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March 27, 1897. The nuns at New York
Foundling Hospital state that he was left there on April 27, 1897, with a
note pinned to him saying his name was Bennie Lang and he was one month old.
Thus, they determined his birthdate to be March 27, 1897. Although his actual date of birth cannot be known, the St. Vincent Ferrer's
Catholic Church of New York certified his date of birth as Mar. 27, 1897 in a
document dated Aug. 26, 1922. The City of New York Department of Health
issued a Certification of Birth on May 22, 1942. These documents were based
on records of the New York Foundling Hospital.
Family records show
he was placed on the orphan train in 1902, being about age 5. His adopted sister Tracy was also taken into the Kampa family in 1902 so perhaps they were both on the
same orphan train. On July 5,
1902 Bennie and Theresa were placed in the home of Valentin and Mary Kampa.
At the time of the June 14, 1905 Minnesota state census, Bennie was 8 years old living with his
adopted parents, his adopted sister Tracy, and adopted paternal grandmother Agnes
on R.F.D. 2 in Buckman, Morrison, Minnesota.
At the time of the Apr. 18, 1910 U.S. federal census, Bernard was 13 years old living with his
adopted parents, his 88-year-old adopted paternal grandfather, Valentin Kampa, and his 9-year-old
adopted sister Tracy born in New York, at 25 6th Avenue NE in St. Cloud Ward 6, Benton, Minnesota.
His adopted father Valentin was working as a stone mason. His adoptive
parents had been married 17 years.
Notes from a now-deceased Lang family member indicate that Ben had sold
newspapers on the train from Minneapolis to St. Cloud and had saved some
money, which Valentin used to buy harnesses for his horses. According to
the story, this was the "last straw" causing Ben to leave the Kampa
household in his teens. He moved in with friend Lloyd Hallet, whose
mother's name was Sylvia Hallet.
On August 24, 1918, when he registered for the draft, Benjamin J. Lang was
21 years old and living at 1118 7th St. South, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He
was single and "not employed at present." The name of his nearest relative was given
as V. W. Kamper of Little Falls, Minnesota. He was of medium height and
build, with brown eyes and brown-black hair.
After Ben's discharge from the Army, he married Daisy Parker in Minneapolis on Dec. 22, 1920.
At the time of the Apr. 14, 1930 U.S. census, Benjamin J. Lang was 33 years old and living in a house he rented for $25/month at 1757 Lafond St.,
in District 131 of St. Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota with his 32-year-old wife, Daisy, and their children Patricia J. M. (age 7), Benjamin P. (age 5),
and Robert E. (age 2 yrs., 7 mos.). The family owned a radio. Daisy was born in Illinois, all the children had been born in Minnesota, and Benjamin told the enumerator that he didn't know where he or his
parents had been born. Benjamin and Daisy had been married when both of them were 24 years old. Benjamin currently was working as a real estate appraiser.
At the time of the Apr. 9, 1940 U.S. census, Benjamin J. Lang was 43 years old and living in his own home at 3029 Dupont Ave. So.,
Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota with his
42-year-old wife, Daisy, and their children Patricia (age 17), Benjamin P. (age 15),
and Robert E. (age 12). All the children were attending school at the time. The family had been living in the same place as of Apr. 1, 1935.
Benjamin was working as a contact man in the finance business. He worked 60 hours a week, 52 weeks a year and made
$2,600 in 1939.
The family later moved to Michigan. Ben and Daisy raised three children (two sons stayed in
Michigan; their daughter moved to Montana) and had 16 grandchildren. |
