The Inmates of Willard 1870 to 1900 / A Genealogy Resource

PUTMAN / PUTNAM – Dutch Roots

Posted on August 10, 2012 by lsstuhler

Johannes (Jan) Pootman (Putman, Potman, Poutman) landed on the shores of New Netherland in the year 1661. He is the progenitor of my Dutch “Putman” family. I don’t know if he was an orphan upon one of the many ships from Holland to New Netherland bringing poor children to be “bound out” as servants, but he was about the age of sixteen when he arrived as an indentured servant working as an apprentice in “Beverwyck.” He was born in Leiden, Holland, Netherlands in 1645. In 1661, at age 16, he was apprenticed to Phillip Brower of Albany, New York, for a three year period. On September 14, 1661, he signed his own name to these papers after arriving in America. It was common in those days to become an apprentice in exchange for passage to America. In 1662, he moved with Brower and was one of the early settlers in Schenectady, New York. Brower died in 1664 and Jan became a free man. Sometime in the early 1670s, Jan married Cornelia Bratt, a daughter of Arent Andres Bratt, the Vice Governor of Renselaerwyck. Jan was Deacon of the Dutch Church and was a Justice of the Peace under the Leyster Administration. Both were very important positions at the time. He remained in Schenectady all his life. He owned considerable lands in the area. Years later, one of his sons sold some of the land and Union College was founded on that property. On the night of February 8, 1690, the Indians made a surprise attack on the white settlers. Both Jan and his wife were murdered in the Schenectady Massacre. He was forty-five and Cornelia was thirty-five at the time of their deaths. In 1715, the following children of Jan and Cornelia are listed: Arent, Maritje, Victoor, David, Cornelis, and Catalyntje. (SOURCE: Bill Putman at www.billputman.com)

I was shocked and saddened to read the accounts of my seventh great-grandparent’s tragic deaths. This is where reliable, documentary proof is essential to back up the story of your ancestors. Whenever you find relevant information that you want to keep, make sure that you include your sources in your notes, otherwise, your discovery means nothing. Even if you aren’t up on the latest and ever changing source citations, at least copy and paste the internet address into your database as your source. If you can cross reference or find multiple sources, do it. It is also common courtesy to acknowledge the people who have taken the time to document your ancestors’ lives. Give credit where credit is due by listing the person or persons who have done the research. In the case of Johannes Pootman, I was lucky enough to stumble upon the work of Warren T. Putman who had recorded the genealogy of the Putman family with articulate notes and reliable sources. If not for his work and the help of Bill Putman, I never would have found my seventh great-grandfather, nor would I have found another branch of my family tree, the Mudge family. (Warren T. Putman’s work is located at www.billputman.com: “ANCESTORS AND DESCENDANTS OF JOHANNES PUTMAN OF HOLLAND”).

Pootman, Potman, and Poutman became Putman. For some unknown reason, in the early to mid 1800’s, my third great-grandfather, James Putman, decided to change the family name to Putnam, which is an English surname. Some descendants continued with the original spelling of Putman, others went with Putnam, and my grandfather, Jarvis Mudge Putnam / Putman, apparently used both which made the searching of my ancestors very confusing. My grandfather was named after his grandfather. The marriage certificate of my grandparents shows the surname as PUTMAN, while the headstone of Jarvis and Bessie (Griswold) Putnam reflects the surname as PUTNAM. As far as I know, all descendants of my grandparents were given the surname of PUTNAM. I have no idea as to why my grandfather did this. This explanation also shows why I have the spelling of Maggie’s last name as Putnam (Putman) in my book, The Inmates of Willard 1870 to 1900 A Genealogy Resource.

According to the “PennYan Democrat” newspaper dated August 17, 1928: “PUTNAM-At the State Hospital in Willard, Monday, August 13, 1928, Mrs. Margaret Putnam, aged 76 years. She is survived by one son, Jarvis Putnam, of PennYan. The funeral was held from the Thayer Funeral Home Wednesday afternoon, Rev. W.A. Hendricks officiating. Burial in LakeView cemetery.”

The headstone of my great-grandfather, Richard T. Putman, who was buried in the Pine Grove Cemetery, Tribes Hill, Montgomery County, New York, reflects the spelling of Putman; while my great-grandmother, Margaret A. Putnam (Putman), who is buried in an unmarked grave in the Lakeview Cemetery, Penn Yan, Yates County, New York, reflects the spelling of Putnam in the cemetery records. Although they are buried in different towns and in different cemeteries, I have no idea why the spellings of their names are different as they were married for forty-one years.

Richard and Maggie lived their entire married lives in Montgomery County, New York. Richard died and was buried there in 1924. Maggie moved in with my grandparents, who lived in Penn Yan, Yates County, New York, sometime after my great-grandfather’s death. About the year 1925, she was committed to Willard State Hospital and died there in 1928. When I sent Form OMH 11 to the Greater Binghamton Health Center requesting Maggie’s medical records from Willard, I wrote her name as “Margaret Orr-Putnam.” The letter that I received from them clearly stated “that they were unable to locate the requested file” of “Margarett Putman.” It is very clear to me that the New York State Office of Mental Health is no longer allowing the release of medical records of former “mental patients.” It would have been greatly appreciated if they would have told me the truth before I took the time and effort to have my physician fill out and mail in all the required paperwork.

I have shown below some of the sources that I used to document the life and death of Johannes Pootman. His property sat on the north corner of Union and Ferry streets which is now the site of Union College in Schenectady, New York.

“POOTMAN (PUTMAN) JOHANNES (Jan), sixteen years of age in 1661, was apprenticed by Jan Hendrickse Van Bael for three years to Philip Hendrickse Brouwer for his food and clothes. He married Cornelia, daughter of Arent Andriese Bratt and Catlyntje De Vos. His home lot, in the village, was on the north corner of Union and Ferry Streets, having 100 ft. frontage on the former street; later he purchased the 100 ft. lot next west, of Jan Roeloffse, son of the celebrated Anneke Janse. On the fatal night of the 8th of February 1690, both Pootman and his neighbor Roeloffse with their wives, were slain by the French and Indians. The following children were living in 1715, when they received their mother’s portion of her father’s estate (101 pounds, 13, 4): Arent; Maritie, married Stephen Bedeut; Victoor; David; Cornelis; Catalyntje, married Cornelis Post.”

SOURCE:http://www.schenectadyhistory.org/families/firstsettlers/oh_q.html
Genealogies of the First Settlers of Schenectady – Contributions to the Genealogies of the Descendants of the First Settlers of the Patent and City of Schenectady, from 1662 to 1800 by Jonathan Pearson (1873) is one of the standard works on early Schenectady genealogy, pages 142,143.

“List of ye people kild and destroyed by ye French of Canida and there Indians at Skinnechtady between Sat. and Sun. ye 9th of February, 1689/90. Joh. Pootman kild and his wife kild and her scalp taken off.”
SOURCE: Notes of Warren T. Putman at http://www.billputman.com. Callaghan, E.B.; Documentary History, State of New York; 1849, Vol 1; p. 305.

“They are both buried under a boulder in the ‘Old’ Cobblestone Church Yard, Rotterdam, Albany County, New York.”
SOURCE: Notes of Warren T. Putman at http://www.billputman.com. Putman, C.W.; Unpublished manuscript; 1914; p. 1; Schenectady Historical Society.

“ROELOFFSEN, JAN (De Goyer), son of the famous Anneke Janse, removed from Albany to Schenectady about 1670, in which year he accidentally killed Gerrit Verbeeck in the former place, for which he was pardoned by the Governor. His lot in Schenectady was on the north side of Union Street 100 Amsterdam ft. west of Ferry, the same lot now owned by Mr. Giles Y. Van der Bogart; this he sold to Jan Pootman, his neighbor on the east, reserving a life interest in the same for himself and wife. On the fatal night, Feb. 8, 1690, both were slain with their wives. Roeloffse left no children.”
SOURCE: http://www.schenectadyhistory.org/families/firstsettlers/r_sh.html

“In 1661 being then a resident of Beverwyck, he was apprenticed by Jan Hendrickse Van Bael for three years to Philip Hendrickse Brouwer. He was then sixteen years of age. (138-1) On Brouwer’s removal to Schenectady in 1662, Pootman became a resident here and shortly after married Cornelia, daughter of Arent Andriese Bratt. His house lot was on the north corner of Union and Ferry streets, having a front of 100 feet on the former street; later he purchased the 100 feet next west, of Jan Roeloffse, son of the well known Anneke Janse. (138-2) On the fatal night of Feb. 8, 1689/90, both Pootman and his neighbor Roeloffse with their wives were slain. Three of his sons, – Arent, Victoor and Cornelis arrived at maturity and had families. On the 6th April, 1709, Arent Pootman, the eldest son, conveyed to his brother Victoor, ‘a certain lot of ground being part of the lot now in my possession and occupation, bounded on the east and south by the common highway (Ferry and Union streets) and on the north and west by the other part of the lot of said Arent Pootman; in length on the east and west sides 217 feet and in breadth on the north and south 69 feet 4 in., wood measure.’ (138-3).

Notes: (138-1) 14 Sept., 1661, “Soo heeft Jan Hendr. Van Bael besteet ende Philip Hendr. Brouwer aen genomen Johannes Pootman, jong gesel out jegenwordich omtrent sestien jaeren, to serve said Brouwer, van drye achtereen volgende jaaren. Jan Pootman signed his name to the indentures in a clear and beautiful hand. Brouwer engaged to pay him 80 gl. a year in lieu of outfit, for his services.”
(138-2) Toll Papers; see also Roeloffse. (138-3) Old deed.”
SOURCE:http://www.schenectadyhistory.org/resources/patent/pootman.html. A History of the Schenectady Patent in the Dutch and English Times. 7: Adult Freeholders-Jan Pootman (Putman) Prof. Jonathan Pearson. [This information is from pp. 137-138 of “A History of the Schenectady Patent in the Dutch and English Times”; being contributions toward “A History of the Lower Mohawk Valley” by Jonathan Pearson, A. M. and others, edited by J. W. MacMurray, A. M., U. S. A. (Albany, NY: J. Munsell’s Sons, Printers, 1883).

The Dutch Reformed Church in America kept great records. There are a number of websites where volunteers have transcribed these church records dating back to the 1600’s in New Netherland. The Dutch used a system of naming their children called patronymics that used the father’s first name as the child’s middle name and in some cases, eventually, the father’s first name became the family surname. (Matronymics is the use of the mother’s or female ancestor’s name). The use of the beginning of surnames differs from country to country but the Dutch used patronymics in America and in the Netherlands into the 1700’s. Patronymics is a tool to convey one’s lineage. The father’s first name would be accompanied with different endings such as: zoon, sz, se, s and sen, which basically translates into “son of” or “daughter of” as you can see using Jan’s employer-master as an example: Philip Hendrickse Brouwer, means Philip son of Hendrick Brouwer. The problem with Johannes is that he had no patronymic middle name which is very rare considering the Dutch traditions. It is possible that his lineage wasn’t Dutch, maybe he was indeed an orphan and didn’t know his father, or perhaps, he didn’t like his father and wanted to distance himself from him. Attempts to find Jan’s father will be very difficult indeed.

Garret Putman General Store

Putman’s Lock Grocery

The Erie Canal

New York State Office Of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation

“Putman General Store Located at Yankee Hill Lock Location: 553 Queen Anne Street, Amsterdam, NY 12010: Garret Putman opened this store in the early 1850’s. Putman’s Store began as a family run business. Garret and his son John were listed as grocers in the 1855 NYS census. By 1860 the Putman’s returned to farming while neighbors ran the canal store for them. In 1892 he was once again a storekeeper. By 1900 (or 1905 at the latest) it was no longer in operation. The store carried dry goods, fresh meat, poultry groceries, liquors and literature.”

Owners of the Putman General Store located on the Erie Canal were my third great-grandparents: GARRET VICTOR PUTMAN: Born September 19, 1793, North Mohawk, Montgomery County, New York. Died February 16, 1875, Yankee Hill, Montgomery County, New York. At the age of 81 years, 4 months, 28 days; and MARIA DOUWSE HANSEN: Born 1795, New York. Died December 5, 1866, Yankee Hill, Montgomery County, New York. At the age of 71 years.

Daughter of Garret and Maria Putman was: Deborah A. PUTMAN, born 1826 in Fonda, Montgomery County, New York; died 25 Apr 1898 in Tribes Hill, Montgomery County, New York. Age 72 years. Buried April 1898 in Tribes Hill, Montgomery County, New York, Pine Grove Cemetery. She married on 23 December 1847 in Montgomery County, New York, Jarvis Mudge PUTMAN, born 29 March 1827 in Tribes Hill, Montgomery County, New York; died 16 December 1883 in Amsterdam, Montgomery County, New York. Age 56y/8m/17d. Son of James PUTNAM (PUTMAN) and Catalina (VAN BUREN) PUTNAM.

My second great-grandparents, Jarvis Mudge Putman and Deborah Ann Putman were third cousins.

The line for Jarvis Mudge Putman is: Jarvis Mudge> James (Putnam)> John Arent> Arent Victor> Victoor Janse> Jan Putman (Pootman).

The line for Deborah Ann Putman is: Deborah A.> Garret Victor> Victor Jacob> Jacob Victor> Victoor Janse> Jan Putman (Pootman).

“Jarvis Mudge Putman is 34 NY, a shoemaker, living with his wife, Deborah Ann 34 NY, sons; Garrett 9, Richard 6, Charles E. 3, Marcus H. 1.” SOURCE: http://www.billputman.com: According to the New York State Census of 1860.

“Jarvis M. (Mudge) Putman: Amsterdam, Montgomery County, New York. He is a farmer, 44, NY, Debra (also a Putman) 44, NY, Garret H., 19, NY, Richard T., 16, NY, Charles E., 12, NY, Martha F. (Marcus), 11, NY, and Minnie, 7, NY.” SOURCE: http://www.billputman.com: According to the New York State Census of 1870.

Jarvis Mudge Putman I & Family

Seated are Jarvis Mudge and Deborah Ann Putman. Standing are sons: Garret H.; Richard T. married Margaret A. Orr ; Charles E. married Lydia A. Barber and Elizabeth Mosher; and Marcus H. (I do not know who is who). Seated is daugher Minnie Estella who married Francis McCabe.

The only child born to Richard T. and Margaret A. (Orr) Putman was my grandfather, Jarvis Mudge Putman (Putnam). He was born on February 4, 1884 in Amsterdam, Montgomery County, New York and died on January 29, 1965 in Penn Yan, Yates County, New York, at the age of 80.

Jarvis Mudge Putman about 1894

Jarvis is standing on the bottom, far left corner of this photograph. He has a flower in his lapel. Montgomery County, New York about 1894.

Wedding Certificate of Jarvis & Bessie Putnam

As you can see on my grandparents wedding certificate, Jarvis’s surname is clearly spelled PUTMAN. My grandparents headstone clearly shows the surname PUTNAM. All of Jarvis and Bessie’s children used the surname PUTNAM. My grandparents have been gone a long time but I still miss them and cherish their memories.

Putnam Headstone

Jarvis & Bessie Putnam 4.10.1912

Jarvis & Bessie 1940s

My Story by L.S. Stuhler – July 23, 2012

Featured

Posted on July 23, 2012 by lsstuhler

I include here my story about trying to obtain my great-grandmother’s medical records and photographs from the Willard State Hospital, along with asking for the release to the public of former patient names; dates of birth and death; and location of graves, in order that these forgotten people, of which there are thousands, may be honored and remembered with dignity. It all began on February 24, 2001, when I found my great-grandmother’s obituary: According to the “PennYan Democrat” newspaper dated August 17, 1928: “PUTNAM, At the State Hospital in Willard, Monday, August 13, 1928, Mrs. Margaret Putnam, aged 76 years. She is survived by one son, Jarvis Putnam, of PennYan. The funeral was held from the Thayer Funeral Home Wednesday afternoon, Rev. W.A. Hendricks officiating. Burial in Lake View cemetery.”

It took a long time for me to figure out where I should be looking in order to obtain information about my great-grandmother. In 2001, I was unable to find anything on the internet pertaining to this issue which is the main reason I created this blog (July 10, 2011) and wrote the book The Inmates of Willard 1870 to 1900, A Genealogy Resource (December 17, 2011). In 2007, I came across an article about a new book written by Darby Penney, MLS, and Peter Stastney, M.D., entitled The Lives They Left Behind Suitcases From A State Hospital Attic. Wondering if my great-grandmother’s suitcase was among the 400 discovered in an attic of the Willard State Hospital, I contacted Ms. Penney. Unfortunately, it was not among the surviving suitcases. Ms. Penney’s book revealed the practice of burying “mental patients” in anonymous graves. I must admit that I had never heard of this practice before and thought it was extremely cruel. What amazed me most was that no one (that I knew of) had ever tried to rectify this sad, dehumanizing situation. What needs to be acknowledged is none of these well documented facts about the thousands of people buried in anonymous graves at Willard, and all former NYS Hospitals and Custodial Institutions, would ever have come to light without the tireless efforts of Ms. Penney, Dr. Stastney, and Mr. Craig Williams, Curator of History at the New York State Museum at Albany. I also need to thank Laurel Lemke, from the Grave Concerns Association, for sending me the law that she helped to pass in the State of Washington in 2004. Without her help in emailing me the bill, I never would have gotten the attention of Kate Munzinger, Senator Joseph Robach’s Chief of Staff. I met with Ms. Munzinger on August 22, 2011. Senator Robach introduced the bill to the New York State Senate in March 2012.

The following response letters, beginning in early 2008, are from everyone that I have contacted over the years. I have not included emails. Unless a modification is made to the present HIPAA Law and New York State Mental Hygiene Laws (See New HIPAA Update and S2514-2013), I and so many others like me, who want to know why our ancestor was committed to a state hospital, will never know the answer. My first response letter is dated April 16, 2008, in response to the original paperwork that my physician and I had sent in early September of 2007 (seven month wait). On August 13, 2008, I was denied a copy of my great-grandmother’s medical records and photographs from the Greater Binghamton Health Center. This three sentence response letter is the explanation given to me after waiting four months, taking the time and effort to speak with them on the phone, obtaining and filling out their required paper work with the help of my physician, and sending in the forms.

1- GBHC 04.16.2008

2 – GBHC 08.13.2008

Besides writing a letter to former New York State Governor Patterson and present Governor Cuomo, both U.S. Senators from New York: Schumer and Gillibrand, State Senators, Congressmen, The Department of Correctional Services, The Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities, The Office of Mental Health Counsel, and the State of New York Department of State Committee on Open Government (FOIL), I also wrote a letter to the doctor in charge of the Office of Mental Health Institutional Review Board asking permission to view, record, and publish the burial ledgers – names; dates of birth and death; and location of graves) located and stored at the NYS Archives. After waiting seven months for a response, I was told in an official letter, that my proposed study was not approved due to concerns about violating patient confidentiality. I was also told that I could take the New York State Office of Mental Health to court in order to get the names of former patients and the medical records of my great-grandmother, but seriously, who has the time and the money to go through all of that? Privacy ends at death but apparently patient confidentiality lasts forever.

I went through proper channels to obtain Maggie’s medical records and photographs. I filled out the paperwork, had my doctor and a witness sign the paperwork, and my doctor sent it in. I waited four months for a response and finally my doctor received a letter. I asked for the medical records and any photographs of my great-grandmother. When I received the response from the Greater Binghamton Health Center in August 2008, it stated the staff was unable to locate the requested file. Had I received my great-grandmother’s medical records, I would have been satisfied. Besides being genuinely interested in learning more about Willard, I created this blog for family genealogists like me, frustrated trying to find out if and when their ancestor was a Willard inmate, receiving the runaround obtaining their ancestor’s medical records and photos, and determining whether their ancestor is buried in the Willard Cemetery. The final answer came from the Commissioner of the NYS Office of Mental Health in responding to my inquiry by e-mail on October 25, 2010, which basically stated that publicly identifying former patients may be offensive to some families because of the stigma and repercussions that may follow, for example, in some small towns. I must say that I took offense to his statement because I live in a small town. What exactly was he trying to imply? It appears that we have not moved any further in our tolerance or understanding of people with problems and of people who live in small towns. I must say that my favorite letter is from the Commissioner, dated June 3, 2011, in which he reminds me “that the penalties for violations are very stiff – civil penalties under federal law can carry up to $10,000 per violation.”

Willard’s inmates who in life were incarcerated, forgotten, warehoused, and controlled by the state are once again controlled and intentionally forgotten in death by New York State, the New York State Office of Mental Health, or both. Perhaps they are interpreting the scope of the HIPAA Law incorrectly. The only logical assumption is the protection provided by these laws is not for long dead souls since U.S. Federal Censuses already reveal many of their names; it is for the protection of the descendants.

The responses from the Senators are interesting because they state that there is nothing they can do about the situation at Willard. They mention nothing about modifying the HIPAA Law which was one of the questions that I asked them to respond to. My understanding is that they are the only ones who can change or modify this federal law in order that descendants or anyone for that matter, would be allowed to have a copy of these historical medical records. When you’re dead, you’re dead. Who cares if someone looks at 80 year old medical records? The following letters were received by me from Senator Charles E. Schumer, dated January 9, 2012; and from Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, dated February 21, 2012. Perhaps this whole ridiculous situation of trying to uncover the identities and opening medical records of people who have been dead for one hundred years lies with the unique interpretation of the federal HIPAA Law by each individual state office of mental health.

Response Letter Senator Schumer 1.9.2012

Response Letter Senator Gillibrand 2.21.2012

14 – OMH 06.03.2011

13 – GBHC 09.07.2010

11 – FOIL 06.04.2010-1

12 – FOIL 06.04.2010-2

10 – Correctional Services 01.15.2010

7 – FOIL 12.10.2009-1

8 – FOIL 12.10.2009-2

9 – FOIL 12.10.2009-3

5 – FOIL 09.25.2009-1

6 – FOIL 09.25.2009-2

4 – OMH Counsel 09.08.2009

3 – Quality Care Advocacy 09.01.2009

1901 New York State Hospitals

Posted on January 20, 2012 by lsstuhler

1901 LIST OF STATE HOSPITALS

By 1901, there were thirteen state hospitals for the insane in the State of New York. All these hospitals buried their dead in anonymous, unmarked graves. Some had their own cemetery like Willard State Hospital; others used city and county cemeteries like Rochester State Hospital. Most of these state hospital cemeteries are unmarked, unkempt, and forgotten. None of the thousands of former psychiatric patients’ names have been released to the public. Considering that in 1870, the first patient was buried in the Willard Cemetery, which in the year 2012 covers a span of five or six generations, these people have waited long enough to be remembered. When you release the names, you remove the stigma. The following is a list of most of these long-closed state hospitals; there are more.

1. Utica State Hospital – Counties of Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Montgomery, Oneida, Saratoga, Schenectady and Warren.

2. Hudson River State Hospital – Counties of Albany, Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Putnam, Richmond, Rensselaer, Washington and Westchester.

3. Middletown State Hospital – Counties of Orange, Rockland, Sullivan and Ulster.

4. Buffalo State Hospital – Counties of Erie and Niagara.

5. Willard State Hospital – Counties of Allegany, Cayuga, Genesee, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tompkins, Wayne and Yates.

6. Binghamton State Hospital – Counties of Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Madison, Otsego, Schoharie and Tioga.

7. St. Lawrence State Hospital – Counties of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis, Onondaga,Oswego and St. Lawrence.

8. Rochester State Hospital – Counties of Monroe and Livingston.

9, 10. Long Island State Hospital – (Kings Park and Flatbush, Brooklyn) – Counties of Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk.

11, 12. Manhattan State Hospital – (Manhattan and Central Islip) – Counties of New York and Richmond.

13. Gowanda State Homoeopathic Hospital (Collin’s Farm) – Counties of Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Wyoming.

Additional State Hospitals:

14. Pilgrim State Hospital – Brentwood, Suffolk County, New York

15. Mohansic State Hospital – Yorktown, Westchester County, New York

State Hospitals for the Criminally Insane:

16, 17. Mattaewan and Dannemora State Hospitals

What’s In A Name?

Posted on July 17, 2011 by lsstuhler

I am not a certified genealogist, but I can share with you a basic understanding of what’s in a name from years of experience in searching for my ancestors. Genealogy is the study of family ancestries and history. If all you needed was your ancestor’s name in order to connect them to your family tree; genealogy would be easy. To understand how it works, I will use my grandfather, who was NOT a patient at a state hospital, as an example. CARL SCHULZ was born on January 29, 1878 in Ötisheim, Württemberg, Germany, and died on January 16, 1970, in Rochester, Monroe County, New York. If you enter his name on Google, over 22 million hits will pop up. I entered the name “Carl Schulz” on an ancestry website and narrowed the search to Rochester, New York, District 10; over 167,000 hits appeared. To make matters worse, the surname Schulz, is also spelled: Schultz, Schulze, Schultze, and Shultz, to name a few. While searching for my grandfather on the U.S. Federal Census, his given or first name has been listed as: Carl, Karl, Charles and Kurt. Keep in mind that the enumerators were human and made mistakes in the spelling of names, recorded ages incorrectly, and some had illegible cursive handwriting. If you don’t enjoy solving a mystery, then you won’t enjoy searching for your ancestors.

Carl Gottlieb Schulz 1940s

It all begins with a name; but a name means nothing if you don’t have the basic background information such as: date of birth; city, county, state and country of birth; date and place of death; names of parents and siblings, etc. Twelve years ago, when I began investigating my grandfather, all I knew was his name and that he was born in Württemberg, Germany. Our ancestors didn’t have much of an imagination when naming their children. I never realized how common my grandfather’s name was until I began my search. It took me years to uncover the names of his parents, siblings, and the town in which he was born.

According to The Lives They Left Behind by Darby Penney and Peter Stastny: 8,000 people entered Willard between 1869 and 1900, 1,500 were released as recovered; 54,000 people were admitted during the 126 years of operation. (1) There is no way of knowing who remained, who was released, and who was buried on asylum property without the burial ledger, and even then, names mean nothing to the general public unless they are attached to a particular individual. An inscribed headstone would not identify a specific individual unless it stated what city, county, state, country of origin, parents, 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 to be “stigmatized.” This is why the NYS Office of Mental Health’s classification of New York State Hospital burial ledgers as a medical records is ridiculous. Privacy ends at death but Confidentiality Of Medical Records apparently lasts forever.

If you believe that your ancestor may have been an patient at the Willard State Hospital, then you have come to the right place. The U.S. Federal Census is a great place to start your search, but you need so much more than a name in order to confirm that the individual listed on the census is indeed your ancestor. Good Luck!

(1. Penney, Darby & Stastny, Peter, The Lives They Left Behind, Suitcases From A State Hospital Attic, Photographs by Lisa Rinzler, Bellevue Literary Press, New York, 2008, Page 36)

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this: