Hi Barb.  Your question is extraordinarily difficult of response.  The care of such folks as were called lunatics, imbeciles, idiots, "madmen" or feeble-minded fell to the local government - usually the counties - since those so afflicted who were of families of some measure of affluence were hidden away ("crazy Aunt Betty who lives upstairs") or otherwise placed with those who for pay would care for such people.

So too did the care of the destitute fall to local government.  The lack of funds (and the deep resistance by taxpayers and legislatures to providing any such funding) led to the housing of the two groups in the same facilities out of simple necessity.  Thus, lunatic asylums - "mad-houses - frequently, as you said, served also as "poor farms".  As the 19th-century advanced, those facilities were dignified by such terms as "Lunatic Asylums".

Though Benoni Buck and MANY others came to the attention of the courts on this continent and were recognized as "mad" even before 1650, not until the beginning of the Revolution did Virginia step forward with a first facility in the Americas dedicated to the care of those whose "heads were scrambled".

The complete absence of knowledge of mental illnesses continued into the 19th century, and only very gradually down to today have we progressed in our understanding of such aberrations.  

In fact, in 1862 my own G-GMother was committed for her violent temper, and continued as a "patient" in state sponsored institutions till her death 34 years later - 1896.  At various dates during her stay there (incarceration, in fact), her illness was said to have been "some lactation problem", "menstrual problems", and simply "madness". Interestingly, another patient contemporary to her was said to be mad by reason of his masturbation, a woman was said to be "moon-struck" (the term lunacy derives from "luna" - the moon), another because of the "death of her husband", a man for "intemperance", and one said to have been afflicted "by demons".

So it is that though the term madness was in everyday use by those trained and the common man equally, the meaning of the word remains hidden in the character of every individual so labeled.  

Were I you, I would seek out ANY records that may have been preserved by that local probate court (they very often kept all "affidavits of lunacy" filed in any case), any records of local or state institutions that pertained to such patients or to mental illness, and the writings concerning mental illnesses by physicians of the period, such writings usually housed in the state's archives or in the archives or libraries of the medical schools in the area.  

I and numerous others have learned MUCH by such searches, and those findings were both revealing of how far we have come (and how far we yet must go) and very interesting.  I even gained a complete list of the clothing and belongings she had at her death in the asylum.

Hope this helps.  Paul              

To: 
Sent: Monday, July 05, 2004 6:56 PM
  Subject: [DRAKE] Definition of insane ca 1860


  Paul, I was going to send this privately, then decided that others might
  be interested in your answers. On the 1860 Census, my 4th great
  grandfather, Benjamin Drake was called "insane". In 1870, he was living
  in the Delaware County , Indiana Asylum where I know other "inmates" (as
  they were called) were there because they couldn't afford to live
  anywhere else. It doubled as "the poor farm."

  Several thoughts come to mind: perhaps he had a stroke; became
  alcoholic, dementia, any number of things could have happened, but I
  know that people were considered insane back then for things that we now
  wouldn't think much of. I'd love to hear your comments on this.

  Barb Marshall


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