Category Archives: Anonymous Graves

THANK YOU!!

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This is from my friend, Ryan Thibodeau, who with a few others, are trying to change the New York State law on Mental Health concerning people who were institutionalized in the 19th and 20th centuries. I know, it’s ridiculous that we even have to do this but that’s New York State and the Office of Mental Health. This HIPAA Law should not even apply to people dead for fifty years and that is according to Federal Law that was passed in 2013. Keep your fingers crossed and pray. I don’t know who else would ever pick up this task after this giant effort. Thank you to all of you who sent your story in! I’m closing the application.

Sincerely, Lin Stuhler

“Good evening, all,

My name is Ryan Thibodeau, and I’m part of the group that is trying to change the state’s mental hygiene laws to make old records of institutionalized people more accessible to families like yours. Many thanks for completing the Google form and for your willingness to share your ancestor’s story. We really appreciate it!

I forwarded the information you entered into the Google form to the journalist several weeks ago and she has indicated that she is pursuing an article on this important topic. I don’t know anything about the timing of the article’s publication, its content, who she’ll be contacting, and when she’ll reach out. That’s out of my hands and up to her discretion.

The group is looking forward to continuing pursuit of our bill in the New York State legislature when the new session opens on January 7. As we ramp up our effort, it’s likely that I’ll write again and ask especially the New York State residents among you to write letters in support of our bill and contact your State legislators to urge their support. Stay tuned!

Once again, thank you so very much for your assistance! I’ll be in touch again soon.

All the best, Ryan”
Ryan Thibodeau, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
Licensed (Clinical) Psychologist, New York State
Board Member, NAMI Rochester

THANK YOU!

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This is from my friend, Ryan Thibodeau, who with a few others, are trying to change the New York State law on Mental Health concerning people who were institutionalized in the 19th and 20th centuries. I know, it’s ridiculous that we even have to do this but that’s New York State and the Office of Mental Health. This HIPAA Law should not even apply to people dead for fifty years and that is according to Federal Law that was passed in 2013. Keep your fingers crossed and pray. I don’t know who else would ever pick up this task after this giant effort. Thank you to all of you who sent your story in! I’m closing the application.

Sincerely, Lin Stuhler

“Good evening, all,

“My name is Ryan Thibodeau, and I’m part of the group that is trying to change the state’s mental hygiene laws to make old records of institutionalized people more accessible to families like yours. Many thanks for completing the Google form and for your willingness to share your ancestor’s story. We really appreciate it!

I forwarded the information you entered into the Google form to the journalist several weeks ago and she has indicated that she is pursuing an article on this important topic. I don’t know anything about the timing of the article’s publication, its content, who she’ll be contacting, and when she’ll reach out. That’s out of my hands and up to her discretion.

The group is looking forward to continuing pursuit of our bill in the New York State legislature when the new session opens on January 7. As we ramp up our effort, it’s likely that I’ll write again and ask especially the New York State residents among you to write letters in support of our bill and contact your State legislators to urge their support. Stay tuned!

Once again, thank you so very much for your assistance! I’ll be in touch again soon.

All the best, Ryan”
Ryan Thibodeau, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
Licensed (Clinical) Psychologist, New York State
Board Member, NAMI Rochester

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION! THIS IS NOW CLOSED. 12.7.2025
*****

Increasing Access to Records of Institutionalized People in New York State
WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Beginning in the 19th century, New York State has operated a large number of institutions designed to serve individuals with psychiatric disorders (for example, “insane asylums,” “state hospitals,” “psychiatric centers”), developmental disabilities (for example, “state schools,” “developmental centers”) and other disabilities (for example, an “epileptic colony,” “an inebriate asylum”). 

Are you a descendant of a person who was institutionalized in one of these places in New York State?

Is your knowledge of your ancestor or the circumstances surrounding their institutionalization limited? Would you like to learn more about them?

Have you tried but failed to get New York State – the Office of Mental Health (OMH), the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), or facilities they operated – to release records of your ancestor’s institutionalization?

A group in New York State is trying to change the state’s mental hygiene laws to make old records of institutionalized people more accessible to families. As part of this effort, the group has connected with a journalist who may be interested in writing an article about this topic. If you would be willing to share your story with the journalist to be featured in a possible article, please complete the brief form below. Your information will then be forwarded to the journalist. Your help is greatly appreciated!

Willard Cemetery at FIND A GRAVE

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New York State Hospitals at FIND A GRAVE

As I find more, I will add them to this list.

Willard State Hospital Cemetery: Willard Asylum Cemetery in Willard, New York – Find a Grave Cemetery

Gowanda State Hospital Cemetery: Gowanda State Hospital Cemetery in Collins, New York – Find a Grave Cemetery

Binghamton State Hospital Cemetery: Binghamton State Hospital Cemetery in Binghamton, New York – Find a Grave Cemetery

Central Islip State Hospital (No Names-Only Numbered Graves): Central Islip State Hospital Grounds Cemetery in Central Islip, New York – Find a Grave Cemetery

Something That Needs To Be Said 1.5.2020

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I feel the need to say something now that Senator Joseph Robach will not be seeking re-election as a state senator for my district. I believe he sincerely tried to pass a law that would have allowed the people of New York State to know when, where, and how their ancestors died and where they are buried. He is a good man and will be sorely missed! Sadly, the final law that was passed blocked all of us from knowing these facts. The law only helped The NYS Office of Mental Health to continue to keep the records and photographs of deceased patients away from public view. So why did this happen?

Anonymous Grave-Willard State Hospital Cemetery

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE VIDEO They’re Buried Where? by Seth Voorhees.

In my opinion, the staff person who originally wrote the bill never read any of the information that I had emailed to him thus creating a bill with multiple holes in it. Even though I kept telling him over the course of six years, while patiently waiting for the bill to pass, that this wasn’t what was wanted or needed, he kept saying, “Don’t worry, it is easier to correct and change it once it is passed.” Well, that’s total bullshit! Another problem was a young millennial lawyer who knew NOTHING about this issue, never read my book or blog, and refused to listen to what I had to say and insisted on speaking over me very loudly on the phone, which made me cry, I might add, was concerned that “…New York State could be sued.” He had NO concern for the poor souls who 150 years ago, were buried in anonymous graves in unmarked cemeteries, one of which is now a youth baseball field. So much for sacred ground or respect for the dead. I foolishly thought that these staffers were supposed to be working on behalf of the people of New York State not for the Office of Mental Health. I was wrong!

Then comes the matter of John Allen, the man who was in charge of public relations for the OMH. He was the guy that you had to go to in order to get any information about former DESEASED patients. I spoke to him once. He skirted around the issue the way all bureaucrats do. I was not impressed. Thank God that I never met the man in person to shake his hand. Eww! I have no idea what has happened in his criminal case.

Case on ex-state supervisor’s alleged diaper fetish reaching an end.

Former State Employee Pleads Guilty to Endangering the Welfare of a Child

According to one source, Mr. Allen had some 300 volunteers with taxpayer funded Ancestry.com accounts, looking up information on deceased patients from Willard State Hospital, trying to find their descendants, etc. That must have cost taxpayers quite a bit of money! I know that my Ancestry account costs one hundred dollars for six months of access and that’s half off because I’ve been a member! HOW STUPID IS NEW YORK STATE?!?! If they would have adopted and followed Federal Law, none of this would be happening as it ALLOWS FOR ANY MEDICAL INFORMATION TO BE RELEASED 50 YEARS AFTER A PATIENT’S DEATH. In my great-grandmother’s case, she’s been dead for 92 years. According to multiple sources on my blog, some of these good people with kind intentions have done the research and don’t know what to do with it because no one from the OMH has gotten in touch with them. Mr. Allen was in charge of this ridiculous plan. Does anyone wonder why I’m tired of banging my head against the wall? It’s because of unnecessary crap like this! Thank you to the volunteers who in good faith were trying to help these anonymous souls.

By adopting Federal Law which was passed in 2013, and including my suggestion as to how the law should read and what it should include, the NYS Office of Mental Health lost a golden opportunity to inform the public what mental illness is and where it lives. We are human, we are flawed, we are all wired differently. No one asks for Depression. No one wants to suffer with Anxiety. No one wants to cut themselves or have Trauma in their lives. No one asks to be born with Autism. No one wants to suffer with Dementia or Alzheimer’s. No woman wants to experience complications from Menopause. And for the millennial lawyer who thinks he knows everything about everything, half of all the women put in the Willard Asylum in 1880 were sent there because of menopause. It could have been YOUR great-great-grandmother! As you stated to me on the phone, “…the state could be sued.” When you stop and think that all I was asking for was WHO ARE THEY AND WHERE ARE THEY BURIED, and then to find out a few years later that a federal law had been passed to release their medical records, let me restate, TO RELEASE THEIR MEDICAL RECORDS, I thought for sure that the NYS Office of Mental Health would comply. I was wrong. I tried.

I cannot bang my head against the wall any longer. If someone else out there would like to pick up the torch and run with it, be my guest. I have written over 200 well researched blog posts over the past nine or ten years which you are welcome to use as long as you give me credit. I have written a book which I self-published with my own money to bring this issue to the public. (Thank you all for making me a hundred-aire!) I cannot do anymore and now that the good senator won’t be running for office again, I wouldn’t know who to speak with, and quite frankly, I just can’t deal with all the run arounds, the writing of letters, the waiting, and the denials coming from the OMH. They know what’s going on. Hundreds of years ago people with mental illness were thrown into filthy prisons, workhouses, and poor houses. Then in the 1800s New York State put them into asylums/state hospitals to try to help them, then in the 1970s they threw them out into the streets where they remain. The jails are FULL of people who are in need of help. They don’t care! Good Luck To You, My Friends! Sincerely, Lin Stuhler

The Inmates of Willard 1870 to 1900: A Genealogy Resource

The following passage was and is my proposal for a New York State law which probably will never be brought up again and will never pass. Rest In Peace Anonymous Souls!

“This bill is important and necessary in order to restore the dignity and personhood of the thousands of people who were incarcerated and died at former New York State Insane Asylums, (later renamed State Hospitals), Feeble-Minded and Epileptic Custodial Institutions. When the bodies of the inmates were not claimed by family members, they were buried in anonymous, unmarked graves, or, their bodies and brains were given to medical colleges for research. These forgotten souls deserve to have their names remembered and available to the public by means of a searchable internet database. Some of these deceased patients were undoubtedly United States Veterans who served during the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam, who suffered from PTSD and Shell Shock. Their graves deserve to be marked with the American Flag and honored like any other veteran’s grave.

The list of these former New York State Hospitals includes but is not limited to: Binghamton, Buffalo, Central Islip, Creedmoor, Dannemora, Edgewood, Gowanda, Hudson River, Kings Park, Long Island, Manhattan, Marcy, Matteawan, Middletown, Mohansic, Pilgrim, Rochester, St. Lawrence, Syracuse, Utica, and Willard.

The Feeble-Minded (Intellectual Disabilities) and Epileptic Custodial Institutions of New York includes but is not limited to: Craig Colony for Epileptics, Letchworth Village for Epileptics & Intellectually Disabled, Newark State School for Intellectually Disabled Women, Rome State School for Intellectually Disabled Adults & Children, and Syracuse State School for Intellectually Disabled Children. There may be more.

There is no good reason why these long deceased souls need to be punished and stigmatized in death for an illness or intellectual disability that they lived with in life. The great majority of these former state hospitals closed in favor of smaller group home settings or changed their names to Psychiatric Centers in the early 1970s. This in turn led to many patients being thrown onto the streets to live in cardboard boxes, or thrown into jail with no psychiatric services, just as they did 150 years ago. I do not understand why anyone would need to have their name withheld from any cemetery list until 50 years had passed after their death. This requirement in the bill only serves to feed the stigma.”

Good Bye!

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I started this blog on July 10, 2011, thinking that maybe 5 people would actually read it and find the posts interesting. Five years later, I have created 12 pages, written 211 posts including countless PDF files, published 739 comments, and received 352,795 views. I self-published The Inmates of Willard 1870 to 1900: A Genealogy Resource, on December 17, 2011, with my own money, to further the cause of restoring dignity to the forgotten people who lived and died at New York State Hospitals (Insane Asylums), who had been buried on New York State property in anonymous, unmarked cemeteries and graves for over a century. New York State Senate Bill S840A-2015 became a law on August 18, 2016, but it did not include provisions for a searchable database available to the public as New York State lawmakers and the Office of Mental Health believed that if they did so, they would be sued. Their belief is that putting a name on a memorial or a headstone in public is different than publishing the names on a specific public website (as if no genealogy geek in the future will photograph the graves along with the names and publish them on the internet). This makes no sense to me. I believe that the New York State Office of Mental Health did not want to disclose the names of deceased patients because the burial ledgers may have been carelessly lost or destroyed. They would also have to explain why these cemeteries had never been marked in over 150 years, why they fell into such a state of neglect and disrepair in the first place, and why Kings Park State Hospital Cemetery is being used as a youth baseball field. The following states took a different approach and put searchable databases on the internet available to the public: Kansas; Minnesota; Nebraska; Ohio; Texas; Maryland; Florida; Washington; and even Binghamton State Hospital of New York has a searchable list on line.

Monument For The Forgotten-Museum of disABILITY History, Buffalo, NY.

Monument For The Forgotten-Museum of disABILITY History, Buffalo, NY.

The reason why New York State Hospitals / Insane Asylums, Feeble-Minded and Epileptic Custodial Institutions are so important to the world is because there were 26 of them, possibly more. These institutions housed many newly arrived immigrants during the mid 19th and early 20th centuries from all over the world, especially Western Europe. I’m sure that there are plenty of people who would like to know the final resting place of their long, lost ancestor. It just doesn’t seem fair to me that this one stigmatized group of people are being denied the one and only thing that we really have to be remembered by; our name. Even though I initiated the original bill in August 2011 and it was introduced to the New York State Senate by Senator Joseph E. Robach in March 2012, I was never allowed to write it. This is the bill that I would have written:

“This bill is important and necessary in order to restore the dignity and personhood of the thousands of people who were incarcerated and died at former New York State Insane Asylums, (later renamed State Hospitals), Feeble-Minded and Epileptic Custodial Institutions. When the bodies of the inmates were not claimed by family members, they were buried in anonymous, unmarked graves, or, their bodies and brains were given to medical colleges for research. These forgotten souls deserve to have their names remembered and available to the public by means of a searchable internet database. Some of these deceased patients were undoubtedly United States Veterans who served during the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam, who suffered from PTSD and Shell Shock. Their graves deserve to be marked with the American Flag and honored like any other veteran’s grave.

The list of these former New York State Hospitals includes but is not limited to: Binghamton, Buffalo, Central Islip, Creedmoor, Dannemora, Edgewood, Gowanda, Hudson River, Kings Park, Long Island, Manhattan, Marcy, Matteawan, Middletown, Mohansic, Pilgrim, Rochester, St. Lawrence, Syracuse, Utica, and Willard. 

The Feeble-Minded (Intellectual Disabilities) and Epileptic Custodial Institutions of New York includes but is not limited to: Craig Colony for Epileptics, Letchworth Village for Epileptics & Intellectually Disabled, Newark State School for Intellectually Disabled Women, Rome State School for Intellectually Disabled Adults & Children, and Syracuse State School for Intellectually Disabled Children. There may be more.

There is no good reason why these long deceased souls need to be punished and stigmatized in death for an illness or intellectual disability that they lived with in life. The great majority of these former state hospitals closed in favor of smaller group home settings or changed their names to Psychiatric Centers in the early 1970s. This in turn led to many patients being thrown onto the streets to live in cardboard boxes, or thrown into jail with no psychiatric services, just as they did 150 years ago. I do not understand why anyone would need to have their name withheld from any cemetery list until 50 years had passed after their death. This requirement in the bill only serves to feed the stigma.”

Well, the bill that I wanted didn’t come to pass. I will keep this blog up and running for the purpose of historical research and I might post something now and then but there is nothing left for me to blog about, and I will not continue to bang my head against the wall trying to convince New York State lawmakers and the New York State Office of Mental Health to change their position. So, I will say, Good Bye! A few years ago, I donated $100.00 dollars to the Willard Cemetery Memorial Project and I cannot afford to give any more. If you are so inclined, please donate to the cause or start a cemetery organization of your own. The saddest part of this law is that by the time this organization raises enough money to mark 5,776 graves, I will be too old to care, and I am not aware of any other cemetery organizations for the other 25 New York State institutions. Thank you for all of your support over these past five years! May God Bless You and Your Loved Ones!!

Sincerely, Linda S. Stuhler

QUESTIONS & CONCERNS: CONTACT JOHN ALLEN, Director, Office of Mental Health, Office of Consumer Affairs, Central Office Staff, 44 Holland Avenue, Albany, New York 12229, Phone: (518) 473-6579, Fax: (518) 474-8998.

Photo by Roger Luther at www.nysAsylum.com

Photo by Roger Luther at http://www.nysAsylum.com

New York State Senate Bill 840-A Becomes Law-Needs Work!

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Bill 840-A was signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, and became law on August 18, 2016. Unfortunately, after reading this new law, unless I have interpreted it incorrectly, it looks nothing like the broad scoped original bill that I had proposed to Kate Munzinger, Senator Joseph Robach’s Chief of Staff, on August 22, 2011. Tim Ragazzo wrote the bill, and Senator Joseph Robach, introduced it to the New York State Senate on March 23, 2012. Even though I initiated the original bill S6805-2011-12, which you can read below, it was changed without my knowledge into something that I do not recognize. Sadly, I cannot take any credit for this new law as I had nothing to do with it. The narrow scope of this law implies that the names of tens of thousands of patients who died in New York State Hospitals/Asylums of the past, will NOT be released to the public; they will remain anonymous unless EACH former state hospital has a “CEMETERY ORGANIZATION” and even then they will be released “ONLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF INSCRIBING THE NAME OR DATE ON A GRAVE MARKER.” So much for finding out who is buried in the Kings Park State Hospital Cemetery which is now being used as a youth baseball field! I wasted more than eight years of my life writing letters, talking to representatives, writing a book, and blogging, for nothing.

Photo by Roger Luther at www.nysAsylum.com

Photo by Roger Luther at http://www.nysAsylum.com

“STATE OF NEW YORK 840-A, 2015-2016 Regular Sessions, IN SENATE (PREFILED) January 7, 2015, Introduced by Sen. ROBACH — read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities — reported favorably from said committee and committed to the Committee on Finance — committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to patients interred at state mental health hospital cemeteries THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1.   Section 7.09 of the mental hygiene law is amended by adding a new subdivision (k) to read as follows:

(K) NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER LAW, RULE OR REGULATION, ON REQUEST BY A REPRESENTATIVE OF A CEMETERY ORGANIZATION OR FUNERAL ESTABLISHMENT, THE COMMISSIONER AND DIRECTORS OF OFFICE FACILITIES SHALL RELEASE TO THE REPRESENTATIVE THE NAME, DATE OF BIRTH, OR DATE OF DEATH OF A PERSON WHO WAS A PATIENT AT THE FACILITY WHEN THE PERSON DIED, UNLESS THE PERSON OR THE PERSON’S GUARDIAN PROVIDED WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS TO THE FACILITY NOT TO RELEASE SUCH PERSON’S NAME OR DATES OF BIRTH AND DEATH. A REPRESENTATIVE OF A CEMETERY ORGANIZATION OR A FUNERAL ESTABLISHMENT MAY USE A NAME OR DATE RELEASED UNDER THIS SUBDIVISION ONLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF INSCRIBING THE NAME OR DATE ON A GRAVE MARKER.

S 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date is authorized to be made on or before such date.”
SOURCE: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2015/s840/amendment/a

03-The Asylum Officials-Wayne E. Morrison, Sr. 1978

03-The Asylum Officials-Wayne E. Morrison, Sr. 1978

Here is Original Bill: 6805-2011

“STATE OF NEW YORK 6805 IN SENATE, March 23, 2012, Introduced by Sen. ROBACH — read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to patients interred at state mental health hospital cemeteries THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. The mental hygiene law is amended by adding a new section 33.27 to read as follows:

S 33.27 RELEASE OF CERTAIN PATIENTS’ NAMES AND DATES OF BIRTH AND DEATH.

(A) TO MARK HEADSTONES OR OTHERWISE MEMORIALIZE PATIENTS INTERRED AT STATE MENTAL HEALTH HOSPITAL CEMETERIES, THE DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HYGIENE SHALL MAKE AVAILABLE THE NAME, DATE OF BIRTH AND DATE OF DEATH OF PATIENTS BURIED IN STATE MENTAL HEALTH HOSPITAL CEMETERIES FIFTY YEARS AFTER THE DEATH OF A PATIENT.

(B) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, THE TERM “STATE MENTAL HEALTH HOSPITALS” SHALL MEAN ANY STATE-FUNDED INSTITUTION TO CARE FOR AND HELP TREAT THE MENTALLY ILL OR DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED IN NEW YORK STATE. SUCH TERM SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO FORMER ASYLUMS FOR THE INSANE, SUCH AS THE NEW YORK STATE LUNATIC ASYLUM, UTICA STATE HOSPITAL, WILLARD ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE, WILLARD STATE HOSPITAL, NEW YORK STATE INEBRIATE ASYLUM, BINGHAMTON ASYLUM FOR THE CHRONIC INSANE, BINGHAMTON STATE HOSPITAL, BUFFALO STATE ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE, NEW YORK STATE ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE, BUFFALO STATE HOSPITAL, NEW YORK STATE ASYLUM FOR IDIOTS AND THE ASYLUM FOR IDIOTS IN ALBANY.

S 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date is authorized to be made on or before such date.EXPLANATION–Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD13640-01-1” SOURCE: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2011/s6805/amendment/original

Utica Crib 2

Utica Crib 2

Here is Original Bill: 840-2015

“STATE OF NEW YORK 840 IN SENATE 2015-2016 Regular Sessions, IN SENATE (PREFILED), January 7, 2015, Introduced by Sen. ROBACH — read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to patients interred at state mental health hospital cemeteries THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. The mental hygiene law is amended by adding a new section 33.27 to read as follows:

S 33.27 RELEASE OF CERTAIN PATIENTS’ NAMES AND DATES OF BIRTH AND DEATH.

(A) TO MARK HEADSTONES OR OTHERWISE MEMORIALIZE PATIENTS INTERRED AT STATE MENTAL HEALTH HOSPITAL CEMETERIES, THE DEPARTMENT SHALL MAKE AVAILABLE THE NAME, DATE OF BIRTH AND DATE OF DEATH OF PATIENTS BURIED IN STATE MENTAL HEALTH HOSPITAL CEMETERIES FIFTY YEARS AFTER THE DEATH OF A PATIENT.

(B) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, THE TERM “STATE MENTAL HEALTH HOSPITALS” SHALL MEAN ANY STATE-FUNDED INSTITUTION TO CARE FOR AND HELP TREAT THE MENTALLY ILL OR DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED IN NEW YORK STATE. SUCH TERM SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO FORMER ASYLUMS FOR THE INSANE, SUCH AS THE NEW YORK STATE LUNATIC ASYLUM, UTICA STATE HOSPITAL, WILLARD ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE, WILLARD STATE HOSPITAL, NEW YORK STATE INEBRIATE ASYLUM, BINGHAMTON ASYLUM FOR THE CHRONIC INSANE, BINGHAMTON STATE HOSPITAL, BUFFALO STATE ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE, NEW YORK STATE ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE, BUFFALO STATE HOSPITAL, NEW YORK STATE ASYLUM FOR IDIOTS AND THE ASYLUM FOR IDIOTS IN ALBANY.

S 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date is authorized to be made on or before such date.

EXPLANATION–Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD03851-01-5”
SOURCE: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2015/s840/amendment/a

The list of these former New York State Hospitals includes but is not limited to: Binghamton, Buffalo, Central Islip, Creedmoor, Dannemora, Edgewood, Gowanda, Hudson River, Kings Park, Long Island, Manhattan, Marcy, Matteawan, Middletown, Mohansic, Pilgrim, Rochester, St. Lawrence, Syracuse, Utica, and Willard. 

The Feeble-Minded (Intellectual Disabilities) and Epileptic Custodial Institutions of New York includes but is not limited to: Craig Colony for Epileptics, Letchworth Village for Epileptics & Intellectually Disabled, Newark State School for Intellectually Disabled Women, Rome State School for Intellectually Disabled Adults & Children, and Syracuse State School for Intellectually Disabled Children. There may be more.

NO TOUR at The Willard State Hospital Campus in May 2016

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According to Teri Weaver at tweaver@syracuse.com, “No tour of Willard insane asylum for 2016, NY state says” As far as I know, the cemetery is always open to those who wish to visit and pay their respects.

Willard at newyorkupstate.com/finger-lakes

Willard at newyorkupstate.com/finger-lakes

THE BAD NEWS: Thousands Remain Nameless!

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The New York State Office of Mental Health put on a fabulous “show” at the Willard State Hospital Cemetery on Saturday, May 16, 2015, by allowing ONE man, Lawrence Mocha, an inmate and hospital grave digger, who died 47 years ago, to be remembered with a beautiful ceremony that included a plaque displaying HIS NAME, DATE OF BIRTH, DATE OF DEATH, AND LOCATION OF GRAVE! OH MY GOD! IS HELL FREEZING OVER?

Plaque Honoring Lawrence Mocha

Plaque Honoring Lawrence Mocha

Mr. Mocha was ONE OUT OF 5,776 buried at this cemetery. This ceremony was hosted by the Willard Cemetery Memorial Project. The only reason that the OMH let this ceremony take place was because they were humiliated by an article published in The New York Times by journalist, Dan Barry. Why wasn’t Mr. Barry fined $10,000 by the OMH as they so often threaten? Might they be afraid of The Times and its readership of 1 million people a day?

It has been my belief that the New York State Legislature should pass into law two bills:

  1. New York State needs a law that would release the names, dates of birth and death, and location of graves of ALL deceased patients of ALL 21 former New York State Hospitals and 5 Custodial Institutions which SHOULD BE AVAILABLE AND ACCESSABLE ON THE OMH Website as a searchable data base. All these cemeteries are INACTIVE! There is no reason why anyone has to wait 50 years to be remembered!

AND

  1. An additional law that would release to descendants the medical records and photographs of loved ones who were incarcerated at these institutions 50 years after the patients’ death with the same wording as provided by the new Federal HIPAA legislation of March 2013.

The New York State Office of Mental Health WILL NOT ALLOW the burial ledger of the Willard State Hospital or any New York State Hospital or Custodial Institution to be released to the public. The names of the deceased and the location of their graves must be made available to the public in order that people may find their ancestor, visit the grave, and purchase a headstone if they wish to do so. Withholding their names is unacceptable, dehumanizing, and insulting; it only serves to feed the stigma associated with mental illness. Many of these former patients died over one hundred years ago; they are not under the care of the Office of Mental Health or any government agency. It is important and necessary for a new law in order to restore the dignity and personhood of the THOUSANDS of people who were incarcerated and died at former New York State Hospitals (formerly Insane Asylums), and Custodial Institutions. When the bodies of the inmates/patients were not claimed by family members, they were buried in anonymous, unmarked graves on state owned and county cemeteries. They deserve to have their names remembered and available to the public in a searchable database located at The New York State Office of Mental Health Website.

The NYS Office of Mental Health always sites “Protected Health Information” for their reason as to why they cannot release patient names. Let’s start at the beginning by defining the following: What Is Personal Identifiable Information? AND, What Is Protected Health Information? If you take the time to read these two definitions, you will CLEARLY SEE THAT THESE LAWS AND PROVISIONS WERE WRITTEN FOR THE LIVING, NOT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN DEAD LONGER THAN 50 YEARS!!!! A BURIAL PERMIT, which can be obtained in every County Clerk’s Office in the State of New York, is not covered under any state or federal privacy law. Old Books, Burial Ledgers, and The United States Federal and State Censuses which are released after 70 years, are not covered under any law that I know of. Birth, Death, and Marriage Certificates can be obtained from the NYS Vital Records page. 145 years have passed since the first person was buried at the Willard Asylum in 1870. It is time to let those nameless souls rest in peace and be remembered!

Anyone can sit at the County Clerk’s Office and sort through all the records pertaining to any state hospital or custodial institution but the information contained in the burial ledgers would be much more accurate and less time consuming. An inscribed headstone or a name on a searchable database would not positively identify a specific individual UNLESS it stated the city, county, state, country of origin, parents, spouses, sibling names, etc. And even then, you would have to claim that person as your ancestor and notify the media that he or she was diagnosed with a mental illness in order for you and your family to be “stigmatized.” Come On! This Is The Twenty-First Century! Privacy ends at death and according to the new HIPAA Law, Confidentiality Of Medical Records only lasts for 50 years after death of an individual.

The real reason why the OMH does not want to publish this information is simple. They don’t want you to know how badly they’ve screwed up!

EXAMPLES:
I have been told over and over again that one of the cemeteries on the former KINGS PARK STATE HOSPITAL property is being used as a youth baseball field. This had to have been approved by the NYSOMH. As far as I know, the bodies were never moved. I wonder how the families of patients buried at this site would feel if they knew that their loved one’s grave was being disrespected in this way? If this information is incorrect, I apologize.

What about all the VETERANS from the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam that are buried in these former NYS Hospital Cemeteries. Don’t they have a right to be remembered with a marker?

The NAMES of deceased patients buried at the former BINGHAMTON STATE HOSPITAL Cemetery are already online in a searchable database. The burial ledger was found in the trash. AND, in 2014, Glass Photo Negatives of Patients were discovered in a pile of pigeon poop at Binghamton’s Historic Asylum. If these old photographs and burial ledgers are so important, then why were they found in the trash?

At the former MIDDLETOWN HOMEOPATHIC STATE HOSPITAL patient records were left in boxes which were photographed and put on the internet. Looks like the staff left in a hurry! These facilities closed in 1995.

Someone from the former GOWANDA STATE HOSPITAL gave the burial ledger to The Museum of disABILITY History for safe keeping. Thank God! The names are on display at the museum.

Why is the largest mental health facility in New York State the Prison at Riker’s Island?

If medical records for the recently departed are protected, then why was Sally Green’s Anonymous Burial and a detailed story printed all over the news in February 2012?

Lastly, and most importantly, The OMH would have to release 21 State Hospital and 5 Custodial Institution Burial Ledgers. Do they even have them?

The list of these former New York State Hospitals includes but is not limited to: Binghamton, Buffalo, Central Islip, Creedmoor, Dannemora, Edgewood, Gowanda, Hudson River, Kings Park, Long Island, Manhattan, Marcy, Matteawan, Middletown, Mohansic, Pilgrim, Rochester, St. Lawrence, Syracuse, Utica, and Willard. 

The Feeble-Minded (Intellectual Disabilities) and Epileptic Custodial Institutions of New York includes but is not limited to: Craig Colony for Epileptics, Letchworth Village for Epileptics & Intellectually Disabled, Newark State School for Intellectually Disabled Women, Rome State School for Intellectually Disabled Adults & Children, and Syracuse State School for Intellectually Disabled Children.

Please check out and share the NAMES page.

More Reading:

Mental Illness & Ignorance

They’re Buried Where? May 24, 2013

Mental Illness & Prisons

My Story

THE GOOD NEWS: One Man Is Remembered!

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On Saturday, May 16, 2015, LAWRENCE MOCHA was honored and remembered as a living, breathing, contributing member of society, 47 years after his death, with a lovely service and memorial. LAWRENCE was a patient at The WILLARD STATE HOSPITAL and served, unpaid, until the age of 90, as the gravedigger for the institution for thirty years. He dug 1,500 graves for his fellow patients, all of whom, with the exception of one other man, remain in anonymity. As you will see in the video below, it was a beautiful celebration of life that not only remembered with dignity and grace MR. MOCHA but all of the nearly 6,000 patients buried in anonymous graves at the 30 acre, WILLARD STATE HOSPITAL CEMETERY.

Lawrence Mocha

Lawrence Mocha

I was honored to be invited to this special event but I was unable to attend. I did however view the entire 55 minute video. I was so happy to see that so many people attended the celebration! I understand that there was quite a traffic jam and the State Police had to be called to divert people away from the WILLARD CAMPUS that held their annual tour and fundraising event for the Day Care Center. I hope in some small way I was able to help get the word out with my book and this blog about the dehumanizing, anonymous graves in former NEW YORK STATE HOSPITAL and CUSTODIAL INSTITUTION CEMETERIES.

Lawrence Mocha's Marker

Lawrence Mocha’s Marker

After viewing the video, there are a few thoughts I would like to share:

  1. The anonymous graves at WILLARD would never have been brought to light, and the suitcases found in the attic would never have been saved and preserved without the tireless work of CRAIG WILLIAMS, Curator of History at The New York State Museum at Albany.
  2. “The Lives They Left Behind, Suitcases From A State Hospital Attic” written by DARBY PENNEY and PETER STASTNY, opened the eyes of the public and made us aware of what it was like to be institutionalized. This book inspired so many people, including me, to try to correct the disgrace of anonymous burials in former New York State Hospitals and Custodial Institutions. It led me to ask my State Senator, Joe Robach, to draft a bill concerning the release of patient names, dates of birth and death, and location of grave. Written in 2011 and first introduced to the New York State Senate on March 23, 2012 as S6805-2011, on January 13, 2013 as S2514-2013, and on January 7, 2015 as S840A-2015. As of today, it has not passed into law.
  3. In 2011, The Willard Cemetery Memorial Project was formed. God Bless all the volunteers who made this celebration possible!
  4. JOHN ALLEN, Special Assistant to the Commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health (518-473-6579), verified in his statements on the video exactly what I have been stating for years! Thank you, Mr. Allen! He told the story about how difficult it was to match A NAME, ANY NAME, with the correct family especially after multiple generations have passed since the ancestor’s death. He spoke about how problematic it was to find a living relative of the deceased buried in a numbered grave (which is exactly why the Federal HIPPA Law changed in March 2013). I know I’m going to hell for saying this, but it gave me great pleasure watching MR. ALLEN getting choked up as he told his story. Hopefully, he now knows what it feels like to search, and search, and search for a “long, lost relative” and finally finding them. MR. ALLEN also had a photograph of MR. MOCHA which he could show to a long, lost family member. Most of us don’t have that luxury even though photographs were taken of each patient. I would love to have a photograph of my great-mother. It’s simply outrageous that one government agency has the right to withhold the names, dates of birth and death, and location of graves of THOUSANDS!!! We’re not talking about medical records here, only the most basic of information concerning the death and final resting place of our loved ones who happened to live and die in a NEW YORK STATE HOSPITAL or CUSTODIAL INSTITUTION.

Plaque Honoring Lawrence Mocha

Plaque Honoring Lawrence Mocha

A NAME IS JUST A NAME AND MEANS NOTHING TO ANYONE UNLESS YOU’RE THE ONE SEARCHING FOR THAT LOVED ONE! It’s just a name that many other people share, it’s just a birth date, it’s just a death date. NO FAMILY WILL BE STIGMATIZED unless they are like me and tell the world that their great-grandmother lived and died at a state hospital. Remember that when WILLARD opened in 1869, that people were really poor, something that we have a hard time understanding today. Some families did not have the money to ship their relatives’ remains home. To believe that none of these people were loved and or missed is incorrect. To think that no one ever attended their burial or said a prayer for them is simply not true.

VIDEO: A MEMORIAL CELEBRATION FOR ALL THOSE INTERED AT WILLARD CEMETERY.

In case you didn’t catch the fifty-one names, beginning at minute 45, here they are.
I apologize in advance if I misspelled your loved ones’ name.
Do these names mean anything to you?

Names Of The Dearly Departed That Were Read In Public And Recorded On Video At: The Willard Memorial Celebration Saturday, May 16, 2015

1889
June 3 – Hannah Thompson
August 14 – Eliza Delaney
October 16 – Ida Bartholomew

1890
September 9 – James Foster
September 15 – Patrick McNamara
October 31 – Mary Champlain

1891
April 26 – Sophia Anderson
May 26 – Mary Brown
June 23 – Katherine Davis
November 16 – Lavinia Hayes

1892
January 4 – Electa George
June 7 – John Van Horne
September 24 – Mary Church
October 20 – Sarah Scott

1893 January 20 – Susan Dugham
September 26 – John B. Kellogg
December 12 – Effie Risley

1894
January 1 – Syble Pollay
February 19 – Suzanne Klinkers Waldron
March 26 – Carolyn Gregory
June 23 – Elizabeth Weber
August 21 – Sarah Ann Baker
November 8 – Sarah Jane Hemstreet
December 30 – Willis Mathews

1895
February 2 – Sophia Podgka
July 21 – Elizabeth Dawson
November 26 – Parmelia Baldwin

1896
March 3 – Ann Dady

1897
April 27 – Miriam D. Bellamy

1898
August 10 – Julia Holden

1899
November 15 – Delia Richards
December 4 – Genevieve Murray

1900
February 3 – Ellen Jane Roe
May 14 – Honora Nugent
July 1 – Harriet Gray
October 12 – Lottie Sullivan

1901
September 19 – Rachel Tice

1902
August 24 – Emma P. Sandborn

1903
April 18 – Elizabeth Snell
December 3 – Nora Murphy

1904
February 20 – Catherine Walwrath
March 18 – Margaret McKay
April 27 – Ellen Horan
June 21 – Isabella Pemberton
October 29 – Mary J. Chapman
December 20 – Mita Mulholland

1905
August 4 – Susan Stortz
September 7 – Mary Gilmore
October 25 – Adele Monnier

1906
April 11 – Sarah Rooney

1968
October 26 – Lawrence Mocha

Willard Cemetery Memorial Celebration 5.16.2015

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“The Willard Cemetery Memorial Project chair Colleen Spellecy of Waterloo said the ceremonies will begin at 11 a.m., Saturday, May 16, 2015, at the cemetery, located near the east shore of Seneca Lake. It is being billed as a memorial celebration for all those interred at the cemetery in unmarked graves, with a special remembrance of Lawrence Mocha.” Two 3 hour tours of Willard will begin at 9:00am and 1:00pm with the Memorial Celebration at 11:00am.

Lawrence Mocha

Lawrence Mocha

Mocha was born June 23, 1878 in Austria. He emigrated to the United States in 1907, settling in New York City. He experienced some mental issues that ended up with him being sent to Willard in 1918. He stayed there until dying Oct. 26, 1968, at the age of 90.

Memorial Plaque

Memorial Plaque

During his 50 years at Willard, he dug more than 1,500 graves for his fellow patients. The cemetery operated from 1870 to 2000, and those who died at the psychiatric center, both with and without family, were buried in graves marked only by a number.”
SOURCE: Finger Lakes Times – March 22, 2015.

The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic.

Willard Drug Treatment Campus – 7116 County Road 132, Willard, NY 14588.

Home In The Finger Lakes – Public Tour Of Willard.