Chapter Six: Interview With Descendants Elizabeth Winthrop's book, Counting On Grace, was inspired by Lewis Hine's photograph of Addie Card, and informed by her research into the social history of Pownal, Vermont, the working conditions for children in cotton mills, and how … [Read more...]

  Chapter Seven: Epilogue A lot of strange and wonderful serendipitous events occurred during my search for Addie, but I was still not prepared for one final event, strange, but not so wonderful. On March 28, I attended a meeting in North Adams. While waiting for it … [Read more...]

Chapter Five: Discovering Addie's Adopted Family The city of Cohoes (pronounced Ca-hose') was once the home of Harmony Mills, one of the largest in the world. The yarn-producing factory along the Mohawk River was powered by Cohoes Falls, which was the subject of a famous … [Read more...]

Chapter Four: New Discoveries In Hoosick Falls Hoosick Falls is just across the New York border, a few miles northwest of North Pownal. Route 346 follows the river and the railroad tracks, cutting through an intensely rural landscape. Locals know to turn right on a country … [Read more...]

  Chapter Three: Discovering Addie's First Family All the way home, I held out the hope that Addie's granddaughter had the same last name — the one she was born with. As soon as I walked in the door, I headed for the computer and Googled her. I got a hit! A person with … [Read more...]

Lewis Hine caption: Every one of these was working in the cotton mill at North Pormal [i.e., Pownal], Vt. and they were running a small force. Rosie Lapiare, 15 years; Jane Sylvester, 15 years; Runie[?] Cird, 12 years; R. Sylvester, 12 years; E. [H.?] Willett, 13 years; Nat. … [Read more...]