USA TODAY International Edition
Former foundling finds lots of family
Not long ago, Ted Cashen saw himself as a member of a small family.
The 68- year- old, who was born in Fremont but lives in the Cincinnati suburb of Liberty Township, Ohio, grew up as an only child. His wife, Maureen, is an only child; so is their son. His adoptive parents are deceased.
Yet in a matter of months, he has found more than 100 relatives from coast to coast and is headed to a family reunion this year.
Not long ago, Ted Cashen didn’t know who his biological parents were. Now, he can trace his ancestry back to the 1600s.
Cashen made the news in March 1948 as a newborn baby left wrapped in a thin cotton blanket in subfreezing weather near the entrance to what was then Fremont Community Hospital.
Mrs. Arthur Krienke, who had just visited her daughter in the hospital, discovered the 7pound, 2- ounce baby at around 9: 30 p. m. ET on a Monday, March 8, 1948, according to The News- Messenger‘ s account at the time. In keeping with the times, Mrs. Krienke’s first name never was mentioned in the story, but she likely was Clara Krienke, who is listed as Arthur Krienke’s spouse in 1940 Census records and died in Fremont in 1997.
“Mrs. Krienke first believed she heard a small kitten, and then there was a louder wail as she walked a few steps further,” the newspaper reported. “Investigating the now- recognizable cries, she found the infant in the bushes.”
The hospital’s staff cared for the newborn that day. Ruel “Pat” and Henrietta Cashen adopted him, and he grew up 20 miles away in Genoa, Ohio, but always wondered about his biological family.
Cashen entered his story online with a group called Foundling Finders. As possible connections were made, he uploaded his DNA to Family Tree DNA and bought DNA kits. A woman in California, who turned out to be a first cousin, was working on family genealogy, so she was happy to take the test and will share more information with him.
Other potential blood relatives have taken the test. Through the tests and family trees, Cashen has identified 104 close and distant relatives from Maryland to California.