A Visit to St. Joe's

It's no secret that I like weird / creepy / oddball things. So a few years ago when I visited Missouri for the first time and saw that there was a Psychiatric Museum (possibly haunted) in an old psychiatric hospital that opened in 1874, of course it was on my list of must-dos.

We never had a chance to go, until today.

The museum wasn't what I expected - you don't troll the old halls of an 1800's mental institution. Instead, it's in (what I think) was the most recent part of the hospital (the hospital was in use until 1997). But they did have some REALLY creepy displays of old "treatment methods." Some well-placed mannequins almost made me pee myself from fright.

Hydrotherapy - used until 1963 to calm agitated or disturbed patients.

Revolving devices (like this) were used for delirious, melancholic, obstinate, and uncooperative mental patients to train them to submit to discipline. The patient was given 40-100 turns per minute and the centrifugal force drove the blood to the brain causing intense sensations, fear of suffocation, nausea, vomiting, urination, defecation, and sometimes brain hemorrhage.

During the 18th and 19th century, dousing patients with ice cold water was common. Patients were placed in tubs and subjected to these ice cold baths. They would often be splashed in the face with buckets of ice water or showered with an ice cold water canon. This was used for severe forms of melancholia and hypochondria - even for those who had a "dissolute past" (had been addicted to drinking strong wine or accustomed to sumptuous eating - oops! I'd be in trouble).

The "Lunatic Box" - used during the 18th and 19th centuries. The "patient" was placed in the device and had to remain in a standing position until calm. A wooden piece could be dropped over the opening in front of the face, leaving the patient in total darkness.

Surprisingly, the museum had a few other exhibits. Our favorite was one on Civil War Medicine. Though just a few rooms of displays and information, it was fascinating!

For example, did you know that the Confederate Army had 750,000 soldiers, while the Union Army had 2 million?! I probably should know that because I took Honors US History (and am obsessed with Gone With the Wind), but I definitely didn't remember that factoid.

50,000 men had a body part amputated during the Civil War. Since we now know that about 2,750,000 men fought in the war, my terrible math skills lead me to believe that means about 2% of those who fought faced an amputation. One in four soldiers did not survive amputation - but that was actually better than the odds if you were a civilian. Half of civilians who had a body part amputated died (usually due to infection). The most common amputations (in order of number performed): fingers, middle thigh, upper arm, lower leg, forearm toes, knee joint, ankle, hip joint.

Cool story: There was a man named James Hanger who (against his mother's wishes) joined his two brothers serving in the Confederate army. On June 1, 1861, he became the first amputee of the Civil War when Union soldiers opened fire on his unit and a six pound canon ball shattered his leg. When Hanger returned home, he set up a carpenter's workshop and asked to be left alone. Using willow wood and barrel staves, he created an artificial limb: the world's first  jointed limb with a metal ankle hinge and leather-lined socket for amputtes above the knee. With it, he could walk smoothly and pain-free. Other amputees requested that he make one for them, and after the war he patented his invention. Today, the Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics is the world's leading producer of artificial limbs.

We also visited the home where Jesse James was killed. The story of his death is really interesting. I knew he was shot and that he was killed in his home, but I didn't know the details...

I love the shutters. Good taste Mr. James :)

Toward the end of his life, James' gang was nearly annihilated, but his two most trusted members remained: the Ford brothers. James actually allowed the men to live in his home with him, his wife (who was his first cousin and named after his mother - how Freudian!... or is that Oedipal?... it was weird either way), and their two children.

***Side note*** So unclear as to how six people lived in this teeny tiny house. Mrs. James was a kind lady to allow the Ford brothers to move in. I can't imagine that was very comfortable ***End of side note***

One day, James noticed a crooked needlepoint hanging on the wall. Wanting to straighten it, he took his gun off (so the neighbors couldn't see it through the window) and stood on the chair so he could reach.

The Ford brothers knew of the bounty on James, and shot him in the back of the head as he was unarmed and unprepared.

Despite the fact that James was a known criminal, the folks of the time were angry that the Ford brothers would shoot a man from behind. One of the brothers killed himself just two years later. The other died in a Colorado barroom brawl 11 years later.

The framed hole under the needlepoint is from the bullet. It's so large because people would take pieces of the surrounding wall as souvenirs.

Better view.

Another fun day full of history and fun facts! Tomorrow, we are going to the Truman house and possibly the Truman Presidential library (we both have been before, so we may skip it). Stay tuned for more stories :)

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