Civil War Veteran Disappears from Hospital
A one-legged soldier wanders into police custody while experiencing a fugue state.
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.
Wandering aimlessly about the streets early yesterday morning, John Schilling, a one-legged veteran of the Civil War, was picked up in a semi-delirious state of mind and lodged in a cell at the city jail. All day yesterday the police attempted to find out the identity of the old man, but his mind had become a blank, and he could remember nothing of his life, his home, or his relatives. During the evening, however, officials of the Fannie Paddock hospital phoned the central station, saying that an old man with a wooden leg had strayed from the hospital and could not be found. Maurice P. Schilling, a son of the old gentleman, was summoned, and took his absent-minded parent back to the hospital. John Schilling has been a ward of the Fannie Paddock hospital for some time. He is subject to spells of absent-mindedness, it is claimed, during which time he believes that he is back on his farm in Mississippi.
“His mind had become a blank, and he could remember nothing of his life, his home, or his relatives.”
Fannie Paddock Hospital was the precursor to Tacoma General, a foundational institution in Tacoma's medical history. The story highlights the era's lack of support systems for aging veterans, contrasting with today's complex elder care challenges.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.