Anna Katherine Fuchs

Anna Fuchs was placed out by the Children's Aid Society with her two younger sisters on December 7, 1924, the day after her eleventh birthday, after their parents, Stephen and Catherine, died of tuberculosis just months before the sisters' trip to Kansas. Anna believed her age and physical imperfections of her hand and hip would keep her from being chosen, but Jennie Bengston, a local Sunday school teacher and boarding house owner, took her into her home. There Anna learned to play the piano, a passion she carried throughout her life, and she credited Jennie with giving her the opportunity to continue her education past the eighth grade. Anna graduated from McPherson College in 1937 with degrees in music and education, but the Depression changed the course of her career, and in 1941 she was hired by Farmers Alliance Insurance in McPherson, where she worked until retirement. She was remembered for singing and playing in the annual Messiah Festival at Bethany College for more than 50 years, loved playing the organ for her church, and hand painting china in her spare time. Anna Fuchs never married or had children of her own, and she chose to share her life story and the history of the Orphan Train Movement with hundreds of students and groups.

Concordia, Kansas · United States