Interesting. I did see some newspaper entries with his name and whoever owned the race course after his father died in 1858, was attempting to diversify with "glass ball" shooting, prize fighting, and horse shows. I also noted that he was also, apparently trying to sell dirt (clay) from the track for brick making.

> On March 27, 2018 at 3:04 PM David Talley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>
> I doubt it. From newspaper stories, it looks like the Central Lunatic Asylum was established in 1870, well before James C. Talley was declared a lunatic. However, it does appear he had some sort of mental disability from birth. In the census records, he's always living with a relative, is never listed as having a job, and he never married.
>
> Anyway, lunatics were segregated back then. He was white, so if he had been institutionalized, he would have gone to either the Eastern Lunatic Asylum in Williamsburg or the Western Lunatic Asylum in Stauton. The Central Lunatic Asylum at Fairfield was for blacks only.
>
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