Hi, Carol.  Thanks.  The year was 1862 (during the Civil War) and I have
searched diligently for any and all references concerning her at the county
probate court and the records of that institution.  At the State archives I
came upon the entrance, diagnosis, duration of stay and the release reports
of some 50 patients at the institution where she last was living, including
reference to my ancestor.

With permission of the county Probate Judge I was permitted to spend time
with the few extant materials having to do with her; found nothing further.
I also have long ago researched the law of "lunacy" at the dates of her
appearances, and find that the rules of her day required 2 witnesses to the
manifestations of her "disease" and a report from her physician diagnosing
the same.  Unfortunately, those witness reports appear to have been
destroyed a handful of decades later (probably 90 years after her release,
as the law allowed).

I consider myself fortunate to have discovered those scraps, and I learned a
lot about the years of here commitment, including what wearing apparel she
had at her discharge. 	

-----Original Message-----
From: rdlwcl [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2008 1:43 PM
To: Paul Drake
Subject: Re: [VA-ROOTS] Book Talk Wednesday, Oct. 29

I don't know about Virginia but in Kentucky a person had to be examined by 2

doctors before they could be committed and then taken before the courts.
You might want to check in the county where your G-Grandmother lived to see
if you can find her commitment papers to see what they have to say.
Carol Kenney Lovitt
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Drake" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2008 1:37 PM
Subject: Re: [VA-ROOTS] Book Talk Wednesday, Oct. 29

> Thanks, Ms. OBrion.  I feel that recognition, treatments and results of
> mental problems (or any other serious illness) are vital to understanding
> our ancestors and their lives.  My own G-Gmother was committed three times
> over 30 years, the last commitment having been for life, and the diagnoses
> were "mania" in one entry and "some lactation problem in another.  Was she
> committed by her family?  By a physician? Was she nutty or did harm to
> anyone, thereby bringing about the "mania?  What in the world did "some
> lactation problem" tell us about her life, actions and later temperament??
>
> Paul
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Research and writing about Virginia genealogy and family history.
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Katie Holland
> Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2008 12:26 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [VA-ROOTS] Book Talk Wednesday, Oct. 29
>
> I'm not sure what this has to do with genealogy?
>
>
> Katie Holland
>
>
> --- On Thu, 10/23/08, Catherine OBrion <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> From: Catherine OBrion <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Book Talk Wednesday, Oct. 29
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Thursday, October 23, 2008, 1:25 PM
>
> Free Event
>
> Wednesday, October 29
> Book Talk:
> The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the
> World of Mental Illness
> Time: Noon
> Place: Library of Virginia Conference Rooms, 800 East Broad Street,
> Richmond
> Author Jack El-Hai will discuss his groundbreaking new biography of
> neurologist
> and psychiatrist Walter Freeman, featured in the PBS documentary The
> Lobotomist. El-Hai, whose work is based in part on archival research in
> Freeman's personal papers at the George Washington University, takes
> readers
> into one of the darkest chapters of American medicine-the desperate
> attempt
> to treat the hundreds of thousands of psychiatric patients in need of help
> during the middle decades of the 20th century, before the introduction of
> effective psychiatric medication in the 1950s. A book sale and signing
> will
> follow the talk.
>
> This event is sponsored by the Library of Virginia Foundation, VCU
> Libraries,
> and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference in celebration of
> Archives
>
> Month in Virginia.
>
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
> at
> http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html
>
>
>
>
>
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
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