The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-10-30
FEMALE LUNATICS.
Eighteen Women Taken from the COun.
ty Poor Farm to k3nkakee-..SOme
of Their Yagaries.

man on the II. L. q L. road, Sheriff. het-
ECKER brought to the city eighteen insane
women and one insane man. Carriages
were in waiting at the depot and the pa
tients were OF once conveyed to the sher-
ifs Office in the Jail building. Mr.. J. S.
Robertson and Supervisor Barton accom>
panied the party to this city, and helped
to take care of those who were violent.
The following are the names of the wo>
men: Anna j. Ahrenson, Mary Ander-
son, Mary Higgins, Caroline Coltengren,
Mrs. j. F. Jones, Mrs Jennings, Anna
johnson, Margaret Kelly, Anna Lindburg,
Margaret Mcguire, Mary Powell, JoSe>
phne Peterson, Abby O'Connor, Margaret
Patterson, Hester E. Smell, Margaret
Shaw, Mrs Margaret Kevelin and Mary
Butler The man was John Kane, who
was recently adjudged insane in the
county court. There were five women in
the party who had never been officially
adiudged insane aud Judge Adams was
called for the purpose of trying them.
He empannelled a jury composed of DR..
George L. Eyster, foreman; John Wollen-
haupt, NJ. J. Spur, Thos Ransom, 7.
Beselin, and NJ H. Gross The jury, after
listening to the evidence, adJudged Annie
Jennings, Caroline Coltengren, Margaret
McQuire, Mary Powell and Anna l..
Ahrenson insane. and fit subjects for
treatment in the hospitable at Kankakee.
Some of the women we're very violent
One of them grasped Sheriff Reticker by
the hand and bit him. This woman looks
more like a man than woman. Her hair
is clipped short, and her features are
coarse. She is foolishly insane, and
laughs and cries by turns.
Mrs Hester T. Smell is matter of fact
person She is from Andalusia and has
been insane ten years or more.
Last night she walked up to a gentleman
and said: my husband is married again,
and so am |; that is my husband standing
over yonder." and she pointed toward a
stranger whom ,she never saw before.
She assured reporter that the whole
crowd WAS crazy and she was just going
along with them to see that they were
properly taken care of Mrs Jennings
has an idea that her eyes are gong to be
plucked out, and she, wears a bandage
over them all the time. This insane
freak is injuring her eye sight and will
eventually make her blind, but she gets
wild if the bandage is taken away from
her. She is quite an old lady, and is
continually talking about her husband
who she says left her and then died
Anna L. Ahrenson is very violent at
times and talks Swcde In rafting man
ner. She got mad about something last
night and raved and emphasized her re-
marks by slapping heI hands and stamps
ing her feet. No one present knew what
she was talking about She is inculably
| insane.
Margaret Kelly is quiet and peaceful.
She talks sensible for while and then
suddenly breaks into peals of laughter.
Anna Johnson gazes toward the ceiling
continually. She says she can see horses
and men flying around in the air.
The women were kept at the Jail last
night, and this morning Sheriff Reticker,
Mr. and Mrs J s. Robertson and Super
visor Barton left on the SEQ c.. R. |. &
p. train for Kankakee with the crazy
people. When Margaret Kevelin was
taken by her old home in the upper part
of the city this morning, she at once rec-
ognized the place and wanted to go home
She grew very violent, and it took con-
siderable physical persuasion to get
her to go along. This party makes
the total number of insane men and
women sent from the county poor house
to Kankakee, thirtyfive.