The Millionaire in the Asylum: Thomas Keeler's Chinese Indemnity Delusion
A Seattle man convinced the government owed him $1,000,000 was committed to Steilacoom after seeking payment at banks and law offices.
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Thomas Keeler was adjudged insane yesterday by Judge Lichtenberg and committed to the asylum at Steilacoom. Among other strange hallucinations, Keeler believes that the government owes him $1,000,000, which sum is also a part of a Chinese indemnity fund. He endeavored to secure the services of an attorney to help him collect it, and also called at some of the banks of the city to ask them to pay him part of the amount on account. He also believes that some of his relatives are dosing him with ether to prevent his marriage to a young woman.
“Among other strange hallucinations, Keeler believes that the government owes him $1,000,000, which sum is also a part of a Chinese indemnity fund.”
Keeler's case shows how 19th-century Seattle handled mental illness through a superior-court insanity hearing and commitment to the territorial asylum at Steilacoom. The same mix of delusion, family conflict and public order now plays out across crisis services and mental-health courts rather than a single courtroom.
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