Today’s Disfigured Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
In an 1884 issue, the Wheeling Intelligencer published a horrific story alleging neglect at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. Allegedly, the corpse of a patient named McGaine had been left unattended overnight. Rats ate off his nose and so disfigured his face that he was not recognizable. His family requested his remains to be sent home but it was not done. When they came to claim the body, they were told that he had already been buried in the Asylum Cemetery. The accusation was made that this was done in order to hide what had happened.
Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum
Culled from: Lunatic: The Rise and Fall of an American Asylum
Mütter Museum Specimen Du Jour!
Cephalothoracopagus ©1990 Scott Lindgren
Cephalothoracopagus monosymmetros (conjoined twins fused at head and thorax) delivered 1851 by Dr. Joseph Warrington.
Isn’t that just the best little morbid trinket you’ve ever seen in your life? Can you imagine having that in your curio cabinet? Oh, to dream…
Andersonville Prisoner Diary Entry Du Jour!
This is the continuation of the 1864 diary of Andersonville prisoner Private George A. Hitchcock (see the archived version for all entries up until now).
Here’s today’s entry:
November 14th. Coldest night of the fall. Received a ration of sweet potatoes in place of meal, and of hard soap. I wrote a letter home, to send by Shepard.
Culled from: Andersonville: Giving Up the Ghost