In 1874 a single case of abuse and neglect of a New York girl named Mary Ellen led to the founding of the first society in the world dedicated to protecting children from cruelty. Forty years later, there were 494 such societies in the United States. Child protection became a national movement that swept aside the fear of outside intervention in the family. The societies, which helped pass and enforce legislation to counter cruelty toward children, initiated a new phase of reform against family violence. The societies sought to use the criminal as well as the civil law to punish child abusers and remove abused and neglected children from parental custody. Although the desire to protect children from cruelty was the primary reason for the founding of these societies, the wealthy, urban elite (the primary supporters of these societies) feared the perpetuation of social decay attributed to the immigrant, largely Catholic, poor and hoped to rescue their children from a life of pauperism, drink, and petty thievery. The law enforcement rhetoric of the societies was stronger than their actions, however. They rarely prosecuted parents for child cruelty. A failure to understand the subtleties and persistence of child abuse contributed to the societies' belief that their efforts had eliminated the problem, thus causing the demise of the organizations after the early 1930's.