 william chester minor, also known as w. c. minor (june 1834 &ndash; march 26, 1920) was an american army surgeon and one of the largest contributors of quotations to the oxford english dictionary. he was held in a lunatic asylum at the time. ==biography== ===early life=== minor was born on the island of ceylon (now sri lanka), the son of congregationalist church missionaries from new england. he had numerous half-siblings, among them thomas t. minor, mayor of seattle, washington, in the late 1880s. at 14 he was sent to the united states. he subsequently attended yale, completing a medical education in 1863. ===military career=== he was accepted by the union army as a surgeon and served at the battle of the wilderness in may 1864, which was notable for the terrible casualties suffered by both sides. minor was also given the task of punishing an irish soldier in the union army by branding him on the face with a d for "deserter" and his nationality later played a role in minor's dementia delusions. after the end of the american civil war, minor saw duty in new york city. he was strongly attracted to the red-light district of the city and devoted much of his off-duty time to going with prostitutes. by 1867, his behavior had come to the attention of the army and he was transferred to a remote post in the florida panhandle. by 1868, his condition had progressed to the point that he was admitted to st. elizabeths hospital, a lunatic asylum in washington, d.c. after eighteen months he showed no improvement. ===move to england=== in 1871 he went to the uk, settling in the slum of lambeth, in london, where once again he took up a dissolute life. haunted by his paranoia, he fatally shot a man named george merrett, who minor believed had broken into his room, on february 17, 1872. merrett had been on his way to work to support his fami
1834_births 1920_deaths American_Civil_War_surgeons American_expatriates_in_England American_lexicographers American_military_physicians American_surgeons Burials_in_Connecticut People_acquitted_by_reason_of_insanity People_detained_at_Broadmoor_Hospital People_with_schizophrenia Union_Army_officers United_States_Army_Medical_Corps_officers Yale_University_alumni