LUNATIC ASYLUMS. 
THEIE 
A True Narrative. 
ANN H. TITUS. 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by 
ANN 11. TITUS, 
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the 
Southern District of New York. LUNATIC ASYLUMS. 
THEIR 
A True Narrative. 
ANN H. TITUS. 
1870. LUNATIC ASYLUMS 
THEIR USB AND ABUSE. 
At a time when humanitarians are investigating prison 
discipline, and the abuses of power therein, it is not amiss 
to attract attention to those other seclusions where persons 
are incarcerated, not for crime, but misfortune. , 
It is not saying too much, to declare that there is not 
an Insane Asylum in the United States that does not need 
thorough investigation and reconstruction. It is well 
known that they are constantly diverted from their avowed 
use as curative homes for the insane, and made the horri- 
ble prisons where the victims of cupidity or malice are 
hidden, and rendered powerless to thwart base and wicked 
designs. Actual out and out murder is attended with in- 
convenience, and the open doors of insane asylums afford 
a safer mode of sequestration than the grave. - 
Cases are continually occurring where innocent sane 
men and women are insnared in these dens. What are 
known as private asylums are preferred for these victims ; 
but even the State asylums arc prostituted to base pur- 
poses, and receive into ward persons on the representation 
of only interested parties. Within the past year a lady, 
resident of Brooklyn, the wife of a New York merchant, 
being in the way of her husband’s liaison with another 
woman, a servant in her house, was, under pretense of a 
trip to Saratoga, inveigled into Utica Asylum ; and ad- 
mitted there, too, without the prescribed legal formalities 
having been fully complied with. 
The case of Commodore Meade is one of more recent 
date, and need only be referred to, to recall the motives 
which induced his imprisonment, which arose, not from his 
insanity, but the desire of his family to remove a hinder- 
ance to his daughter’s marriage. 4 
The law provides that certain investigations, legal and 
medical, shall take place before a person is confined in an 
insane asylum; but this is constantly evaded or defied. 
The State can, and does in a great measure, prevent abuse 
of the State institutions ; but the private asylums are fre- 
quently made use of unworthily. In these places, for a 
price, persons are continually received without the least 
form of investigation, or on the bought certificates of phy- 
sicians. It is a blot on the humanity of our people and 
our lawgivers, that all private insane asylums are not 
abolished. They are neither more nor less than idiot facto- 
ries. The moment a sane person is confined in one of these 
places, it becomes the obvious interest of the proprietors 
of the retreat to render the victim insane as soon as 
possible. 
And it is not uncharitable to conclude, that men un- 
principled enoiigh to admit and keep sane persons will be 
vile enough to try almost everything for the purpose of 
making a reality of the terrible sham. 
One case out of the many comparatively secluded ones 
now demands attention. It has been hushed up by parties 
interested in its suppression ; but the woman who has suf- 
fered misconstruction, deception, and abuse absolutely re- 
fuses to keep silence any longer. Her case should be made 
public, if only for the sake of others now enduring secretly 
the injustice which she has experienced ; and she has, also, 
her own interests at stake. It does not become any one to 
bear through life a suspicion never merited, if by any pos- 
sible means they can make the truth known ; so Mrs. Ann 
H. Titus, in justice to herself and to humanity, feels called 
upon to give the world a full and exact statement (cor- 
roborated by proof of the strongest kind) of her condition 
and attendant circumstances at the time she was reported 
insane. 
She had lived for years happily with her husband, had 5 
borne him six children, given them the fondest care, and 
in every way proven herself a worthy wife, good mother, 
and first-rate housekeeper. The comfort of those years 
was, however, somewhat interfered with by her husband’s 
parents, who resided with them, and who had the unhappy 
faculty of making themselves extremely disagreeable to 
those with whom they were thrown in constant contact. 
Their daughter-in-law, Ann, became a kind of scape-goat. 
Being a good Christian woman, Mrs. Titus bore with their 
ebullitions patiently ; and in this manner her life progressed 
until the year 1864. Her husband, although at heart a 
good, conscientious man, was—well, pliable. He had none 
of what Josh Billings styles “ backbone,” and possessing a 
character easily managed by those he was with, suffered 
not only himself from his vacillation, but brought his wife 
into perilous plans. Like many persons of his stamp, how- 
ever, Mr. Titus could be firm enough in some directions. 
His attachment to the house they occupied was very great, 
and he firmly and persistently refused to invest money in 
a new building. The house was an old colonial building, 
over two hundred years of age. Situated on low ground, 
it was damp and unwholesome. The spaces between the 
walls were so filled in with the ordure of rats, that in wet or 
hot weather the stench was almost intolerable. Pig-sties 
close to the house, rendering matters still worse with the 
reck of rotting straw. In the rainy weather, the house 
roof leaking so that pans full of water were caught in the 
kitchen. Mrs. Titus, never very rugged, in the lapse of 
years, worn with the heavy work of a farmer’s house and 
the bearing, nursing, and rearing of six children, grew still 
more fragile, and feeling the imperative need of change, 
and knowing that with her help their circumstances had 
altered during the years they had lived together, so as to 
warrant it, desired a new house. And hearing that a 
farm, owned by her brother-in-law, Robert R. Willetts, and 6 
occupied by his son, was for sale, endeavored to persuade 
her husband to buy it. 
Eobert Willetts’s wife, Lydia, objected strenuously to 
the contemplated purchase, for what reason God alone 
knows, Mrs. Titus insisted on the purchase, and finding1 
that in this case Greek had met Greek, Lydia Willetts 
determined upon a course, at thought of which a genuin.e 
Greek would blush. She went to work systematically 
enough. A little seed sown here, another there, and soon 
the harvest—a rumor of Mrs. Titus’s insanity—appeared. 
Not a strange word or action was cited as evidence of this 
condition ; and even after being conveyed to the asylum, 
no one was able to bring forward anything in her conver- 
sation or demeanor which evidenced lunacy. Unaware of 
Lydia Willetts’s work, Jacob Conklin, the brother of Mrs. 
Titus, anxious to do her a service, proceeded to purchase 
for her the farm in question ; and after making the pur- 
chase, hearing this report of her insanity, concluded to 
keep it for his eldest son. How he was induced to believe 
the story concocted by artful schemers on both sides of the 
house, Mrs. Titus has never yet discovered ; but that he 
did believe it is self-evident; and from that time forward he 
was the most persistent among those who hunted her down. 
At this time Mrs. Titus’s health was very poor, and she 
had been recommended change of air by competent physi- 
cians. One day she overheard the fragment of a conver- 
sation between Jacob Conklin and her mother, in which 
he exclaimed very excitedly : “ Keep her home ! Keep 
her home ! They say she’s crazy.” This was the first in- 
timation she had received of her own madness. 
Now began the reports concerning her insanity, and 
they finally came to her knowledge, and were traced to 
their authors. She at once invited examination into her 
mental state, and agreed to submit to the decision of the 
family physician. Dr. Ely, then of Westbury, and now of 7 
White Plains, was called in by Mrs. Titus herself, and 
asked for a certificate of insanity. And she stated her 
willingness, if really insane, to go to Bloomingdale. This 
certificate he utterly refused to give, as he considered 
Mrs. Titus perfectly sane, though worn by anxiety, and in 
delicate health. He also stated that she needed rest and 
change. 
I have visited Dr. Ely to learn from him personally his 
view of this case. He told me, that, in his opinion, Mrs. 
Titus had never been insane ; he had seen her in times of 
great excitement and trial, but he had never seen any- 
thing in her manner or conduct that betokened insanity. 
Dr. Ely also gave similar testimony in Court, when, subse- 
quent to her release from Sandford Hall, Mrs. Titus sued 
Dr. Barstow, Jacob Conklin, and others, for her abduction 
and incarceration. 
Feeling* seriously the drafts these trials were making 
upon her health, and finding her brother determined not 
to accede to her wishes regarding the property, Mrs. 
Titus now proposed to take a trip to Norfolk, Ya. Before 
making this arrangement, however, she determined to 
make one more effort to induce her brother to change his 
determination regarding the property, and for this purpose 
she visited him at his place of business. He was very 
much excited and annoyed, and angry at her persistence, 
and repeated to her the reports concerning her insanity. 
Finding the effort with him useless, she proceeded to call 
upon Dr. Post at Staten Island. 
This interview was as unsatisfactory as the former one. 
Much discouraged, Mrs. Titus returned home, and made 
her arrangements to take her journey south. This was in 
the fall of 1865. Her friends made very little, if any, op- 
position to this proposed journey, and it was arranged 
that her daughter, a young girl of seventeen, should ac- 
company her. With this child, "who should have been one- 8 
hearted with the mother who bore her, the enemy tampered, 
and she consented to assist in betraying her mother into 
their hands. In order to do this more effectually, she ex- 
pressed a desire to stop at her uncle Jacob’s, in Williams- 
burg, while she did some shopping for the journey. In 
consideration of the bitter feeling between herself and her 
brother and sister-in-law, Mrs. Titus would have preferred 
not going to their house, but to accommodate this daughter, 
her oldest and dearly loved child, she consented, little 
dreaming that the child she had suffered for, nursed, and 
tenderly reared was turned against her. It is due to this 
gild here to state, that however reprehensible her con- 
duct was, she now declares the whole procedure to have 
been unjustifiable. She was little more than a child, and 
the designing relatives understood thoroughly how to make 
her believe in her mother’s insanity ; she is now a faithful 
and affectionate daughter, bitterly sorry for the injustice 
she once did her dearest friend. 
The visit was made. Jacob Conklin announced his 
intention to accompany them as far as Philadelphia. 
Soon after getting into the carriage which was to con- 
vey them to the boat, Mr. Conklin dropped the blinds, 
but Mrs. Titus suspected no sinister design until they had 
been some time on the way ; when, raising the blind and 
looking out, she saw they had struck the Flushing turn- 
pike. She then remembered there was an asylum there, 
and the fear struck her that foul play was intended, but 
she said nothing till they entered the village ; then she 
said to her daughter : “Maria, thy Uncle Jacob is taking 
me to an asylum.” Jacob said nothing ; but the girl re- 
plied : “Oh no, mother, I guess not.” When they halted 
in front of Sandford Hall, she again said; “ Maria, this is 
an asylum.” Again Maria responded: “I guess not, 
mother ; but if it is, I will stay with thee.” She had her 
mother’s watch and purse, and now Mrs, Titus asked for 9 
them. She refused to give them, saying: “Thee must 
ask Uncle Jacob,” Jacob Conklin now invited her to 
alight and go to the house and warm herself; this she 
refused. He then went to the house, and after some mo- 
ments, returned, and again urged her to go ; the servant 
who accompanied them, now went in, and came back, say- 
ing, there was a nice fire ; then the daughter went in, ac- 
companied by her uncle and the servant. Mrs. Titus now 
looked out of the carriage, and seeing the coachman had 
left the horses standing unfastened and alone, thought, 
perhaps, if she could get to the street, she might, perhaps, 
persuade her brother to reconsider his course, and either 
take her home, or allow her to proceed on her journey. 
She therefore sprang from the carriage, and ran swiftly 
toward the street. Her brother was soon at her side, and, 
grasping her arm, said : “ Thee must go in here.” “ I 
will not go,” said she ; “ I told thee before, if thee could 
get a proper certificate of my insanity, I would go to an 
asylum, and I will do so yet, but I will not go in here.” 
“Thee must,” said he ; “Dr. Post says thee must, to keep 
thee from thinking so much about the farm.” “ I will not 
go one step,” said the brave woman ; “it shall not be 
said, I went of my own accord.” Then this brother, as- 
sisted by others, carried her into the Hall. 
The reader will observe, no person in authority came 
out to see who this woman was ; who, not so insane but 
what she could be left alone in the carriage, with the horses 
unattended and unfastened, while her brother and child 
went into the house, was yet forcibly carried into the house. 
The only person who came out to meet her was an Irish 
girl, employed as a nurse in the institution. She was 
taken into the house, and detained there; seen by no one 
belonging to the institution, save the servants, until long 
after the departure of her relatives. This brother and this 
daughter left her there alone, taking away with them her 10 
watch and purse, and the trunk containing her clothing. 
Imagine the terrible situation of this delicate invalid, 
whose nerves were already strained almost to their utmost 
tension. Betrayed basely ; left in a place from which there 
was no way of escape ; a prisoner ; it seems almost mar- 
velous that reason was not hurled from its throne. Were 
such a consummation desired, any better method could 
hardly be found. She was carried in by the back gate- 
way, through a dismal hall, and put into a comfortless 
room to await the coming of the Doctor. Two women 
were here to watch her. Grace, the Irish servant, alluded 
to above, and another woman. The entertainment afforded 
this newly made prisoner, was the privilege of hearing said 
Irish woman read an account of the terrible sufferings of 
the prisoners at Andersonville. Excellent and judicious 
treatment for a person supposed to be insane ! Later in 
the evening she was taken to the “wing” of the building, 
and put in an up-stairs room, poorly furnished. The bed 
was uncomfortable ; but Mrs. Titus wpis so weary, that she 
thought she should fall asleep at once. Not so, however. 
The pillow, full of lumpy feathers, bearing evidence of 
having been wet, was so impregnated with the odor of 
opium, that the first inhalation of it set her coughing, and 
she slept none at all. Whether the opium had been placed 
there for the benefit of this patient in particular, or had 
been used for some former inmate, or was a part of the 
curative process used indiscriminately with all who en- 
tered this place, we do not know ; but there is no doubt 
of the fact of the presence of opium. 
On the Doctor’s return, Mrs. Titus told him her case ; 
the family difficulties, and the jealousy arising about the 
farm, which was the reason of her being placed in this 
position. He remarked, that she was much worn down, 
and needed bracing up. She told him yes ; but that she 
was not insane. He expressed to her no opinion on the 11 
subject, but said lie was sorry he had not been there when 
her brother left her, for he had no suitable room for her. 
The expression of his face was troubled, and he seemed to 
deprecate the action of Mrs. Titus’s friends. 
The next morning, when Dr. Barstow came to visit her, 
she said to him : “ Doctor, I told thee last night I was not 
a fit subject for an asylum ; but, I think, this way I soon 
shall be.” 
“ Did you not sleep, Mrs. Titus ?” 
“ Not a wink,” she replied. 
lie then called to the woman who attended that ward. 
“ Did not Mrs. Titus sleep last night ?” “ No, sir, not at 
all; she coughed all night, and was so disturbed during 
the early part of the night by the talking of a patient in 
the adjoining room, that, had she not so suffered, sleep 
would have been impossible.” Mrs. Titus then spoke of 
the wrong done her in keeping her there, and of the in- 
justice done her by those who put her there. The Doctor 
answered rather cavalierly, that he guessed they knew 
what they were about. “ Why, Doctor,” said she, “ Dr. Ely 
says if one is crazy they most always know it,” The Doc- 
tor answered : “ Always ;” and repeated it with emphasis, 
“always.” “Then,” said Mrs. Titus, “lam not insane; 
for I know lam not.” All day the bustle and noise in the 
department continued so incessantly that any repose was 
impossible ; and Mrs. Titus, already worn and weak with 
ill health, felt the effect it was having on her nervous sys- 
tem. In the afternoon it became more quiet, but still she 
slept but little. That night the Doctor prescribed a quiet- 
ing potion for her, which only increased her suffering 
and wakefulness. She had hardly swallowed it, when 
her ears were filled with strange noises, like swarming of 
bees, shrill steam whistlings, rumbling as of thunder, and 
such distress, that it seemed as if congestion of the brain 
was inevitable. Accustomed to homoeopathic treatment, 12 
this allopathic heroic usage was too much for her. This 
night, however, she got some sleep. It seems very strange, 
and is a fact that should be known, that it was generally 
understood by Mrs. Titus’s family and friends that she 
could not endure the allopathic treatment. They often 
said among themselves that she would die under such a 
regime, that homoeopathic treatment was the only kind 
she could bear. Yet here she was placed in an asylum 
where they knew she would be subjected to the very course 
which they themselves declared would be death to her. 
They were quite aware, too, that she was compelled to 
take medicine which affected her so powerfully that she 
feared, with good cause, not only for her reason, but her 
life. Yet they left her there to suffer. 
We stated above, that her clothes had been taken back 
in the carriage. She supposed that this was because her 
own and her daughter’s had been packed together, and they 
wished to separate them. She found, however, that such 
was not the case. She received her clothes six days after 
her arrival, during that time having no change of raiment, 
having no wrapper to lie down in ; ill and suffering, it was 
uncomfortable, indeed, to recline in the traveling dress she 
wore. When her clothes arrived they were in a small 
portmanteau, insufficient in quantity, and gathered from her 
poorest and oldest clothes. The only thick dress sent her 
was a light merino, which she had had for thirteen years. 
Her furs, which she much needed, she was not allowed to 
have for weeks ; nor was a wrapping gown sent her until 
the 18th inst. Not only were her friends unjust to her, 
but neglectful and cruel. The blame should not rest upon 
the daughter too heavily, for no responsibility had ever 
been hers ; she had never yet made a garment for herself, 
and perhaps did not appreciate the needs of her mother for 
warm and comfortable clothes. 
It is to be remembered here, that Mrs. Titus’s husband 13 
did not know of her incarceration at the time of it, nor of 
the intention on the part of her brother to imprison her ; 
but knowing her health to be delicate, he was persuaded 
by the famity (remember Jacob Conklin’s wife was his 
own sister) that she would recruit as well under treatment 
there, as by a journey to Norfolk. Dr. Barstow, the physi- 
cian at Sandford Ilall, was placed, during the first days of 
Mrs. Titus’s confinement, in rather a predicament. He did 
not know how far Mr. Titus might consent to the will of 
his brother, and not until the tenth day after her arrival, 
did the Doctor and husband meet. Up to this date Mrs. 
Titus’s unpleasant symptoms had been steadily increasing, 
her sleep becoming more and more disturbed, and the 
effect of the medicine given more unpleasant. From this 
date, on which the Doctor learned from Mr. Titus, and per- 
haps persuaded him to, his consent to Mrs. Titus’s con- 
tinued stay at Sandford Hall, her treatment was more 
severe, and the effect of the medicine more marked. This 
increased till the fourth week, when the powerful medi- 
cines, evidently some combination of opium and iron, and 
always administered when the patient’s stomach was 
empty, that is, about midway between the meals, and just 
before retiring, affected her so powerfully, that for five 
days and nights she never slept one moment. It is need- 
less to tell medical men what the effect of these drugs, ad- 
ministered in this way, would be ; needless to hint that Dr. 
Barstow must have known what the tendency of this treat- 
ment must be ; or to suggest to the popular mind that it 
was for his interest and that of the man who placed her 
there, that this patient should bo rendered really insane. 
Five sleepless nights and days would render many a sane 
and pretty strong-nerved person maniacal. But God sus- 
tained this poor victim to confound her enemies. And she 
will deem her sufferings but a light affliction, if so be 
those in power may be led to look into these things, and 14 
make provision to protect women against their protectors, 
and abolish these iniquitous idiot factories, by punishing 
not only persons who unlawfully entomb them, but the 
physicians who will lend their aid by signing certificates 
of the insanity of persons without the legal formulas, and 
oftentimes without even having seen the accused. And the 
keepers of these places, who receive into their charge per- 
sons so victimized. To prove that this treatment did not 
overthrow Mrs. Titus’s reason it is well to state here, that 
the day after these five sleepless nights, Mrs. Barstow in- 
vited Mrs. Titus into the library to meet some of the in- 
mates and guests, preparing a tree for Christmas. In her 
weak state, Mrs. Titus went down stairs and sat for 
awhile ; but feeling overcome and faint, found strength to 
regain her room, and just as she was recovering from her 
attack, Mrs. Eliza H. McDonald, Mrs. Barstow’s mother, 
came in and conversed for nearly an hour with her. If 
Mrs. Titus’s* mind was at any time deranged, this would 
have been the time for the fact to be seen. But Mrs. 
McDonald testified afterward in Court, that at no time did 
she see any particular signs of insanity. During all those 
nights of agony no nurse was in Mrs. Titus’s apartment, 
when she so much needed bathing, rubbing, and soothing 
treatment to induce sleep, not a single thing was ordered 
or done to that ultimate. Does this look as if a curative 
process was intended ? 
On this sixth day Mrs. Titus received from home a pack- 
age containing her furs and a dress, and in with the furs 
a couple of bottles of homoeopathic medicine—ipecac and 
pulsatilla—which, knowing her mother to be in the habit 
of taking, she supposed she might want. That night she 
left Dr. Barstow’s medicine standing and took her homoeo- 
pathic pellets. Whether it was the effect of not taking 
the allopathic medicine, or the effect of taking the homoeo- 
pathic, that night she slept. The next day Mrs. Titus 15 
said to the chambermaid : “ Eliza, I do not wish this 
medicine, leave it there and I will tell the Doctor.” Eliza, 
however, either returned the medicine or threw it away, 
and the Doctor knew nothing of it for several days. 
During this period, Mrs, Titus’s health improved so 
rapidly that she lost much of her repugnance to being at 
the Mall, it was such a comfort to be free of the terrible 
suffering. On the seventh night, however, as Mrs. Titus 
was up late and there had been considerable excitement 
with the Christmas festivities, she took a dose of opium 
which the Doctor prescribed, saying it would make her 
sleep better. This was simple opium, without the iron— 
and, on this night, as on the five nights preceding the sixth 
night, she lost her rest. Then she determined to take as 
little as possible of the medicine given her, and had she 
been as prudent as Eliza, and said nothing to the Doctor, 
she might have gone on improving, in spite of prescrip- 
tions, which, in her case at least, were poisonous. How- 
ever, she was so pleased to find her condition changing 
for the better, that, seeing how much interest the Doctor 
professed in her case, she told him frankly that she had 
made the experiment of doing without his medicine, and 
found herself better. He seemed to treat the matter 
lightly at first, and laughed at her ideas of homoeopathy— 
but finding her thoroughly convinced that she was right, 
and determined to pursue her nwn course, he began 
threatening to compel her to take his nostrums. Still, by 
persuasion, she was enabled for some time to have the 
doses reduced in quantity, and taking her own ipecacuanha 
which is an antidote for the other medicines, she was en- 
abled to keep pretty well for seventeen days. During this 
time there was considerable excitement in the house, both 
among the patients and employees, concerning Mrs. Titus’s 
aversion to the course she was subjected to, and Dr. Bar- 
Btow seemed very much discontented and chagrined, for it 16 
was quite evident that Mrs. Titus was improving both in 
health and spirits. All the inmates evinced much pleas- 
ure at her return to strength and health. 
At the end of about two weeks from the time Mrs. 
Titus commenced taking her own medicine it began 
to fail, and she asked the Doctor to request her 
friends to send her a new supply. This he refused to do ; 
upon which Mrs. Titus declared : “ Then I will not take 
thine.” The Doctor made no reply, but turned angrily 
away, and in less than five minutes was driving toward the 
city. Now what follows ? In the short time intervening 
between his interview with his patient and his departure 
for New York, he has given his orders to the servants 
concerning Mrs, Titus. Let it here be stated that the 
word servant is used advisedly, for there were no nurses 
in Sandford Hall. There was no assistant resident physi- 
cian—Dr. Ogden visited the establishment once a week, 
and sometimes saw the patients and sometimes not. Ob- 
serve here, Dr. Barstow was away in the city two days in 
the week—Tuesdays and Saturdays—should any patient 
be taken ill during this absence, there was no physician, 
professed nurse, nor any person in the house competent to 
act advisedly in the case. This in an asylum where 
$3O a week was not thought too much for board and 
medical attendance I The matron, Miss Benedict, acted as 
housekeeper merely, seldom being seen among the patients 
except at table. The only time in which Mrs. Titus knew 
her to act in any degree in capacity of nurse was on an 
occasion when she carried a wine sling to a patient in 
spasms. 
Shortly after the Doctor’s departure, Mrs. Titus left 
the sitting-room and went to her own room. It was a 
damp and rather drizzly day, and having occasion to go 
into the yard she changed her dress, putting on the old 
merino, intending to change it as soon as she came in, 17 
that she might not take cold, her delicate state of health 
rendering her extremely susceptible to the changes of 
weather. As she came in she met Grace, the big Irish 
woman before alluded to, who said : “ Mrs. Titus, come up 
in the wing and see Mrs. Lewis,” “May be the Doctor 
would not like it,” said Mrs. Titus. “Oh yes,” answered 
Grace, “the Doctor said you were to go.” Mrs. Titus sus- 
pecting nothing', followed Grace to the wing, which, the 
reader will please remember, was the part of the house 
devoted to unruly and incurable cases, they entered the 
sitting room and while Mrs, Titus was conversing with 
Ann, who remarked that Mrs. Lewis was engaged just 
then having her hair combed, and asked Mrs, Titus to 
wait awhile, Grace left the room, returning shortly with 
a wine-glass of medicine which she placed on the table, and 
turning to Mrs. Titus said : “ Now you must take it, Mrs. 
Titus, the Doctor says you must.” Mrs, Titus saw at once 
the siutation, and, throwing up her hands, exclaimed : 
“ Oh, Grace !” It seemed to her now that the climax was 
come. The shock of this was worse even than that of 
being taken to the Hall. Grace said : “ Well, you must 
take it.” “ Oh, Grace, it is an awful dose,” said Mrs. Titus. 
And on her still further refusal, she grew angry and call- 
ing on her fellow-servant to help her, poured the medicine 
down while Ann held Mrs. Titus, She swallowed only 
part of it, upon which Ann held Mrs. Titus’s nose, forcing 
her to swallow the remainder. Weak, and shocked, and 
tired as she was, she was almost immediately ordered 
into an adjoining room, which was cold, and, having a win- 
dow open, was also damp. The excuse given for this was, 
that Ann, the chambermaid of that wing, wanted to sweep 
the sitting-room. Shortly she came in and began To com- 
plain of having another patient to take care of; but as she 
talked, her tone changed, and from complaints of her own 
inconvenience she went to pitying Mrs, Titus, saying she 18 
did not know what she wonld do there. “ Thee remembers 
I was here five days and nights before, doesn’t thee ?” said 
Mrs. Titus. “ Ob, yes,” observed the woman, who, when 
Mrs. Titus had been at the wing before, was as kind and 
attentive as was in her power. “Well, God brought me 
out of here then, and he will bring me out of Sandford Hall 
now.” The woman looked rather struck by the firm way 
in which Mrs. Titus spoke, and very soon went down stairs ; 
returning, she told Mrs. Titus she could go down stairs 
again. To this Mrs. Titus, who felt at this time peculiarly 
the presence of the divine Spirit sustaining and strength- 
ening her, replied : “ I am beginning to feel I could be 
happy up here ;” but having the liberty, she went down, 
and at the foot of the stairs met Grace, who said : 
“ Eemember, Mrs. Titus, you must take the medicine,” and 
repeated it. Mrs. Titus answered her : “ I will take it, 
since I must, but I shall consider it always as a poisoned 
dose.” Then Grace allowed her to pass, and she returned 
to the sitting-room, which was occupied by Miss Judd, 
who was a sort of assistant matron. Mrs. Titus re- 
strained herself from making any complaint to her con- 
cerning the ordeal she had been subjected to, regarding 
the order of Dr. Barstow, for the moment, as the passion- 
ate freak of an undisciplined boy, rather than the de- 
liberate, cruel mandate of a man of power. Nor did she 
yet suspect that the dose, though rather larger than usual, 
was more powerful in quality. She exercised some with 
the patients in the hall, and then entered into conversa- 
tion with Miss Judd. While talking with her, she felt a 
very unpleasant burning sensation in the stomach, and 
mentioning the fact to her, without relating the cause, 
asked for some bread and butter, which she at once ob- 
tained. This quieted the symptoms somewhat; and when 
it was proposed to visit the Library and get a book to read, 
she went down, and after some searching for one to suit, 19 
selected Lady Huntington and her Friends ; before, how- 
ever, she had read much, she was seized with great dis- 
tress ; burning and sickness at the stomach. She went to 
her room and vomited violently ; her stomach, at the time, 
being almost empty, the straining was violent, and what 
she raised was tinged with blood. 
4} 
The Doctor returned that evening, and spoke to Mrs. 
Titus from the hall, saying he had seen her brother. She 
answered, saying, she did not wish to hear about him. He 
passed on, not entering the room or making any inquiry 
as to her health. The next morning he came in, and 
asked how she did. Her answer was : “As well, Doctor, as 
thee could expect, after the dose of poison thee ordered 
poured down,” At this he flushed up angrily, and said : 
“ Now, Mrs. Titus, I think you had better go and stay with 
Grace. You have made disturbance enough in the house, 
talking about poison, and you’ve been giving Eliza (one 
of the maids) homoeopathic medicine too.” “ Yes,” -she 
replied ;“ I believe I gave her three pellets which was 
the case. Eliza was subject to some headaches which 
the Doctor failed to cure. Mrs, Titus gave her, on one of 
these occasions, three pellets, as stated, and Eliza declared 
they relieved her, Mrs. Titus told the Doctor she had no 
dislike to him, or Mrs. McDonald, or any of them, but she 
was convinced that the medicine did not agree with her, and 
that, in her case, given in such strength and quantity, it 
was no less than poison. He then spoke of calling in Dr, 
Post, who was also a physician of the old school, and in- 
fluenced by Jacob Conklin, as before stated. He sent in 
more medicine, too, as soon as he left, which, of course, 
she was obliged to take. After taking it, the same burn- 
ing sensation she had before experienced set in, accom- 
panied with oppression of the chest, and such difficulty of 
breathing, that Kate and Miss Judd were attracted 
to her room by the sound of her labored respiration. 20 
She asked them to put a wet cloth on her chest, which 
they did, and then she asked for something to eat, 
knowing from experience that it would alleviate her 
symptoms, and mentioned several things , which she 
would like. They shortly went down stairs, and she 
was left alone ; no one came near her ; no food was sent 
up ; dinner-time came and passed : still no relief. About 
three o’clock, after dinner, Eliza came up, and sitting 
down, said ; “ Well, Mrs. Titus, what about your dinner ?” 
“ I do not know,” said she ; “ I suspect the Doctor does 
not intend me to have any.” Those who have never suf- 
fered from inflammation of the stomach can hardly im- 
agine the acute sufferings she endured, but any physician 
will perceive the effect of such stimulating doses upon the 
stomach and system of a patient in a weak and exhausted 
condition, who is kept fasting or on a low diet ; and they 
can also judge what the effect of such treatment would bo 
on the mental condition of a person supposed to be insane, 
or in imminent danger of insanity. Physicians should 
know also, that where there is violent inflammation of the 
digestive - organs, unless emollient food is given, great 
danger to the brain exists. It is scarcely to be supposed 
that Dr. Barstow could have been so deplorably ignorant, 
as not to know the legitimate result of such treatment as 
he was subjecting Mrs. Titus to. Nor does it seem an in- 
sane or illogical conclusion for his victim to arrive at, that 
he was employed and encouraged by the brother -who put 
her there, and whom ho had seen the previous day, to in- 
duce that result, Mrs. Titus told the Doctor herself, early 
in her stay there, that she feared effusion of water on the 
brain from her suffering. He said : “ Oh, no, it was only 
congestion,” yet he gave her iron and opium in large doses, 
and on an empty stomach. 
Mrs, Titus, let it hero be understood, had never boon 
troubled in this manner before. So that it is self-evident 21 
that her strange sickness was caused by this Doctor’s 
ignorant (or malicious) treatment. * 
There seems good reason to suspect that he intended 
she should have been kept in the wing the day she was 
sent there to take that dose. The servants acknowledged 
that, in allowing her to go down, they were disobeying 
duties. Had she stayed up there she might as well have 
been in a cell, for the transactions of that part of the house 
were kept to itself. The assistant matrons did not visit 
it. The idiots, incurables, and rebellious were there, and 
only the Doctor and the servants, who had charge of that 
department, entered it. The simple facts are given, let 
the reader come to what conclusions he will. 
Mrs. Titus’s suspicions were aroused the very first night 
of her stay in Sandford Hall, by something she overheard, 
that the place was not an insane asylum, only taking pa- 
tients for so much a week to board and cure them, but 
that it was also a prison in which, for a price paid,, any 
person might be incarcerated so long as the nursery was 
found to pay the price. From this time out she kept a 
strict watch on all the machinery of the institution, care- 
fully and prudently questioning the inmates, both patients 
and employees, and comparing what she heard with what 
she saw. That her conclusions were not far from right, 
the history of her stay there, and subsequent events clearly 
show. (That the charge, that it is an idiot factory, and a 
fiery furnace.) 
Mrs. Titus waited in vain for dinner ; it was Sunday, 
and after service, that Miss Judd came through the hall, 
and Mrs. Titus, who was suffering in an agony of fever 
and pain, so that, Aveak as she was, she was obliged to get 
up and walk to relieve the terrible pain which resulted 
from the use of medicine that had inflamed the mucous 
membrane of the stomach to an agonizing degree, Avent 
to the door and asked her to bring her some food. 22 
Miss Judd, who was always kind, went at once her- 
self and made toast dnd brought it up. This, as usual, 
had an alleviating effect, and at teatime a couple of buns, 
afterward some arrow-root was sent up ; weak, and only 
about a teacupful in quantity. From the fact, that neither 
Miss Judd nor Kate, both of whom Mrs. Titus knew to be 
kindly disposed, did not come to her room of their own ac- 
cord, Mrs. Titus concluded that the Doctor had prohibited 
their so doing, and weeks afterward was informed that 
her idea was correct. What object he could have had in 
leaving her to suffer thus solitarily, let the reader imagine. 
Nor did the Doctor himself visit her from Sunday morning 
until Monday evening, when ho evidently was somewhat 
frightened at the thoroughness of his work, and wrote im- 
mediatety for Dr. Post to come up. Mrs. Titus had no ar- 
row-root after Sunday night. Monday morning her break- 
fast consisted of some bread dipped in milk and water, her 
dinner of beef-tea, and her supper again of the same sort 
as her breakfast. When the Doctor came up, he asked 
her about her appetite and food, and she told him the in- 
sufficiency of it; and he asked her how she would like oys- 
ters, she said she would like them ; and the next morning 
some were sent up, but insufficiently cooked, so that she 
could not relish them. There was no person in the estab- 
lishment whose duty it was to cook and arrange the deli- 
cate dishes needed for invalids. Dr. Barstow gave the or- 
ders, if anything especial was needed ; and no one being 
appointed to see to it, the invalid’s meal was apt to be 
served in the manner above stated. The dinners served 
were generally good in quantity and quality, but not such 
as invalids like Mrs. Titus require. 
The Tuesday following the severe attack above spoken 
of, the dinner served to her was corned beef. The break- 
fasts and suppers were insufficient. So that taking it al- 
together, not only this especial invalid, but others suffered 23 
for want of proper nourishment. What excuse can be 
given for this in an institution like Sandford Hall, where 
no boarders are taken except at high prices ? Nothing, it 
is well-known, is more important to mental health than 
particular attention to general dietary and physical laws. 
The bill of fare at Sandford Hall was good enough in some 
respects, and generally the dinners were excellent; but the 
breakfasts, while occasionally good, were too often of a 
sort from which an invalid, like Mrs. Titus, could select 
nothing suitable, save milk and water, and bread. In her 
condition she needed constant nourishing diet; a single 
meal missed was a serious detriment to her, and she felt 
the effects keenly, not only at the time, but for days after- 
ward ; and she knew that every retrograde step only made 
her condition more and more doubtful. An insufficient 
breakfast of the sort above named, and a dinner of corned 
beef, or rich poultry, neither of which she could eat. With 
supper of toast and tea, and perhaps rich cake, which was 
equally as unsuited to her as the corned beef, did not leave 
her a very large bill of fare from which to select suitable 
diet. 
During all this week, Mrs. Titus, as said, was kept 
alone. Dr. Post came and did not prohibit the Doctor’s 
course, but gave quinine to break the chills which accom- 
panied the fever. It can easily bo understood how Dr. 
Post was influenced. He is the cousin of Jacob Conklin’s 
wife, and consequently of Mr. William Titus. He had 
recommended, so says Jacob Conklin, that Mrs. Titus 
should be shut up to keep her from thinking so much 
about the farm. They had so done, and now he must 
stand by his own standard, he must defend the position of 
Jacob Conklin—he must suppose Mrs. Titus crazy, or show 
up Jacob Conklin iii the character of a designing scoun- 
drel, and himself as his counselor. Perhaps, too, he did 
think Mrs. Titus a little unbalanced ; and if she was, what harm in making her enough more so to make it patent to 
all beholders ? What even if she were made as others had 
been made before her, idiotic ? Why would not the course 
of Jacob Conklin, Dr. Post & Co., be therein plausibly 
vindicated ? We know many medical men arc ignorant 
in these matters, but Dr. Post has no such excuse, A dis- 
ciple of Dr. Mott, for many years a physician in the employ 
of one of the largest Life Insurance Companies in the 
country, and ranking high in his profession, he yet 
allowed himself to be drawn into a family difficulty, and 
into partnership with “ his side of the house,” as to doom 
this woman to abduction, incarceration, and slow poison. 
Mrs. Titus begged Dr, Post to order the continuance of 
the homoeopathic ipecacuanha ; this ho declined to do, say- 
ing it interfered with Dr. Barstow’s medicine. The 
reader will please remember this acknowledgment, and 
also, while taking the ipecac, Mrs. Titus was relieved of 
the terrible suffering she endured from the Doctor’s medi- 
cine. However, he consented at length to prescribe it, 
and also, at her request, prescribed potassium, which she 
found so strong that she could scarcely take it, Remem- 
ber, they say she was crazy, yet they sent this crazy wo- 
man potassium in such strength that had she taken it she 
must have died. 
A few days after this, Dr, Barstow left Sandford Hal!, 
on a journey of four or five and Dr, Ordenan took 
his place-; this, at such a critical period in Mrs. Titus’s 
case, was indeed providential. Mrs. Titus did not tell 
him her suspicions, nor the ordeal she had been subjected 
to, but he entered into her views of the case. Dr. Bar- 
stow had left strict directions with Kate that the medicine 
he had prescribed should not be changed, but administered 
to Mrs. Titus as usual, not leaving it to Dr. Ordonan’s 
judgment to discontinue it, so the iron and opium were ad- 
ministered as usual. Dr. Ordenan said that ipecac and 25 
pulsatilla or bryonia homceopathically administered would 
be just the thing for her. Seeing the tumbler with the po- 
tassium on the table by Mrs. Titus’s bed, so placed that she 
might take it in the night, he tasted it, and immediately spit 
it out and asked for water to rinse his mouth, saying ; “ Mrs. 
Titus, you don’t take this, do you ? It is strong enough to 
cat your stomach up.” Before Barstow returned, Mrs. 
Titus begged him to give her some extra opium powders ; 
he at fii’st declined, saying Barstow would give them as 
she needed them ; she replied : “ I don’t know about that, 
Dr. Ordenan, a burned, child dreads the fire and he made 
her up some, for which she had reason to be thankful, for 
when Barstow returned he almost every other time put 
acetate of iron into the ipecac, which burnt her almost like 
cayenne pepper, and counteracted the effect of the ipecac- 
uanha. It seemed as if ho was determined to effect her 
insanity. Mrs. Titus now began to understand that the 
effect of the medicine was rendered less unbearable if she 
took it just after eating, and ate again very soon after taking 
it; therefore, when her meals were brought up, she saved all 
that she could spare from each meal, rich cake, or meat, or 
what not, and secreting it, kept it for these occasions, and 
soon found the benefit of it. Her close observation of her 
own case, her insight into the incentives she knew existed 
in her brother’s mind to urge him to keep her there, 
the disgrace and discomfiture that would accrue to a 
large number of intermarried relatives, and the damage it 
would be to the institution if she should walk out of it 
sane and well, and expose its machinery, made her xmder- 
stand more fully the reason why it was to the Doctor’s 
interest, as well as Mr. Conklin’s, to keep her there. 
After the inmates of the asylum had all retired, some- 
where between the hours often and two, the honorable Dr. 
Barstow would examine the letters Mrs. Titus had written 
friends outside. Now, why should a respectable physi- cian, in a respectable institution, care what one of his pa- 
tients chose to write ? If all correspondence had been 
vetoed utterly, the proceeding could scarcely be considered 
justifiable, the missives might then have been burned 
without examination ; but why one should bo allowed to 
go, and another withheld, according to the ideas of Dr. 
Barstow, is more than we can understand. The ravings of 
an insane woman would never be heeded by sensible in- 
dividuals, and the only conclusion left is—that Mrs. Titus’s 
letters were so full of truth as to be dangerous to himself. 
He directed all her friends to abstain from writing her. 
Why ? And the few who, in the face of this injunction, 
dared to send the poor oppressed woman words of cheer 
and comfort, had their missives opened and perused some 
hours before Mrs. Titus was allowed to read them. They 
were carefully sealed afterward ; but to the truth of 
these statements Barstow has himself testified in open 
court. 
During the few days of Dr. Ordenan’s stay, Mrs. Titus 
was sorely tempted to make him her confidant, and reveal 
the whole disgraceful story ; but upon reflection, she con- 
cluded that such an expose might only make a bad matter 
worse. Dr. Barstow Avould not have been likely to put in 
such a position any one who would sympathize with her 
position, even if they believed her story ; so she did not 
even disclose the fact that they forced her to take the 
medicine, which was in his opinion “ strong enough to eat 
her stomach up.” This physician treated her with far 
more consideration than she had received during her stay 
at the Hall, and it was sorrowfully enough she saw him 
take his departure. 
Dr. Barstow’s fiendish disposition had not altered for the 
better during his short absence. Upon his return lie com- 
menced his persecutions with redoubled vigor, apparently 
supplied with new diabolisms. The distasteful doses were 27 
continued, and everything went on as before. About this 
time, at the suggestion of Dr. Post, of Staten Island, who 
co-operated fully with Dr. B. and designing relatives, her 
husband and eldest daughter (the one instrumental in ef- 
fecting her incarceration), paid her a visit. She was look- 
ing haggard and pale, being really very ill, and the wily 
physician concluded that this would be a favorable oppor- 
tunity of having her so-called insanity proven. Like many 
villains, he overshot his mark, for to this visit Mrs. Titus 
doubtless owed her ultimate release. Her husband said 
he was very much surprised at the underhand means em- 
ployed to convey her to the asylum, and vehemently dis- 
claimed any complicity in the business. Doubtless he was 
innocent, but like many others of his calibre, he did not 
choose to make a bad matter worse by useless repining ; so, 
imagining her comfortable, settled phlegmatically down, 
thinking that as others had taken the responsibility so far, 
he would allow them to retain it without interference. 
This visit, however, opened his eyes to many things. Ho 
was not a stupid man, and although his wife was too ill 
to complain, he saw that her confinement had been any- 
thing but beneficial—that instead of improving, her health 
had retrograded ; and Mr. Titus took his departure, very 
much more worried than he chose to confess. The daugh- 
ter, although visibly shocked at her mother’s emaciated 
appearance, tried to appear cheerful, and to this end 
praised her surroundings enthusiastically. Mrs. Titus 
had neither the strength nor desire to reproach the child 
for her share in what—had the villainous machinations 
been successful—would have proven a terrible tragedy, 
and her silence did far more than any words could have 
done. Mr. Titus after this visit called upon Dr. Post, to 
discuss the expediency of taking her away. This model 
physician interposed every objection, cursing, doubtless, 
his own stupidity in advising the visit, which had resulted 28 
thus disastrously to all their plans. But finally Mr. Titus 
became suspicious of and indignant at his continued oppo- 
sition, and expressed his determination of taking her to 
Norforlk just as soon as the weather moderated, with or 
without permission. Both Dr. Barstow and Dr. Post rep- 
resented the insanity of Mrs. Titus as being of a very 
mild typo, not at all dangerous, and why in the name of 
heaven were they so opposed to her taking a journey 
which they knew would benefit her physically, and could 
not affect her mentally except for the better ? 
After Mr. Titus’s exhibition of will—a will which neither 
physician gave him credit for possessing—they thought 
it prudent to modify their position a little, so very re- 
luctantly gave their consent to the proposed removal. 
Well did they know that their proceedings would not 
stand the test of a close examination ; and well, too, did 
they know that if Mr. Titus should discover the twentieth 
part of the truth, their little game would bo up, and for- 
ever. So, in order to lull his suspicions, they consented 
to the removal, intending that if science, cunning, and 
wickedness availed anything, the consent might just as 
well not have been given. Neither had the slightest idea of 
allowing their victim to leave Sandford Hall. 
When Mr. Titus was at the asylum Dr. Barstow gave 
him permission to write his wife, although she was not 
to respond ; but after his visit was concluded, this change- 
able disciple of Esculapius retracted this permission ; 
and fearful of Mrs, Titus’s being eventually taken from the 
asylum, Dr. Barstow determined upon weakening her, body 
and mind, so that any change would be impossible. This 
determination Mrs, Titus perceived in the increased acer- 
bity of his manner and actions toward her, and more fear- 
ful than ever of the unscrupulous man into whose clutches 
she had been so mercilessly placed, she wrote to her hus- 
band begging him to take her away immediately, as she 29 
was in constant fear of one of those awful doses to which 
she had been treated shortly after her arrival. Dr. Bar- 
stow did not dare detain this letter. He feared Mr. Titus, 
and thinking that he could pass off the contents as the 
delusions of an unsound mind, he allowed it to reach its 
destination without hindrance. But upon that same even- 
ing he gave her the “ awful dose ” which she had so much 
reason to dread. After being coerced into taking this, 
Mrs. Titus wrote her husband that her fears had been 
idealized, and inclosed a little piece of cotton saturated with 
the stuff, to show him what kind of poison was forced 
into her delicate system. The half sheet of paper to which 
this piece of cotton was attached Dr. Barstow removed, 
and the letter, minus the sample, proceeded to its destina- 
tion. To this, also, he confessed in open court, but ex- 
cused himself on the ground that it was “ a very innocent 
kind of medicine.” 
“ Very innocent!” It must have been remarkably so 1 
Why, then, did he abstract it ? If the “ innocent medicine” 
had been allowed to go on its way, it would have estab- 
lished either his guilt or Mrs. Titus’s insanity beyond a 
peradventure. He must have liked remaining under such 
a foul suspicion, if he took so much trouble to prevent its 
being- put away. Bah I from his own lips we condemn 
him ; and God grant we may soon see the day when such 
knaves arc deprived of the reins of power, and put in their 
rightful position. 
Now see how cunningly and diabolically the proprietor 
of Sandford Hall endeavors to counteract the influence of 
her letters. He writes to Mr. Titus, inclosing the one 
from his wife, in which she mentions her dread of himself 
and his concoctions ; writes for the ostensible purpose of 
arranging about her removal, but in reality to do away 
with any suspicions her missive might raise. Here is his 
first letter verbatim : 30 
11 My dear Sir:—l remit inclosed letter from Mrs, Titus. 
She proposes Thursday, the day already mentioned by Mr. 
Conklin.” [Her brother, who was also consulted concern- 
ing her removal.] “If you conclude upon that day, please 
let me know a day or two before, that we may have every- 
thing’ ready.” [The gentleman, like most knaves, disliked 
surprises. As may be inferred, ho wasn’t always prepared 
for visitors ; and' in a case like this, where so much was 
involved, he liked plenty of time for preparation.] “Mrs. 
Titus is much better in many respects, although far from 
well.” [Very encouraging ; but this little item, although 
true, occasioned the writer any amount of distress and 
annoyance. He couldn’t account for it. The doses he had 
insisted upon her taking, since Mr. Titus’s announcement 
of his determination to remove her from the asylum, had 
acted very strangely, and their effect was anything but 
satisfactory. We will explain why Mrs. Titus took the 
medicine just before retiring. Under her sheet she con- 
cealed a napkin, into which she spit the medicine, as soon 
as the giver turned to replace the bottle in which it was 
kept.] “ For the last two days she has been extremely irri- 
table, which is something I have not noticed before in her 
case since she has been here. Her case is a very peculiar 
one” [decidedly so] “ and I wish I could speak more encour- 
agingly of her future. However, we must hope for the 
best, and I trust she may make the journey with comfort 
and benefit,” [A journey which the. hypocrite had firmly 
decided should never be made.] “I am, dear sir, truly 
yours, 
“February 10, 18G5. 
“ J. W. Barstow 
This epistle was simply intended to avert suspicion from 
himself, and it answered admirably. Without stooping to 
deny any of her charges, or even to notice them, he con- 
troverts her whole letter by the expression : “ Her case is 31 
a very peculiar one.” Then Mrs. Titus informs her hus- 
band that her “ fears have been realized •” and in order to 
make that information null and void, Dr. Barstow is obliged 
to write more definitely, so his next missive is much longer, 
and far more explicit. It reads thus ; 
uMy dear Sir:—You favor of the 13th is received, I 
am not sure that Mr. Conklin fixed upon the IGth posi- 
tively” [for Mrs. Titus’s removal,] “ but my impression is, 
that he said 'on or about the 16th.’ Mrs. Titus received 
your letter, and writes by this post. The same condition 
which I described in my last letter continues. Her irrita- 
bility and restlessness are still extreme.” [How could they 
well be otherwise?] “And a morbid suspicion of those 
around her.” [This reads rather crudely, but is an exact 
copy of the original manuscript.] “ Until within the past 
few days I have not observed any disposition to suspect my- 
self of any sinister purpose ; but she has now conceived the 
idea that she is to he poisoned, or injured by medicine.” [Ob- 
serve how well he puts it, abstracting, however, the sam- 
ple of “»medicine,” which Mrs. Titus inclosed in the iden- 
tical letter, which he speaks of her as writing. Why did 
he not allow it to go, so as to show its virtue ?] “ She is, 
indeed, greatly to be pitied, and I doubt the expediency of 
sending her daughter with her on the proposed trip to Nor- 
folk. The care of her mother in such a condition would 
be almost too great a responsibility for one so young, and 
I would suggest that an older person, one of more experi- 
ence, and more likely to have an influence upon. Mrs. Titus, 
would be much safer, and more likely to make the journey 
a successful one.” [Very cunningly put. Every one will 
perceive that ho is gently paving the way for his refusal 
to allow Mrs. Titus to leave the asylum on the ground of 
danger.] “ The singular change in her temper, and in the 
general aspect of the case during the few days past, has 32 
discouraged me very much in the hope I indulged a month 
ago, that Mrs. Titus might be restored. Still I would not re- 
gard it as entirely hopeless, although I have many fears in 
regard to the journey. You have my warmest sympathies, 
my dear sir, in this very great affliction ; and while I am 
glad that your poor wife is somewhat better physically 
than at the time of her coming to us, I only wish I could 
do more to avert the sad cloud that threatens to settle 
down upon her reason and her happiness.” [Satan himself 
could not have invented three larger falsehoods in one sen- 
tence.] “Wheneveryou arrange to come for Mrs. Titus, I 
will have everything in readiness, so that there shall be 
no detention. If convenient, please write me a day or tivo be- 
fore.” [So that if his doses (which she did not swallow) 
had not the desired effect, he could increase or change 
them, in time to prevent the journey, concerning which he 
entertained so many fears.] This, with his name and date 
(February 15th) appended composed the epistle, which, 
strange to say, did not alter the .views of Mr. Titus, con- 
cerning the advisability of her removal, at all. 
While upon the subject of Dr. Barstow and his letters, 
it may be as well to copy a very wonderful affair which ho 
wrote to Jacob Conklin, immediately after Mrs. Titus’s in- 
carceration. It shows up the business management of 
Sandford Hall in anything but an agreeable light, and will 
do more to convince the public of the proprietor’s utter 
heartlessness, and lack of conscience, than anything our in- 
dignant soul could possibly dictate. This is the note, 
word for word : 
11 November 21, 1864. 
“My dear Sir:—I greatly regret that I was absent yes- 
terday when you brought Mrs. Titus to Sandford Hall, and 
I am anxious to see you to learn some particulars of her 
case. Will you have the kindness to call at my office in 
town, No. 4 St. Mark’s Place, on Tuesday morning next, 29th inst., between ten and twelve o’clock ? Mrs. T. 
passed a restless night, but has been tolerably calm to day, 
and the prospect seems fair that she may have some rest 
to-night. I will tell you more fully her condition on Tues- 
day. Do not fail to call. The clothes can be sent by 
Foster’s express office.” [This is copied verbatim, and if 
the reader laughs at the idea of transforming express offices 
into messengers, let him rest the mistake where it belongs, 
on Dr. Barstow, not on the transcriber.] 
“11 James's Slip.” 
“ Truly yours, 
“ J. W. Barstow.” 
Now, it seems simply impossible that such a letter 
could be written in this nineteenth century by an individual 
who expected to keep out of Sing Sing. Over his own 
signature Dr. Barstow has proclaimed himself a villain. 
What right has he to admit and treat Mrs. Titus as a luna- 
tic without “ some particulars of her case.” And he not 
only did this, but worse. % He never even saw her until after 
her imprisonment in his establishment. And without “ par- 
ticulars ” from her relatives—without even the farce of an 
examination by himself, he locked up in his establishment 
a sane woman, because—he received for it thirty dollars 
per week. Sandford Hall should be entitled “ The Kidnap- 
pers Retreat.” It is nothing more nor less, and the whole 
world should be made aware of the fact. 
Notwithstanding the advice of Dr. Barstow, Mr. Titus 
decided upon having his daughter accompany her mother 
on the proposed trip to Norfolk. He scarcely credited 
Barstow’s insinuations concerning safety, and the letters 
of this wily villain only increased his anxiety to get his 
wife from out of Sandford Hall. Jacob Conklin’s behavior 
was altogether mysterious. Mrs. Titus was his own sister, 
but judging from his conduct after the reports of her in- 
sanity, no one could have believed it. Whether or no he 34 
credited these reports is a disputed question. Certain it 
is, if he did not give them credence, he is a most unnatural 
brother and depraved man ; while, if they really received 
his belief, his unhappy credulity can not be too deeply com- 
miserated. Certain it is, he was in league at this time 
with Dr. Barstow, and was utterly opposed to the idea of 
having his sister leave the institution over which this 
scamp presided. Mrs. Titus’s daughter at this time was 
visiting his family. Mr. Titus called, obedient to promise, 
upon the day fixed upon for them to go and release the 
poor prisoner, and found his daughter had flown. A wed- 
ding some distance off had afforded the uncle an excellent 
pretext for preventing her proposed trip, and she, being 
considerably under his influence, had consented to the 
change of programme. Just at this particular time mar- 
riages and deaths were happening in singular promiscuity. 
The mother of Mrs. Titus had died, and was to be buried 
on the succeeding day. The wedding party were to at- 
tend the funeral ; but expostulation and entreaty were 
alike lost on Mr. Titus. He would not remain. He had 
promised his wife to come for her at Sandford Hall at such 
a date, and he should fulfill that promise if every relative 
he or she had in the world were to be buried at the same 
time. If his daughter was away, he would go alone ; but 
go he would, and did. 
So, at the time appointed, he made his appearance in 
Flushing, with a lai’gc carriage and light pillows. Mrs. 
Titus saw him from her window ; had it not been for that, 
she might now have been a prisoner. Had he come in the 
cars, as Dr. Barstow confidently expected, he would have 
been sent away with the information that his wife was en- 
tirely too ill to be seen. But his coming before her win- 
dow made that explanation impossible, as the lady, know- 
ing the very uuscrupulous character of her temporary 
guardian, hastened before her husband to contradict by 35 
her presence any story Dr. Barstow might choose to trump 
up concerning her illness, unfitness to travel, etc. The 
Doctor’s anxiety at this particular time entirely crushed out 
his customary caution. He had never imagined the possi- 
bility of Mr. Titus’s choosing a private carriage for his 
conveyance, and this fact is not so strange as it may ap- 
pear-. He had good reasons for his apparent carelessness. 
Mrs. Titus was to go directly to Norfolk. The journey lo 
that city can not be made in a carriage ; and so, acting on 
these premises, Dr. Barstow prepared himself for probabili- 
ties, without giving the slightest heed to possible contin- 
gencies. Probably, had the programme been carried out 
as originally intended, his course would have been suffi- 
ciently prudent; but owing to the absence of his daughter, 
and other causes which space does not permit us to give, 
Mr. Titus decided to postpone the journey to Norfolk, and 
take his wife home. So this is how he overturned all Dr. 
Barstow’s plans, by coming in a large carriage instead of 
the cars. Strange upon what trivialities human destinies 
are dependent ! Now that the Doctor’s well-laid scheme 
had been completely frustrated, he couldn’t think of another 
plot which then and'there would prevent Mrs. Titus from 
leaving the asylum, and in despair he feebly remonstrated : 
“ Mr. Titus, I think it is quite too much for her to go home 
in that carriage.” 
Mr. Titus’s respect for Dr. Barstow’s medical opinions had 
been materially lessened, and one look at the joyous, hope- 
ful face of his wife, fairly radiant with the thought that at 
last she was to leave her gaol and gaoler, and be again 
free, gave the lie direct to the Doctor’s anxiety. So, with- 
out more ado, her husband saw that she was placed com- 
fortably in the vehicle, stepped in himself, and in a moment 
more they were driven off, away from Sandford Hall and 
its inmates. 
The relatives of the family pretended not to know where she had been. If their account be true, they had supposed 
her visiting in Philadelphia. They expressed pleasure at 
having her back again; but inconsistently enough, soon 
displayed the old desire to get rid of her. Jacob Conklin 
was the only one who did not disguise, or attempt to dis- 
guise his real feelings. 
“ I am sorry thy mother is at liberty,” he said to one of 
her daughters, a short time after her release. A very 
praiseworthy and brotherly feeling must have dictated the 
remark ; but to all those who look with horror on this man 
as being in, but not of the human familj’', let us give his 
own palliation of his offense. He was “divinely directed.” 
As we all know, the Society of Friends is very dependent 
on heavenly guidance ; but how any one could be directed 
by divinity to shut up a good, true, delicate woman, sub- 
ject her to every description of cruelty, with the design of 
keeping her a prisoner until she shuffled off either sense or 
life, is more than our carnal judgment can understand. 
But Mrs. Titus’s trouble did not cease with her imprison- 
ment ; the vindictiveness of envious relatives was not yet 
appeased. She had a bad cough, and needed change of 
air. The trip to Norfolk had been postponed indefinitely, 
and now she endeavored to have it again decided upon. 
The spies by which she was surrounded, hearing of this, 
went to her husband with the information, that she wanted 
to leave him. This was among the first hostile advances 
made after her deliverance from Barstow. 
After long prayerful deliberation, she decided to bring 
a suit against Sandford Hall. Her daughter Emma had 
worried about her supposed insanity, and her cruel impris- 
onment, until she had gradually lost strength and health, 
and now, upon her mother’s release, was in a settled con- 
sumption ; and while contemplating this and other sor- 
rows resulting (directly or indirectly) from her imprison- 
ment, Mrs, Titus decided that if there was any justice in the land, it should be meted out to those who had so foully 
injured her. Jacob Conklin, upon hearing of this decision, 
went to Mr. Titus, and told him that if such thing was at- 
tempted, she should he put hack in the asylum. A fine threat 
from a man whose reputation, morality, and social posi- 
tion are unquestionable 1 Mr. Titus said little to his wife, 
but was manifestly worried. Nothing daunted, she went 
on with her suit, attending lawyers, taking care of a sick 
daughter, and mixing matters generally, in a methodical 
way, utterly at variance with her reported insanity. The 
medical attendance of her daughter, Drs. Evans and Peter- 
son, while in their professional calls upon the young girl, 
kept an eye to the mental condition of her nurse ; and de- 
cided that, if Mrs. Titus was insane, all the world must be 
a lunatic asylum. And now, while on the subject of phy- 
sicians, let us record an instance of how the insanity busi- 
ness is conducted in these free and enlightened United 
States. Dr. Griscorab was called upon by some of the 
relatives of Mrs. Titus, interested in her remaining at Sand- 
ford Hall, and requested to present them with a certificate, 
declaring her to be an unsafe person to travel alone. This 
obliging physician immediately complied with their re- 
quest, and, without having seen the person in question, drew 
up the desired certificate. Now looking at these things in 
a plain, unprejudiced manner, who can help shuddering at 
thought of the power wielded by medical practitioners ? 
Dr. Griscomb’s behavior could hardly bo classed with that 
of Drs. Post and Barstow. He was simply a man who, to 
confer a favor, would be likely to involve himself in seri- 
ous difficulty ; for shortly after, happening to meet and 
converse Avith Mrs. Titus, he perceived the net into which 
he had been innocently drawn, retracted the certificate 
previously made out, and drew up another declaring her 
perfectly sane. No one has a right to give a medical state- 
ment of any individual’s mental condition, without even 38 
having examined that individual professionally ; and such 
a proceeding, if made a State’s prison offense, would save 
much terrible suffering. 
Mrs. Titus, after commencing the suit against Sandford 
Hall, discovered that the defense was entirely sustained 
by her brother, Jacob Conklin, who paid the lawyers on 
the opposite side, and took upon himself the whole trouble 
of the suit. So, thinking that he might just as well be en- 
gaged in conducting his own business, Mrs. Titus began 
another suit against him. Then there Avas excitement in 
earnest! Now, notice how Mr. Conklin 
went to work to defeat her ends. Knowing that she 
could carry on neither suit without money, and knowing 
also that Mr. Titus provided her with all she used, he and 
William Thomas Willetts waited on said provider Avith the 
old story of his wife’s insanity, Avorked over for a neAV 
purpose. They argued that she Avas an unsafe person to 
handle money, and he must only give her enough for the 
commonest necessaries. So Mr. Titus, whose placableness 
had returned after his one act of self-assertion, agreed to 
their proposition—or rather demand. Mrs. Titus Avas then 
taking care of her sick child in New York City, and Mr. 
Titus decided that twenty dollars per Aveek—which little 
more than covered their board—would be sufficient for 
both. Twenty dollars per Aveek for the support of two 
Avomen in Gotham—one an invalid, requiring the delica- 
cies which we all know cost so dearly—while thirty dollars 
weekly was not considered too much to pay for the mother 
alone at Sandford Hall 1 
But all these difficulties were powerless to daunt her. 
She continued the suits. And perceiving that something 
else must bo tried, Dr. Griscomb—whose presence Avas 
necessary to a hearing of the case—went to Europe, 
The trial was postponed until his return. Then Jacob 
Conklin experienced a new but great desire to travel, and just before the coming back of the first wanderer, he also 
started for foreign shores, and the suit had to be put off 
farther than ever. During their absence, Lydia Willetts— 
who appears to be a nineteenth century Catharine do 
Medicis—sent for Mr. Titus, and after entertaining him 
with the old story of his wife’s insanity, closed the inter- 
view with the information that she must be shut up again. 
Poor Mr. Titus was in a quandary I—men of his pecu- 
liar stamp generally are. The enemy were pressing for- 
ward. They carried a great many putty-blowers, which 
he mistook for guns, and fearful of—he scarcely knew 
what—anxious for peace, and dreading war, he effected a 
kind of compromise with the sinister-minded dame, and 
proceeded to the office of Drs. Evans and Peterson for the 
purpose of getting a certificate of his wife’s insanity. 
These two physicians were devoid of neither conscience nor 
sense. They believed Mrs. Titus’s reasoning powers to be 
perfectly sound—believed her mind to be not one particle 
deranged, and were certain that her brain was far supe- 
rior to the many who had vainly arranged plans to get 
her out of the way ; so, with no undue hesitation, they re- 
fused to accede to his request. Unsuccessful in this ap- 
plication, and desirous of having the matter settled in one 
way or the other, Mr, Titus next called on Dr. Ely, of 
White Plains, and made a similar request. This was re- 
fused most unceremoniously, and the bewildered husband 
made no further attempt to assure himself of her mental 
unsoundness. 
* 
After a while, the two travelers—Griscomb and Conk- 
lin—returned to America, when the suits were recom- 
menced, and hostilities went on as before their departure. 
The suit against Sandford Hall was first on the tapis, and 
was brought before, a judge on the 18th of April, 18G6. 
The course of the defense was noteworthy. They had 
money—Mrs. Titus had none, or about as bad. She had 40 
sufficient to pay a cheap lawyer. Well, that was enough 
were he an honorable man, for the veriest legal whipper- 
snapper that hangs round the Tombs could have won that 
case, and gained the damages required. She had proof in 
abundance of everything she asserted. Witnesses of the 
highest reputation were willing to testify to the truth of 
her complaint, and legally the defense were without a loop- 
hole of escape. But money is power ! and the defense 
realizing that little fact thoroughly, endeavored, success- 
fully, to impress it upon others. The lawyers for the 
prosecution were bribed to lose the case. Not only the 
lawyers, but the judge was bribed, and his charge to the 
jury was no more nor less than a command. Think of a 
judge in this enlightened century charging a jury after 
this fashion : “No vindictiveness is apparent. Where no 
vindictiveness is proven, there can be no damages award- 
ed.” In other words : “ Bring in a verdict for the de- 
fense.” They accepted the bribe, but it was impossible to 
render the service required in return. The case could not 
be lost, and although the counsel for Mrs. Titus did their 
disgraceful worst, scarcely made a single point, and in 
every way endeavored to give the defense the ad- 
vantage, their efforts proved unsuccessful. The jury 
brought in a verdict for the prosecution, but made the 
damages only six cents. This may seem a very contemp- 
tible sum, but it saved the prosecution considerable ex- 
pense ; for the defense were obliged, notwithstanding their 
dishonorable undermining, to pay the costs of the court. 
Their chagrin passes description ! They had worked hard 
and burrowed deeply, but had not gained utterly. So, 
gaining wisdom by experience, Jacob Conklin managed 
his own suit in an even jnore villainous way. He had 
time to work in, and money to work with. That he ne- 
glected neither, the result will show. The trial was to be 
held some few weeks after the one against Sandford Hall. 41 
Upon the day appointed, Mrs. Titus appeared armed with 
witnesses and proof of the most decided character. But 
they did her no good ; for the trial could not he gone on 
with—neither of her two lawyers appeared ! And with a 
triumphant expression, Jacob Conklin, the defendant, 
walked out of the place. 
Many will think this story incredible I Lawyers, as a 
class, are interested in the gaining of cases wherein they 
are employed, and do not like to lay themselves liable to 
the charge of treachery, etc. This was an exceptional 
case ! We admit these premises of the unbelievers ; but 
when they consider the circumstances, they may arrive at 
a different conclusion. The pecuniary position of Mrs. Ti- 
tus, as explained before, did not warrant her in retaining 
first-class counsel I She was obliged to procure the cheap- 
est kind of assistance. Those who work for small sums, 
are generally poor. This proposition is self-evident! Poor 
men need money ! Another axiom beyond dispute ! Jacob 
Conklin saw the pecuniary position of the lawyers his sis- 
ter had engaged, and offered them much more than she 
could afford to pay, if they would consent to serve his ends 
instead of the party for whom they were retained. Law- 
yers who work for petty pittances have seldom any repu- 
tat:on worth speaking of. What one does not possess, 
one can not lose. They thought the matter over, con- 
cluded that his offer was the most agreeable, accepted the 
money, and remained away from court. A second trial 
was fixed upon, but to no better purpose. Neither of the 
legal rascals employed by the prosecution made their ap- 
pearance, and finally Mrs. Titus gave up the suit. 
Alone, and single handed, it wa»s impossible to fight the 
terrible odds arrayed against her. This she saw, and not 
being a woman to waste time and strength on impossi- 
bilities, she washed her hands of the law, and gave her 
entire attention to her daughter, whose days upon the 
earth were visibly few. 42 
Even then the family could not rest content. Her legal 
efforts had aroused new vindictiveness. They saw that 
she would be dangerous to their reputations if not put 
away again ; and Mrs. Titus discovering their desire to 
reincarcerate her in Sandford Hall, took every imaginable 
precaution against being again deceived. She infoi'mcd 
the chief of the Metropolitan Police of her fears, and their 
cause. He listened to her story, weighed with profes- 
sional acumen the different points, and ended by sending 
one of the staff, in citizen's clothing, to guard her home. 
The twenty dollars per week allowed by Mr. Titus for 
the support of the mother and dying daughter, although it 
supplied them with indispensablcs, did not and could not 
cover the numberless little delicate desires of the invalid, 
who, owing to this lack of money, was often obliged to dis- 
pense with luxuries, the possession of which might have 
prolonged her life considerably. Knowing of this another 
trap was laid, into which it was thought Mrs. Titus might 
be inveigled. Robert Willetts, who lived in fine style 
some few blocks above where the two women boarded, 
called down upon them in his carriage, and offered to take 
the young consumptive to his home, where she could be 
surrounded by everything beautiful, and possess all she 
might desire. 
“ Oh, no 1” said the child, “I can't leave mother.” 
“No need of that,” responded Mr. Willetts eagerly. 
“ Thy mother can go also, and the servants will relieve her 
from much care.” 
Mrs. Titus regarded this offer with suspicion ; and no 
wonder ! During all the time of their stay in New York, 
the Willetts family had offered them not the slightest 
courtesy ; but now, when she was hourly expecting some 
new stratagem of the enemy, the head of the family ap- 
pears and proffers them both a home. This unexpected 
proposal was considered and declined, and Robert Willetts 43 
left the house foiled. Mrs. Titus having escaped this snare 
did not fall into another, and has succeeded in retaining 
her liberty, notwithstanding her enemies’ persistent efforts. 
Now so many are aware of her unfoi’tunate experience, 
that were she to disappear, but for one day, a hue and cry 
would be immediately raised. This the family know, and 
she is consequently safe. 
It seems hard to attribute such deliberate villainy to so 
many of our first citizens ; but the facts are there, and can 
not be disproved. One question presents itself to our mind 
continually : Is Jacob Conklin not in the condition he has 
been so anxious to fasten upon his sister ? That upon him 
does not rest, as has been supposed, the whole blame of 
the transaction, is proven by the fact that the second at- 
tempt to abduct her was made by Lydia Willetts while he 
was in Europe. The conduct of the Willettses, and others, 
can be attributed to innate jealousies and meannesses ; but 
the behavior of her own brother can be accounted for on 
no such uncharitable hypothesis. Insanity seems the fair- 
est explanation I Under that head we can understand his 
belief in his sister’s lunacy ; and if such be the case, Mrs. 
Titus, as one of his nearest relatives, would never recom- 
mend for his mental recuperation a stay at Sandford Hall, 
with its hospitable proprietor, Dr. Barstow.