Library Collections: Document: Full Text


Modern Persecution, or Married Woman's Liabilities

From: Modern Persecution
Creator: Elizabeth P. W. Packard (author)
Date: 1873
Source: Available at selected libraries
Figures From This Artifact: Figure 1  Figure 2  Figure 3  Figure 4  Figure 5  Figure 6  Figure 7  Figure 8  Figure 9  Figure 10  Figure 11  Figure 12  Figure 13  Figure 14  Figure 15  Figure 16

Previous Page   Next Page   All Pages 


Page 82:

1735  

The next was in the spring of 1865. A Mrs. Sutton, who was not a violent patient and seemed to be in good health, was punished very badly by two attendants -- Mrs. Lydia Riggs and Miss Bell Bailey -- and was confined to her room for two weeks after her punishment; at the expiration of which time the witness saw her, when the patient's face was a dark green color, without any natural flesh except around the mouth. This Miss Bailey is still retained, and is supervisoress in the hospital, and denies that punishments are ever inflicted in the hospital, or that she ever, intentionally, injured a patient!

1736  

The next case mentioned by this witness was that of Maggie Rowland, in the summer of 1865. The witness heard a strugle -sic- in the bath-room and attempted to go in, but was prevented by Miss Bailey who was in the room, and put her foot against the door and shut it. The witness stayed near by for some time, and heard brutal blows administered to patient. The patient was kept in the bath-room for some time after. In the evening witness saw her, and her face was badly beaten up, and on being spoken to by witness, the patient cried and looked as though she had no friends. This patient, who was lame, a talkative, noisy person, who did not appear to be violent -- witness says that the reason she did not tell the Doctor was, that she was afraid of getting into a scrape if she told, for the Doctor had, before this, told her he did not wish to have her make any mischief by getting up excitement among the patients she was with. She says she afterwards, however, did report a case to the Doctor, and he told her to mind her own business, and she after this did not report other cases to the Doctor because of this conversation.

1737  

The last case which this witness mentions was that of a Mrs. dark, who had been sick sometime in bed, and as the attendants were dragging her to the bath-room, she asked them not to take her there, but to let her die where she was. As they raised the patient to put her in the bath-tub, she dropped down dead. The names of these attendants are Miss Mary Rice and Miss Mary Smith.

1738  

Testimony of Mrs. Mary Cassell, Assistant Matron.

1739  

Mrs. Mary Cassell is twenty-four years of age, and has lived in Jacksonville eight years; was employed in the hospital from April, 1860, to May, 1861, as assistant matron, and filled the place now called supervisoress.

1740  

Does not personally know of any case of abuse which she saw administered. Remembers the case of Mrs. Farenside, a patient who appeared one morning at the breakfast table in fifth ward, the worst, after having been removed from the seventh, the best, with a black eye. Inquired the cause, and patient and Elizabeth Bonner said that Dr. McFarland struck her. One eye was black, and one side of her face was very much bruised and blackened for several days. After these bruises were inflicted, the patient was taken from the best ward, the seventh, to the new fifth, which was unoccupied, and confined in a room by herself. Never knew the patient to be boisterous, and think if she had been unmanageable she would not have been in the best ward. Patient and Elizabeth Bonner both told witness that Dr. McFarland kicked her.

1741  

Witness then testified that she thought the patients ought to be more kindly treated generally; that many times, when they were sick and feeble, they were prevented from taking proper rest during the day on their beds -- it was the practice of the house not to allow them to lie down during the day-time, and the idea advanced was that the patients did not know when they needed rest -- that they were inclined to lie down more than was good for them; and it was a most universal complaint in the female wards, on the part of those who were too feeble and weak to sit up, that they were not allowed to lie down in the day-time -- remembered one particular case where the patient was ill and wanted to lie down, and her attendant, Miss Eagle, said no, the Doctor did not allow it, and the face of the patient, witness well remembered.

1742  

Testimony of J. C. Edmundson, Assistant Engineer.

1743  

John C. Edmundson, aged thirty-five years, was assistant engineer in hospital from April, 1861, to October 2d, 1865.

1744  

Testified that before he had been there a week he saw a patient knocked down by Joseph Tinker, an attendant, with a stick, because he absent-mindedly picked a thread out of his coat.

1745  

Witness proposed to report the case to Dr. McFarland, but Eastman, the principal engineer, who had been there three years, told witness he had better not report it if he wanted to stay in the institution.

1746  

The patient on being knocked down seemed perfectly dead, was not able to get up; had no government over himself, and was taken away and put in the screen-room.

1747  

The next case mentioned by this witness was George Richards, a patient of Jacksonville, who was kept in the screen-room entirely naked, in the cold winter; and when witness came to work in the morning, to raise steam, at one, two or three o'clock, patient would beg for warmth.

Previous Page   Next Page

Pages:  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25  26  27  28  29  30  31  32  33  34  35  36  37  38  39  40  41  42  43  44  45  46  47  48  49  50  51  52  53  54  55  56  57  58  59  60  61  62  63  64  65  66  67  68  69  70  71  72  73  74  75  76  77  78  79  80  81  82  83  84  85  86  87  88  89  90  91  92  93  94  95  96  97  98  99  100  101  102  103  104  105  106  107  108  109  110  111  112  113  114  115  116  117  118  119  120  121  122  123  124  125  126  127  128  129  130  131  132  133    All Pages