In 1939, E. M. Sunley published a short but comprehensive report detailing the early history of the treatment of Kentucky’s “idiots” and “lunatics.” Early on, Sunley noted that Kentucky gave “allowances” of public funds to help with the care of these individuals. After Kentucky entered the Union in the late 18th-century, provisions were made early on for the care of persons of unsound mind. The attorney general or appropriate representative had the ability to apply to any court of law for the appointment of a committee for the mentally ill. At that time, if there were no tangible assets (e.g., real estate, money, etc.) in which a mentally ill person could be supported from then the court could deliver an order for a “just and reasonable sum” in which that person could be taken care of. Accordingly, the funds were paid via the State Treasury.

Though these allowances were abolished by 1852 onward, and the grants were limited to the care of “idiots,” the state legislature made exceptions in most cases. This was especially true since psychiatric exams (or even psychometric testing) were not used in determining idiocy; as such, there was no real way of knowing whether the beneficiary was mentally ill or in need. Preceding the opening of the Eastern Lunatic Asylum in Lexington there were no state facilities for the care of the insane. This meant that “allowances” were used in great amounts for the care of “mental defectives.” In 1804, funding for funeral expenses of the “destitute idiots and lunatics” were capped at $10.00 for those under the care of an aforementioned committee. By 1822, Kentucky’s circuit courts were permitted to appoint the committees and grant these allowances. A few short years later, however, the state legislature limited the funeral allowances to a maximum of $50 per year.

Sunley noted that the general belief through the first part of the 19th-century was that many receiving public aid were not actually “idiots.” In 1831 the state legislature stepped in again extending authority to the circuit courts to issue writs that commanded the local sheriff to summon 12 housekeepers from the county to determine whether a person was of unsound mind as well as if insanity had been present from birth or acquired later in life. That meant a selected group of 12 individuals made sanity determination and no physician provided input under oath.

Also in 1831, state legislation stipulated that no idiocy or lunacy inquest could be held unless the person being charged appeared in court; they also had a period of ten days’ notice. Additionally, the courts were given the power to appoint a “fit” or mentally sound person to ensure that the person being charged was no improperly condemned. Once the Asylum in Lexington opened, the courts were able to commit individuals to stay in that facility. The estates of those people were used for the support or funding of the treatment and housing.

Elizabethan Poor Laws

The Elizabethan Poor Laws were a series of legislative acts enacted in 16th-century England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. These laws aimed to address the growing issue of poverty and provide relief for the poor and vulnerable in society. The laws established a system of compulsory local taxation to fund poor relief, which included providing food, shelter, and employment for those in need. They also introduced the concept of workhouses, where the able-bodied poor were expected to work in exchange for assistance. The Elizabethan Poor Laws laid the foundation for future social welfare systems and had a lasting impact on how societies approached poverty and supported the disadvantaged.

These laws were applied to allowances provided to pauper “idiots and lunatics.” That meant that not only did the “idiot” or “lunatic” have to prove that they had wholly insufficient estates but that their parent/s also had to have insufficient estates. Sunley also noted that family responsibility of poor relief in Kentucky wasn’t introduced until 1906. In 1840, all “idiocy” and “lunacy” hearings were made in open court unless the individual was unable to attend due to health or behavioral outbursts.

It wasn’t until the middle of the 19th-century that assessment and examination of patients became a process of determining “idiocy” or “lunacy” in Kentucky. “The personal appearance of an idiot before the court, as provided by the Act of 1831, was not to be dispensed with unless two practicing physicians could provide in court, or by affidavits produced in court, that they had made an examination and found the person to be an idiot.” Given the rural nature of Kentucky, the availability of physicians was often scarce. Should no physician be able to assess an individual then he or she was to proceed with examination in open court instead.

After 1846 if an “idiot” was unable to work then allowances were not granted. If they did part-time work, then the value of that labor was deducted from any benefits or “allowance” they would otherwise receive from the state. After 1850, new examinations were to ensue every 5 years to determine eligibility. The judge and jury could also deny any allowance or benefits from any “idiot” or “lunatic” that had been brought into the Commonwealth for support and care. If the circuit court of the county was not in session, then the police judge or justice of the peace could summon a jury to proceed with a hearing. The stipulation for this was that a person be “dangerous or ungovernable or wasting his estate.”

The third state constitution called for the abolition of allowances from the State Treasury. As previously mentioned, the state legislature often made various exceptions throughout the 19th century. Sunley provided a list of unique examples of this.

• Case 1: “Polly T” of Pendleton County, had no living parents and was unable to support herself. She was an idiot who was cared for by “Paul B” who had not been compensated, as “Polly T’s” parents were not alive to claim aid under the pauper-idiot law. To remedy the situation the legislature, in 1825, extended the benefit of the law to “Paul B.”

• Case 2: “David G” of Lawrence County was found to be a lunatic by the Circuit Court in 1840. “Sally G,” his mother, was old and poor but did not want to send him to the insane asylum, so that the legislature, in 1846, granted her an allowance of $20 a year for his support beginning in 1843. The allowance was not to begin until proof of his being alive and a lunatic were offered by the clerk of Lawrence Circuit Court. The future payments were also contingent upon the same proof.

• Case 3: “Samuel H” of Kenton County had been remanded to “Peter L” as a pauper lunatic until “Samuel H” could be transported to the asylum. The legislature, in 1863, granted “Peter L” $100 for the care of the lunatic.

New Changes… Jails Being Used to House the Mentally Ill

Little changed regarding Kentucky’s pauper-idiot laws until after the Civil War. In 1872, overcrowding in Kentucky’s asylums necessitated a provision be made for the care of pauper lunatics. Committees appointed by the circuit courts would receive $200 annually for the support of lunatics, while the committees of pauper idiots received only $50 per year. If no one acted as a committee then that responsibility was left up to the jailer of the county to act in such capacity and thus the beginning of the penal system being used as an overflow container for housing the mentally ill. Given the significant price differentiation of “lunatics” and “idiots,” the state legislation increased the allowance for pauper idiots to $75 in 1873.

In 1876 a provision was made to care for “idiots” that were returning from institutions. That also meant that these “cases” could be returned home for care in their home county. A committee to determine this was made up of:

• The president of the board of commissioners of each individual state asylum
• The superintendent
• A commissioner appointed by the board

At this time courts could also require care for individuals in county poorhouses. Like with an influx of individuals in jails, a significant increase of individuals flooding poorhouses became a serious issue.

In 1880 state legislation introduced a cap of $75 for all pauper idiots, epileptics, and lunatics. Near the end of the 19th-century questions regarding the allowance system became debated again. According to Sunley, the superintendent of the Institution for the Training and Education of Feeble-Minded Children in Frankfort, noted that the allowances only gave custody without any sort of provision for the education of the idiots housed in the facility. At the time, counties were receiving up to $4,000 annually in allowances for the care of idiots, lunatics, and feeble-minded children and legislators had no intention of getting rid of the allowance system. This, as previously mentioned, led to an increase in the feeble-minded. Sunley noted that in one county a feeble-minded woman was sent to a poorhouse and had three illegitimate children.

Rising Costs

In 1890 state legislators mandated that annual allowances of $75 (for pauper-idiots) were to be divided between the state and the counties with $55 being paid by the state and $20 being paid by the county court in which the “idiot” resided. Entering the 20th-century, it became a sobering reality of how bad the conditions resulted from the allowance system.

“Law for the Propagation of Idiots and Imbeciles”

In 1906, Kentucky’s State Board of Control for Charitable Institutions released annual reports in 1909 and 1911 making recommendations for improvement of inquests. The Board noted that at least one or two physicians should be present at all inquests and be required to give their expert opinion under oath. In 1916, members of the National Committee for Mental Hygiene visited eighty-two of ninety-two pauper idiots in four Kentucky counties and concluded that only a small portion of the allowance reached the beneficiaries. According to reports, some “idiots” were kept in poorhouses while others were let out to the highest bidder. Shockingly, Sunley notes that some were kept in “specially built outhouses, as if they were domestic animals.” Additionally, the committee noted that these allowances often kept beneficiaries dependent and offered no training due to fear of the allowance being discontinued–in some cases “idiots” were considered an economic asset. Unfortunately, there were no shortages of other abuses of Kentucky’s pauper-idiot laws. There was little to no accounting of the money being distributed with some committees keeping most or all the allowances rather than distributing them to the beneficiaries. An example was a man in Bell County who was committee for 12 out of fifty pauper-idiots in that county.

Changes

In 1918 the pauper-idiot law was terminated. Focus was shifted on those classified as “mentally defective and mentally ill.” Circuit courts still had similar powers, but inquests could be held in chambers. Jury trials were available if requested, and medical examiners were to be physicians focusing on the study and care of “feeble-mindedness and mental disease.” Physicians could receive $3.00 for each patient they provided services for. By 1921, all “pauper imbeciles” were to be committed to a state institution if they were male and between 6-18 years of ages or a female of less than 45 years of age. Allowances were not to be made unless no room was available in the institutions. A “pauper imbecile” or “feeble-minded” person was found to be so by the court and had no estate or resources for support and, if parents were alive, were unable to provide monetary support. At last, it become unlawful to care for a female under the age of 45 in a poorhouse, home, or institution of for the poor, if they could be accepted by a state institution. In 1924, state legislators re-established the old “pauper-idiot” allowance system of $75 which stood in place through 1939.

Over the proceeding years small changes continued to be made. “Idiot” inquests were held every three or five years. “Lunatics” and people of “unsound minds” were to also include those who used drugs or narcotics and had lost their power of reason. Kentucky’s Department of Public Welfare produced an extensive report with recommendations of changes to Kentucky’s institutions. These include:

• Habit-training clinics for Children
• Education of the public in principles of mental hygiene
• Development of plans for voluntary admissions to state institutions
• Outpatient clinics for diagnosis and aftercare
• Sterilization program
• Use of psychiatrists by the courts holding inquests
• Receiving units for observations and treatment
• Improvement of the professional services in the institutions
• An extension of occupation therapy
• Further development of laboratory facilities
• Improvement of the supervision of paroled patients
• Further expansion of social service staffs in institutions

Little was done to follow the recommendations from this report. In fact, the number of “pauper-idiot” allowances increased. In 1938, legislators made the Division of Hospitals and Mental Hygiene and the Department of Welfare responsible for the general supervision of these cases as well as allowing them to grant care in private homes–an obvious step in the positive, albeit a small one. Improvements have gradually been made over the decades, including into the 21st-century.

---

Contributed by Shawn Logan | contact@kyhi.org

---

⁘ Works Cited ⁘

---

• Sunley, E. M. (1939). “Pauper Idiots and Lunatics” in Kentucky. Social Service Review, 13(2), 263–272.

---

Important note:
If you would like to use any information on this website (including text, bios, photos and any other information) we encourage you to contact us. We do not own all of the materials on this website/blog. Many of these materials are courtesy of other sources and the original copyright holders retain all applicable rights under the law. Please remember that information contained on this site, authored/owned by KHI, is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Photographs, text, illustrations and all other media not authored by KHI belong to their respective authors/owners/copyright holders and are used here for educational purposes only under Title 17 U.S. Code § 107.