In 1928 a place called "Ideal Maternity Home"
opened up in East Chester,
Nova Scotia. It was opened and run by
William and Lela Young. William was a medical missionary with the
Seventh Day Adventist church and Lela was a former teacher who was claiming
to be an obstetrician but in reality was only a midwife.
The Ideal Maternity Home was at first a
cottage with four bedrooms but would expand over the years, as the "busniess"
got better, to include 54 bedrooms
and 14 bathrooms. A woman expecting a
baby could pay between $100. and $500. upon arriving at Ideal and that
would provide them with room, board and cover the cost of adopting out
the baby. If a baby did not live, there was a charge of $20. for a burial
in a butter box lined with satin.
An unwed mother could work off her expenses
if she did not have enough
money to pay for them. With all
of the fees and "selling" of babies, the Young's were able to pay off Ideal
Maternity Home and owned it outright by 1933. Some parents who came to
the maternity home only for the birthing sevices were told that their child
had died when in reality it had not. This child would be put up for
adoption. Depending on the needs and wants of a "customer", the youngs
would seperate siblings or they would lie and saythat children had siblings
to accommodate each individual couples needs.
Babies there were adoptable were "sold"
for up to $10,000. Unfortunately, not all babies were healthy or
adoptable. Any child that was sick, had a birth defect or was a little
dark in color were considered "unadoptable" and were starved to death,
being fed only a mixture of water and molasses and starving to death took
about two weeks. The babies who died were burried in wooden boxes used
to carry dairy products, which is where the term "Butter Box Babies" comes
from. Each box was lined with satin and the bodies were buried on the property
next to a cemetary that was nearby, buried at sea or burned in the furnace
of Ideal Maternity Home. Some babies who were healthy ended
up dying due to the unsanitary conditions and lack of medical care at Ideal
Maternity Home. It wasn't until they had been in "business" that they were
forced to hire a Registered Nurse.
The maternity home managed to operate without
a license for over 17 years even after on March 4, 1936 the youngs were
on trial for two counts of manslaughter for the the death of a woman named
Eva Neiforth and he baby.
The youngs won their case and continued
with business as usual. Things
always seemed to go in favor of the Young's
and if they didn't, they were able to make threats due to the many people
in "Society and Politics" who had "bought" babies from them. In 1940,
there was an amendment to the "Maternity Boarding House" act, and the Young's
were forced to apply for a license, which luckily they were turned down
for.
Later, inspections were made of the Ideal
Maternity Home which resulted in it closing it's doors on November 17,
1945. The Young's seemed to not care and still advertised that they
had "Lovely Babies For Adoption". Legal troubles were to follow and
this eventually lead to the Young's reputation being ruined. They left
Nova Scotia totally broke after living there for 35 years.
William eventually died of cancer and
Lila moved back to Nova Scotia and
was once again teaching. She died in 1969
of Leukemia and her final resting place is the Seventh day Adventist Cemetery
which is close to the place where the Butter Box Babies are buried.
On Friday, November 27, 1992 at 11:00am,
a memorial service was held for all of the babies who were murdered by
the Young's and for the survivors. The service was held in Chester,
Nova Scotia at St. Stephen's Anglican Church and the church was full.
There are many survivors of the Butter Box
Babies tragedy who actually know that they were some of the "lucky" ones
who made it out alive. You can read about some of them by clicking
below:
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