Returns of Pauper Lunatics and Idiots
(Chilmark, 1842)

[The following was extracted from the original document stored at the Massachusetts State Archives in Boston.
Scroll your browser to the right to view the entire table.]

Name.
Age.
Sex.
White or Colored.
Place of Birth.
Idiot or Lunatic.
Duration of Disease.
Duration of Confinement.
Is the person in your Almshouse, or in a private family?
Is the person confined or in any strong room or cage?
How many others are confined in the same room or cage?
Length and breadth of the room or cage in feet.
Is the person furiously mad, or only occasionally so?
Are chains, straps, or other means of bodily restraint used?
What Hospital has the person been in, and how long? Is the person a State or town pauper? Cost of support of each person per week.

Gideon Mayhew
y[illeg]
53
Male
White
Chilmark
Lunatic
32 years
as much as
25 yrs
Private family
No
none
Nine feet
occasionally
Not of late
None
Town
$2.25

Philura Allen
About 68 yrs
female
Do
Do
Do
about
20 yrs
about 20 yrs
Do
No
none
nine feet
Occasionally
Not of late
None
Do
$2.00

John Mayhew
About 67 years
Male
Do
Do
Do
About
28 yrs
Not Confined
Do
No
none
---
occasionally
No
none
Do
$1.95

John Brown
about 30 yrs
Male
Do
Do
Idiot
About
8 years
Not Confined
Do
No
None
---
---
No
None
Do
$1.50

Remarks: these persons are Mostly Aged and retain Scarcely a Spark of Reason and are Kept by their [illeg. (own?)] relatives who make use of proper restrictions But under the Inspection of the Overseers - the are worn out with Infirmity But ocassionaly furiously Mad.

Smith Mayhew
Nathan S. Bassett } Overseers of the Poor of Chilmark

Chilmark Dec. 20th 1842.

General Questions

1. What means of ventilation are used for the rooms in which the Lunatics or Idiots are confined?

By windows and Doors

2. How are the rooms warmed?

by coals being lit in them occasionally and they come out and warm themselves by the fire of the family with which they Board

3. How often are these rooms cleaned?

They are boarded out one in a family and they clean their rooms as often as they think needful

4. How often and how much are the Lunatics and Idiots, who are confined, allowed to exercise in open air?

there is but two confined to rooms and they go out occasionally with a keeper sometimes oftener than at other times

5. Is a physician emplyed to attend upon these Lunatics for the purpose of curing their mental derangement, or only in case of bodily disease?

Only in case of Bodily Disease

6. If any paupers belonging to your town are now in the State Lunatic Hospital, please state their names and ages, and the time when each was sent there.

None

7. If any lunatic persons or idiots are confined in the alms-house, besides paupers, please state their names and the various circumstances concerning them, according to the questions in the table.

None

Also see the 1842 returns of Edgartown, Tisbury, the Edgartown Jail,
and the Edgartown House of Corrections, as well as the 1829 return of Chilmark.

Comments? Questions? Corrections? Suggestions? Let me know!
Return to Dukes County History.

Returns of Pauper Lunatics and Idiots (Chilmark, 1842)

Returns of Pauper Lunatics and Idiots
(Chilmark, 1842)