Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1868-03-19
SIXTY YEARS OF INSANITY.
UuparalleIed Cnue OF Chronic Madness
A Snd md Terrlblo nlst0ry.

The Massachusetts, papers announc,
the death Of Josiah Spailting, the ma
MAC pauper Of Buckland, whose sac
case has been often referred to by thu
press. Mr.. S%paulding was the only sor
Of the late Rev. Josiah Spaulding, pas
tor Of the Congregational Church il
Buckland, who died in 1926. He wa!
graduated at Yale College in 1918. Thu
father was an accurate scholar, an &C
cute reasoner, md an able writer, but
lacking the graces of elocution, his dis
courses were marred by monotonous
disagreeablo delivery. His personal in
tegrity, goodness of heart, and eminent
piety were doubted by none His fer
vor and fidelity in pastoral duty won
the respect and love of all classes . Tht
pious temper with which lie bore hit
great trial for eleven Of the last year!
Of his life, and the accomplishing spirit
with which he provided, out of hi:
scanty income, for the support Of his
unfortunate son, excited the admiration
of his friends and of all who became
acquainted with his case.
Josiah was his only son. Il was his
fathers chief desire that his son should
be educated to be q minister of the Cos
pei. With n feeble constitution, and O
mind of only ordinary capacity, the
young man studied beyond his strength
in fitting for college, being compelled
also to engage 10 school keeping to sup.
plement his fathers narrow means
Just as he was nearly ready for college,
being t~wenty-one years Of age, he be.
came violently and hopelessly deranged,
The first public outbreak Of insanity
was at church, or Sunday, while his
father was ut prayer, when he suddenly
threw the psalm book at his mothers
head.
For nearly two years he was not con-
fined, until his fathers life had been
repeatedly endangered by his violence.
When he was restrained with chains for
q couple Of years, and then was placed
in o strong cage in the garnet Of the
house, from which he never came forth
while he lived. No clothing could BIO
kept on him but in severe weather he
would allow himself to be covered with
a blanket, which lasted only till his
propensity for destruction became
stronger than his fear Of the cold. His
cage was not high enough for him to
stand erect, and he remained constantly
in a sitting posture, leaning back against
the timber when he slept. His limbs
could not BIO Strengthened, his hair was
never trimmed, aad for cleanliness he
received only the attention given to q
poorly kept animal.
In fact, he lost the appearance of q
human being, nearly lost the faculty Of
speech, and for many years before his
death became wholly demented and idi-
otto. For some years before the death
of his parents, their poverty compelled
them to throw their only son upon the
town for support as II pauper, in a place
where rigid p%enuriousness toward the
poor was the law ofpublic opinion. Thus
he lived for sixty years, and thus died
one Of the "chronic irssne poor" We
find no record in tho medical journals
of SO long q period of insanity. The
longest period noted by French writer's,
and that in hospital, is ffty-six years.
Such is the inglorious history Of one
who was n son and brother and neigh
bora scholar, q gentleman and q
Christian, until with that terrible sick
ness of the mind which tire score years
back was so III understood, as to be in
curablo. He died ut the age of eighty
one No official or legal investigation
of his case, or his class of cases, has
ever been made by the Government, but
he was left in this pitiable but unpitied
state, in tho midst Of q highly enlight-
ened and Christian people, to howl and
shrek and groan and suffer the anutter-
able horrors of mental madness, for
sixty wears,