Creating Fiction From History: 8/3/2022

Persephone, Lilith, and Phantasia. Poor little girls! The first two names weren't so bad; they could be condensed to Percy and Lily (thought Percy sounded a bit boyish.) But Phantasia? What could possibly be done with that? Phanty? Fanny? Tase? Tasia? Not much better!

The Houseman girls really didn't have any choice. Their mother was of Greek heritage, while their father was, of all things, an Askenazi Jew of Belarussian descent. The world into which these particular girls were born, 1840s New York City, was not an easy one, nor was it very comfortable.

For the first several years of their lives, all three girls, two of which were sisters, had known no home but The Society for the Relief of Half-Orphan and Destitute Children. This fairly lately formed organization was an offshoot, though separate institution, of the Orphan Asylum Society in the City of New York. Soon after adoption, the girls were removed, with their new parents, to the environs of Northeast Iowa, where Mr. Houseman intended to settle into the farming life.

Growing up in the rolling farmlands of Northeastern Iowa, the three girls, true sisters now, quickly became fast friends. Oh, sure, they had their moments, as best friends usually do, most often with the real sisters, who were actually twins, on one side and the poor loner on the other, but when it came down to it, "We can pick on our sister, but don't you dare lift a finger against her, or else!"

All in all, our little heroines, who were 11 years old had a very pleasant life; much more so than they would have experienced had fate left them in The Empire State!

That fateful day in the Spring of 1843, the Housemans, who were barely prepared for one child, found themselves the caretakers of three of the most precocious little hoodlums you'd ever want to meet. Once the brand new parents got them to the wide open spaces of northeastern Iowa, however, they found that the wildness exhibited in the environment in which they were born was soon tamed and nobody could have named anywhere else as the place of their birth! The photo above could possibly picture the three girls.

If you would like to create fiction from history with one of the museum's photos, please contact the Ledger at (406) 287-5301 or email whledger@gmail.com.