The Strange Prophecies of a Civil War Veteran
After a seizure, a former Union captain and Dayton attorney experiences a mental break involving visions of the end of the world.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Last Saturday I. G. Kribs was taken before Police Judge Ostrander and after an examination by Dr. Pietrzycki declared insane. On Sunday morning, in charge of Sheriff Hover, he left for the asylum at Steilacoom. Mr. Kribs came to Dayton last fall ostensibly on a visit to his brother, and has resided here ever since. His insanity is the result of epilepsy, which he contracted about eighteen years ago while doing service in the Union army. During all this time he showed signs of mental weakness, but it was never dreamed that it would terminate in insanity. On Tuesday of last week, while talking with a gentleman in his office on the subject of prophecies, he stated he had had a great revelation: that a great storm would sweep over the land; that he had been given the power to dissolve the world in ether; that he was God, and others were Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. He was very docile and showed no desire to do himself or anyone else injury. Mr. Sturdevant regards him as a first-class lawyer when in his right mind.
“He had been given the power to dissolve the world in ether.”
This account reflects the 19th-century practice of committing individuals with mental illness or neurological conditions like epilepsy to state institutions. The mention of Western State Hospital (Steilacoom) reminds us of the long, often fraught history of mental healthcare facilities in Washington State.
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