Any information provided in this section was from articles already published in newspapers or available through other public sources, such as libraries or state publications. Nothing included in this section is confidential patient information.
Some of the information in the stories below may be disturbing.
The patients in the hospital were a reflection of the society outside the institution.They were of many races and religions.They were citizens who helped build Nevada.They were employees of the V & T, a former Mayor, a tailor, a fireman, a singer (Louisa Piper of Piper’s Opera House in Virginia City). Eli Goddard was a stage coach driver.
Many of the patients led normal lives and were only admitted to the asylum in the last years of their lives. There were no facilities for conditions such as alzheimers or dementia as there are today.
Seth Lee Williams, b. 25 Jan. 1877, d 12 Sept. 1925, worked as a carpenter and was an employee of S.P.R.R.
Sarah Woods, who died 23 Feb. 1896, was a dressmaker. Frederica Shaney was the wife of a Virginia City tailor, Charles Shaney. Ole Nelson was an employee of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Charles Kennedy was a miner. William Wood was a druggist, John Head a harness maker, George Beal a sheepherder, Patrick Ryan a rancher, Phillip Mason a cattleman, Charles Sanborn a butcher and John Frye a tinsmith.
Many miners who worked on the Comstock ended up in the asylum due to exposure to chemicals used in the mining process.
Some of the patients had served in the military.
Reasons for Commitment
The reasons for commitment were varied as well. Here are some examples: loss in business, loss of children, indigestion, disappointment in love, mining speculation, hereditary, jealousy, uterine disease, domestic trouble, working in bad air, epilepsy, syphilis, lead poisoning, filthy habits, religion, loss of money, masturbation, intemperance, overheating, ardent spirits, fever, solitary life, overwork, disappointment, death of husband, weak minded, brain trouble, want of food, old age, poverty, trouble, dementia, chronic mania, melancholia.
What might have been considered a reason for commitment in the early days of the hospital may only be looked upon as an eccentricity today.
"The following instances of cruelty to patients are hereby enumerated:
1st -- A patient of ward 'D', Mrs. Emma V. Johnson, aged 38 years, affected with 'choic mainia', and who ordinarily is industrious and easily managed, becomes periodically stubbhorn by reason of her mental derangement and at such times humanity should dictate none but the gentlest treatment. On one occasion Mrs. Johnson refused to work in the laundry, and the case being reported to Dr. Bishop, he ordered attendants Lester G. Loomis and William Madden to accompany him to the ward in which Mrs. Johnson is confined. The aforesaid attendants were thereupon ordered by Dr. Bishop to forcibly seize and throw the said Mrs. Johnson on the floor, and this being done, Dr. Bishop applied the current from a powerful Faradic battery to her person and the force of the current then increased, until she cried out in agony, and in her extreme distress voided her urine upon the persons of the attendants and others surrounding her. While the battery was being applied, Dr. Bishop repeatedly asked her if she would go to work, and on her refusal so to do, the punishment was continued and increased until in her agony, exhaustion and distress she consented to work. That Dr. Bishop subsequently stated to the attendants, Loomis and Madden, that his purpose in applying the battery was to compel the said Mrs. Johnson to work."
This was an excerpt of a longer article.
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TIMOTHY J. WRIGHT
Birth:
unknown
Death:
May 14, 1933
See news article REG 11-20-1935 Reno Evening Gazette
"$2300 Estate Revealed and Heirs Sought.
Heirs to a $2300 estate left by Timothy J. Wright, who died in the Nevada State Hospital on May 14, 1934, are being sought by Phil Katz, San Francisco public administrator.
The estate, consisting of a bank deposit, was unknown to officials when Wright was an inmate of the hospital and he was buried in the hospital cemetery. He had no relatives so far as officials knew at that time.
The San Francisco administrator informed Dr. J.C. Ferrell, hospital superintendent, a few days ago of the existence of the estate and the hospital board immediately filed a claim for $1225 against it, which included $1200 for hospital care and $25 for funeral expenses.
Wright was committed to the hospital in June 1928 from Elko county."
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