| Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans Home | |
| Native Name: | Ohio Veterans' Children's Home |
| Latin Name: | Woodrow Wilson High School |
| Streetaddress: | 690 Home Avenue |
| State: | Ohio |
| County: | (Greene County) |
| Zipcode: | 45385 |
| Country: | United States |
| Coordinates: | 39.6647°N -83.9244°W |
| Founder: | Grand Army of the Republic |
| Closed: | July 1, 1997 |
| Campuses: | 1 |
| Campus Size: | 253 acres |
| Campus Type: | Small city |
| Mascot: | Cadets |
| Publication: | Home Review |
| Newspaper: | Home Weekly |
| Picture Caption: | The logo of the Association of Ex-Pupils |
The Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home (Later known as the Ohio Veterans' Children's Home) and sometimes abbreviated OS&SO/OVCH, was a children's home that was located in Xenia, Ohio. It is now home to Legacy Christian Academy, Athletes in Action, and other Christian ministries.
Money was collected from taxes levied during the Civil War to care for the dependents of soldiers, but the government mishandled the money. By the war's end, several families were living in county infirmities under deplorable conditions. Seeing this, soldiers still living began contacting government officials, requesting that something be done to help the families of the fallen soldiers. Eventually, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a federation the veterans formed after the close of the Civil War to foster comradeship, financed the purchase of a home for veteran's orphans in the city of Xenia. Xenia was chosen because people from Greene County had long been interested in the plight of the veterans' families, and Reverend P.C. Prugh had been raising funds for the project for some time. Rev. Prugh is thus referred to as the "Father" of the movement to establish a home. Additionally, Chaplain George W. Collier is credited with being the first to suggest the idea of a home to the GAR.[1] In 1869, the Grand Army of the Republic established the Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home in Xenia, Ohio.
The "Home" was commissioned by Abraham Lincoln, and was a self-contained community with a farm, dairy barn, hospital, power/heating plant, gymnasium, banquet hall, chapel, and residence halls. Lincoln challenged the states to bind up the wounds of the Civil War by meeting the needs of widows and orphans created by the conflict. Ohio members of the Grand Army of the Republic took up that challenge, and, through a donation of 100 acres by a Xenia farmer, created the Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home. This institution was the predecessor of the Ohio Veterans' Children's Home. In 1870, the State of Ohio assumed control of the home. The Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home was originally located in a rented building in Xenia, Ohio. In 1869, Xenia residents provided the GAR with 150 acres of land to build a permanent facility.[2]
The home conducted church services, established a regular school curriculum as well as education in several trades, started a library, and supplied on-site medical attention. The list of trades is impressive, including tin smithing; wood carving; knitting; dress making; tailoring; farm, florist, and garden work; butchering and slaughtering; telegraphy, and blacksmithing. The children also enjoyed such extra-curricular activities as choir, orchestra, concert band, military band, drum corps, and athletics. Beginning in April 1876, the home put out their own paper, titled the Home Weekly. Children were discharged from the home at the age of 16.[3]
Athletic teams at Woodrow Wilson High School competed as the "Cadets". State Championships and athletic records were transferred to Xenia High School upon the home's closure.
The campus of the former Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home is located in the southeastern corner of the city of Xenia, close to US 35 and US 68. Many of the original buildings from the home remain and are still in use to this day, although in 2013, many abandoned buildings on the property were demolished.