[3] Monroe had moved to Springfield from Kewanee, Illinois two years earlier and managed to save $125 in that time and place a down payment on the property.

Despite her fellow townspeople thinking her foolish to do so, Monroe wished to open a home to care for black orphans.

Lawrence not only paid $1400 to bring Monroe current on her debts but also brought considerable political attentions to the home through her community connections.

On March 11, 1906 the new Lincoln Colored Old Folks and Orphans Home was dedicated to the memory of Mary Lawrence on the anniversary of her sudden death a year earlier.

Ownership of the property has changed hands a few times since then and is now owned by the estate of Lyman Hubbard Sr, a former Tuskegee Airman who died in 2012.