Annie Turner Wittenmyer was a Sanitation Agent for Iowa whose job was to oversee the needs of Union Army soldiers during the American Civil War.

[3] Iowa contributed approximately 76,000 men to the army, and one of them wrote a letter saying, We are grateful for all the kindness shown us ... but we prefer you should forget us ... if you will but look after our wives and children, our mothers and sisters, who are dependent upon us for support ... Succor them, and hold your charity from us.The letter was read at a convention after which a board was convened to create a residence for the orphans of Iowa soldiers.

[4][5] The location had been a meeting area and treatment center for the pioneers, settlers, and the indigenous peoples of the region, including War Chief Black Hawk and the Sauk, Fox, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, and Winnebago tribes.

[3] An orphan's fair was held asking branches be built in three different Iowa cities and Farmington was soon considered inadequate to the Davenport home.

On November 11, 1865, the Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home received its first occupants by steamboat, when 150 children were delivered to matron Annie Wittenmyer's care.

[7] Due partly to the redesign, no one was seriously injured in three fires that broke out in 1877, 1880 and 1887 and the Home was able to continue operating although several buildings were burned to the ground.

[7] In 1876, the Iowa State Legislature required that residents have employment before they left the home, and starting in sixth grade, students spent part of their school day learning a trade.