Tag Archives: Utica State Insane Asylum

The Patient’s Voice

Reverend Chase's Book

Reverend Chase’s Book

A number of [insane] asylum patients eventually wrote about their experiences once they were released. A commonality that many of these accounts reveal is the lack of due process in the commitment process. In 1868, Reverend Hiram Chase wrote about his experience:

“. . . on the 20th of August, 1863, about 9 o’clock in the morning, I was called out of my room to dress and take a ride as far as the depot. . . I got into the wagon with three men besides myself. As I got into the wagon and saw my trunk, I enquired where they were going. Mr. Harvey told me I was going to the asylum in Utica.”*

Postcard of the Utica State Hospital for the Insane, 1907

Postcard of the Utica State Hospital for the Insane, 1907

Chase had previously described what was probably an episode of deep depression, brought on by hearing some unkind gossip about himself from church members. His own physician and another one had called upon Chase, and discussed an incident in which he had tried to get rid of a solution of silver nitrate, fearing that it would harm someone or some animal. His wife and family may have thought Chase had obtained the bottle of silver nitrate solution in order to hurt himself, though he had evidently made it abundantly clear he was getting rid of the contents. Regardless, the doctors got a warrant from the local judge after this interview, to take Chase to Utica.

Utica Crib, a Restraining Device Developed at the Utica

Utica Crib, a Restraining Device Developed at the Utica

Chase ends his first chapter with this: “We arrived there the same day, and I was locked up in the third story of the building, with about forty raving maniacs. Others may judge of my feelings when I sat down and looked around me. . . .”

*Two Years in a Lunatic Asylum; Van Benthuysen & Sons’ Steam Printing House.

Payrolls

Attendants at Central Islip Psychiatric Hospital, 1910, courtesy Minnesota Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities

Insane asylums were important to local economies. Local men were needed for construction work or repairs, and businesses could count on meeting at least some of an asylum’s supply needs. Perhaps more importantly, insane asylums provided steady work for locals. From 1900 to 1907, the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians spent $54,896.78 on maintenance, some of which found its way into local pockets. It spent almost as much on wages, though–which was probably far more important. The payroll went from a bare $2,080 at the end of 1902 to $11,340 by 1907.

The first salary list included: a superintendent and assistant superintendent, a financial clerk, an attendant, three laborers, and a night watch (8 total). By 1909, the list included: a superintendent and assistant superintendent, clerk, matron, seamstress, laundress, cook, dining room girl, engineer, two male and two female attendants, three laborers, a night watchman, and a laborer (18 total). As buildings and the patient population went up, the asylum pumped more and more money into Canton and the surrounding area. It’s little wonder that the townspeople had a soft spot in their hearts for the facility and considered it a valuable resource.

Graduation Class of Nurses at Utica State Insane Asylum, 1899, courtesy Minnesota Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities

Woman Attendants With Dumb Bells at the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane, early 1860s, courtesy Minnesota Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities

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