 East Genesee Street, but there was no trace of her or Oscar. They even grilled Mrs. Baker and all of Maria’s other friends. No one knew—or admitted knowing—where Maria and Oscar were hiding out.
In those days, the Overseer of the Poor was an elected post, the fifth ranking office in municipal government, after mayor, controller, assessor, and corporate counsel. Cleveland must have felt himself blessed with good fortune because it so happened that in the year 1876, it was his political crony and drinking companion John C. Level who had just been elected the Overseer of the Poor who administered the Erie County Almshouse.
Level had narrow gray eyes, prematurely graying hair, perfect posture, and was of medium build. An expert horseman—he sat in the saddle with an easy grace, and astride his horse with his shoulders thrown back—he made a splendid sight. His livery stable had once served as Cleveland’s political clubhouse, so that even though Level had been elected as a Republican, Cleveland felt comfortable