Did You Know?

Montreat’s Orphanage

Until 1905, a home for orphaned and destitute children existed in Montreat. This institution fit well with the vision of one of Montreat’s founders, Weston Gales, that Montreat evangelize the “mountaineers” (his wording) living in the area. Montreat also opened a school in 1899 that educated children living in the surrounding neighborhood as well as those in the orphanage and others in Montreat.

The first direct reference to the orphanage is in Gales’ annual report dated January 1901. Gales refers to it as the “Belle Greene Home (named after its deceased founder) for destitute or orphaned children.”  At the time it housed 10 children. He noted that sisters Carrie and Bertha Whallen [Whallon] “took up this work when Mrs. Green[e] laid it down.” 

For most of its existence the orphanage occupied various rented houses. In May 1902, the Mountain Retreat Association conveyed a lot to the Whallons for the express purpose of building an orphanage. But the lot was not used for that purpose and was eventually returned to MRA. In 1903, a house owned by Getrude Ladd, located adjacent to the Community Building, served as the orphanage. But it burned that same year. The other locations for the orphanage are unknown until it moved into its final location, at the end of Oak Lane, in late 1904. This structure burned in January 1905. The children were moved to other institutions and there was no further effort to support an orphanage in Montreat.

Weston Gales and his vision for evangelical work clearly drove the support for the orphanage. In March 1902, he sent a letter to some potential donors commenting that “children in homes of destitution or of sin . . .need the love and care and Christian training they could have in The Childrens’ Home if only there was room to receive them.”  He also advocated for an industrial school so that the children could become “good mechanics” and could also learn “domestic duties.”  With Gales’ death in November 1902, the orphanage lost its greatest advocate. It seems that by 1905, when the building burned, no one had the energy to start over yet again. Robert Martin wrote that the managers (the Whallon sisters) needed to “take a rest.”  Additionally, MRA was experiencing severe financial difficulties and soon negotiated a sale of the entire conference center to the Presbyterian Church in the United States.

We still have two mysteries about the orphanage: Who was Belle Greene, and when did she begin the orphanage?  Which houses were used, other than the two mentioned above? If you have answers, help the PHC play History Detective and let us know!

Thanks to the Presbyterian Heritage Center, especially Nancy Midgette, for this glimpse from the past. Stop by the PHC for additional Montreat missionary history and so much more. Have an idea for a future “Did You Know?”? Let Nancy know at midgette@elon.edu.