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The Kings County Insane Asylum was infamous for being one of the most overcrowded and poorly managed mental institutions in the United States. Founded in Flatbush, Brooklyn, in 1845, its history is filled with the grim realities typical of 19th-century asylums, including the horrors associated with such facilities.
During the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Kings County Insane Asylum was notorious for cases of abuse, unjust commitments, and even patient deaths. Combined with tales of hauntings and the controversial release of dangerous individuals, it paints a grim picture of a deeply troubled institution. Below are ten revealing stories about the asylum.
10. The Black-Clad Ghost
While ghost stories in abandoned asylums are common, the Kings County Insane Asylum seemed to have its own spectral residents. A newspaper article from 1892 reported that nurses claimed their hair was pulled by ghosts, and mysterious lights were frequently observed within the facility.
A nurse from Ward 2 recounted investigating an eerie light hovering near a door one night. She described hearing a swishing sound in the hallway, followed by the benches, where patients sat during the day, rattling violently.
One nurse claimed to see a ghostly figure of a woman dressed in a long, flowing black gown. Others, while not seeing the apparition directly, believed it to be the spirit of the asylum's former seamstress, who had died there six months before the strange occurrences.
9. Drunks Were Good For Business
During the late 1800s and early 1900s, public intoxication in New York City often led to being sent to the Kings County Insane Asylum. Police frequently brought individuals found staggering on the streets to the facility, which was sometimes called the 'Kings County inebriate asylum.'
For example, in 1901, James 'One-Eyed' Connelly, a notorious gate-crasher at sporting events, was committed to the asylum for drunkenness. Medical professionals diagnosed him with 'an incurable form of alcoholic dementia.' Despite this, Connelly eventually left the asylum and lived until 1953, passing away in a nursing home at the age of 84.
A New York City detective in 1882 noted, 'Anyone sent to the Kings County Insane Asylum had to be legally committed for habitual drunkenness. After that, their families could pay substantial sums to secure special, often luxurious accommodations for them.' In essence, admitting wealthy drinkers was a lucrative practice, as declaring them incurable and charging their families for care proved highly profitable for the asylum.
8. Resident Cat Lady
Certain patients at the asylum were permitted to keep pets. Ms. Douglass was one such patient. During her 25-year stay, she found solace in the companionship of cats, which she was allowed to care for.
In 1878, it was reported that Ms. Douglass raised the asylum's cats. She spoon-fed the kittens and trained them to eat only from her hands. She always kept one cat as her constant companion, doting on it endlessly. When a cat passed away, the staff would provide her with a new kitten, and the cycle would repeat.
Her final cat was a large, white feline that she cherished deeply, even as her health declined. After Ms. Douglass's death, the residents took in the cat, continuing to feed it by hand or spoon, as it had never learned to eat from a dish or the floor.
7. Reports Of Abuse
As one might anticipate from such an institution, there were allegations of abuse at the Kings County Insane Asylum, though none led to significant consequences. For example, in 1886, a patient died from being scalded. The local newspaper labeled it an accident but provided no further details. A grand jury was said to investigate, but the matter was quickly silenced.
In 1887, nearly a year later, an inmate named Henry Schnarbel escaped and reported to the police that he had suffered severe abuse at the asylum. Dr. G.N. Ferris, the assistant superintendent, swiftly dismissed the allegations, discrediting Schnarbel by claiming he was an epileptic who imagined mistreatment. Ferris insisted on a full investigation but argued that the claims were baseless and fueled by the delusions of a mentally ill patient.
[Henry Schnarbel] is insane from epilepsy and, like all epileptics, fancies that he is abused. Dr. Ferris said he welcomed a full investigation into the institution's management. He believed it unjust to spread the delusions of a mentally ill man as facts without verification. Any patient could be persuaded to tell such stories. As for this man, he was so violent that even his parents could not live with him.
6. The Result Of Ugly Bullies And Gossip
In the late 1800s, three sisters opened a candy shop in Brooklyn. As the neighborhood expanded, so did their business, earning them immense popularity among both children and adults. However, their success sparked jealousy among certain individuals.
After one sister married and moved away, the remaining two Ryan sisters continued running the shop. However, rumors began to spread in the neighborhood, with children mocking the sisters as old maids and questioning their unmarried status. The relentless gossip and harassment forced the sisters to close their shop. They stayed in the apartment above the shop, but the cruel rumors about their single status persisted.
The pressure took a toll on Mollie's health in 1904. Josephine, the other sister, began to 'rave' uncontrollably and was taken to the Kings County Insane Asylum. The married sister, deeply affected by the situation, also suffered a breakdown and was admitted to an asylum on Long Island.
Doctors at the asylum stated that both women were severely affected by the relentless rumors and bullying. They warned that recovery was uncertain. Meanwhile, a newspaper reporter visited the neighborhood to investigate, but neighbors denied any knowledge of the rumors or involvement in the sisters' mental decline.
5. Those Who Suffered From Assault
In the early 1900s, there were no support systems for victims of assault or trauma. Intense negative emotions were often labeled as insanity, and rather than providing care, victims were sent to insane asylums to be hidden from society.
In 1907, newspapers nationwide highlighted a disturbing wave of assaults in New York City, with most victims being young girls and women.
One harrowing case involved a 17-year-old girl abducted from New York City and held captive on Long Island by a group of men for three days. She endured severe beatings and had her clothes torn to pieces. After escaping on the third night, she was assisted by a hotel owner but was later taken to the Kings County Insane Asylum by police. Too traumatized to recount her ordeal, she was deemed insane.
4. An Abundance Of Syphilis Cases
Before the discovery of the spirochete bacterium causing syphilis in 1905, the disease's late stages were referred to as general paresis. In 1895, cases surged dramatically, attributed to a condition that was either unknown or unrecognized in the previous century. Newspapers labeled it the 'deadly disease of the times,' and its victims flooded insane asylums across the US and Europe at an alarming rate.
The superintendent of a Scottish asylum wrote:
One devastating form of brain disease, accompanied by mental symptoms, is undeniably on the rise. This illness can be described as a collapse of the brain's central hub for thought and movement. It progressively worsens, leaving victims completely incapacitated mentally and physically, ultimately leading to death within a few years. No cure or significant relief has been found for this modern-day scourge. It thrives in cities, among those living fast-paced lives, with active minds in their prime, often linked to excess and indulgence.
In 1894, Scotland reported 150 new cases of this disease, while England documented a staggering 1,400. However, these numbers paled in comparison to the epidemic in the US. New York State alone saw an estimated 640 new syphilis cases in a single year, with the majority concentrated in New York City. The Kings County Insane Asylum housed many of those in the disease's advanced stages.
3. The Ghost Haunts Again
In 1892, nurses at the asylum reported a ghost pulling their hair, but the stories quieted down for a few months until the spring of 1893. The ghost returned, more active than ever.
Night staff became too frightened to walk the haunted hallway after midnight. They heard the swishing sound of a skirt trailing through the corridor, with no logical explanation.
One evening, Nurse Mrs. Greary was walking through the hallway when the ghost appeared behind her, staring directly into her face. The nurse screamed and fainted from the shock.
The following night, a doctor and a nurse patrolled the corridor armed with a pistol and a club. Although nothing appeared that night, the doctor decided to hire two watchmen to guard the hallway and accompany nurses during their nightly rounds for everyone's safety.
2. He Tried To Get Rid Of His Wife
After 24 years of marriage, Mr. James C. Robertson decided it was time to remove his wife from his life. All he needed was to sign an affidavit claiming she was insane.
Shortly after the affidavit was signed, Mrs. Robertson was taken to the Kings County Insane Asylum for observation. She was examined for several days until her father arrived with a writ of habeas corpus to secure her release.
The case was quickly presented to a judge, who questioned the asylum's deputy superintendent about Mrs. Robertson's detention. Shockingly, the deputy stated in court: 'After a thorough examination, we found her more sane than her husband, who had her committed.'
This revelation angered the judge, who demanded an explanation for her detention if she was deemed sane. With no justification beyond her husband's claims, the judge ordered legal action against Mr. Robertson and Mrs. Robertson's immediate release from the asylum.
1. Not Cured
During an 1879 meeting addressing the mistreatment of the mentally ill in New York asylums, Dr. Richard H. Storrs criticized the Kings County Insane Asylum, calling it 'one of the worst on the face of the globe.' He noted that in 1876, the asylum's cure rate was less than eleven percent.
At the time, there were few success stories from the asylum, and many patients declared 'cured' were far from recovered.
In a tragic 1874 case, a wife and mother was admitted to the asylum for mental instability and later released as 'cured.' Mrs. Devine returned home, and life seemed normal for about a year. However, when her husband joined a strike and stayed home more often, her mental state deteriorated.
This shift triggered a breakdown in 26-year-old Mrs. Devine. One morning, she seized a cooper’s hammer and struck her husband twice in the head. She then took a flat iron and killed her three children, crushing their skulls in a fit of madness.
Though her husband survived and sought help, the children could not be saved. When questioned by police, Mrs. Devine explained she wanted her children to go to Heaven first and wait for her there.
