#72 SISTERS' MENTAL HEALTH

                                             NATURE OR NURTURE?

Patrick Moran was born 1802 in Co.Carlow, Ireland and died before 1883 in Puslinch Township, Wellington Co. Ontario. His wife, Eliza Tobin, was born 1804 in Co. Wexford and died 1900 in Wellington County. Patrick and Eliza were married in 1826  and immigrated to Canada in 1844 with their eight children; two more children were born in Canada although one died young.

Nature or nurture? The two oldest twin daughters, Mary and Ellen, and two grandsons, all had documented issues of mental instability.

 

ELLEN MORAN 

Medical records are available for Ellen (Moran) Walsh. In 1867, Ellen (1833-1897) married Guelph stonemason James Walsh (1827-1904) . (One of Ellen's younger sisters, Elizabeth, had married James brother, Michael, in 1854.) Ellen, at age 50, was first admitted to the Hamilton Asylum in February 1885. She was described by the doctors as “a coarse-looking Irish woman, pale, thin and worn-looking. She is very deaf.” She was heard screaming as the cab drove off in front of the asylum and she continued screaming hideously for some time after she was in the ward. Ellen told the doctor that she was not out her mind, but only that her nerves were bad and that she needed something to kill her nerves, not cure them. Through March, she cried constantly, wanted her nerves killed and felt she would never get better. She would grab the doctor, begging to be killed, and had to be forcibly removed. And while she slept and ate fairly, she had to be fed, and occasionally sedated. At the end of April, on the insistence of her family, she was discharged and her husband, James came and took her home.

Sadly, two years later in June 1887, Ellen had to be readmitted to the Hamilton Hospital with another diagnosis of chronic mania, ovarian hyperaemia, suicidal and dangerous thoughts, and hallucinating that her neck had been broken. Wrote the admitting doctor, “I knew Mrs. Walsh twelve years ago, she was then an intelligent, industrious and sensible woman, in her sphere; now she is quite a different character, cannot talk coherently on any subject, is quite indifferent about her dress and household duties, etc. She imagines that her neck has been broken. that her body resembles a wooden box, etc and that she can only obtain relief from her present condition by being either burned in a lime kiln or put through a threshing machine.” Although formerly very quiet in conversation, she was now talking rapidly and loudly. She refused to wear proper clothing. On admission to the Hospital, she was excited and crying , was noisy at night, continued to have crying spells and whining during the daytime “demanding to be ground in a mill or put through a threshing machine as she is so wretched.” In November, she suffered a stroke, and although doctors advised against it, James came to take her home.

                                                    Hospital today, abandoned

Ellen’s last and final committal to Hamiton Hospital was August 1896. Doctors considered that she had a masked form of epilepsy. Doctors wrote, “She thinks she has, by drugs and other agencies been turned into the devil…that she has been put through a threshing machine…she talks constantly…says that all the sinews in her arms and legs are broken and that she can never get better…takes no interest in anything but her own imaginary troubles.” “Does nothing but walk up and down the halls wringing her hands and moaning.” “Cleanly but untidy and lies about on the floor. Quiet but continually begging to be put through a threshing machine.” Over the next few months, Ellen was hurt by other patients—a broken wrist when shoved, cuts on her head, a tooth knocked out, a swollen finger, slight cut to her forehead, sore shin when a bench was knocked over. In March 1897, she caught influenza and died on the morning of April 2. Ellen, aged 60 had been a patient in the Hamilton Hospital for a total of 8 years, 7 months, 24 days. She is buried in St. Joseph’s Pioneer Cemetery Guelph. The inscription on her gravestone reads “May her soul rest in Peace. Amen.”

In the early years of Upper Canada, mentally ill people were left to wander at will provided they neither endangered, nor were perceived to endanger, other people or property. Those viewed as disruptive or who elicited fear in the populace were placed in poorhouses, jails or penitentiaries. The establishment of mental hospitals in Ontario from the 1840s to 1890s brought some relief to mentally ill people but they were considered by society to be aberrant, off-putting, unconventional, unpredictable, unsettling. They were deemed disturbing—therefore “disturbed” and maybe dangerous and perhaps violent. Many women were admitted for “female troubles.” In the early years of the Hamilton Asylum, there happened to be more farmers’ wives than women from the city but this could be because there were more farming families in Ontario at the time. The hospital would have some of its women sew, while some would stitch carpets together. Some would knit, others would read (Ellen was unable to read), others would just sit listlessly in their armchairs. Some lay on couches, many would jabber unmeaningly, some laughed, others drowsed or were silent, gazing with pitifully vacant eyes into space.

The Hamilton Asylum for the Insane was initially intended to be an asylum for inebriates; however there was more need for beds for the mentally disturbed and this became its sole concern. It became operational in 1876 on 529 acres of land. Until well into the 20^th century, it was accessible only by a dirt road and was therefore quite isolated. It was, however, largely self-sufficient with the farm, on which the hospital stood, providing all the necessary food. Cattle, chickens, pigs as well as a fruits and vegetables came from the farm; it had its own bakery, butcher’s shop, greenhouse, root cellar, milk-processing house, tailor’s shop, sewing room, upholstery shop, fire hall, power house, a fleet of vehicles, skating and curling rinks, a bowling green, tennis courts, and chapel. In the 1890s, when Ellen was a patient, it housed 915 patients and employed 119 people. The furniture that the patients would use such as beds and chairs were so heavy that the patients could not pick them up and toss them around.

In the early years, the asylum had opened their doors; thus, it was not unusual for people to come by on a Sunday summer afternoon to taunt the patients who were out for fresh air; they would tease the patients, throw things at them, dare them to do things. There was also a big steam whistle that would blow, warning local residents that a patient had escaped; mothers would scoop up their children, rush them inside the house and bolt the doors and windows. The person responsible for the escaped patient would usually be fired on the spot.

In those early years, treatments were harsh. There was one called the salt rub stimulation treatment where the patient’s extremities were vigorously rubbed with a cold cloth spread with salt. Spirit lamps would be used to heat morphine. Pub therapy was when a patient was given a large dose of booze to calm them down. Another therapy was the Utica Crib. When a patient became violent or hysterical, they would be put in a coffin-like box of solid oak slats lined only with straw; the Utican crib trapped the hysterical patient in a reclining position with only a foot of air space between them and the locked lid. Handcuffs were used to transport patients outside of the hospital. If necessary, leather muffs were used to restrain male patients and “the camisole” for females. Dry packs were sometimes used to restrain a patient; this would involve being wrapped four or five times with thick blankets, then large pins fastened snugly to the patient so they could hardly move to prevent injury to themselves. Wet packs were also used to restrain patients where the blankets would be soaked and wrapped around the patient the same as the dry pack method. Some patients would sometimes struggle and get out of the pack and hide the pins on their person only to swallow the pins at a later time. These pins were 8 inches so it is difficult to imagine how they could swallow such a large pin, The hospital also used Electro Shock Therapy; lobotomies were used in the early years.

                                                                        Utica crib

From Mary Ann McNamara, Graduate of HPH Nursing School: To be a nurse in those days meant quite a different thing than it does today.  For example, nurses had to carry lamps or lanterns when attending their patients as the rooms were unlit.  Nurses and attendants had their rooms on the wards in the early part of the century.  Before the 1920s, straw ticks (mattresses) were in use.  To make the beds, one had to reach into the straw to fluff it up.  Mice could sometimes be found nesting in the straw.  Nurses also were responsible for cleaning the wards.  Wooden floors had to be swept, waxed and polished with heavy block brushes pushed by the patients.  A Sunday job was to polish brass door plates, handles and doorknobs.  Nurses also washed windows and took garbage (wet and dry) daily to the garbage room in the basement. Nurses served all the meals from large aluminum pots.  They also were responsible for counting the cutlery after each meal to make certain it all was accounted for.  No one left the dining room until this was done! To prepare a sterile tray involved collecting the required equipment and placing it in a large oval bed bath tub.  It was then covered with water and boiled for twenty minutes on the gas stoves in the ward kitchen.  

 

 

MARY MORAN (twin sister of Ellen)

Mary was Ellen’s twin sister. She married Patrick Shea (1824-1911) in 1855 and they had nine children. They farmed in Nichol Township, just outside Fergus.

Mary died Mary 5, 1887, aged 54. Suicide is listed as cause of death (often another cause of death would be listed to keep the suicide a “secret”. Mary’s suicide was known by family). There is reference in Ellen’s hospital records to her twin sister being insane and committing suicide. A grandson, Leo Shea, also verified this about his grandmother, Mary. Leo also mentioned in his military record that he had two uncles who were “insane”. These two uncles would be Mary’s sons Francis and James.

So far, I have ben unable to locate a burial place for Mary (or husband Patrick). Previously, when a person committed suicide, the Catholic Church  would not allow funeral mass or burial in a Catholic cemetery. It was held that suicide was a great offence against life so the person would have committed a mortal sin; thus having a Catholic funeral mass and burial in a Catholic cemetery would be a contradiction and hence cause for scandal. Maybe Mary was quietly buried in the Fergus public cemetery?

 

FRANCIS JOSEPH SHEA  (son of Mary Moran Shea)

Francis (1868-1945)  was Mary and Patrick’s eighth child. He emigrated to the USA and in 1891 married Emily Aiston. They had 3 children. In the 1900 Illinois census, Francis is listed as dentist perhaps associated with the nearby Academy of Sisters of Providence. After he attempted to kill his brother with a butcher knife, his wife petitioned the court to have him involuntarily committed. In February 1903,  Francis was sent to the Peoria State Hospital, formerly the Illinois Asylum for the Incurable Insane. The hospital of 63 buildings sprawled across 200 acres

 (The hospital's name was changed in 1907 as those in charge argued that no patient was incurable.) This was a different kind of institution, one where those with mental illness were treated humanely. All bars were taken off doors and windows, restraints such as restraining chairs, leather muffs, anklets, canvas straitjackets were discarded. Rather than the singular, self-contained asylum building, patients were housed in 33 individual cottages with administrative, medical and kitchen services centrally located. New, holistic treatments were offered and Staff was expected to treat patients with respect. Healthy diets were offered, uniforms rejected, narcotic drugs abolished.

                                                                Peoria State Hospital

When and why Francis was institutionalised is not known. He died in that hospital on July 8 1911 of tuberculosis. It is not known if Francis is buried in the state hospital cemetery as patients were buried as numbers. (Numbering of grave sites was done for patient privacy at a time when many families wished to avoid the stigma of having a relative in a mental institution.) While over 1500 graves have been identified, Illinois law forbids the public recording of any graves; the remaining graves bear only a number and the State will not release information even under a Court Order.

                                                    Peoria State Hospital Cemetery

 

JAMES MICHAEL SHEA (son of Mary Moran Shea)

James (1874-) was the youngest son of Patrick and Mary. In May 1903, he was committed to the Hamilton Insane Hospital for mania. He told doctors that he thought himself diseased, suspicious, and thinking that a ball of fire had gone through his head. (it was also noted on his admission form that his mother was insane.) Little is known about James’ life except he is listed on both the 1911 and 1921 census as a patient in the Hamilton Asylum. It is believed he died sometime after 1924.

                                                James' medical file--Hamilton Asylum

 

 

Nature or nurture? And what fears the family must have had that these genes might be passed down to later generations. I have debated for a long time whether I should write about this family’s private demons. Society’s understanding of mental health till recently has been limited with many viewing it as a personal weakness or character flaw rather than a legitimate medical condition. Today we realize that it is a disease to be faced and helped, not hidden, and that the stigma and discrimination toward people with mental illness must be addressed.

ELLEN MORAN                                                                                                                                             b. May 1833 in Knocknabranagh, Co.Carlow, Ireland                                                                               m. James Walsh (1827-1904) in Wellington County, Ontario                                                                     d. Apr 2 1897 in Hamilton, Ontario                                                                                                      

 Steve's 2x great aunt

MARY MORAN                                                                                                                                              b. May 1833 in Knocknabranagh, Co.Carlow, Ireland                                                                              m. Patrick Shea (1824-1911) in Wellington County, Ontario                                                                     d. May 5 1887 in Nichol Twp, Wellington Co., Ontario                                                                     Steve's 2x great aunt

   

FRANCIS JOSEPH SHEA                                                                                                                              b. August 1868 in Nichol Twp, Wellington County                                                                                    m. Emily Aiston (1873-1951) on Oct 14 1891 in Chicago, Ill.                                                                   d. July 8 1911 in Peoria, Ill                                                                                                                   Steve's 1st cousin, 2x removed

JAMES MICHAEL SHEA                                                                                                                              b. Jul 20 1874 in Nichol Twp., Wellington County                                                                                    d. aft 1924                                                                                                                                            Steve's 1st cousin, 2x removed