The family story has always been that the building containing our Native American family paperwork burned down. For years, we did not know which building that story referred to—or whether there was any way to recover the lost information.
Knowing what we now know about Dorothy Muriel Hiles, the possibilities have narrowed to two Catholic institutions:
• St. Joseph’s Orphan Asylum in Allouez, near Green Bay • St. Aemilian’s Orphanage in the Milwaukee/St. Francis area
St. Joseph’s did not burn down. It remained open until 1980 and was demolished the following year. More importantly, at least some of its historical records may still survive through the Diocese of Green Bay.
St. Aemilian’s, however, was destroyed by a major fire in 1930. Dorothy may not have lived there, but it remains possible that she was processed through the institution or that paperwork relating to her placement was transferred there. This could be the origin of the family story that the building holding our Native American records burned.
Dorothy was born on August 20, 1921. By the 1930 census, she was living at 612 East Main Street in Fond du Lac and was recorded as Dorothy M. Normile, the adopted daughter of Thomas H. and Virginia Normile.
That gives us a firm outside date: Dorothy was already living with the Normile family by April 1930. She was most likely placed with or adopted by them earlier—probably no later than 1929.
The next steps in the investigation are:
• Contact the Diocese of Green Bay Archives and request a search of the surviving St. Joseph’s records from 1921 through 1929.
• Search for Dorothy under every known name: Dorothy Muriel Hiles, Dorothea Hiles, Dorothy M. Normile and Dorothy Muriel Normile.
• Ask specifically for admission, intake, baptismal, medical, school, guardianship, foster-placement, discharge, transfer and adoption records.
• Search for records mentioning Thomas H. and Virginia Normile or the family’s Fond du Lac address.
• Determine what records survive from St. Aemilian’s and whether it ever processed, referred or maintained paperwork for children who were placed elsewhere.
• Search Fond du Lac County court records for a formal adoption or guardianship proceeding before 1930.
• Obtain Dorothy’s original birth certificate so the exact names, dates, addresses and later amendments can be examined.
We also learned that the statement “the orphanage burned and all the records were lost” may combine two real events: St. Joseph’s, which Dorothy may have passed through, was eventually demolished; St. Aemilian’s was actually destroyed by fire. The family story may have preserved part of the truth while losing the exact institution over the generations.
At the same time, the investigation into Dorothy’s biological mother continues. DNA research involving more than 300 matches across four of Dorothy’s children repeatedly leads back to the interconnected Oneida Hill, Antone, Powless and Archiquette families. Sylvia, also known as Zilpha Hill, remains the strongest known candidate for Dorothy’s biological mother.
Sylvia was the daughter of Aaron Hill and Esther Antone. She attended Carlisle Indian Industrial School and transferred to Haskell Institute in August 1918. A request has now been sent for her complete Haskell student file and inactive-student card. Those records could reveal where she went, who she corresponded with and what happened during the years surrounding Dorothy’s birth.
None of this is finished yet—but the search is getting narrower. We now have specific institutions, a working period of 1921–1929, surviving record collections to pursue and a much clearer idea of what may have happened to the family’s paperwork.
The investigation continues.
