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Archiver > KYOWEN > 2007-09 > 1189276907


From:
Subject: [KYOWEN] Interesting Find
Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2007 14:41:47 EDT


Dear All,
While doing some surfing I decided to look at the site concerning
Eastern State Hospital in Lexington. I do know that this was a mental institution
established around 1830. And the preservation group is trying to "rename the
unknown".
Before I start and to prevent me from ruffling anyone's feathers, let me
remind you that we all don't have perfect families. To be honest, I find
perfect families to be quite boring. It is the unusual ones or the "black sheep"
that make us interesting and also teach us some patience and compassion.
There are the criminals, the insane, the alcoholics, and the illegitimate in a
lot of my lines. But they are still my family. And some of yours, too. And
that shouldn't keep me from caring for them.
While searching the site, I found several interesting facts. Eastern
not only served the insane, but also for the two cholera epidemics in Fayette
Co. Many inmates died of epilepsy, paralysis, T.B., senile dementia,
consumption of the bowel, dropsy, kidney problems, etc. that caused many to "loose their
minds".. Some famous inmates included Thomas Clay, Henry Clay's oldest son,
Judge Lewis Collins, author of Collins History of Kentucky, and also one
assistant superintendent of Eastern State.
I also found some of my family from both my mother's and father's sides.
They give the date of death, age, county where they were from (some even
from other states), and other odds and ends of information. The older ones
include cause of death, obituaries of some, and where buried. And length of
hospitalization. There were several from Owen Co. One Johnson Ballard born 1846,
died 1908, and buried in the Claxon Cemetery. There is a Thomas Estes, born
1887 Scott Co., died 18 Jun 1918 and was hospitalized for 3 years, 3 months. He
was buried at Eastern State. He is definately one of mine. And I want to
put a name to him as both parents listed as Esteses. The several from my
mother's side have added quite a bit of info that I was missing on some of the
siblings of my ancestors.
I do hope that you will explore this site. Mental illness is certainly
not a "warm fuzzy" subject to discuss. I hated psychiatry when I was in
nursing school, because it wasn't logical to me. BUT it is a reality in life. And
you sometimes have to get your info where you can find it.
My father once told me that living was hard and dying was easy. Some
of us find living harder that others, especially when you read some of the
obits from this site. But I still think these "lost souls" deserve being
remembered and accounted for.
Judy Estes Lawrence...................



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