ORPHANED
Orphaned children have been around since the beginning of time. Scripture tells us how dear they are to God when you read the verses regarding the command to make provisions for widows and orphans. Psalm 68:5 tells us, “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.” In biblical times, since women rarely earned any money of their own, a child was considered an orphan if the father and wage earner died. In my own family I have found that when a mother of an infant or young child died, often the father would find someone else to rear that child, presumably so he could continue to work and care for the other children. Here are a few orphans from some of my family trees – some lost their mother, some lost their father. ETTA MAUDE SIEBERT CHURCHWELL Etta Siebert's mother died of pneumonia when Etta was 9 months old, so her maternal grandmother took her to rear. Her grand...