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The Orphaned Children Of General John Bell Hood~

After the Civil War, General John Bell Hood (for whom Ft. Hood is named) moved to Louisiana and became a cotton broker and worked as a President of the Life Association of America, an insurance business. In 1868, he married New Orleans native Anna Marie Hennen, with whom he fathered 11 children over 10 years, including three pairs of twins. He also served the community in numerous philanthropic endeavors, assisting in fund raising for orphans, widows, and wounded soldiers. For awhile he flourished. But his insurance business was ruined by a yellow fever epidemic in New Orleans during the winter of 1878–79 and he succumbed to the disease himself, dying just days after his wife and oldest child, leaving 10 destitute orphans. These are those children.

After Hood died, this photo was published as a plea for funds to provide for them. Every Picture Sold Adds to the Permanent Fund for the Education and Maintenance of these “Wards of the South.” Sold under the Auspices of the Hood Relief Committiee, New Orleans

Credit Sandy Billingsley Forwarding Story From Credit Source: Traces of Texas facebook. Original Source Credit to Robert Wilson.