REMEMBERANCE

          Willard Asylum for the chronic insane opened in the year 1869. The property was a total of 13 acres, I do believe. I also do believe that the architect was named George Rowley. New York's surgeon general Dr. Sylvester D. Willard proposed a state run hospital for the insane. Abraham Lincoln himself (I do believe) signed off on the proposal 6 days before his death.
          Willard welcomed it's first patient in 1869. The patient was a woman named Mary Rote, who was described as demented and deformed. She spent ten years confined to a almshouse. Other patients include a girl who had been shackled in a cell since childhood. One patient arrived at Willard in a chicken crate. Willard became a dumping ground for undesirables.
          Patients' were affected with many different types of conditions, such as severe mental and physical handicaps, nervousness, chronic to acute insanity, feeble mindedness, and insanity. I do believe Willard is now a drug treatment center.
          Willard Cemetery still holds the memories of the ones that perished at Willard. Here are some photos that I took of the cemetery.