When we talk about tragic cases in the history of mental health, the turn‑of‑the‑century asylum system offers some of the darkest chapters. Below we stroll through ten unsettling stories that reveal how “insane” was a catch‑all label for everything from severe illness to simply speaking one’s mind.
Tragic Cases From Turn‑of‑the‑Century Asylums
10 Herman Charles Merivale
Barrister Herman Charles Merivale found himself mysteriously committed to England’s Ticehurst House Hospital in 1875, with no recollection of how he arrived there. He chronicled his experience in My Experiences in a Lunatic Asylum, by a Sane Patient, offering a rare, rational glimpse inside the walls.
Merivale paints a paradoxical picture: on one hand, the asylum resembled a “delightful sanitary resort” with regular outings, chapel services, and traveling entertainers. On the other, he recounts attendants sleeping in his room, the constant wails of other patients, and the ever‑present specter of death.
After a few months he was released, only to be readmitted after an attempt to strangle an acquaintance. He was freed again in 1877, though his file noted he had “not improved.”
9 Clarissa Caldwell Lathrop
Clarissa Caldwell Lathrop authored A Secret Institution in 1890, detailing the personal turmoil that landed her in Utica Asylum. After a former fiancé abandoned her for a wife in New York City, Lathrop wrestled with his relentless attempts to contact her.
She later learned of a wealthy couple embroiled in divorce and infidelity, whom she suspected were the former lovers. Around the same time, a stranger appeared at her door seeking board. After taking him in, Lathrop fell gravely ill. Doctors were baffled, but she became convinced the mysterious boarder was her former paramour’s estranged wife, intent on poisoning her.
Lathrop discovered strange powders in her drinks and on her hairbrush, reported her concerns to her family doctor and mother, and was subsequently committed. She fought tenaciously for an appeal and for inmates’ rights while confined.
8 Reverend Hiram Chase
Reverend Hiram Chase spent 1863‑1865 at the New York State Asylum at Utica. He later penned Two Years and Four Months in a Lunatic Asylum, exposing a grotesque practice known as institutional tourism.
Chase argued that public awareness was essential for reform, but he vehemently opposed the idea of visitors gawking at patients. He repeatedly requested a private wing never used for tours, only to be denied.
His account details the strict rules governing public visits, the punishments for breaking them, and the chilling notion that only the “better behaved” patients were shown to outsiders.
7 James Doran
James Doran’s death was recorded as natural, despite internal injuries that included seven broken ribs and no external bruising. On the day he was transferred to Prestwich Asylum, the Liverpool Daily Post (June 13, 1870) ran an article and an official inquiry.
His brother testified that James had become suddenly insane, exhibiting violent behavior that escalated over two months. Initially confined at the Marland Workhouse in Rochdale, attendants claimed his bruises were self‑inflicted.
The inquiry never convicted anyone, but it highlighted a horrifying practice: breaking the bones of paralytic patients under the mistaken belief that it would silence their screams.
6 James R. Robblett
On June 14, 1936, the Oregonian featured a story about “James R. Robblett” (a pseudonym) at Oregon State Hospital. By then, terms like “insane” and “bughouse” were falling out of favor.
Doctors noted that Robblett possessed a rare “insight”—the ability to articulate his condition coherently. He admitted he hadn’t entered voluntarily; overwork, lack of exercise, cramped quarters, and a nervous breakdown led to his commitment.
Robblett struggled to differentiate patients from staff. Confined first to Ward C, he later described time in the observation ward alongside patients undergoing malaria inoculation as a cure for syphilis.
5 Mary Meller
Mary Meller, 27, was pregnant with her fifth child when she faced trial for the attempted murder of a lodger—she struck the woman and tried to slit her throat. At the Old Bailey, a doctor’s testimony and evidence of previous suicide attempts led to a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.
She was sent to Broadmoor in 1868. After giving birth, staff noted a “remarkable change” in her behavior, which turned out to be sobriety. Meller later confessed she had been drunk during the attack.
Although released into her husband’s care, she relapsed, was chased through London by an angry mob for an unspecified crime, and was re‑committed. She died in 1878.
4 Gerald
In 1901, Gerald was admitted to St. Ita’s Hospital in Portrane, Ireland. By 1912 he penned a heartbreaking letter to his father pleading for freedom.
Gerald reminded his father of a promise: if he stayed in the asylum, he would enjoy privileges unlike any other patient. The doctor believed Gerald could eventually return to a happy family life, but his father ignored every attempt to secure his release.
The exact reason for his commitment remains murky, aside from Gerald’s mention of a temper and grief that later vanished. He wrote, “Hopes of my discharge I have consigned to oblivion. I see the years before me, and my soul shrinks at the appalling prospect.” Gerald died in 1949 with no family present.
3 Ralph Holmes
Ralph Holmes was the son of Bayard Holmes, a homeopath and bacteriologist who challenged industrial‑era healthcare. In 1905, Ralph was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Initially confined to a private sanitarium, he received a dosage of medication that baffled his father. After touring several asylums, Bayard concluded that the institutions were more harmful than helpful and devoted his life to finding a cure for his son.
Bayard theorized that schizophrenia stemmed from toxins accumulating in the intestines. His proposed remedy? Remove the appendix and keep the gut toxin‑free. Ralph was the first subject; he died from complications just four days after the operation. Bayard continued his research, yet rarely mentioned his son in his writings.
2 G.
Identified only as G., this patient entered the Devon County Lunatic Asylum in 1892 after threatening his wife with a hot poker. Although he showed no prior signs of mental illness, his mother had been declared insane, prompting doctors to suspect a hereditary condition.
Diagnosed with melancholy, G. was quiet and listless, displaying no further violence. After three months there was no improvement; his file was transferred to the “Chronic Casebook,” a record of patients unlikely to be released.
He remained in the institution for 26 years, dying in 1918 of dysentery.
1 Henry Jr. And Adolph Cotton
Dr. Henry Cotton of New Jersey State Hospital in Trenton rejected inherited mental illness theories and instead blamed bodily toxins. His radical approach: surgically remove the offending body part to eliminate the problem.
Between the early 1900s and 1920s, Cotton extracted thousands of teeth and tonsils, later moving on to spleens, thyroids, reproductive organs, and colons. He even operated on perfectly healthy patients as a preventative measure.
Among his subjects were his own family members: his wife and his two sons, Henry Jr. and Adolph. Cotton not only pulled all of his sons’ teeth but also removed part of Adolph’s colon. Both sons later committed suicide in middle age.
Further Reading
If you crave more bedlam tales, the archives are brimming with stories:
- 10 Crazy Facts From Bedlam, History’s Most Notorious Asylum
- Top 10 Notable Residents of Broadmoor Hospital
- 10 Brutal Accounts Of Torture In Old Insane Asylums
- 10 Unsettling Mysteries From Asylums And Institutions
- 10 Horrifying Hospitals You Never Want To Stay In
Author: Debra Kelly – a former shed‑painter and grave‑digger who now writes about the corners of history most textbooks skip.