Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-01-31
LOOKED UP WITH LUNATICs.
A sane Man i'm the Utica Asylum-Ex-
periences of James b. Silkman-A suit
for Se5 900 Begun.


A sane Man in the Utica Asy1um-Ex-
periences of James b. SiIkman-A suit
for Se5, 900 Begun.
Neao York Tribune.
ssIs it possible in this free republic, in
the latter part OF the nineteenth century,
for man with impunity to cause another
who may be obnoxious to him, but who is
of perfectly sound mind. to be incarcer-
ated in an insane asylum and subjected
to indignities that even lunatlcs should
be protected againstY'
This inquiry was addressed to Tribune
reporter yesterday by lawyer who for
thirty-two years has had his office at No.
81 Wall street. The man of whom the
lawyer spoke, James B. Silkman, who is
now a little over 80 years OF age, has
lived for over twenty years in 1onkers.
His family consisted of a wife and four
children, one son and three daughters.
Mrs. Silkman died over five
years ago and bequeathed to her
children house and several
lots valued at $685. 900. The husband was
appointed trustee Of the estate, in which
he had a life interest. The brother OF
Mrs. Silkman, Darius 6. Crosby, is a
wealthy lawyer in this city and member
of the firm of Lockwood Il Crosby, OF 80
Nassau street. Mr.. Silkman's son, Theo-
dore H., has for some years been en-
ployed in the office of Lockwood d Crosby.
He is now about 20 years old. 1t is al
legged that the son, instigated by his uncle,
began to make alterations in the house
which Mrs. Silkman had bequeathed to
her children without consulting his IA
Their and in opposition to his fathers
wishes. Mr.. Silkman protested, and a
quarrel ensued with his son and Mr..
] 4 laOo ,sIa father leave
the premises. A threat made by Mr..
Silkman "to expose certain discrepancies
in certain marriages and births" IN Mr..
Cr0sby's family, it is asserted, provoked
Mr.. Crosby's resentment. 1900,
A few evenings afterward, May 10, 1882,
Mr.. Silkman was attending lecture IN
the house Of Everett Gale, IN School
street, Yonkers, when the bell rang. Mr..
Silkman, going to the door, was con-
! fronted by three officers, who arrested
! him, placed him in carriage and con-
veyed him to White Plains. 1t is charged
! that the next day, without being taken
before Judge Clifford, who had issued the
warrant for his arrest, he was taken to
/ Utica and placed in the State Lunatic
! ASYLUM. There he was detained until
! August %, 1882. Judge Barnard dis
| charged him 'On the ground hat he was
| not insane or of unsOund mind, and his
! restraint and Imprisonment were unlaW-
| full"
The papers have Just been served in a
! suit brought in the Supreme Court in
/ Westchester county by James b. Silkman
! against Darius g. Crosby, in which the
| latter is charged with instigating and pro-
! curing Mr.. Silkman's incarceration in the
! lunatic asylum, and damages amounting
! to $4,000 are claimed. In the complaint
Mr.. Silkman alleges that he was treated
! with unnecessary harshness by the OH
! GERS who arrested him and took him to
! White Plains at midnight; they refused
! to give him food, annoyed him in various
ways, and would not allow him to CON-
muncate with his friends, finally incar-
cerating him at Utica. He declares that
! the proceedings and arrest were ga mere
| fraudulent pretense and subterfuge on
! the part of defendant to procure plaintiff S
| Imprisonment before he should suspect
what was intended, and "in order that
said defendants and accOmplices could
| forcibly enter upon PLAINTIFFS premises
| and in his library in said city of YOnkers,
| for which purpose defendant employed
! divers persons to 20 with tools and nipple
ments and break open all the locks on the
/ drawers and closets in said plaintiff S
/ library in said city OF YOnkers, with the
\ purpose of there finding and appr0pri-
! ating a certain family record which the
said defendant afterward tOrcibly and
| fraudulentlV took from the iron safe in
| plaintiffs office, No. 81 Wall street."
The most interesting part of Mr.. Silk
mans complaint, aside from that relating
to the facility with which he was seized
| and conveyed to the asylum, is that in
| which he describes his treatment after be
! had been incarcerdted at Utica. On en-
/ uering the asylum he was locked up alone
in small cell or bed room at p. m,
| with no light, separated from all bodily
/ comforts and from his friends, and no OPP
pOrtunity given him to communicate with
any person in his interest. While in the
madhouse he was compelled to associate
with ordinary poor house patients and
/ those who were really insane, ''tO listen
to obscene language, to endure the priva-
! ton OF ali decent sanitary arrangements,
! to eat poor house fare, such as
wretched butter, sOggy potatoes and
Long Island Coffee under threats
of resort to mouth screw and
stomach tube in case of revolt at sGeh un-
accustomed and disgusting food, while
| plaintiffs chronic Internal ailments called
tor specific articles of food which were
refused to him. He was compelled Ia
make his own bed, sweep MS room ana
the halls, go out with squad OF patients
daily and hoe the garden vegetables and
hoe manure In the barnyard where 60
| COWS were fed; he was forced to go into
the public streets of Utica under a guard
and sweep the sidewalks, pull the weeds
out of the street, cutters and roadway,
and hoe the cutters out. He was forced
to take from three to five doses of drugs
daily under threats of punishment and to
perform seryile and mental labor in cold
and windy weather. He charges that a
letter which he wrote to an intimate
| friend containing information concerning
important papers was sent by the asylum
| officials to Mr.. Crosby, and that the
! papers mentioned were taken from the
safe in his office and used in the effort to
| prevent his release, after being altered
for this purpose. Finally he claims that
! false witnesses were subpenaed to OPP
pose his discharge in the habeas corpus
| proceedings before Judge Barnard at
Poughkeepsie, and that when he was
/ finally discharged he was so injured by
/ what he had gone through that he had
lost much Of his mental power, and his
nervous system became so shattered as
to unfit him for several weeks for resum-
! ing his professional lahors,
Mr.. Silkman is one OF the managers OF
the Society for Promoting the Condition
| of the Insane.