The Tragic Death of James Riley: A Local Defense Against 'Ill-Treatment' Claims
After a man recently sent from Snohomish to the Territorial Asylum died suddenly in Steilacoom, local papers rushed to defend their community's actions against accusations of negligence.
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.
James Riley, who was recently sent from here to the Asylum, is dead. The facts in his case are as follows: He had been for some months living at Mukilteo, growing gradually worse, especially mentally. At the time he was brought before the proper authorities for examination, he was able to walk about, could eat his meals regularly and gave his keeper very little trouble. He walked all over town while here, sometimes recognizing acquaintances and sometimes not. He was demented; the cause being paralysis, though not completely paralyzed as the paper has it.
At Seattle, he walked ashore, up town, and back aboard the boat again and we have the word of Capt. Wright, that at Steilacoom he walked up the gang plank which inclined considerably from the boat to the wharf, and up the wharf out of sight without difficulty. That he, or any other man affected with disease of the brain, should die suddenly, will not surprise any medical man, and ought not to anyone endowed with a fair share of common sense. No man can tell for certain how long any man, diseased or otherwise, is going to live. In his case, he was liable to live many months longer or to die at any moment.
Our authorities acted promptly as soon as called upon by his mother, and sent him to the proper place. Of course the Equers man and the 'Snohomish people,' now know that the expense of carrying him to the Asylum could have been avoided. But the 'Snohomish people,' the 'Evers man,' or any other man,' did not know that till after Mr. Riley had died. His friends did not expect him to live long, but how long no man living could tell. All who saw him previous to his departure from here, including Capt. Wright who was among the last to see him before he reached the Asylum, have expressed some surprise that he died so soon. The statement that he was completely paralyzed when he reached Steilacoom is untrue as we have shown, and we respectfully request the Express to do the people of the Snohomish the justice to correct it. We do not believe his sudden death was caused by any ill-treatment, but that it is a result that may be always looked for in nearly all the various forms of diseases of the brain.
This 1890s account highlights the early, often fraught, process of institutionalizing mental illness in Washington Territory. The local community's defensive posture—insisting Riley was mobile and not paralyzed before his death—reflects a time when families and towns were deeply anxious about the stigma and cost of sending loved ones to state-run asylums, fearing they would be blamed for neglect or abuse.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.