Record of Patients
City Insane Asylum, 1882-1884; 1888
Responsibility for patients diagnosed as insane (particularly the indigent insane) housed in the City Insane Asylum (or in various hospitals after the city facility closed) fell to the City Physician, who was to visit patients at least once a day and to discharge those patients who had sufficiently recovered. He also identified those inmates who had remained in the asylum “over the time prescribed by law” and reported their names to the sheriff of Orleans Parish, who arranged their transfer to the State Asylum at Jackson, La.
The records are those of Dr. Y.R. LeMonnier, who served as City Physician/Coroner during the administrations of Mayors William J. Behan (1882-1884) and Walter C. Flower (1896-1900) and during the second administration of Mayor Joseph A. Shakspeare (1888-1892). This volume was used by LeMonnier primarily during his first term; apparently, he returned to it very briefly (for a single day) when he resumed office in 1888. Only 1 volume is extant.
This volume contains information on insane patients visited by the City Physician and recommended to the State Asylum. For each patient, the record includes name, race, sex, age, place of birth (in general terms), type of insanity and sometimes a description of the patient’s behavior. An incomplete index is included at the end of the volume. Note: The remaining pages in the volume are blank, except for the following note on page 269: Hollow in front, 20 foot deep-filled-circular flower garden in front, with alley (carriage) ways on side and one in center for footman – leveling of ground – chicken yard – fish and duck pond – 300 or 400 yg. chicks – men constantly working the ground – 3 acres of onions; vegetable garden, orchard, cornfield – 400 patients in building.
Researchers should be aware that 19th- and 20th-century definitions of insanity differed markedly from current definitions. Alcoholics, the mentally retarded, or those suffering from various physical disorders were routinely committed to asylums during the period covered by these records.
The volume is microfilmed and filed under call number FK850.
The volume was transcribed by Colleen Fitzpatrick and Penny Delery, New Orleans Volunteer Association (NOVA).
The transcription was edited by staff member adenisco to normalize the data: details about patients were extracted from the patient information section and descriptors for age were moved to after the number (‘about 35′ became ’35, about’) so that they could be sorted numerically. Finally, the index only included about half of the names, but some of them were slight variations of the patient’s name, so in those cases both names are listed with a slash between them.