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Beautiful and Blessed © Jennie Avila

Guitar and Vocal - Jennie Avila · Autoharp - Terry Tucker

The Civil War left many adults widowed, homeless and invalid, and many children orphaned. The Washington County Home for Orphan and Friendless Children served the "orphans of the orphans" of the Civil War with an innovative program of care and education. It was founded in Hagerstown, MD in 1883, in a charitable effort to rescue children from the Alms House cycle of poverty. David Emmert, the superintendent, spent 6 months of every year traveling to adoptive homes to make sure the children were being treated as family, not slaves. The song is sung from the perspective of Anna McCarty, the beloved first matron who tended the orphanage on a day-to-day basis. I tried to include her name in the song, but her humble spirit would not allow it, so I wrote as if she is singing the song herself.

Poverty and scars
Clouds that hide the stars
Your light will shine through
For you already are
Beautiful

In our home you're beautiful
In our home you're blessed
Some day the world will see you as we do

In the County of Washington
Home for Orphan and
Friendless Children of Maryland
David Emmert, like an angel
Watches where e'er you roam
And I your faithful matron
Shelter you as my own

And guided in God's way
You'll learn to earn fair pay
And find a home we pray
'Til that day

In our home you're beautiful
In our home you're blessed
Some day the world will see you as we do
Say your prayers little lullabies
Close your eyes and rest
In our home you are beautiful and blessed