Dr. Thomas Williamson and Mental Illness
at Gosport (Norfolk) Naval Hospital 1827-1844By John G. M. Sharp
At USGenWeb Archives
Copyright All right reservedIntroduction: In early nineteenth century America mental illness was poorly understood. For those afflicted, it was not uncommon that they would be considerably neglected, often left alone in deplorable conditions or in shackles. Dorothea Dix's (1802-1887) incipient efforts to reform and improve mental health facilities and care for the mentally ill were still in infancy. Dix would later advocate for the building of state hospitals to house the indigent insane. Surgeon Dr. Thomas Williamson USN and the staff of the Gosport Naval Hospital, (despite pleas for better facilities) never had adequate resources to care for those with long term mental problems. The records of two transcribed cases below illustrate how early naval medicine and the staff of Gosport (Norfolk) Naval Hospital attempted to treat mental illness. Both cases were taken from the original registers and case files. The cases are those of Lieutenant Joseph Cutts 1827 and naval pensioner Randolph Bland Randolph 1844-1845. I have selected the cases of these two patients because they reflect the problems the Department of the Navy had providing treatment for the mentally ill. Secondly they are better documented though not necessarily representative. Lastly the surviving case records and letters allow a view of the mental state of both men (albeit recorded by others) and the letters of Lt. Cutts afford a rare glimpse from the patient’s perspective
Medical theory and knowledge of mental illness and the mind have changed dramatically over two hundred years, but a fair-minded reading of the surviving documentation "without the condescension of posterity" reflects the medical staff acted for the patient interest, within the resources and knowledge of their era. Clear descriptions of such conditions that would later be named “schizophrenia” and “paranoia” are relatively rare prior to the latter part of the Ninetieth Century. Dr. Thomas Williamson and other practitioners, repeatedly use the terms "maniac" "insanity" and "insane" to describe all sorts of mental illness. Such terms reflect the common usage of the time and into the next century as well. After reading through his letters and documents, I find complete agreement with historian Christopher McKee that "Dr. Williamson did the best he could for his mentally ill patients given the state of medical science with respect to impairments of the mind and in the mid-ninetieth century his record is a respectable one".1
John G. Sharp, 9 October 2019
1 Christopher McKee Ungentle Goodnights Life in a Home for Elderly and Disabled Naval Sailors and Marines and the Perilous Seafaring Careers that Brought Them There (Naval Institute Press: Annapolis 2018) 210
Background: Dr. Thomas Williamson USN (1791-1859) had rapidly established himself as an energetic and resourceful naval physician and, except for two tours at sea as fleet surgeon to the Mediterranean Squadron, was from 1831 until 1855 chief surgeon and officer in charge. Dr. Williamson served at the hospital during the great cholera epidemic of August and September of 1832. In an undated August 1832 hospital register entry Dr. Williamson wrote, "The cholera prevailed in the United States … The epidemic in Portsmouth started on the 26th day of July 1832 and raged with great violence till the last of August."2 Williamson later admitted that the cholera was "the most recent and severe affliction in my family, the anxiety of mind, the fatigue of body inseparable from the situation I hold during the summer & autumn."3
2 NARA RG -52 Cases Files for Patients at the Naval Hospitals, and Registers 1812-1829, Gosport, 1832, Dr. Williamson’s comments adjoin page 10. This page enumerates twenty patients from the USS. Fairfield, USS Java and the Gosport marine garrison all suffering from cholera.
3 Thomas Williamson to Mahlon Dickerson 15 October 1834 "Whom I have known… and more particularly during the cholera here …" 2nd quote, Williamson to Dickerson 10 December 1832
Today Dr. Williamson is best known for his farsighted 1838 "Rules for the government of this hospital." Most of these twenty-six regulations reflect Williamson’s concern for the role and authority of the medical officer, the care of patients, hospital sanitation, and hygiene. As Dr. Joseph Alsop has recently pointed out, "Williamson’s regulations attempted to provide a framework for the humane treatment of incapacitated servicemen." Rule number 20 reads: "No smoking is allowed in any Hospital building or precincts, except that part of the basement story in the rear of the Court Yard, which will be pointed out by the Medical Officer." This regulation was a first, and established a significant precedent for all naval hospitals. Williamson’s limitation on smoking is the earliest restriction on smoking to be uncovered for the United States Navy. The new smoking regulation ran contrary to the popular lore of the 1830’s which considered smoking a preventive against cholera and other so-called "miasmatic" or airborne disease. It was not until 1854 that London physician Dr. John Snow first identified cholera as water born. The same year Italian anatomist Dr. Filippo Pacini isolated the infectious bacterium Vibrio cholerae as the cause of cholera.4 Williamson’s actual motivation in adopting this rule may reflect a concern for fire safety and decorum evident in rules number 19, 22, and 25.5 During Williamson’s tenure the hospital treated a wide range of pulmonary ailments with many officers and sailors suffering respiratory complaints and tuberculosis. His concern with smoking may have arisen when noticing smoke within the confines of ship or hospital that aggravated lung conditions. In 1855, Napoleon III, Emperor of France, awarded Williamson a gold medal for his actions in treating the victims of the yellow fever epidemic aboard the French steamer-of-war, La Chimère, at Norfolk Hospital in 1854.
4 Steven Johnson The Ghost Map The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic and How it Changed, Cities and the Modern World (Riverhead Books: London 2006), 213
5 James Alsop, Research Note: The Code of Regulations for the First U.S. Naval Hospital, Norfolk, Virginia, 1838 Northern Mariner /Le marin de nord 59-67 https://www.cnrs-scrn.org/northern_mariner/vol21/tnm_21_60-67.pdf accessed 21 February 2019. My discussion of Dr. Thomas Williamson regulations is based primarily on Dr. James Alsop’s article in the Northern Mariner.
At Norfolk the question of care for those deemed mentally ill loomed large for Williamson and his staff.6 Prior to the creation of the naval hospital at its present Portsmouth location, only the most rudimentary medical facilities were available at the Gosport (Norfolk) Navy Yard. The old hospital building was positioned on the navy yard, known as "the Marine Hospital" and it was two stories high and stood in the center of the shipyard. This ramshackle wooden structure had formerly housed the boatswains and gunners storerooms. On 8 September 1817 Gosport commandant Commodore John Cassin wrote to Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Crowninshield to express concern at "having the Hospital placed in the Center of the yard, having lost five men in the first instant one sergeant & three private marines and one seama , which was seen by all at work & have created such alarm that the above one-half the laborers have left the yard apprehensive of some contagious disease prevailing …" Cassin knew this structure well for he had been a patient there multiple times in the years he served as commandant. Cassin suffered hepatitis, a disease that probably killed him in 1822. His letter reflects how uneasy and frightened his marines, seamen and civilian workforce were by their closeness to infection and death. While his letter does not mention the type of disease, he is particularly concerned that proximity to the hospital not only spreads infection but destroys morale as well.7
6 Richmond C. Holcomb A Century with Norfolk Naval Hospital (Printcraft Publishing:Norfolk 1930), 226
7 "Captains Letters" John Cassin to Benjamin Crowninshield 8 September 1817 NARA M125 RG260 Volume 55, letter number 8
As described in Dr. Williamson’s 14 October 1827 letter, space in the old facility was at a premium and not a fit habitation for patients suffering from mental health issues, in this and other transcribed letters and case notes written during the years 1820’s to 1840’s.
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Dr. Thomas Williamson (1791-1859) USN
Bureau of Medicine and Surgery Washington DCIn 1830 as Dr. Williamson made ready to move to the new hospital at Portsmouth, he was mindful and uneasy that this new facility simply would not have the staff or resources to provide adequate care for those suffering from mental illness. One of his first entries in the hospital register dated 17 August 1830 reflects his unease. As the hospital was moved into the new building he notated the register fly leaf with the following:8 "Every Effort has repeatedly been made to have a Keeper for the insane here - also for a watchman."
8 Gosport Naval Hospital Register vol. 8, 1830 Department of the Navy: Case Files for Patients at Naval Hospitals and Registers Thereto: Registers of Patients 1812–1929. Record Group 52: Records of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, 1812-1975. NARA
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Gosport Naval Hospital Register vol. 8, on 17 July 1830.Dr. Williamson had previous experience with patients suffering from severe mental illness: one case was that of Lt. Joseph Cutts Jr. (1794-1834).
Joseph Cutts was born in Kittery, Maine, the namesake of a wealthy merchant sea captain Joseph Cutts senior (1764-1861). The Cutts clan had become one of the leading families of the town. Young Joseph grew up in a large eighteenth century mansion in Kittery Point. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy graduating in 1811.9 The family wealth however took a severe decline as a direct result of Thomas Jefferson’s 1807 embargo that curtailed shipping and badly hurt the family fortune. With the embargo bill’s passage, Cutts father had lost his livelihood. The old captain could neither buy nor sell, and his vessels rotted in the harbor as he watched from shore. By 1813 Cutts senior was bankrupt and indebted to the government for unpaid duties. The strain of losing his fortune probably contributed to the older man’s mental breakdown.10 As young Joseph entered the naval service as a midshipman on 6 December 1814, his father suffering from financial loss and emotional strain, he too gradually began to show signs of mental illness..9 General Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the Phillips Exeter Academy 1783-1903, Exeter, New Hampshire: The New Letter Press 1903, 18
10 Dianne Fallon Globalization, circa 1807, curses the Lady Pepperrell House 12 May 2014, accessed 8 October 2019
https://diannefallon.com/globalization-circa-1807-curses-the-lady-pepperrell-house/For the next ten years, the family fortune continued its steady decline. To generated income, Joseph Cutts requested a long furlough from the Navy to take charge of a merchant ship perhaps one of his fathers. However this quickly came to naught and Cutts returned to duty in New York at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.11 On 23 March 1823 Midshipman Joseph Cutts was ordered to Florida to serve on the USS Porpoise. which was charged with mapping the Florida coast. In a long and somewhat rambling letter to the Secretary of the Navy Smith Thompson, he threatened to return his warrant as a midshipman and stated, "as I value my reason above my situation in the Navy". He then wrote how for the year previous he "was almost in a state distraction and entirely unfit for duty occasioned by family misfortune, and that he used every entreaty to countermand the order to remain on the New York station until I could get a little composed, but to no avail."12
11 Joseph Cutts to Smith Thompson "Officers Letters" to the Secretary of the Navy NARA RG45 M148 Volume 65-67 dated 19 February 1822
12 Joseph Cutts to Smith Thompson "Officers Letters" to the Secretary of the Navy NARA RG45 M148 Volume 74-75 dated 27 June 1823
To their credit the commanding officer of the Porpoise James Ramage and Secretary of the Navy Smith Thompson both expressed concern and held the resignation in abeyance. Smith Thompson notated Cutts letter, "Let this remain without action until some information shall be received from Dr. Logan with interest to his situation."
13 Ibid, Logue, Daniel C. Acting Assistant Surgeon, 25 January 1862. He resigned 7 October 1862. both men notated their thoughts on the reverse of the letter
Joseph Cutts seems to have recovered for he served aboard the USS Hornet a part of the East India Squadron on the Florida Station.14 He was promoted to Lieutenant on 13 January 1825, but shortly thereafter again began to exhibit further signs of mental distress and aggressive behavior.15 In part this might have been worry over his mental health, perhaps brought on by dismay regarding his brother Charles decline. In a 22 November 1826 letter to Secretary of the Navy Samuel Southard, for an extension of leave he explained, "I have been on duty for some years past, never having had leave before and having lately had the afflicting news of the loss of reason of my only brother, [Charles Robert Chauncey Cutts] I would deem it a favor if my services could be dispensed with for some months…"16
14 Joseph Cutts to Samuel Southhard "Officers Letters" to the Secretary of the Navy NARA RG45 M148 Volume 105-106 dated 8 November 1825
15 John G Sharp Letters from and to the Gosport Navy Yard 1826-1828
http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/portsmouth/shipyard/nnysharp14.html16 Joseph Cutts to Samuel Southhard "Officers Letters" to the Secretary of the Navy NARA RG45 M148 Volume 105-106 dated 22 November 1826
On 3 September1827 Lt. Cutts was admitted to the Gosport (Norfolk) Naval Hospital with "a Mania". The medical case notes compiled by Dr. Williamson reflect Cutts was described as agitated, aggressive, melancholy, furious, with occasional moments of lucidity. As he sought for "the gastric origin of the disease" Williamson’s treatment plan included "the cathartic course where practical with low diet" "the purgative pills" and the "the blue pill". Dr. Williamson prescribed these treatments to a multitude of diseases and aliments, the results of this regime of diet and laxatives did nothing for Lt.Cutts, if anything his condition worsened. Lt. Cutts was released in January 1831, returned to the family home in Kittery, Maine, where in 1834 he killed himself with a pistol. For his sister Sarah "Sally" Chauncey Cutts, caretaker for her father, Joseph and Charles, the suicide of Joseph might have been the culminating blow. She too developed mental illness."17
17 Fallon, Ibid.
Dr. Williamson followed as well as he could the "moral treatment" method which eschewed the traditional medical treatments commonly found in asylums, such as bloodletting and physical restraints, and instead focused on making the asylums more like a "strict, well-run household." Instead of being caged and hidden away in cellars, patients were expected to act civilized and polite, encouraged to consider the consequences of disruptive behavior and participate in the maintenance of the facility. They would be subject to rules and surveillance, and given simple rewards and punishments as appropriate. Moral treatment was an approach to mental disorder based on humane psychosocial care or moral discipline that emerged in the 18th century and came to the fore for much of the 19th century, deriving partly from psychiatry or psychology and partly from religious or moral concerns. The movement is particularly associated with reform and development of the asylum system in Western Europe at that time. A key advocate in the United States had been Dr. Benjamin Rush 1749-1813, sometimes referred to as "the Father of American Psychiatry."18
18 Benjamin Rush, M.D. (1749-1813): "The Father of American Psychiatry" National Institutes of Health Diseases of the Mind, accessed 5 October 2019 https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/diseases/benjamin.html
For Doctor Williamson bringing "the mortal treatment system" to patients at the naval hospital was near impossible, as the newly constructed facility was designed for a general hospital with its main mission care to sick and wounded officers and enlisted men. The original design placed storage rooms in the basement level which were later converted when the hospital received patients with violent tendencies.19 In 1844 he was faced with a challenging case, that of Richard Bland Randolph, (1781 – after March 1849) a naval pensioner. Much of the information and history of Randolph is based on his own account in various court and government records. Randolph’s account of his life is often unreliable. As historian Christopher McKee notes in his brilliant Ungentle Goodnights Life in a Home for Elderly and Disabled Naval Sailors and Marines and the Perilous Seafaring Careers that Brought Them There, 2018, Randolph’s life "is not unlike a three hundred piece jigsaw puzzle."20 McKee discovered Randolph was born in Prince George County, Virginia, circa 1781. His father was middling farmer, with about one thousand acres of land. Randolph had served in merchant ships and later in May 1798 aboard frigate USS Constellation when it captured the French frigate L’ Insurgent. Two years later he was appointed a Midshipman on 25 January 1800 where Randolph was wounded leading a boarding party to recapture the American schooner Aurora an action in which he lost a finger and was shot in right ankle. Randolph had over the next few decades served in the merchant marine, where in 1801 he was briefly pressed into the crew of the HMS Osprey. In 1803 Randolph was charged with murder, after his father was found shot to death. After his lengthy trial ended in a hung jury, a second trial commenced. Randolph's new jury returned a verdict of not guilty. In 1814 Randolph enlisted in the U. S. Army, where he quickly deserted, was recaptured, tried by court martial and sentenced to death by firing squad. Fortunately the Peace of Amiens was announced in 1815 that ended the war and Randolph was subsequently pardoned. Over the next few decades he reentered the merchant service and navy. During the same period he made various unsuccessful claims for prize money that he came to believe due him for his role in the recapture of the Insurgent. In 1842 he brought his complaint to Congress and submitted that his old injuries including a hernia were service related. Based on this on 9 October 1843 Randolph was admitted to the Naval Asylum, the newly created (1827) home for old and destitute long service sailors and marines. Following his admission Randolph’s mind apparently began to fixate on slights real and imagined and his grievances grew. On 25 February 1843 the Governor of the Asylum wrote to the Secretary of the Navy to report Randolph was "insane" and had begun to behave violently and to remove him from the Asylum.21 As a result Randolph was sent to the Gosport (Norfolk) Naval Hospital located in nearby Virginia. The hospital had some limited experience with mental disorders. In 1836 Secretary of the Navy Abel P. Upshur had decided to send to the hospital many of those with mental health issues.22
19 McKee, 211
20 McKee 215
21 McKee 220
22 McKee,210
As a new patient, Richard B. Randolph quickly alarmed both Dr. Williamson and Norfolk Naval Shipyard commandant Commodore Jesse Wilkinson. Randolph’s many threats against public officials they thought made him dangerous, and his propensity to violence with his avowed threats mentioning President of the United Sates John Tyler (1841-1845) were to be treated seriously. Ultimately Randolph escaped from the hospital. He was later readmitted to the Asylum where he escaped once more on 22 March 1849 and was never seen again.23
23 McKee 227
Transcription: All hospital registers and case files are transcribed from The Register of Patients Naval Hospitals 1812-1934. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 52 Records of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery and Field Records Case Files for Patients at Naval Hospitals and Registers, Entry 45. The original manuscript has no pagination but generally is arranged chronologically except where noted. All letters were transcribed from digital images of letters and documents received by the Secretary of the Navy, NARA, M125 "Captains Letters" "Officers Letters" to the Secretary of the Navy and Miscellaneous Letters are all from the National Archives and Records Administration.
In transcribing all passages from the letters and memorandum, I have striven to adhere as closely as possible to the original in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and abbreviation, superscripts, etc., including the retention of dashes and underlining found in the original. Words and passages that were crossed out in the letters are transcribed either as overstrikes or in notes. Words which are unreadable or illegible are so noted in square brackets. When a spelling is so unusual as to be misleading or confusing, the correct spelling immediately follows in square brackets and italicized type or is discussed in a foot note.Letters and Documents:
U.S. Naval Hospital
Gosport Virginia
14th Octr. 1827Sir,
I again feel it necessary to call your attention to the situation of Lieut. Joseph Cutts Junr., now a maniac here. His derangement continues without any mitigation and without the smallest hope of his recovery here. There are no accommodations in the Hospital for a person in his situation, and I feel it is my duty to state to you the necessity of his removal to some asylum more appropriate to persons in a state similar to his. As the cold weather is about setting in and the impracticality of keeping a fire in a room where he is, has induced me to call your attention to his unhappy situation.
Very respectfully, yours
(Signed) Thomas Williamson SurgeonMr. Cutts has money sufficient to carry him to any asylum in our country – besides the pay now due him, he has 150 $ or more at the Hospital.24
24 Officers Letter to the Secretary of the Navy NARARG45 M148 Volume 114 -116 dated 14 October 1827
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The following entries from the Gosport Naval Hospital are from Dr. Williamson daily case notes and the Register of Patients at U.S. Naval Hospital Gosport (Norfolk) Va and U.S. Naval Hospital Washington D.C.
3 September 1827: "Received from the Delaware 74 Jospeh Cutts a Lieutenant with a Mania."
7 September 1827: "Mr. Cutts the purgative pills of yesterday if we are compelled to put him in the strait jacket – his diet to be low."
9 September 1827: "Mr. Cutts –from what I can learn in this gentleman’s case - he has heretofore been a Maniac - given the recent scars on his arm, I am inclined to believe that [illegible] has been resorted to very lately - the mark of a blister is also visible on the neck – He is at times furious - he is nearly sane for a moment - looking to the gastric origin of the disease I have done the cathartic course where practical with low diet go on today with the purgative plan."
10 September 1827: "Mr. Cutts as yesterday if he becomes very furious apply the strait jacket and lay a large blister on the back of the neck."
11 September 1827: "Mr. Cutts – this is a melancholy case of Mania – He is now pretty generally furious – We are hardly able to keep any articles of furniture in his chamber. I have since his admission resorted to nauseating & cathartic course – the glens appear to be slightly affected – 4 xxxx- continue the purgative course as yesterday - low diet"
27 September 1827: "Mr. Cutts – continue blue pill and diet as yesterday" [Blue pill, aka "Blue Mass", pilula hydrargyri, a popular mercury based medicine, a standard cure for constipation]Image
Gosport Naval Hospital Dr. Williamson case file notes dated 11September 1827 re Lt. Joseph Cutts 2525 Hospital Tickets and Case Papers compiled 1825-1889 Department of the Navy, Records of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery,
Record Group 52 National Archives at Washington, D.C. Norfolk, Virginia 1825-1827, roll 1.13 October 1827: "Mr. Cutts - low diet & watch him closely, put the straight jacket upon him"
23 November 1827: "Mr. Cutts - went by request of his relations to the Asylum for Lunatics at Hartford Connecticut under the charge of Captain Gardner of the Packet Line yesterday morning"
13 September 1829: Lt. Joseph Cutts admitted to US Naval Hospital, Washington DC. Disease: "Insanity"
23 September 1829: Lt. Joseph Cutts released to ship in Baltimore.21 August 1830: Lt. Joseph Cutts admitted to US Naval Hospital Norfolk, Va. Disease: "Mania"
14 December 1830: In his "A Report of the Patients in the U.S. Naval Hospital at Gosport, Va. under the command of Com James Barron this 14 day of Dec 1830", Doctor William P.C. Barton described Lt. Joseph Cutts as "Apparently well".
10 January 1831 1830 Lt. Joseph Cutts released.
26 September 1834 Mortuary Notice "In Kittery, Maine, yesterday Lt.Joseph Cutt of the U.S. Navy shot himself with a pistol in a fit of insanity to which he was subjected. He was highly esteemed in the U.S. Navy in private life."2626 Obituary, The Portsmouth Journal of Literature & Politics 27 September 1834 Portsmouth N.H, 3
Gravestone: First Congregational Church Cemetery Kittery, Maine, Lt. Joseph Cutts, Jr. "The weary are at rest."
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From a postcard, circa 1910, of the "Lady Perpperell House" the Cutts family Georgian style mansion in Kittery, Maine.
On 24 September 1834, Lt. Joseph Cutts killed himself in one of the bedchambers* * * * * * * * * *
U.S. Naval Hospital
Near Portsmouth Virginia
July 6th 1844Sir,
As you requested my opinion in relation to the finding of the Chronic cases of Mania at a Hospital appropriated to the sick, I would beg leave to remark that great injury results to both as it is not possible to isolate them in such a manner as to prevent them from at least hearing each other. The incessant ravings of maniacs day and night and the impossibility of preventing those resorting to harsh means are amply sufficient without assigning any another cause why they should be removed to a regular insane establishment where the moral curative means as this calls for can be resorted to with a greater chance of success than if kept where they so much annoy and where they can be so much excited at the most ordinary conversation of unthinking and those convalescent from disease. We have only twelve cells, and they are upon the basement story, calculated only for temporary cases of insanity or the acute onset of it but ill adapted to the chronic in duration & character which for years have been pronounced as incurable. I hope, Sir, the efforts of the Chief of the Bureau of Medicine & Surgery to whom I have communicated everything I deem it of importance concerning the insane men under my charge, that your efforts may speedily free the Hospital from those who would be more benefited at a proper Asylum for the Insane -
Very respectfully, yours
(Signed) Thomas Williamson Surgeon27To Commodore Jesse Wilkinson
Commanding Navy Yard27 NARA RG 260 M125 "Captains letters, letter number 47 dated 6 July 1844
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Gosport Hospital Register 1844 entry for patient No. 159 Richard B. Randolph, Pensioner, dated 10 August 1844, admitted for "Chronic Insanity" and a subsequent note added Randolph had "Came from the Norfolk Alms House, Deserted April 6th, a vile fellow 2828 Gosport Naval Hospital Register Vol. 8 Department of the Navy: Case Files for Patients at Naval Hospitals and Registers Thereto: Registers of Patients 1812–1929. Record Group 52: Records of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, 1812-1975. NARA
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U.S. Navy Yard
Gosport 12th August 1844Sir,
I send herewith copies of the two reports from Surgeon Williamson in relation to the Maniac Richard B. Randolph by which you will see the lamentable condition he is in, confined to a close unwholesome cell in irons, and from the Doctors Statement there seems to be no other mode of security.
I would respectfully suggest whither it is not incumbent upon a state to which a maniac belongs to take charge of him and send him to the place provided by law for such objects – No doubt that course would have been adopted by the authority of the Borough of Norfolk when they had charge of the man Randolph had I not offered to take charge of the him if they would send him to the Hospital - I was induced to this in consequence of a letter received from the Department dated 22nd Ultimate –
I am Sir very respectfully your obedient Servant
[Signed] Jesse WilkinsonTo Honorable Secretary of the Navy
George Bancroft, Washington* * * * * * * * * *
U.S. Naval Hospital
Near Portsmouth Virginia
August 5th 1844Sir,
The maniac Randolph broke open his cell last night, and made his escape from the Hospital, by getting over the wall- It is most important that this man be taken as soon as possible – His Deadly dislike to the President of the U. States, you and others renders it so necessary to adopt measures immediately for his apprehension – He has been so often the inmate of a Penitentiary that locks, bolts, bars &c cannot keep him.
Very respectfully, yours
(Signed) Thomas Williamson SurgeonTo Commodore Jesse Wilkinson
Commanding Navy Yard* * * * * * * * * *
Copy
U.S. Naval Hospital
Near Portsmouth Virginia
August 10th 1844Sir,
The mayor of Norfolk has sent over to the Hospital this afternoon, the maniac Randolph, and at your request as he states, I have him confined to his cell with hand irons and have adopted every measure for his security - It will be well to let a Blacksmith come here to see if greater security can be given to the cell by locks or otherwise & to have such irons as may be considered necessary in his case, so securely put on that it will be impossible for him to make his escape – The notorious bad character of this man is such, that every possible effort must be made to keep him where he cannot injure anyone & to prevent him from annoying the community -If you have any patient irons for the hands and feet at the yard, would it not be well to let the man bring them down with him, as I have no doubt from the many crimes committed by the man that he is most familiar with those we have here –
Very respectfully, yours
(Signed) Thomas Williamson SurgeonTo Commodore Jesse Wilkinson
Commanding Navy Yard* * * * * * * * * *
U.S. Navy Hospital Gosport
April 28th 1845Sir,
Randolph the Maniac made his escape from the Naval Hospital some days ago. I have been waiting to hear of him either in Norfolk or Portsmouth as on former occasions, but to my very great surprise I know he is in Washington, He is represented by the Hospital Surgeon as very dangerous. I would therefore recommend that he be forthwith apprehended and confined at some secure place – He imagines the Government to be largely indebted to him, and the President the cause of his not getting etc. and with his abandon character he might make an attempt upon him or some other high official of the Government. I do not consider he has any claim whatever upon the Navy as person except to be placed in a Lunatic Hospital of Virginia, of what state he is a Citizen –
I have the Honor to Very Respectfully Your Obedient Servant
(Signed) J. WilkinsonAddressed to:
The Honorable
George Bancroft
Secretary of the Navy Washington* * * * * * * * * *
John G. "Jack" Sharp resides in Concord, California. He worked for the United States Navy for thirty years as a civilian personnel officer. Among his many assignments were positions in Berlin, Germany, where in 1989 he was in East Berlin, the day the infamous wall was opened. He later served as Human Resources Officer, South West Asia (Bahrain). He returned to the United States in 2001 and was on duty at the Naval District of Washington on 9/11. He has a lifelong interest in history and has written extensively on the Washington, Norfolk, and Pensacola Navy Yards, labor history and the history of African Americans. His previous books include African Americans in Slavery and Freedom on the Washington Navy Yard 1799 -1865, Morgan Hannah Press 2011. History of the Washington Navy Yard Civilian Workforce 1799-1962, 2004.
https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/browse-by-topic/heritage/washington-navy-yard/pdfs/WNY_History.pdf
and the first complete transcription of the Diary of Michael Shiner Relating to the History of the Washington Navy Yard 1813-1869, 2007/2015 online:
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/d/diary-of-michael-shiner.html
His most recent work includes Register of Patients at Naval Hospital Washington DC 1814 With The Names of American Wounded From The Battle of Bladensburg 2018,
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/r/register-patients-naval-hospital-washington-dc-1814.html
The last three works were all published by the Naval History and Heritage Command. John served on active duty in the United States Navy, including Viet Nam service. He received his BA and MA in History from San Francisco State University. He can be reached at sharpjg@yahoo.com
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Norfolk Navy Yard Table of Contents
Birth of the Gosport Yard & into the 19th Century
Battle of the Hampton Roads Ironclads