1 00:00:02,602 --> 00:00:07,340 Lakeland PBS presents Common Ground. Brought to you by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund 2 00:00:07,340 --> 00:00:13,847 and the citizens of Minnesota. Production funding of Common Ground is made possible in part by First 3 00:00:13,847 --> 00:00:29,696 National Bank Bemidji, continuing their second century of service to the community. Member FDIC. 4 00:00:48,882 --> 00:00:51,818 Welcome to Common Ground. I'm producer-director Scott Knudson. 5 00:00:51,818 --> 00:00:56,022 In this episode producer-director Randy Cadwell 6 00:00:56,022 --> 00:01:11,738 takes us along on a tour of the Fergus Falls State Hospital and poor farm cemeteries. 7 00:01:20,013 --> 00:01:22,215 So, I want to welcome everyone to the Ottertail County Historical Society's tour 8 00:01:25,151 --> 00:01:29,322 of the state hospital, Fergus Falls State Hospital and Poor Farm Cemeteries this morning. 9 00:01:31,491 --> 00:01:39,766 So, we're going to get going down the path here and we'll start the tour. 10 00:01:44,537 --> 00:01:53,279 So, this is from the Fergus Falls Weekly Journal of July 31,1890. Wednesday afternoon's train on 11 00:01:53,279 --> 00:01:59,252 the Great Northern Road had attached a special car from the St. Peter Asylum and in the car 12 00:01:59,252 --> 00:02:02,822 were 80 lunatics, the first detachment that has arrived from the other asylums. 13 00:02:06,092 --> 00:02:10,763 The car was sidetracked and taken directly to the asylum in front of which its cargo was unloaded. 14 00:02:14,634 --> 00:02:20,573 With this announcement the Fergus Falls State Hospital began operations and within a month 15 00:02:20,573 --> 00:02:28,381 of the opening, the hospital experienced its first patient death. 67 year old John Olson 16 00:02:28,381 --> 00:02:33,319 died of tuberculosis and became the first person buried in the state hospital cemetery. 17 00:02:36,723 --> 00:02:43,530 So, from that first burial in August 1890, to the final one in 1968 over 3,200 people 18 00:02:46,032 --> 00:02:50,436 are buried at the state hospital cemetery. Now the graves were originally marked 19 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:58,678 with simple wrought iron stakes that were stuck into the ground with just a number 20 00:02:58,678 --> 00:03:04,384 in the middle. There were no names. There were no dates, just a number. Yet, people buried here, 21 00:03:07,987 --> 00:03:10,390 where that white, where the flag is and that white cross, that's where we're heading. 22 00:03:13,860 --> 00:03:20,800 Yet, the people buried here had names. They had histories. So, the purpose of today's tour is 23 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:28,141 just to uncover bits and pieces of that history to try to give at least some name, some recognition to 24 00:03:28,141 --> 00:03:34,480 the people that are buried at the state hospital. Just not a lot because most of the information 25 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:38,785 is extremely sketchy on people that are buried here because these are the forgotten ones. 26 00:03:45,892 --> 00:03:48,728 So, the late 19th and early 20th century saw considerable growth 27 00:03:50,830 --> 00:03:52,565 in state-sponsored treatment of the mentally ill. 28 00:03:55,868 --> 00:04:01,474 Because in previous decades in the 19th century, the insane were dealt with by basically confining 29 00:04:01,474 --> 00:04:06,579 them to prison-like settings or poor houses where abuse or neglect were common. 30 00:04:10,183 --> 00:04:18,925 But in about 1850 - 1860, a new breed of physicians sought more progressive methods of treatment. Now 31 00:04:18,925 --> 00:04:26,566 one of the most influential figures in changing the mental health landscape was a man named Dr. 32 00:04:26,566 --> 00:04:33,940 Thomas Story Kirkbride. Kirkbride called for more humane treatment, centered on improved medical care. 33 00:04:37,844 --> 00:04:42,548 He felt the mentally ill were suffering from illnesses that could be treated or even cured 34 00:04:45,818 --> 00:04:52,825 and so putting theory into practice Kirkbride developed what he called a moral 35 00:04:52,825 --> 00:04:58,631 management plan and that even incorporated new architectural concepts for asylums. 36 00:05:01,534 --> 00:05:05,705 So, his plan called for a central administration section of the asylum 37 00:05:08,708 --> 00:05:17,050 flanked by patient wings with setbacks to allow for maximum light 38 00:05:17,050 --> 00:05:26,426 and ventilation. Central administration tower flanked by patient wings and usually connected by 39 00:05:26,426 --> 00:05:34,000 corridors. So, Fergus Falls was awarded Minnesota's third state hospital in December 1886. 40 00:05:37,070 --> 00:05:42,642 First was St. Peter and then Rochester and I tell you the competition to get that third 41 00:05:42,642 --> 00:05:44,410 state hospital was really intense throughout the State of Minnesota. 42 00:05:47,747 --> 00:05:52,985 Well-known Minnesota architect Warren Dunnell was retained to draw up plans for the new asylum 43 00:05:55,521 --> 00:06:00,560 based on Kirkbride's concepts. So, when we call our state hospital the Kirkbride, 44 00:06:03,563 --> 00:06:08,968 I don't always do that. I like to call it the Fergus Falls State Hospital because it's 45 00:06:08,968 --> 00:06:14,107 just based on Kirkbride's concepts. He was not an architect. Construction began in the spring of 1888 46 00:06:16,676 --> 00:06:23,516 and then the westernmost part, the west detached building opened in July 1890 and 47 00:06:23,516 --> 00:06:26,719 it really was intended to be the most complete and modern institution available of its kind. 48 00:06:33,025 --> 00:06:39,232 So, despite the progressive approach, one area of hospital management that did not seem to really 49 00:06:39,232 --> 00:06:44,003 live up to Kirkbride's moral management plan was how the hospital dealt with death. I mean 50 00:06:47,173 --> 00:06:51,711 during the hospital's first years of operation the average annual death rate was four percent. 51 00:06:54,080 --> 00:07:03,656 Okay, so even though patient deaths were an inevitable part of operating an asylum, it 52 00:07:03,656 --> 00:07:09,128 just did not appear much thought was given on what to do with the patient when they died. For example, 53 00:07:12,198 --> 00:07:16,102 in the very first biennial report to the State Board of Control in 1892, 54 00:07:19,238 --> 00:07:24,710 Dr. Williamson asked for funding for a morgue. His request was denied. 55 00:07:28,815 --> 00:07:33,686 Two years later the hospital's new superintendent Dr. George Welsh also requested funds for a morgue 56 00:07:37,223 --> 00:07:44,263 and this is what he wrote: "Since the opening of the hospital, we have been using a basement room under 57 00:07:44,263 --> 00:07:50,970 one of the wards for the purpose of a morgue. This, besides being entirely inadequate for the purpose 58 00:07:53,706 --> 00:08:01,881 is located immediately underneath a large room occupied by patients neither a healthful 59 00:08:01,881 --> 00:08:07,119 nor cheerful arrangement. I would recommend the appropriation of a sufficient fund 60 00:08:09,956 --> 00:08:15,728 for the erection of a morgue outside the hospital building." You would think, okay, but once again 61 00:08:18,931 --> 00:08:29,008 Welsh's request fell on deaf ears as his request was denied. So, in addition to keeping dead bodies 62 00:08:29,008 --> 00:08:34,947 in the basement, they were also placed in plain pine coffins that were made by patients themselves. 63 00:08:38,251 --> 00:08:43,623 So, needless to say this arrangement was disconcerting for patients and staff 64 00:08:43,623 --> 00:08:50,863 alike. So, every two years Dr. Welsh requested funds for a morgue and each time the State 65 00:08:50,863 --> 00:08:58,938 said no. It was not until 1914, 24 years after the hospital opened did the State finally appropriate 66 00:09:01,674 --> 00:09:06,946 five thousand dollars for a suitable morgue. Notice that there's a smattering of headstones 67 00:09:10,016 --> 00:09:16,389 up in the cemetery. So, up on the hill and you can kind of see there's indentations, you know, a little 68 00:09:16,389 --> 00:09:20,960 bit, that's places you know where they were buried. But the hospital did not pay for these markers. 69 00:09:23,462 --> 00:09:25,598 They were likely paid for by family members or maybe descendants. 70 00:09:28,935 --> 00:09:34,740 Okay. The in-ground markers that we're going to see, there are several in-ground markers and there 71 00:09:34,740 --> 00:09:38,110 are little crates on the side. That's a result of a project called Remembering with Dignity, 72 00:09:41,247 --> 00:09:47,787 an organization whose goal is to provide markers for those buried in all of Minnesota's Asylums. 73 00:09:47,787 --> 00:09:54,961 They have done some here in Fergus Falls. None for a number of years because they 74 00:09:54,961 --> 00:09:57,630 don't have the funds to do it. So, there are a number of these crates along the side of the 75 00:09:59,865 --> 00:10:04,270 cemetery with names on them that are waiting to be placed and for funding to do that. 76 00:10:09,942 --> 00:10:14,213 So, just in this section by this tree, I want you to kind of look over here. I'm going to talk about 77 00:10:15,881 --> 00:10:18,284 a patient who is buried here. 78 00:10:22,722 --> 00:10:28,160 Louisa Leaf was one year old when she left Sweden with her parents in 1880. 79 00:10:31,530 --> 00:10:34,166 They settled in St. Louis County where her father took in boarders in their house 80 00:10:37,069 --> 00:10:42,842 for extra income. Now around 1900, Louisa became romantically involved with one of the boarders, 81 00:10:45,911 --> 00:10:56,088 a man who ended up betraying her. As the betrayal wreaked havoc on Louise's mental state, her family 82 00:10:56,088 --> 00:11:01,961 attempted to deal with the situation themselves, as the September 21,1903 Daily Journal reported. 83 00:11:05,998 --> 00:11:11,070 The article says 24 year old Louisa Leaf was imprisoned in a crude pen made of cedar posts 84 00:11:13,606 --> 00:11:18,210 in a corner of her parents home. Some months ago her mind was affected in a mild degree 85 00:11:21,047 --> 00:11:26,285 and she was sent to the state hospital. A short time later her parents secured her release 86 00:11:28,654 --> 00:11:35,594 by promising to care for her. But once back home Louisa became violent and 87 00:11:35,594 --> 00:11:38,364 at this point her brother built the pen that she was forced to remain in. 88 00:11:42,201 --> 00:11:47,807 A lock secured the door and inside was a bed, chair and chamber pot. Food was passed through an opening. 89 00:11:50,910 --> 00:11:55,748 Louisa is a sweet-faced creature and her tortured brain dwells on the cruel deception 90 00:11:58,317 --> 00:12:07,059 that was played upon her by a man only known as Frank. Louisa Leaf died at the state hospital in 91 00:12:07,059 --> 00:12:16,135 1907, becoming the 617 burial in the cemetery and she is buried in this section by this tree, 92 00:12:18,838 --> 00:12:26,078 unmarked. 93 00:12:26,078 --> 00:12:28,280 So, here is the gravestone of a man named August Boltner 94 00:12:31,951 --> 00:12:36,055 and this is what we know of August Boltner. He was born in New York to German immigrant parents. 95 00:12:39,125 --> 00:12:41,460 He was living in Oak Valley township here in Otter Tail County when he was admitted 96 00:12:44,296 --> 00:12:52,671 to the hospital in September 1890, shortly after it opened, at the age of 46. He's listed as single, 97 00:12:52,671 --> 00:13:01,147 Lutheran and a farmer. Boltner had been apparently ill for 23 years it says in his papers and he died in 98 00:13:01,147 --> 00:13:09,188 April 1904 of tuberculosis. Single, Lutheran, farmer, German, lived in Oak Valley township that's it. 99 00:13:15,294 --> 00:13:21,233 When a patient died, hospital officials made every effort to contact relatives so patient 100 00:13:24,003 --> 00:13:29,575 could be buried at his or her home area. But for many there was simply no place to go. 101 00:13:33,712 --> 00:13:39,151 If a patient was alone or no one wanted to claim him or her such as Louisa Leaf, 102 00:13:42,254 --> 00:13:49,461 officials had no choice but to bury them here at state expense and for most of them little 103 00:13:49,461 --> 00:13:54,567 information is available on their lives. So Edward Ranknerud. He was born in Norway, 104 00:13:57,570 --> 00:14:06,579 lived in Big Stone County before being admitted to the state hospital in February 1895 at age 46. He 105 00:14:06,579 --> 00:14:13,886 was 5'5", 123 pounds, blue eyes with auburn hair, single. His occupation is listed as farmer 106 00:14:16,655 --> 00:14:30,536 and he died on September 13,1901 at the state hospital of pneumonia and he's buried here. 107 00:14:32,938 --> 00:14:40,279 Civil War veteran, Henry St. Cyr was a member of the Second Minnesota Battery 108 00:14:40,279 --> 00:14:48,153 of Light Artillery. Now the Second Battery is really not memorialized in history books as, 109 00:14:48,153 --> 00:14:55,194 you know, being great war heroes. They didn't make any heroic charges or hold back 110 00:14:55,194 --> 00:15:02,234 Confederate lines sweeping across Union troops. They simply did what thousands of other soldiers 111 00:15:02,234 --> 00:15:07,239 did during the Civil War - their duty. Made up of Minnesota boys from all walks of life. 112 00:15:09,775 --> 00:15:14,647 They served together in battle, overcoming disease, homesickness and rebel bullets 113 00:15:17,583 --> 00:15:20,219 and after doing their part to ensure the Union's preservation, 114 00:15:23,322 --> 00:15:28,994 they came home and lived their lives as best they could. So, little is known of Henry St. Cyr. 115 00:15:32,064 --> 00:15:37,202 All we know is that he was committed to the state hospital and died there January 25, 1893. 116 00:15:40,139 --> 00:15:43,642 This headstone was installed in 2015, 117 00:15:46,245 --> 00:15:51,917 with a military ceremony conducted by the Second Minnesota Battery of Light 118 00:15:51,917 --> 00:15:58,557 Artillery reenactors to just give some recognition to Civil War veteran Henry St. Cyr right here. 119 00:16:07,967 --> 00:16:15,641 Now remember, I said less than a month after the hospital opened John Olson died. Well, 120 00:16:15,641 --> 00:16:21,046 this is what the paper had to say: Less than one month after the hospital opened the August 28, 1890 121 00:16:24,149 --> 00:16:31,190 Fergus Falls Daily Journal published a notice under the heading "Probate Court". It read: 122 00:16:31,190 --> 00:16:36,628 John Olson found insane and committed to third state hospital for insane. Superintendent's receipt 123 00:16:36,628 --> 00:16:47,139 filed. The same day that 67 year old Olsen was committed, he died of tuberculosis and became 124 00:16:47,139 --> 00:16:55,014 the first person buried in the state hospital somewhere in this corner. We don't know, here's 125 00:16:55,014 --> 00:17:00,619 the little stone that they're they want to install but it could go over the fence line. 126 00:17:00,619 --> 00:17:05,090 No one's really quite sure exactly but this is the oldest corner. This is where John Olsen is buried. 127 00:17:09,361 --> 00:17:11,163 I'm going to talk about the Scandinavians a little bit, so don't get mad at me, I'm just. 128 00:17:14,566 --> 00:17:21,473 So, the state hospital, they saw many patients that were either foreign-born or children of immigrants. 129 00:17:21,473 --> 00:17:29,248 Just think moving to a new country, the unending cycle of work, isolation and basic survival in 130 00:17:29,248 --> 00:17:37,356 those years. It took a toll on a number of immigrants but at the turn of the century 131 00:17:37,356 --> 00:17:43,462 there was a prevailing attitude in the psychiatric field that genetics also played a role in insanity. 132 00:17:47,332 --> 00:17:52,237 In Dr. George Welsh's 1904 report to the State Board of Control, he wrote this: 133 00:17:56,742 --> 00:18:00,746 "Statistical tables show that about 80 percent of patients admitted during the past two years 134 00:18:03,816 --> 00:18:07,786 are either foreign born or foreign parentage. The increase is even more noticeable every year. 135 00:18:10,756 --> 00:18:17,963 Now it is to be expected as this section of the country becomes more settled and the struggle for 136 00:18:17,963 --> 00:18:23,735 existence becomes less acute, that the children of coming generations will be of a higher mental type. 137 00:18:27,506 --> 00:18:32,344 The difficult problem at present, said Dr. Welsh, is to keep as far as possible 138 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:38,150 the degenerate offspring of the older generation from procreating 139 00:18:40,452 --> 00:18:45,257 until in the natural course of time this undesirable material passes away. 140 00:18:49,061 --> 00:18:51,463 Very little, however, can be done to solve the problem 141 00:18:54,266 --> 00:19:01,573 until society is educated to a fuller knowledge of the danger that menaces it". Well here's the story - 142 00:19:05,978 --> 00:19:10,816 when Emma Lundeen turned 21, she left Sweden for a better life in America. 143 00:19:14,253 --> 00:19:21,793 Now on the voyage over she met a man named Carl Wick. They obviously fell in love and 144 00:19:21,793 --> 00:19:26,632 they married in September 1883 and several years later homesteaded in Pennington County, 145 00:19:29,701 --> 00:19:35,807 Thief River Falls being the county seat. So, by 1895 Carl and Emma had four daughters and two sons. 146 00:19:38,377 --> 00:19:43,949 That's six. Seven years later a son and three more daughters had been added to the family. 147 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:57,696 in 1903, Carl suddenly died leaving Emma with 10 children, little money and no means of support. 148 00:20:01,867 --> 00:20:09,575 Within a year of his death, she was committed to the state hospital. Her mind having, as they said 149 00:20:09,575 --> 00:20:14,379 failed from the responsibility of being left penniless with 10 children to care for. 150 00:20:18,450 --> 00:20:25,857 15 months after her committal, she died at age 44 and is buried here at the cemetery. I don't 151 00:20:25,857 --> 00:20:34,900 think genetics has anything to do with that. I think 10 children and no means of support, wow. 152 00:20:38,604 --> 00:20:42,574 There's a white marker, another one that looked like Henry St. 153 00:20:42,574 --> 00:20:50,949 Cyr's. I want, that's a very fascinating story. That is a monument to World War I veteran Joseph 154 00:20:50,949 --> 00:20:54,419 Pearson and unfortunately we have another sad story. 155 00:20:58,857 --> 00:21:07,099 Born in Sweden in 1893, Joseph Pearson immigrated to America in 1911. While working as a hired man 156 00:21:07,099 --> 00:21:17,009 on the Wood farm in Anoka County, Joseph fell in love with the Wood's daughter Grace, Grace Wood and 157 00:21:17,009 --> 00:21:24,516 apparently much to the dismay of her parents, Joseph and Grace were married on June 30, 1915. 158 00:21:28,787 --> 00:21:31,790 So, a couple years later, the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917 159 00:21:33,859 --> 00:21:35,427 and Joseph of course had to register for the draft. 160 00:21:38,697 --> 00:21:43,869 According to their great-granddaughter, Joseph's in-laws disliked him so much 161 00:21:46,805 --> 00:21:51,443 they bribed the Anoka County Draft Board to have him sent directly to the front lines in France 162 00:21:55,814 --> 00:22:01,653 and sure enough Joseph was assigned to the 350th Infantry Division of the 88th Battalion, 163 00:22:04,923 --> 00:22:12,998 after 12 weeks of training at Fort Dodge, Iowa he was on the front lines in the trenches in France. 164 00:22:15,233 --> 00:22:19,671 He survived and he was honorably discharged in May 1919. 165 00:22:24,109 --> 00:22:31,983 So, in October he was living in St. Louis County but in December he was declared 166 00:22:31,983 --> 00:22:35,987 insane in a Probate Court hearing in Duluth and he was transported to Fergus Falls in December, 167 00:22:38,757 --> 00:22:46,698 four days short of his daughter's third birthday. But Joseph's paperwork indicates 168 00:22:46,698 --> 00:22:52,137 that he was single with one child and his attack of insanity was the first one that he had had. 169 00:22:55,841 --> 00:23:00,011 Documents reveal that Joseph believed his wife's relatives wanted him dead 170 00:23:02,948 --> 00:23:04,783 and he had long periods of melancholia. 171 00:23:09,020 --> 00:23:17,262 Again, according to his great granddaughter Pearson's in-laws did in fact want him dead. This, 172 00:23:17,262 --> 00:23:24,002 of course, coupled with the brutality of trench warfare and to come home to a wife who wanted 173 00:23:24,002 --> 00:23:29,808 a divorce, his melancholia was understandable likely, of course, related to post-traumatic stress. 174 00:23:33,845 --> 00:23:38,817 In his intake report at the state hospital notes: "this patient is emotionally unstable, 175 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:47,559 cries easily and is subject to severe depression. He talks rationally, is quiet 176 00:23:49,928 --> 00:23:54,800 and does not appear to be hallucinated but still suffers from delusions of persecution." 177 00:23:58,737 --> 00:24:07,479 Shortly after being admitted, Pearson contracted tuberculosis, died June 26,1920 and in 2016, 178 00:24:07,479 --> 00:24:14,386 his great-granddaughter organized an effort with Veterans Services to have that monument 179 00:24:14,386 --> 00:24:20,625 erected with a military ceremony in August 2016. So, you got finally some dignity that he deserved. 180 00:24:25,797 --> 00:24:27,599 One of the questions I often get are about children 181 00:24:30,702 --> 00:24:34,706 buried here at the state hospital. Records indicate there are 28 burials of individuals under 20, 182 00:24:37,843 --> 00:24:42,647 17 of whom are infants. The children were born to women patients who were either underage or unwed. 183 00:24:45,517 --> 00:24:47,819 They were more than likely taken to the state hospital by family members 184 00:24:50,088 --> 00:24:52,123 or simply because they had no other place to go to have their babies. 185 00:24:58,797 --> 00:25:02,901 If you're looking for Kumbaya stories 186 00:25:02,901 --> 00:25:06,805 on this tour, you're not gonna find them, you know, not very much. These are all sad stories. 187 00:25:11,476 --> 00:25:15,180 That's the reality of the state hospital and the cemetery here. 188 00:25:27,125 --> 00:25:31,997 Thanks for watching. Join us again on Common Ground. If you have an idea for Common Ground 189 00:25:31,997 --> 00:25:39,971 in north central Minnesota email us at legacylptv.org or call 218-333-3014. 190 00:25:42,908 --> 00:25:57,222 To watch Common Ground online visit lptv.org and click local shows. 191 00:26:03,094 --> 00:26:04,663 To order episodes or segments of Common Ground call 192 00:26:12,704 --> 00:26:16,441 218-333-3020. Funding of Common Ground was made possible in part by First National Bank 193 00:26:16,441 --> 00:26:19,644 Bemidji, continuing their second century of service to the community. Member FDIC. 194 00:26:23,848 --> 00:26:27,552 Common Ground is brought to you by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, 195 00:26:27,552 --> 00:26:29,854 With money by the vote of the people November 4th, 2008. 196 00:26:35,460 --> 00:26:39,264 If you watch Common Ground online consider becoming a member or making a donation at lptv.org.