This "Separate Society" was the Widows and Orphans Friends' Society, which two years later became the Widows and Orphans Asylum of Indianapolis. At first, the Widows and Orphans Asylum paid private families to care for individual orphans. Managers, who were the wives of prominent local men, carefully screened these homes. In 1855 the first orphanage was built.

In 1854, just three years after the incorporation of the Widows and Orphans Friends' Society, Indianapolis still resembled a village. This photo was taken looking north on Pennsylvania from Washington Street. (Indiana Historical Society, Bass Photo Collection, 17804)

1851:
The Widows and Orphans Friends' Society incorporates as the "Widows and Orphans Asylum of Indianapolis" under an act of the Indiana General Assembly on 13 February 1851, amended 7 March 1867 and 11 March 1875. Female members of the Widows and Orphans Friends' Society contribute $1.00 and male members give $3.00.

The organization's purpose is "to relieve the physical, intellectual and moral wants of the widows and orphans of the city."   It specifies that the officers "shall be ladies" and establishes "an advisory committee of nine gentlemen." The male advisors are "to render such aid by counsel and other services as their wisdom, Christian courtesy, and philanthropy may dictate."   The Society holds monthly meetings and an annual meeting in November. The Widows and Orphans Friends' Society tries to keep dependent children out of local poorhouses and away from adult paupers, a problem with which reform societies across the North are dealing in this era. Originally, the Society provides private home situations for widows and orphans. In 1851, 23 percent of the workforce of Indianapolis are women.

Among the first 16 managers was Jane Chambers McKenny Graydon.

1852:
The Indiana General Assembly revises the statutes (Chapter 68) to read: "children may be bound to serve as apprentices for any term not extending beyond the age of 21 for male or 18 for female."   If a female marries, the indenture is annulled. Apprentices older than 14 must endorse the indenture agreement. Further, superintendents of county asylums are charged with "bind[ing] out such poor children as fall under their care... see[ing] that children so bound are properly treated by the person to whom they are bound." Early in the 1850s, with the number of Irish immigrants on the rise, the Widows and Orphans Friends' Society entertains a motion "to have a meeting called to discuss the expediency of prohibiting Roman Catholics from our Society. A vote was unanimously in the negative." 1854 - 1855:
The Widows and Orphans Friends' Society builds its first orphanage at Capitol and 14th Streets for $1,200. 1857:
A nationwide financial panic bankrupts many businesses on the eastern seaboard and abruptly raises the number of needy.  The poor in Indianapolis are hit especially hard. 1859:
The Society is always looking for money to care for the widows and orphans. The manager of the Metropolitan Theater offers to hold a benefit for the orphanage. According to newspaperman John Holliday, this causes a good bit of discussion among the board. Some members are eager to accept the money, while others are "horrified" at the idea of taking "tainted money" from theater folk. The offer is refused.

With the onset of the Civil War (1861-1865), men joined the army, leaving behind wives and children. At war's end, the number of widows and orphans had swelled. (Indiana Historical Society, W. Frank Jones, C8481)