A Sister’s Desperate Search Ends in the Poor Farm
After traveling across the country to find her brother, a woman is declared insane and sent to the county infirmary.
A sad case was brought before Judge Langley yesterday. Emma Taylor, of the New England Hotel, was arrested upon complaint as a charge of being insane and unfit to be at large. The court and examining physicians concluded that she was mentally weak, but not so much so as to send her to the asylum at Steilacoom, and the judge ordered her sent to the county farm, pending the arrival of her brother. The woman's tale is a sad one. For several years she has lived with her brother, William Rogers, in Madison County. She left about the middle of May for this city to visit her brother, J. M. Rogers, who she thought was residing here. She arrived about June 1, but found no brother to receive her. She went to the New England Hotel and has acted in a very strange manner. She discovered that her brother was living at Sultan, on the Everett & Monte Cristo railroad, and corresponded with him, and received an answer saying that he would be in the city shortly.
“The woman's tale is a sad one.”
This story highlights the precariousness of life for those without a social safety net in 1890s Seattle. Today, the 'poor farm' has been replaced by a complex, often strained system of mental health services and emergency housing, yet the vulnerability of individuals arriving in a city with no support remains a persistent civic challenge.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.