The Civil War shattered many families, leaving orphans, destitute widows, and children whose stepfathers were unable or unwilling to support them. Motivated by such conditions, Henry Gillette lead a group who met in 1866, which the Texas Legislature chartered on September 24 as “The Orphans Home At Bayland.” A board of trustees organized on January 15, 1867 at the Houston home of Dr. John L. Bryan included Gillette, Bryan, and Rev. C.C. Preston who had bought Brian’s property on the west bank of Goose Creek overlooking Tabbs Bay.
This site, including a two-story brick house, became ”The Orphans Home At Bayland.” Preston was the first superintendent but died in August 1867; he was succeeded by Gillette. Gillette’s sister, Jeanette Duke, a Confederate widow with two young sons, became matron of the home in 1870. Dr. Ashbel Smith served as the home’s physician. From two sisters enrolling in February 1866, the orphanage grew to serve 76 youths by 1870. The orphans home cemetery, now unmarked, contains at least eight burials.
In 1873, the state legislature granted the home more than 84,000 acres to sell for operating funds. Additional large gifts included land and stocks donated by William and J.J. Hendley of Galveston. By October 1886, the number of orphans had decreased to 37. Through the years, Houston was the site of most board meetings and support for the school, so in 1888 the board closed the Bayland site and relocated the home to 35 acres north of Houston (now in Woodland Heights). In Houston the home changed names, location, governance and mission but lives on today in Harris County’s Burnett Bayland Rehabilitation Center. The original orphans homesite in Bayland Park is remembered as the beginning of a story of charity and hope for young Texans. (1964, 2012)
Marker is Property of the State of Texas