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It has not been edited and may therefore contain several errors.

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WAS LOUISE BELL AN ORPHAN TRAIN RIDER ?
Louise Bell entered St. Alphonsus Orphanage in New Orleans on Sept. 11, 1898, 1900 or 1903 according to poorly kept records. She is not in the U. S. Census of 1900 for Louisiana or New York. Entry had to be after April 1900. Her true birthdate is not known. Circumstances of her placement were not recorded, nor were they revealed years later when Louise requested them from the nuns who admitted her, claiming records were lost in a fire.
It was all too easy to place a child by family or social workers, who practised a "better the child not know" policy, leaving the child to suffer the consequences.
Several things indicte that Louise may have been an early Orphan Train Rider, though NYFH trains did not come to New Orleans until 1909 and to Central Louisiana in 1907.
She arrived at the Irish oprhanage speaking only French. Her parents were not French. Records show them to be Henry Joseph Bell, deceased by the time of entry, and Viola Louise Clay, both of New York.
It is possible she arrived in a French speaking Parish on an earlier train and was later brought to New Orleans. Som^ children were returned.
Louise was not sent out by the NYFH or CAS. Children's Village and Columbia University have no records in that name. Other sources have not revealed any information as well.
The name may be pure fiction. How did a small child, not born in Louisiana, enter an Irish Orphanage with no family history, no
birthdate, no known ethnic origins, having New York parents and speaking French?
Louise lived in the orphanage until she was turned out at 14 years of age to work in a "placed-out" system. At the age of 17 she ran away, making her own way as a clerk and later as a telephone operator.
Louise's later life was very positive but her family would like to know of their 'roots.'
Judy Traut, 12110 Erin Lane, La Mirada, CA 90638 needs help in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge areas of Louisiana with her search.
[Presently Judy is writing her mother's story into a book so the information published in CROSSROADS may NOT be copied or used in any way other than this publication.]
Louise Bell
CROSSROADS Vol. 18, January, 1992 page 19