An Indifferent Son and a Mother’s Exile
When a 75-year-old widow began to wander, her only son sought to institutionalize her rather than provide care.
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.
Seattle.—Wrinkled and bent with the weight of seventy-five years, Mrs. Mary Adams was Thursday afternoon brought before Judge Talman by her only son, Fred Adams, with an application that she be committed to the asylum for the insane. The physicians who examined her found no reason to believe her demented. Her son showed no disposition to assume the care of his mother, and for lack of anything better to do, Judge Talman issued an order that she be taken to the county hospital. In answering the questions of the physicians, Mrs. Adams talked intelligently. The only grounds for the charges of insanity seemed to be that she has developed a habit of wandering away from home. This is attributed to the natural weakening of the mental faculties that comes in many cases with advancing years, but is by no means an indication of insanity. In the course of her examination, Mrs. Adams said that she was the widow of a Union soldier and draws a pension of $8 a month from the government. After her commitment to the county hospital, Adams parted from his mother without visible emotion.
“After her commitment to the county hospital, Adams parted from his mother without visible emotion.”
The precarious nature of care for the elderly in 1903 mirrors modern concerns about the accessibility of assisted living and the burden of filial responsibility. Even then, the system often served as a default warehouse for vulnerable citizens when family support systems failed.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.