DePelchin Children's Center Records

DePelchin Children's Center, founded in 1892 in Houston, TX by Kezia Payne DePelchin as DePelchin Faith Home, was chartered on March 24, 1893. The home began with three young boys in the home of Agnes Perry at 2500 Washington Ave. It moved to the corner of Chenevert & Pierce Streets in 1899 to accommodate a growing number of children, followed in 1913 to 2700 Albany Street @ Tuam. The institute's charter was renewed in 1928 with a name change to DePelchin Faith Home and Children's Bureau to extend to the general care of children including foster home service, adoption, and child protective services. The name was changed again to DePelchin Children's Center in 1983 to include counseling, post-adoption services, maternity care, parent-preparation, and special education. The center outgrew its Albany Street location in 1938 and relocated to Shepherd & Memorial Drive, with new facilities at the same location in 2002.

Kezia Payne DePelchin, founder of the institution, was born on July 23, 1828 to Catherine and Abraham Payne in the Madeira Islands of Portugal. Her mother died in 1833 and her father moved the family to America in 1836, with Galveston, Texas as the destination in 1837. A yellow fever outbreak saw several sisters return to Madeira, but several siblings and her father did not survive. Kezia and her governess moved to Houston in 1841 where Kezia taught music in Houston's first public schools. She married Adolf DePelchin in 1862, but within a year they separated and never divorced. Kezia acquired immunity to yellow fever and nursed its victims in Houston and then in Memphis, TN and Senatobia, MS between 1878 and 1879. She returned to Houston and became the first matron of Bayland Orphan's Home for Boys between ages 6 and 12. In 1892 she was approached with three orphan boys too young to be accepted by Bayland, and asked friend Agnes Perry to supply a room for the boys' care. The DePelchin Faith Home was established, but Kezia died soon after on Jan. 13, 1893.