Edward C. (1854-1922)

Edward was born in Ohio in 1854 and came to Indiana with his parents and ten siblings at the age of 12. He worked as a teamster and a laborer in a tile factory in Clinton County.

Edward married his wife Alice when he was about 32 years old, and the couple had seven children together. Then in October of 1921, when Edward was 67, he had a “stroke of paralysis,” which he attributed to overwork. The episode affected the left side of his body and his behavior.

Within a few months, he was confined to the county jail on the grounds that he was a danger to himself and others. His wife, children, and brothers stated in a county insanity inquest that he had become profane and vulgar and had memory problems, hallucinations, and delusions of persecution. He accused his wife of infidelity and threatened to kill her and burn their home.

Edward was admitted to Central State Hospital on March 23, 1922. Once admitted, he had very little awareness or recollection of the condition and circumstances that led to his institutionalization, only that he had quarreled with his wife.

He lived at the hospital for about three and a half years before becoming bedridden then passing away. The cause of his death was found to be a cerebral hemorrhage – the large dark spot visible in the specimen. The pathologist attributed Edward’s symptoms to cerebral arteriosclerosis found in the autopsy.