Let’s just say this insanity record comes from the record on a relative in Illinois. It was located in the local county court records.
“On the 6th of June she developed a sever[sic] attack of delusional insanity with homicidal tendancy, which has continued up to the present time.”This document was dated June 14. It is a late nineteenth century record.How much of this would you share with relatives? I’m not posting any identifying information about the individual (at least not yet).
Additional information in the file provides more details about her threats and her behavior. It also indicates two siblings were also insane–a record of committal was also found for one of them as well during the same time period.
I have not yet looked for any mention of the scenario in the local newspaper, but that is on my list of things to do.You never know what you will find looking through court records. How much to share is potentially another question.
2 Responses
I would tell what I found while pointing out that insane then was not the same as insane now. Husbands were known to commit their wives for various reasons; some not so pleasant. Postpartum depression being one and just to get rid of a wife no longer wanted was another. I would be more interested in knowing what became of the husband and children after the committal.
In this case, she was back living at home at the time of the next census enumeration and they remained married until their deaths. It could very well have been one of a variety of items like the ones you mentioned. I need to see how the time frame of the episode fit into her having given birth to children.