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Ground. Brought to you by the
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Welcome to Common Ground. I'm
producer-director Scott Knudson.

In this episode
producer-director Randy Cadwell

takes us along on a tour of the
Fergus Falls State Hospital and
poor farm cemeteries.

So, I want to welcome everyone
to the Ottertail County
Historical Society's tour

of the state hospital, Fergus
Falls State Hospital and Poor
Farm Cemeteries this morning.

So, we're going to get going
down the path here and we'll
start the tour.

So, this is from the Fergus
Falls Weekly Journal of July
31,1890. Wednesday afternoon's
train on

the Great Northern Road had
attached a special car from the
St. Peter Asylum and in the car

were 80 lunatics, the first
detachment that has arrived from
the other asylums.

The car was sidetracked and
taken directly to the asylum in
front of which its cargo was
unloaded.

With this announcement the
Fergus Falls State Hospital
began operations and within a
month

of the opening, the hospital
experienced its first patient
death. 67 year old John Olson

died of tuberculosis and became
the first person buried in the
state hospital cemetery.

So, from that first burial in
August 1890, to the final one in
1968 over 3,200 people

are buried at the state hospital
cemetery. Now the graves were
originally marked

with simple wrought iron stakes
that were stuck into the ground
with just a number

in the middle. There were no
names. There were no dates, just
a number. Yet, people buried
here,

where that white, where the flag
is and that white cross, that's
where we're heading.

Yet, the people buried here had
names. They had histories. So,
the purpose of today's tour is

just to uncover bits and pieces
of that history to try to give
at least some name, some
recognition to

the people that are buried at
the state hospital. Just not a
lot because most of the
information

is extremely sketchy on people
that are buried here because
these are the forgotten ones.

So, the late 19th and early 20th
century saw considerable growth

in state-sponsored treatment
of the mentally ill.

Because in previous decades in
the 19th century, the insane
were dealt with by basically
confining

them to prison-like settings or
poor houses where abuse or
neglect were common.

But in about 1850 - 1860, a new
breed of physicians sought more
progressive methods of
treatment. Now

one of the most influential
figures in changing the mental
health landscape was a man named
Dr.

Thomas Story Kirkbride.
Kirkbride called for more humane
treatment, centered on improved
medical care.

He felt the mentally ill were
suffering from illnesses that
could be treated or even cured

and so putting theory into
practice Kirkbride developed
what he called a moral

management plan and that even
incorporated new architectural
concepts for asylums.

So, his plan called for a
central administration section
of the asylum

flanked by patient wings with
setbacks to allow for maximum
light

and ventilation. Central
administration tower flanked by
patient wings and usually
connected by

corridors. So, Fergus Falls was
awarded Minnesota's third state
hospital in December 1886.

First was St. Peter and then
Rochester and I tell you the
competition to get that third

state hospital was really
intense throughout the State of
Minnesota.

Well-known Minnesota architect
Warren Dunnell was retained to
draw up plans for the new asylum

based on Kirkbride's concepts.
So, when we call our state
hospital the Kirkbride,

I don't always do that. I like
to call it the Fergus Falls
State Hospital because it's

just based on Kirkbride's
concepts. He was not an
architect. Construction began in
the spring of 1888

and then the westernmost part,
the west detached building
opened in July 1890 and

it really was intended to be the
most complete and modern
institution available of its
kind.

So, despite the progressive
approach, one area of hospital
management that did not seem to
really

live up to Kirkbride's moral
management plan was how the
hospital dealt with death. I
mean

during the hospital's first
years of operation the average
annual death rate was four
percent.

Okay, so even though patient
deaths were an inevitable part
of operating an asylum, it

just did not appear much thought
was given on what to do with the
patient when they died. For
example,

in the very first biennial
report to the State Board of
Control in 1892,

Dr. Williamson asked for funding
for a morgue. His request was
denied.

Two years later the hospital's
new superintendent Dr. George
Welsh also requested funds for a
morgue

and this is what he wrote:
"Since the opening of the
hospital, we have been using a
basement room under

one of the wards for the purpose
of a morgue. This, besides being
entirely inadequate for the
purpose

is located immediately
underneath a large room occupied
by patients neither a healthful

nor cheerful arrangement. I
would recommend the
appropriation of a sufficient
fund

for the erection of a morgue
outside the hospital building."
You would think, okay, but once
again

Welsh's request fell on deaf
ears as his request was denied.
So, in addition to keeping dead
bodies

in the basement, they were also
placed in plain pine coffins
that were made by patients
themselves.

So, needless to say this
arrangement was disconcerting
for patients and staff

alike. So, every two years Dr.
Welsh requested funds for a
morgue and each time the State

said no. It was not until 1914,
24 years after the hospital
opened did the State finally
appropriate

five thousand dollars for a
suitable morgue. Notice that
there's a smattering of
headstones

up in the cemetery. So, up on
the hill and you can kind of see
there's indentations, you know,
a little

bit, that's places you know
where they were buried. But the
hospital did not pay for these
markers.

They were likely paid for by
family members or maybe
descendants.

Okay. The in-ground markers that
we're going to see, there are
several in-ground markers and
there

are little crates on the side.
That's a result of a project
called Remembering with Dignity,

an organization whose goal is to
provide markers for those buried
in all of Minnesota's Asylums.

They have done some here in
Fergus Falls. None for a number
of years because they

don't have the funds to do it.
So, there are a number of these
crates along the side of the

cemetery with names on them that
are waiting to be placed and for
funding to do that.

So, just in this section by this
tree, I want you to kind of look
over here. I'm going to talk
about

a patient who is buried here.

Louisa Leaf was one year old
when she left Sweden with her
parents in 1880.

They settled in St. Louis County
where her father took in
boarders in their house

for extra income. Now around
1900, Louisa became romantically
involved with one of the
boarders,

a man who ended up betraying
her. As the betrayal wreaked
havoc on Louise's mental state,
her family

attempted to deal with the
situation themselves, as the
September 21,1903 Daily Journal
reported.

The article says 24 year old
Louisa Leaf was imprisoned in a
crude pen made of cedar posts

in a corner of her parents home.
Some months ago her mind was
affected in a mild degree

and she was sent to the state
hospital. A short time later her
parents secured her release

by promising to care for her.
But once back home Louisa became
violent and

at this point her brother built
the pen that she was forced to
remain in.

A lock secured the door and
inside was a bed, chair and
chamber pot. Food was passed
through an opening.

Louisa is a sweet-faced creature
and her tortured brain dwells on
the cruel deception

that was played upon her by a
man only known as Frank. Louisa
Leaf died at the state hospital
in

1907, becoming the 617 burial in
the cemetery and she is buried
in this section by this tree,

unmarked.

So, here is the gravestone of
a man named August Boltner

and this is what we know of
August Boltner. He was born in
New York to German immigrant
parents.

He was living in Oak Valley
township here in Otter Tail
County when he was admitted

to the hospital in September
1890, shortly after it opened,
at the age of 46. He's listed as
single,

Lutheran and a farmer. Boltner
had been apparently ill for 23
years it says in his papers and
he died in

April 1904 of tuberculosis.
Single, Lutheran, farmer,
German, lived in Oak Valley
township that's it.

When a patient died, hospital
officials made every effort to
contact relatives so patient

could be buried at his or her
home area. But for many there
was simply no place to go.

If a patient was alone or no one
wanted to claim him or her such
as Louisa Leaf,

officials had no choice but to
bury them here at state expense
and for most of them little

information is available on
their lives. So Edward
Ranknerud. He was born in
Norway,

lived in Big Stone County before
being admitted to the state
hospital in February 1895 at age
46. He

was 5'5", 123 pounds, blue eyes
with auburn hair, single. His
occupation is listed as farmer

and he died on September 13,1901
at the state hospital of
pneumonia and he's buried here.

Civil War veteran, Henry St. Cyr
was a member of the Second
Minnesota Battery

of Light Artillery. Now the
Second Battery is really not
memorialized in history books
as,

you know, being great war
heroes. They didn't make any
heroic charges or hold back

Confederate lines sweeping
across Union troops. They simply
did what thousands of other
soldiers

did during the Civil War - their
duty. Made up of Minnesota boys
from all walks of life.

They served together in battle,
overcoming disease, homesickness
and rebel bullets

and after doing their part to
ensure the Union's preservation,

they came home and lived their
lives as best they could. So,
little is known of Henry St.
Cyr.

All we know is that he was
committed to the state hospital
and died there January 25, 1893.

This headstone was
installed in 2015,

with a military ceremony
conducted by the Second
Minnesota Battery of Light

Artillery reenactors to just
give some recognition to Civil
War veteran Henry St. Cyr right
here.

Now remember, I said less than a
month after the hospital opened
John Olson died. Well,

this is what the paper had to
say: Less than one month after
the hospital opened the August
28, 1890

Fergus Falls Daily Journal
published a notice under the
heading "Probate Court". It
read:

John Olson found insane and
committed to third state
hospital for insane.
Superintendent's receipt

filed. The same day that 67 year
old Olsen was committed, he died
of tuberculosis and became

the first person buried in the
state hospital somewhere in this
corner. We don't know, here's

the little stone that they're
they want to install but it
could go over the fence line.

No one's really quite sure
exactly but this is the oldest
corner. This is where John Olsen
is buried.

I'm going to talk about the
Scandinavians a little bit, so
don't get mad at me, I'm just.

So, the state hospital, they saw
many patients that were either
foreign-born or children of
immigrants.

Just think moving to a new
country, the unending cycle of
work, isolation and basic
survival in

those years. It took a toll on a
number of immigrants but at the
turn of the century

there was a prevailing attitude
in the psychiatric field that
genetics also played a role in
insanity.

In Dr. George Welsh's 1904
report to the State Board of
Control, he wrote this:

"Statistical tables show that
about 80 percent of patients
admitted during the past two
years

are either foreign born or
foreign parentage. The increase
is even more noticeable every
year.

Now it is to be expected as this
section of the country becomes
more settled and the struggle
for

existence becomes less acute,
that the children of coming
generations will be of a higher
mental type.

The difficult problem at
present, said Dr. Welsh, is to
keep as far as possible

the degenerate offspring of the
older generation from
procreating

until in the natural course of
time this undesirable material
passes away.

Very little, however, can be
done to solve the problem

until society is educated to a
fuller knowledge of the danger
that menaces it". Well here's
the story -

when Emma Lundeen turned 21, she
left Sweden for a better life in
America.

Now on the voyage over she met a
man named Carl Wick. They
obviously fell in love and

they married in September 1883
and several years later
homesteaded in Pennington
County,

Thief River Falls being the
county seat. So, by 1895 Carl
and Emma had four daughters and
two sons.

That's six. Seven years later a
son and three more daughters had
been added to the family.

in 1903, Carl suddenly died
leaving Emma with 10 children,
little money and no means of
support.

Within a year of his death, she
was committed to the state
hospital. Her mind having, as
they said

failed from the responsibility
of being left penniless with 10
children to care for.

15 months after her committal,
she died at age 44 and is buried
here at the cemetery. I don't

think genetics has anything to
do with that. I think 10
children and no means of
support, wow.

There's a white marker, another
one that looked like Henry St.

Cyr's. I want, that's a very
fascinating story. That is a
monument to World War I veteran
Joseph

Pearson and unfortunately
we have another sad story.

Born in Sweden in 1893, Joseph
Pearson immigrated to America in
1911. While working as a hired
man

on the Wood farm in Anoka
County, Joseph fell in love with
the Wood's daughter Grace, Grace
Wood and

apparently much to the dismay of
her parents, Joseph and Grace
were married on June 30, 1915.

So, a couple years later, the
United States declared war on
Germany in April 1917

and Joseph of course had
to register for the draft.

According to their
great-granddaughter, Joseph's
in-laws disliked him so much

they bribed the Anoka County
Draft Board to have him sent
directly to the front lines in
France

and sure enough Joseph was
assigned to the 350th Infantry
Division of the 88th Battalion,

after 12 weeks of training at
Fort Dodge, Iowa he was on the
front lines in the trenches in
France.

He survived and he was honorably
discharged in May 1919.

So, in October he was living in
St. Louis County but in December
he was declared

insane in a Probate Court
hearing in Duluth and he was
transported to Fergus Falls in
December,

four days short of his
daughter's third birthday. But
Joseph's paperwork indicates

that he was single with one
child and his attack of insanity
was the first one that he had
had.

Documents reveal that Joseph
believed his wife's relatives
wanted him dead

and he had long periods
of melancholia.

Again, according to his great
granddaughter Pearson's in-laws
did in fact want him dead. This,

of course, coupled with the
brutality of trench warfare and
to come home to a wife who
wanted

a divorce, his melancholia was
understandable likely, of
course, related to
post-traumatic stress.

In his intake report at the
state hospital notes: "this
patient is emotionally unstable,

cries easily and is subject to
severe depression. He talks
rationally, is quiet

and does not appear to be
hallucinated but still suffers
from delusions of persecution."

Shortly after being admitted,
Pearson contracted tuberculosis,
died June 26,1920 and in 2016,

his great-granddaughter
organized an effort with
Veterans Services to have that
monument

erected with a military ceremony
in August 2016. So, you got
finally some dignity that he
deserved.

One of the questions I
often get are about children

buried here at the state
hospital. Records indicate there
are 28 burials of individuals
under 20,

17 of whom are infants. The
children were born to women
patients who were either
underage or unwed.

They were more than likely taken
to the state hospital by family
members

or simply because they had no
other place to go to have their
babies.

If you're looking
for Kumbaya stories

on this tour, you're not gonna
find them, you know, not very
much. These are all sad stories.

That's the reality of the state
hospital and the cemetery here.

Thanks for watching. Join us
again on Common Ground. If you
have an idea for Common Ground

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