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| And this poor life was endedThe 27th Session of the Kansas Methodist Conference was held in Abilene, Kansas in March, 1882. With his half-fare railroad pass in hand, Rev. James S. Griffing boarded the Union Pacific train in Manhattan and left town to attend what would be his last Annual Conference. Church records indicate that the conference convened at 9 a.m. on March 9th. James is listed as Treasurer of the Missionary Society, Chairman of a standing committee on Freedman’s Aid, and one of seven ministers on the Triers of Appeals. Though apparently still active, on March 14th James was granted a supernumerary position, meaning that he was no longer required to hold an appointment and to preach regularly. Such positions were often granted to senior ministers when failing health prevented their continued service.
It is probable that by 1882, James was suffering from malaria cachexia – a chronic form of malaria. The parasite that had entered his body 27 years earlier when he first came to Kansas Territory to preach the Gospel, had in stages laid waste to his 59-year old body. Reduced in weight, anemic, and probably jaundiced, James’ declining physical condition did not go unnoticed by the other conference attendees. According to his good friend, and fellow Wesleyan University graduate, Rev. Joseph Denison: In 1856, [James] had an
attack of chills followed by a bilious fever and that by Typhoid fever, so that
there seemed no hope of his recovery and his physicians thought that should he
recover, he would never preach again. After his sickness, he never became what
he was before. All his powers were in a measure impaired, and yet with wonderful
courage and fidelity he continued to preach [for 26 more years] until a short
time before his death… A
week after returning from the Annual Conference, and while in this reduced state
of health, James was stricken by a pernicious form of the malaria known as
“Bell’s Mania.” In his book published in 1892, Dr. William Osler described
the disease as follows: The disease may set in abruptly or be preceded by a period of irritability, restlessness, and insomnia. The mental symptoms develop with rapidity and may quickly reach a grade of the most intense frenzy. There are the wildest hallucinations and outbreaks of great violence. The patient talks incessantly, but incoherently and unintelligibly. No sleep is obtained and at last, worn out with the intensity of the muscular movements, the patient becomes utterly prostrated and assumes the sitting or recumbent posture…Very acute cases may terminate within a week; others persist for two or even three weeks. The course of the disease is almost uniformly fatal. [1] Had
James been in some eastern city where doctors more familiar with advances in
modern medicine might have been found, perhaps he would have received the
massive doses of quinine that may have stemmed the disease. But in rural Kansas,
no such doctors existed. Worse still, many doctors – including the one who
treated James – still believed that “religious
excitement” could bring on insanity. After
two days of increasing symptoms, such as those described by Dr. Osler, Augusta
took her ailing husband to Dr. Solon D. Ross, [2] a distant relative of hers who had recently moved to Manhattan from Illinois in
order to establish his first medical practice. When he examined the manic
patient on March 24th, Dr. Ross became quickly convinced that
James’ agitated and feverish state must be due to insanity and he recommended
to Augusta that she seek to have her husband committed to the State Asylum.
For the next three days, Dr. Ross treated James with sedatives while
Augusta contacted her eldest son, John, then living in Topeka, to come to
Manhattan and file the necessary records in Riley County Probate Court. On March 25th, John sent his mother the following postcard: My Dear Mother, Roll [Naylor] [3] came by our house a little while ago and said that Pa was very sick and that you thought of telegraphing me, I came right up ready to start out, can find no telegram or other word. Please write right away and let me know. We are very much frightened. Yours, -- John Leaving his heavily pregnant wife at the homestead two miles east of Topeka, John made his way to Manhattan where he discussed the matter with his mother and then swiftly started the legal proceedings by asking Henry W. Stackpole, who kept a law office at 223 Poyntz Avenue in Manhattan, to draw up the information necessary to file the petition. On March 27th, the following three records were entered: In Probate Court in and for Riley County and State of Kansas. In matter of Insanity of J. S. Griffing To the Probate Judge of said County, The petition of the undersigned respectfully represents to this court that J. S. Griffing of Riley County, State of Kansas, is insane and incapable of managing his affairs and prays the process of this court that the same may be enquired of that he may be so adjudged. John S. Griffing Subscribed and sworn to before me this 27th day of March 1882. D. Hungerford, Probate Judge.
State of Kansas. Riley County. In the Probate Court in and for said County. In the matter of the insanity of J. S. Griffing. To A. A. Parkerson, Constable of Manhattan City. You are hereby commanded to summon six Good and Lawful Citizens of said Riley County, one at least of whom shall be a physician in good standing, to act as jurors in a case wherein J. S. Griffing is charged with being a person of unsound mind, unsafe to be at large and a fit person to be sent to the State Insane Asylum. Said jurors to appear at the Office of the Probate Judge of said Riley County in Manhattan City Kansas at 3 o’clock P.M. on the 27th day of March A.D. 1882. Given under my hand and the seal of said Probate Court this 27th day of March A.D. 1882. D. Hungerford, Probate Judge.
State of Kansas, County of
Riley. We the undersigned jurors in
the case of James S. Griffing, having heard the evidence in the case, are
satisfied that said James S. Griffing is Insane and is a fit person to be sent
to the State Insane Asylum; that he is a resident of the State of Kansas and
County of Riley; that his age is 49 years; that his disease is of Jurors [signatures]
Wasting
no time, Judge Hungerford dispatched a telegram on March 27th
to Dr. Knapp [10], Superintendent of the State Insane Asylum at
Osawatomie submitting application for admission. On
the 28th, Dr. Knapp returned the following form letter: Mr. D. Hungerford, Probate Judge, Riley County Dear Sir. Your application in the case of Jas. S. Griffing is received. He can be admitted into the State Insane Asylum at Osawatomie on arrival. It will be necessary to have him supplied with at least three changes of clothing, including the same amount of woolen undergarments, and one pair of slippers, in addition to boots or shoes. Please have him fully informed before starting as to where he is going, and the reason why. Yours truly, -- A.H. Knapp, Superintendent Receiving Dr. Knapp’s letter on the 29th, Judge Hungerford completed the following “Lunacy Receipt” and handed it to the Riley County Sheriff: State of Kansas, Riley County. In the Probate Court of said County. In the matter of the Insanity of James S. Griffing To J. M. Myers [11], Sheriff of Riley Co. Kas. You are Hereby Commanded, Without unnecessary delay, to take James S. Griffing adjudged to be insane, and deliver him into the custody of the Superintendent of the State Insane Asylum, together with the accompanying warrant, to the Steward directed, and return, within thirty days, this Precept. With the receipt of the Superintendent indorsed thereon. This 30th day of March A.D. 1882. D. Hungerford, Probate Judge. On
Thursday, March 30th, James boarded a train in Manhattan, accompanied
by his son John and the Deputy Sheriff of Riley County, Albert H. Houghton. James
was heavily sedated and wearing handcuffs. There was no fanfare. The tears of
family and friends flowed uncontrollably. But before the train pulled out of the
depot, Dr. Solon Ross appeared at the platform and handed John the following
letter in a sealed envelope with the request to deliver it to the doctors at the
asylum upon their arrival: To Whosoever it may concern. This is to certify that I was called to treat the case of J. S. Griffing on Friday last, the 24th of March. I found him suffering under an attack of Acute Mania. The hallucination was with regard to a deed that had been placed in his hands as Treasurer of a Missionary Society. The deed was worthless and had been among his papers for several years unknown to him. Upon finding said deed he imagined his character was ruined and family reputation gone. He had considerable fever the first day I was called. I gave drops of Baptisia and fever was as much better the next day as could be expected under his condition of mind. Fever has not been marked since first day. To produce sleep, I have given Chloral Hydrate, about 5 grs. at a dose and 4 doses 20 minutes apart has usually been sufficient to give 5 or 6 hours sleep. In addition to the baptisia, I have given the 3d dilution of Belladonna and 3d dilution of Bryonia but without avail. [12] The mania is increasing in violence. The patient is perfectly wild and it is unsafe for him to be at large, and he is also in a condition where immediate attention is required and under circumstances where proper restraint can be used to procure safety and special treatment to aid in his recovery. In my opinion 24 hours proper treatment now will avail more than as many days in a week from now. -- S. D. Ross, M.D.
Early
Friday morning in Kansas City, John took advantage of a quiet moment to write
his mother a progress postcard: My Dear Mother, We are waiting now for the trains. I have been up to try to find cousin Lydia. [13] I found Mr. Holmes but Lydia was out in the country 3 miles. They do not live at [corner] of 7th and Central. Pa was very quiet all the way down and slept part of the time. He is sitting here now near me as quiet and nice as the rest of the people. Later that same day, on the return trip, John wrote his mother a letter from Kansas City with the day’s events: Kansas City, Friday Evening [March 31, 1882] My Dear Mother, I am on my way back and have to wait for the train, so I thought I would improve the time and write to you. The trip down there [to Osawatomie], which we dreaded so much, was so much quieter and better than I expected that I feel relieved. He was so quiet that Houghton took off the handcuffs. The folks there [at the Asylum] are so pleasant and everything is so nice that if I wasn’t so tired, I would feel almost happy. Dr. Knapp wasn’t there but the other doctors [14] were and they showed me around & everything is so neat and pretty. The floors in the large halls, where there are no carpets, are waxed and everything is done to order and in order. The inmates that I saw seemed to think much of the doctors and I have inquired considerable & used my eyes too, and I think Pa has a real home. The place is so much different from what I expected to find it. Mrs. [Cynthia] Roscoe lives in Paola and she is an intimate friend of Mr. Knapp's. I didn’t have time to go to her house but I saw her son [15] and he said his mother would do all she could. But from what the doctors told me, there is a better way yet. They say that whenever you want to hear from Pa, you must write to Mr. A. H. Knapp and he will answer all letters. It doesn’t matter how many you send. They say that they have no stated times to write, but that they answer all communications, so you can just send him a card whenever you want to hear or you can write a letter. They are very hopeful & thought there was great hopes of him, and commenced work on him right away. I know he will receive good treatment at their hands. I found out one thing that made me have all the better opinion of them; they are strong temperance men and real gentlemen. I must quit now. Write soon and if there are any questions you want to ask, ask them. Of course you must not expect he will be cured in a week. It takes time, but let's look on the bright side anyway. Your affectionate son, -- John
When
John arrived home in the early morning hours of Saturday, April 1, he found that
his wife had already delivered their first child on the previous day. Wishing to
let his mother know the good news, he again penned her another letter: Topeka Kansas, Saturday morning My dear mother, Got home this morning about ½ past two and found a pleasant surprise waiting for me. I hope you opened the letter [my wife] Lizzie sent to me so you will find out what the surprise was. The baby, [Fredric Griffing was born 3-31-1882] of course is the prettiest & nicest ever was. He has a thick head of black hair, a good head and large strong chest & lungs. He weighed 8.5 pounds. Lizzie was not sick but two or three hours and had a reasonably easy time and is in good spirits. The doctor seemed to think her fortunate indeed. Everybody thinks it is such a nice baby. It didn’t cost me but about $8.00 to go down to Osawatomie so I send you $5.00 at present and will try to send you some more sometime. If you need any money any time, let me know. Mr. Houghton bought me a ticket going down from Kansas City to Paoli ($1.70) because I helped him some about Pa. But he could have taken him just as well alone as far as the taking was concerned. He was real good about taking Pa and did not treat him roughly. He has taken so many down there in the last five years that he is a real good hand and knows just what to do. He telegraphed from Kansas City to Paola to have a team ready to take us so we got back in time for the return train. He said he had more hopes of Pa that he had of any he had taken down and several he has taken have recovered. Dr. Ross wrote Dr. Knapp a very long letter telling him all about it. I think Dr. Ross is a good man and a gentleman. Our folks here feel very badly about it. Well I must quit. Write often. Your affectionate son, John According to admission records, when James arrived at the Asylum in Osawatomie he was “very noisy and excited” and his physical condition was “poor.” Prompted by Dr. Ross’s letter containing his diagnosis and treatment, the admissions clerk entered the following on admissions form case number 1152: On March 22nd 1882, while attending a religious meeting (patient is a Methodist Minister), became suddenly excited, loud and incoherent, and violent. Under “supposed causes” the clerk entered: Mental exertion beyond his strength. Less
than three days after admission, James expired. His date of death is given as
April 3, 1882. Family and friends, still struggling to accept the fate of their
loved one’s sudden illness, now found themselves stunned by the news of his
passing. With
indomitable courage, Augusta wrote the following response to the telegram that
bore the dreaded news: Manhattan
[Kansas] Supt. Of Asylum for the Insane, Osawatomie, Kansas Please deliver the body of my husband, Rev. J. S. Griffing, to Mr. Chas. Waring, the bearer of this, who is instructed to bring the body to this place. -- J. Augusta Griffing James’ body was retrieved by Charles Waring [16], as instructed, on April 5th and returned to Manhattan in a casket purchased from Mr. A. E. Chalmers [17] in Osawatomie for $25. Meanwhile, Augusta gathered her family about her and began preparations for James’ funeral. Regrettably, James’ sudden illness and death had left the family totally unprepared for funeral arrangements. There was no family burial plot and there was precious little money available to procure one now. When family friend Isaac T. Goodnow and his wife Ellen heard of Augusta’s plight, they offered to sell a plot they had previously purchased in Sunset Cemetery where James could be laid to rest. Augusta accepted the gracious offer, paid them $10 for it, and interment took place on April 6th in Lot 250, Block 1.
For
the next several days, Augusta paid off the bills for the various services
performed in attending to the funeral of her husband. Forty-one year-old Dr.
Hiram S. Roberts billed
her $3 for preparing the body for burial; Fifty-two year old undertaker William H. Bower -- who happened to
also serve as one of the jurors at James’ insanity hearing -- billed her $9
for attending the hearse, for supplying one bottle of embalming fluid, and for
digging the grave; Fifty-four year old carpenter Charles Waring billed her $25.40 for his various services and
expenses in retrieving the body from Osawatomie; Twenty-five year old Henry W. Stackpole billed her $10
for legal services; and twenty-seven year old Dr. Solon Ross billed her $13.50 for eight house calls to
treat her husband between March 27th
and March 30th.
But
the stream of visitors and flood of condolence letters only temporarily
disrupted Augusta’s haunting thoughts of what James' last days must have been
like. It troubled her so deeply that she felt she must write the Superintendent
of the Asylum a letter and ask him some questions.
Did he suffer? Did he seem to know where he was?
On April 17th, the Superintendent responded to her questions: Osawatomie
[Kansas] Mrs. J. A. Griffing, Manhattan, Kansas Dear Madam, Yours of the 11th inst. is received. When your husband arrived here he was suffering from acute mania, was in a state of great excitement, which was only temporarily relieved at times by short sleep. Delirium continued interrupted only by sleep until the 3d inst. when he died from exhaustion of acute mania. His death was easy and I do not think he realized that he was away from home. He seemed entirely unconscious of his surroundings. Yours respectfully, -- A.H. Knapp, Supt.
In
a letter dated April 16th, John Griffing tried to ease his mother’s
mind and answer these same questions: …You asked if Pa seemed to realize that he was among strangers and away from home. No, he did not. I watched him closely too when we came to the Asylum and went in and he did not seem to notice anything unusual and he didn’t seem to miss you or anybody. And it was only when I was in sight that he noticed me. I thought at first I would tell you, and then I thought you might think from that he was worse and so I did not say anything about it. At any rate, Ma, we all know he is NOW in a better world than this and although it seems hard to part with those we love so much, yet we all must die, and let us try to live so that we all meet (as Pa used to pray) an unbroken family in heaven. It has always seemed to me before this that I would hardly care much to go to heaven because so few of my best friends were there, but now [that] Pa is there, there is more attraction, and I want to meet him sometime ‘over yonder.’ There he will be in his right mind. Among the numerous sympathy letters retained by Augusta were a number of very complimentary ones, including the following one received from Benjamin M. Curtis of Topeka. At the time, Mr. Curtis was Clerk of the District Court in Shawnee County, Kansas. Mrs. J. A. Griffing, Manhattan, Kansas Dear friend, We have heard of your sad affliction and I assure you that your deep sorrow is felt by us all. It is so hard to give up our friends. My heart aches for you, for the burden is so hard to bear. I know how sad and lonely you must now be. I know how kind and good your dear husband was. I was taught, in early childhood, to know and love him, and many and many a time I have heard my parents say, ‘Brother Griffing is the best man we ever knew.’ I know Pa [18] loved him as he did his own brothers… Your friend, Another
friend of the family wrote a poem, dated April 28th, 1882: In Memoriam of Rev. J. S. Griffing Some one
draws near the “pearly gates,” “His
passport is sure,” the Lord replies – Oh rare,
true soul, life’s warfare hard In tenderest sympathy, -- Kate R. Hill. [19] I felt it would be a privilege to me to write these few lines in loving memory of one so very dear to us and to all who had the honor of his acquaintance…. In
concluding his memoriam to James S. Griffing that was published in the Methodist
Annual Conference Meeting Minutes, Rev. Joseph Denison wrote: ...[James
Griffing] has been treasurer of the Kansas Conference Missionary Society from
the first and no trust committed to him was ever neglected or slighted. As a
professing Christian, a preacher, a pastor, a husband, a father, a friend, a
citizen, he was emphatically a good man and full of faith and of the Holy Ghost,
and while his departure makes one less in the church militant, it makes one more
in the church triumphant. [1] Source: The Principles and Practice of Medicine, by William Osler, M.D., Published in New York, 1892. p. 925. [2] Solon Daniel Ross, M. D. born about 1855 in Illinois. He was the son of Melissa Goodrich and Daniel Ross who lived in Normal IL. He married Orlena Follett, born 1857 in Pontiac, IL. She was the daughter of Orville Follett and Susan Griffin. Solon attended college at Normal, IL. After his marriage on February 11, 1880 in McLean County, IL, he moved to Manhattan , KS where he started a medical practice. A few years later he moved to Lonoke, Arkansas. Source: Moultrie County Heritage, Vol. 5, No. 2, May 1977, p 51-52. [3] James Rollin (“Roll”) Naylor born about 1859 in Tecumseh, Kansas Territory. Son of Osborn and Polly Naylor. The first meeting of the Methodist Society organized in Tecumseh by Rev. James S. Griffing in 1856 was held in Osborn Naylor’s cabin. Source: Shawnee County Historical Society Bulletin, No. 29, December 1957. Two Families of Old Tecumseh, Naylor and Morris, by Ruth Naylor Chandler, p. 26. [4] Eliphalet Leroy Patee "was born in Oxford, Delaware County, Ohio, February 23, 1832. He was educated at the Ohio Wesleyan University, graduating in the scientific course in 1849. Was a student one year at the Eclectic Medical College, Cincinnati, and for two years at Starling Medical College, Columbus, Ohio, graduating there in the class of 1852. Afterwards he took a one term course at a Homoeopathic Medical College in Cleveland. He began the practice of his profession at Portland, Meigs County, Ohio, in the fall of 1853, where he continued until January, 1854, when he settled and practiced a year, and took a past graduate course at Miama Medical College. In the fall of 1855 he came to Kansas, taking a homestead at Ashland, in Riley County, and the following year moved his family to the State where he had determined to make his home. He came with the Cincinnati Colony, but left the boat at Kansas City, purchased a team, and came the remainder of the way overland. April 14, 1861, he entered the Second Kansas Volunteer Infantry, and was commissioned First Assistant Surgeon. Was mustered into the United States service, June 20, 1861. After the battle of Wilson's Creek and the death of Gen. Lyon, the troops with which he served retreated to Rolla. Lieutenant-Colonel Charles W. Blair ordered him to remove the sick and wounded to St. Louis. His train arrived at night with the suffering men, covered with dust and overpowered with heat. Working all night, he succeeded in dressing the wounds and caring for all his men. Gen. Fremont visited the hospital early in the day, and detecting the marvelous energy and power of the man, ordered him not to return to the front, but placed him in charge of the hospital - New House of Refuge. In July, at his personal request, he was again ordered to the front. Gen. Blunt gave him detached service until September, and then ordered him to report at his headquarters at Fort Scott. He was promoted to be Surgeon, rank of Major, September 19, 1862, and was Medical Director of Blunt's army, until July, 1863, when he was detailed upon the staff of Gov. Kearney, ranking as Colonel. In this capacity he helped organize the Fifth and Fourteenth Kansas regiments. He served until the close of the war, and then returned to his practice at Manhattan, where he has been in continuous practice since, and ranks as one of the best surgeons in Kansas. He is purely eclectic in his practice, counseling all schools of practice. He has held several important civil offices. In 1867 he was appointed Clerk of the District Court for Davis County, then attached to Riley for judicial purposes, which position he held by appointment and election for four years. In 1864 he was elected Treasurer of Riley County, and re-elected in 1866, holding the office four years. He has also been Coroner of the county several terms. He is a member of the Masonic order, and of the I. O. O. F., G. A. R., and K. of L. He was married September 22, 1852, in Morgan County, Ohio, to Miss Cynthia A. Dye. They have three children - Alice (Mrs. Dickens), Clarence and Henry, all grown up and away from the parental homestead." Source: [5] William H. Bower "was born in New York City, October 13, 1829. When a child, his parents moved onto a farm in Chatham, N. J., where he was educated in the academy of that place. At about the age of seventeen he went to learn the cabinet-making business, and served an apprenticeship of four years. He then went West to South Bend, Ind., and Southern Michigan, and worked a year. In 1850-51 he traveled through Illinois, and returned to his old home, where he remained until July, 1854, when he traveled West, through Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas, looking upon the site of Leavenworth, then covered with a forest just beginning to be cleared away for the future city. Returning to Illinois, he worked for a time at Jerseyville, but the next spring, 1855, he again traveled through Southern Illinois, and finally located at Springfield, where he lived until February, 1858, when he came to Riley County to stay. He settled at Manhattan, and worked as a contractor and builder until the war, when he enlisted as a private, in April, 1861, in Company B of the Second Kansas Volunteer Infantry. He served six month, when the regiment was mustered out by reason of the expiration of term of service. He was in the regiment sent against the Indians in July, 1864, and in the militia of the Price raid in October of that year. In November, 1861, he was elected Clerk of the District Court, and re-elected in 1863, serving four years in that office, meanwhile acting as Deputy County Clerk and Register of Deeds. He has been City Marshal and Collector of Taxes, and is now a member of the City Council, which office he has before filled. In 1875 he opened his present business, undertaker, in the city of Manhattan. He belongs to the Odd Fellows. He was married September 24, 1862, to Miss Hannah H. Hornby, of Manhattan. They have one child - Mary C., born September 19, 1863." Source: [6] Samuel Milton Ferguson (#741 in Pioneers of the Bluestem Prairie) Samuel Ferguson was born in 1833 and became a blacksmith by profession. He worked for a time as the blacksmith at the St. Mary’s Indian Mission school and then moved to Manhattan where he opened a smithy on the corner of Humboldt and 3rd Street. His father-in-law was William Pickett, another juror. [7] Charles E. Allen was a single, 47 year-old stone mason who hailed from Massachusetts. [9] William Morris Pickett (#950 in Pioneers of the Bluestem Prairie) William Pickett was born in 1810 in Connecticut. He was a farmer and a carpenter, by profession.
[10] Dr. Abraham Huntley Knapp was the Superintendent of the Kansas State Asylum for the Insane. According to William G. Cutler's History of the State of Kansas (Miami County, Part 9), "Dr. Knapp was born in [Blenheim,] Schoharie County, New York, in 1829. While quite young he moved with his parents [Nathan Smith Knapp (1791-1842) and Susan Huntley (1798-1865)] to [Saugerties,] Ulster County, [New York]. He took a regular course at Rush Medical College, Chicago, and graduated in 1852. He practiced his profession in the State of New York seventeen years and then moved to Ottawa, Kansas in 1870. He practiced in that city until 1873, when he was appointed to the responsible position he now holds. In 1876, he resigned his position, but in the fall of 1878, he was re-elected and has continued to serve as Superintendent to this date. Dr. Knapp is peculiarly well qualified for the position he holds, thoroughly skilled in his profession, he has made a specific study of diseases of the brain. Cheerful and kind-hearted in his intercourse with everyone, systematic and through in everything, it is only necessary to visit the asylum and inspect its workings to be satisfied that he is the right man in the right place, and that he is supported by a corps of competent assistants." Dr. A. H. Knapp's wife was Clara Louisa Jackson, also born in New York in 1829. They had at least four children: Dora Knapp, (born @ 1857), Marie Antoinette Knapp (born 1 April 1860 in Coxsackie, N.Y.), Frank Knapp (born @ 1861), and Clara Knapp (born @ 1863). All of the children were born in New York State and all but Maria, who married on 28 May 1878 in Ottawa, KS, were living with their parents at the "Kansas State Lunatic Asylum" in Osawatomie in 1880. It is probable that Dr. Knapp was an acquaintance of Dr. John H. Callender, who was the Superintendent of the Tennessee Hospital for the Insane in Nashville, TN. See web link above entitled, 1857 Travels of Dr. John H. Callender. [11] Joseph M. Myers was the Sheriff of Riley County in 1882. According to Cutler's History of the State of Kansas, Joseph "was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, December 17, 1843. When he was a year old, his parents moved to Hancock County, Illinois where they lived until 1859. In 1858 his father had located a homestead in Riley County, and returning to Illinois for his family, sickened and died. The family, however, followed his intentions and settled on the homestead chose, where the widowed mother still resides. [Joseph] enlisted August 11, 1862, in Company A, 9th Kansas [Volunteer Cavalry], as a private, and served until the close of the war in the Army of the Frontier. After the war, he returned to the farm where he continued until 1881, when he was elected Sheriff of the County...He was married in January 1868, at Paola, to Miss Belle White... " [Note: Joseph M. Myers served in Co. A, 9th Vol. Kansas Cavalry, the same unit as Jesse Brewer.] [12] From this letter we are able to understand better both the symptoms and the treatment of James S. Griffing by Dr. Ross. The chloral hydrate was a common sedative during that time but the doses administered are excessive, suggesting that the patient was wildly manic and, perhaps, uncontrollable. The dilutions of baptisia and bryonia were common herbal remedy's for controlling nervous excitation and for lowering body temperature. The belladonna, however, remains somewhat of a mystery as to purpose. Perhaps with no remedy is the size of dose so important as with belladonna. If fact, the atropine in belladonna may have actually produced the opposite effect of that desired. Victims of atropine poisoning “sometimes suffer violent delirious symptoms…for days, and it has happened that patients have been consigned to the insane asylum on a mistaken diagnosis” (emphasis added). Source: A Manual of Pharmacology and its Applications to Therapeutics and Toxicology, by Torald Sollmann, M.D., Philadelphia, 1957, p 392. This letter was still on file, along with the admission record of James S. Griffing, at the Osawatomie Hospital in 1982. The woodcuts below are from King's American Dispensatory, by Harvey Wickes Felter, M.D., and John Uri Lloyd, Phr. M., Ph. D. By clicking on the names below, you can read more about the plants and their medicinal properties. [13] Lydia Giddings Holmes, born 1843, was the daughter of Charles W. Giddings and Clarissa Griffing, James’ older sister. In 1882, Lydia was living on a farm near Kansas City with her second husband, A. A. Holmes.
[14] In the 1880 federal census, there was only one other physician appearing among the employees of the "Kansas State Lunatic Asylum" besides Dr. Knapp. That physician was Dr. Charles Addison Hayes, a 28 year-old unmarried native of Industry, Franklin County, Maine. At this time, it is not known whether Dr. Addison was still working at the Osawatomie Hospital in the spring of 1882 when James Griffing arrived there. Web-based genealogy records do not mention his occupation at the hospital, but do indicate that he eventually married a Canadian woman (in 1893) and that he died in 1923. By 1882, there may have been other physicians on the hospital's payroll. It is also possible that John Griffing mistook other hospital officials as doctors. These officials may have included 31 year-old W. Gear who served as the supervisor of the hospital, or Reuben Smith -- a native of England -- who was fifty years old in 1882 and served as the hospital's steward. Aside from these officials, there were some forty-one other "attendants" on the payroll in 1880 that ranged in ages from 17 to 53 years. [15] The son of Mrs. Cynthia M. Roscoe mentioned here is probably Byron I. Roscoe who was about 28 years old at the time and working as a hotel clerk in Paola, Kansas. Another son, Clinton, then 20 years old, worked as a druggist's clerk. Nelson J. Roscoe and his wife Cynthia came to Kansas Territory in 1855. "He was born in Essex County, New York, December 3, 1820. He received a liberal education and fitted himself for the profession of surveyor and civil engineer. He came to Kansas in the spring of 1855 in company with J. M. Winchell, located at what is now Burlingame, where he surveyed and platted the village which was then called Council City. In the fall of the same year he came to Miami County, just then organized and located at Osawatomie, where he identified himself with the Free-state men and participated with John Brown in the struggle to keep Kansas a free territory. He engaged in land surveying and for eight years was county surveyor of Miami County. During the war he was Chief Clerk of the Quartermaster's Department at Fort Scott, with the rank of First Lieutenant. In 1876 he moved to Paola and accepted the position of Deputy Miami County Treasurer, which position he has held continuously to this date." Source: William J. Cutler's, History of the State of Kansas, Miami County, Part 7. [16] According to an obituary in the 6 January 1913 issue of The Daily Mercury in Manhattan, Kansas, Charles Waring "died [17] There is only one family of Chalmers recorded in the 1880 census for Osawatomie, Miami County, Kansas. A John Chalmers (born @ 1839) is listed as a physician and his brother Thomas (also born @ 1839) is listed as a cabinet maker. Perhaps John Chalmers served as the county coroner and his brother made caskets, among other forms of cabinetry. [18] Harvey W. Curtis [came to Kansas Territory] in the fall of 1855. He located in Topeka Township two miles east of the present city, and there remained until about 1861, when he returned to Illinois. In 1870 he came again to Topeka, and resided in Section 12, Topeka Township, one and one-half miles southwest of the city. He was a member of the first Kansas Legislature. [19] Kate R. Hill was the forty-three year old wife of William Hill, a forty-five year old farmer on College Hill in Manhattan Township of Riley County, Kansas. Both Kate & William were born in New York. Kate's parents were born in Connecticut; William's parents were born in England. |
