In 1963, the Messenger published an article about Mrs. J. O. Colley and her cherished memories from the Alabama Baptist Children’s Home. Dr. and Mrs. J. O. Colley lived at the Baptist Children’s Home for twenty years, during which they raised all six of their children there.

Mrs. J. O. Colley and the late Dr. J. O. Colley, Sr., lived at the Alabama Baptist Children’s Home for more than twenty years.  Dr. Colley was appointed as superintendent of the Home when it was moved to Troy in 1923.

The Colleys had six children, ages 3 to 14, when they moved to the Home.  When Dr. Collet retired in 1942, all these children had grown up, married, and established homes of their own.  Thus, to all the Colleys, the Children’s Home has a very special place in their hearts; it is their home too.

Mrs. J. O. Colley, or “Mother Colley” as she is known to those at the Home, points out that she will always cherish the memories of many heart-warming experiences he had while at the Home.

One of these experiences concerns the beginning of the Mother’s Aid program, which was begun about 1926.  This is her story of its beginning.

There was a farm family living out of town a little ways with four children and another on the way.  The father died, leaving the mother with no means of support for the children and no means of paying medical bills.  The mother became ill shortly after the father’s death, and the Home came onto the scene.  The mother was hospitalized, and the Home took two of the children while relatives cared for the others.  After the mother was released from the hospital, a comfortable home was rented near the schools with space for a garden and a cow.  The Children’s Home defrayed the hospital expenses, paid the rent for the house, and supplied groceries.  The mother, with all her children home again, milked the cow, tended the garden, and kept the children all in school.  This was the beginning of our Mother’s Aid program.

All of these children graduated from high school and are making their places in the business world today.  They all turned out good and successful, because they received help when they needed it.

The Mother’s Aid program, while meeting the material needs of the children involved, goes one step further.  It allows the children to stay with members of their family, which provides them with a good emotional background.

There were many other such experiences which Mrs. Colley and other members of the Home staff can cherish, knowing that they had a part in bringing success and aid to a family.

Mention of the “Baby House” always brings a smile and floods of memories to Mrs. Colley.  When the Home first came to Troy, no age limit was placed on those eligible for acceptance.

“Many times Mr. Colley would go to north Alabama or some other place on the train and come back with a baby on each arm,” Mrs. Colley remembers.  “He attended to the tasks of feeding and changing the babies on the train.  These little ones were all kept in one cottage on the campus, and it became known as the “Baby House.”

Shortage of funds and workers forced the baby program to be discontinued. The Home now accepts only school-age children.

Mrs. Colley stated that the Home is run on schedule and routine, although the children are not regimented.  Everyone knows what he is expected to do and performs his task willingly.  This develops in the children a feeling of responsibility as well as the feeling that he is a part of the Home and is doing something important.

The religious training at the Home has always received major emphasis.  As Mrs. Colley said, “It is such a wonderful thing to observe the children as they develop under the leadership and training at the Home.  The change in many of them is amazing.  It gives one a great feeling of humbleness and awe to feel that maybe he had a part in this change.”

The work at the Home is truly a self-sacrificing work, but it has many rewards.  The greatest majority of the children from the home succeed.  It is wonderful to know that they received help from this institution in making them what they are.  The only regret is that the lack of space and funds prohibits the Home from meeting the needs of all who come to them for help.  I still get homesick for the Home, but I know I am always welcome and can visit at any time.  I know the Home will move forward to meet the growing needs of our children.  This is the way Mrs. Colley sums up her feelings about the Home.

Other activities Mrs. Colley remembers are special programs and the close relationship between the children and staff members.

All of these articles can be found in previous editions of The Troy Messenger.  Stay tuned for more.  Dianne Smith is the President of the Pike County Historical, Genealogical, and Preservation Society.