TIP 623 - A PLEA FOR HELP - EASTERN STATE HOSPITAL For this research tip, I am posting not only to listers at KYRESEARCH but also to my KYBIOGRAPHIES and two other lists. I have just learned of a new rootsweb site that deserves all of our attention and help. Mary Hatton and Jerry Taylor, two wonderful researchers and great gals as well, have undertaken a project involving Eastern State Hospital Cemetery in Lexington, KY. Let's look at a little background information: >From the time when Kentucky reached statehood in 1792 and reaching into 1824, mentally disturbed citizens of the Commonwealth were normally boarded out with other citizens - relatives, concerned neighbors, or those who just took mercy on the condition of the individual. In many of the early court records of the state will be found payments made individuals for "the care of …." A few people were sent to Eastern State Hospital at Williamsburg, VA if they were financially able to afford their keeping at this institution. It took 24 years, but a group of citizens of Lexington established a hospital originally known as the Fayette Hospital. Its patients were to include the "poor, disabled and "lunatic" members of society." In 1817 the Honorable Henry Clay spoke at the dedication of the facility even though the building was not finished and there were no patients. It took another five years for the General Assembly of the Commonwealth to pass an "Act to Establish a Lunatic Asylum". Ten acres of land were set aside and the still unfinished building dedicated in 1817 and the Fayette Hospital welcomed its first patient on May 1, 1824, yet another two years later. In 1828, in a dissertation by Samuel Theobold, M.D., (Transylvania University) it was stated that the goal of the hospital was "the custodial care of the insane and the protection of society…Most of the lunatics admitted were incurable cases, as non-violent insane were to be maintained in private homes, being sent to the hospital when no longer tame enough to be kept at home…" According to information found, the care was minimal. Some patients were treated by local doctors or the Transylvania College of Medicine. Many years later, in 1844, Eastern State Hospital gained its first medical superintendent, Dr. John Rowan Allen. With his administration, "moral treatment" was to be observed - compassion and understanding treatment. The environment had been far from kind. Straight jackets, leather cuffs, chains and other restraining devises were used - common treatment for the day. Dr. Allen wanted to eliminate these conditions and succeeded until around the end of the Civil War. Transylvania University Medical School had closed; more patients were admitted, over-crowding became a problem and the restraints returned. All in all, the staff tried their best. In early years, patients were admitted from all over the state and other states; in 1945 there were over 2,000 patients; in 1967 there were over 1,000. Many employees lived on the grounds in cottages, dorms or in rooms at the hospital. They also did farm work, mending, washing of dishes, maintained buildings and other jobs. With time there were changes in treatment including shock therapy and tranquilizers. The original name of Eastern State Hospital was the Lunatic Asylum. In 1876, it was called Eastern Kentucky Lunatic Asylum. On January 2, 1912, the General Assembly, Commonwealth of Kentucky, officially renamed the facility Eastern State Hospital. Now we move to the plea for help. At the hospital is a cemetery that was used from the first quarter of the 19th century until the early 1950's. No one has an actual count of how many have been buried here, but some estimates set the number as high as 10,000 or more! The Eastern State Hospital Cemetery Club is trying to identify those who lived and died at the hospital when the cemetery was in use. As researchers know, it was not until 1911 that the State of Kentucky kept birth and death records with the exception of the scattered years that vital statistics were kept by the counties. Here enters Mary and Jerry who have established a website that is full of information on the hospital and what they are searching. I will give you a link to their site at the end of this post. They have transcribed several years of death certificates, scanned newspapers, read census records. Mary notes that in 1870 there were 508 patients ranging in age from 7 years to 79 years of age. A quote from the Herald-Leader staff writer Emily Yahr sums up the condition of the cemetery: "Located about a half-mile behind Eastern State Hospital, the nearly one-acre plot has a few scattered trees, a dirt-covered bench and several bright yellow lilies that seem out of place. There is a lone, rather arbitrarily placed tombstone that reads: "Celebrating their dignity." The monument reeks of irony, said Bruce Burris, the leader of the restoration effort. Because the cemetery has been disturbed over the years by construction projects, hundreds of human remains have been mixed together and re-buried, making it nearly impossible to tell who is buried where, said Burris, who has been researching the cemetery for several years. One reason for the nameless graves, he said, is that people were ashamed of the stigma of mental illness. As a result, family and friends sometimes did not claim their loved ones when they died. Some never knew they were there. Many patients were just abandoned or became wards of the state. "Back then, people hushed their mouths up. They didn't talk about things," Taylor, 52, said. "It's not that it was a bad thing, but a hospital like that ... it was taboo." Can you help? I am asking you to please check out the Eastern Hospital's Cemetery website and if you have any information, contact Mary Hatton, whose email address is linked. You will find many photographs, census records, death certificates (actual images), newspaper obituaries, and more history. You can learn more about the cemetery club. You just might find someone there whose name you recognize. If you can help in any way, know of any burials in the cemetery there, have any information at all …. It will be greatly appreciated. The website referenced is: http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/esh/#Eastern_State_Hospital_Census ©Copyright 11 January 2007, Sandra K. 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