Today’s Mad Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
It wasn’t until the 1770s that Colonial Americans began to construct facilities specifically for housing the insane. The first lunatic asylum was opened in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1773. But these institutions were designed solely to remove the individual from society, not to help him or her regain control of their lives. Insanity was almost universally regarded as incurable. There was no established program of treatment. It was popularly thought that people behaving irrationally were doing so willfully, so as to deliberately call attention to themselves, and that this behavior could be broken by a series of beatings. This concept did not apply solely to the masses. Even King George III of England and ruler of Colonial America, pronounced mad by Parliament, suffered beatings at the hands of his attendants.
Culled from: Lunatic: The Rise and Fall of an American Asylum
Prisoner Du Jour!
Prisoners: Murder, Mayhem, and Petit Larceny
E.H. BRUNSON
ATTEMPTED MURDER AND SUICIDE
THE DEED BEING DONE WITH A PISTOL IN THEIR LODGINGS ABOUT MIDNIGHT.
At about 1:45 this morning Irwin Sayles, the night clerk at the U.S. Hotel heard a pistol shot followed a few seconds later by four in rapid succession. He at once summoned Officers McCoy and Becker and on going upstairs found one of the guests, Ada Clark, lying on a bed in room 62 with her face covered with blood caused by wounds over the right temple and back of her head.
Acting on information received, the officers went to room 59, where they found a man named E.H. Brunson, who was bleeding from a slight wound on his right temple. When asked why he did the shooting he made no reply and was taken to the Police office.
Ada Clark and her friend Agnes Haynes came to this city from Spokane, Washington, a few days ago and registered at the hotel. E. H. Brunson, the man under arrest, came down Wednesday from Oroville, where he is employed at Geo. Martin’s saloon, and was seen on the street with the girls.
Agnes Haynes, Ada’s friend, informed an Appeal reporter that Ada had promised to marry Brunson about a year ago and that when he followed her to this city she refused to marry him. She stated that they both had been employed at the Palace store in Spokane as saleswomen and that they were on their way to San Francisco.
From another source it was ascertained that the Clark woman was an adopted daughter of the late F.D. Clark, the insurance agent who resided in this city, and that she was on her way to San Francisco with Miss Haynes to visit Mrs. Clark. Her right name is McCrackren, and her father resides in Oroville but they have not been on good terms. She was a very pretty girl.
The officers found the 32-caliber pistol with which the shooting had been done on the roof of the building, all the barrels being discharged. They also found a 22-caliber pistol in the room where the shooting had taken place. This revolver had not been used.
Dr. D. Powell and E. H. Hanlon were summoned at once to attend the injured woman.
The doctor found two wounds, but the one in the back of the head was evidently caused by being struck by a pistol.
The shooting took place in room 59. After the first shot was fired she screamed and other four shots were fired in rapid succession. She managed to get the pistol away from him after he had tried to kill himself, and then ran out to room 62 where Miss Haynes was and threw herself on the bed. She stated that Brunson had tried to kill her and then turned the pistol on himself.
Miss Haynes stated that the smaller pistol belonged to her and Ada.
Brunson when seen at 3 o’clock this morning still refused to give any reason for the shooting. He said Ada told him to keep his mouth shut.
The Doctors consider her injuries very serious and they may have a fatal termination. (May 10, 1901)
Amazingly, Ada Clark survived (with the bullet still in her brain) to take the witness stand and testify against Brunson. In the end, Brunson pled guilty and was sentenced to two measly years at San Quentin. Shortly after his release, a subsequent crime occurred:
July 10, 1904
A GREENVILLE TRAGEDY
E.H. BRONSON SHOOTS AND KILLS MRS. JESSIE RILEY AND SUICIDES.
E.H. Bronson, a bartender well known in Marysville as well as in Gridley and Oroville, has ended his existence.
On Friday afternoon Bronson created a sensation at Greenville, Plumas county, by shooting and killing Mrs. Jessie Riley, his companion , after which he committed suicide.
Bronson and the woman had arrived from Quincy to which place they had traveled from Oroville, where she had recently received an absolute decree of divorce from her husband, Edward Riley.
It is presumed that jealousy caused the murder and suicide.
Bronson was an ex-convict. It will be remembered that he shot Ada Clark, alias Ada McCracken, in a hotel in this city on May 10, 1901, from which injuries she recovered. He was charged with assault to murder, pled guilty and was sent to San Quentin for two years. On his release he went to Oroville, taking up after a short residence there with Mrs. Riley.
this is a hoot! I like that he was a well know convict.
I lived in Marysville in the early 60s. I mostly remember the rain storms. in 1955 they sent residents across to Yuba City because they thought Marysville would flood. Yuba City got wiped out. As kids we played in the huge pit excavated to hold excess rainwater until it could be pumped outside of the levee. One year something happened and we went swimming in the street. I remember a rowboat going by and then all the water drained away.