> Does anyone have information on an "Anna State Hospital" and where it > was located? The brother of my Great Grandfather died there on August > 6, 1900. Was this an insane asylum or could it have been a TB > hospital? Does anyone know if there are records available for the > residents? My GG grandfather died at the hospital in Anna in 1897. While my great aunt in her genealogy notes about her grandfather referred to it as the "Illinois Sailors' and Soldiers' Home," the death record from the home states "Illinois Southern Hospital for the Insane." No address other than Anna, Illinois is listed on the record. I have often wondered if the home were known popularly by a variety of names, serving various functions for the elderly, poor and ill, but formally was a hospital for the insane. I do know that he was not in the hospital until the last years of his life, which would suggest he was there either for dementia or for reasons other than insanity. Jim Bridges

Jim...I live about 15 minutes from what was once known as the Northern Illinois Hospital for the Insane here in Elgin. I never knew there was a southern counterpart in Anna, but I know there was one in Jacksonville. Anyway, I have found in researching Elginites, that you did not have to be insane to be a patient there. You could have been ill or just indigent. Please remember that this was before the time of what we now call nursing homes. I once saw an article in our paper regarding the death of the oldest former living slave in Elgin who had lived at the hospital. He had no family and ended up as a patient and probably a ward of the state. I'm sure that the hospital in Anna has a cemetery as does the one here in Elgin. As for patient records, here in Elgin they are only available with a court order. I have several friends who work or have worked at the hospital. I have been able to locate burial locations for patients who died while at the hospital but no other information. The burial information may be unique to the hospital in Elgin. Hope this information is of some help. Judy Van Dusen Elgin, IL