Elizabeth Packard (1816-1897) disagreed with her husband’s, Theophilus, beliefs. Theophilus was a Calvinist minister, but his wife’s views were closer to what were considered more modern and enlightened, such as perfectionism, spiritualism, and Swedenborgianism.
After Elizabeth argued with Theophilus in front of his congregation and announced she was moving to the local Methodist church, he decided that she seemed “slightly insane.” He hired a doctor, J.W. Brown, to examine her in their home posed as a sewing machine salesman. Brown claimed that her feelings towards her husband and her beliefs were enough to diagnose her as mentally insane. So, Theophilus had her committed to the Illinois State Hospital for the Insane in 1860. (In many states at the time, a man could easily institutionalize his wife without offering proof, and she was not allowed to contest the decision).
Below is Elizabeth Packard’s retelling of the event.
“Early on the morning of the 18th of June, 1860, as I arose from my bed,… I saw my husband approaching my door with two physicians, both members of his church and of our Bible-class,—and … [with the] sheriff…. Fearing exposure I hastily locked my door…. [M]y husband forced an entrance into my room through the window with an axe!… [E]ach doctor felt my pulse, and without asking a single question both pronounced me insane…. This was the only medical examination I had. This was the only trial of any kind that I was allowed to have, to prove the charge of insanity brought against me by my husband. I had no chance of self defense whatever. My husband then informed me that the “forms of law” were all complied with, and he therefore requested me to dress myself for a ride to Jacksonville to enter the Insane Asylum as an inmate.”
Elizabeth spent three years there before her eldest son turned old enough to have her released. During that time, she appealed to the superintendent in a 21-page letter for her release, which was ignored. She also documented the many abuses of patients that she witnessed in the institution. Both of these acts were considered troublesome, which led her to being transferred to the Eighth Ward where those who were deemed the most difficult were housed. In this ward, she was denied a private room, protection from other inmates who sometimes turned violent, exercise, and paper to write on.
Once home, Theophilus locked Elizabeth in the nursery and nailed the windows shut. He forbade the children to speak to her, intercepted her mail, and made plans to have her committed in her home state of Massachusetts. Elizabeth managed to slip a letter out of the house, and a friend reported her treatment to a local judge.
The judge demanded Theophilus bring his wife before him to deem whether or not she was actually insane. (It was illegal to imprison a person in their home). During the trial, Theophilus presented a written letter from the asylum claiming that his wife was not sane. He also had his sister and brother-in-law testify that Elizabeth had tried to distance herself from her husband and the church, which they claimed were actions of a mentally unwell person. Despite this, a jury deliberated for only seven minutes before declaring that Elizabeth was in fact sane. The main evidence from the defense came from Dr. Duncanson, a doctor and theologian, who described his impressions of Elizabeth:
On every topic I introduced, she was perfectly familiar, and discussed them with an intelligence that at once showed she was possessed of a good education, and a strong and vigorous mind. I did not agree with her in sentiment on many things, but I do not call people insane because they differ from me, nor even a majority, even, of people.
Elizabeth separated from her husband shortly afterwards, and became an advocate for the rights of women and people being held in insane asylums. She wrote several books, including Insane Asylum Unveiled and founded the Anti-Insane Asylum Society. She was also able to successfully lobby for laws that helped protect the rights of mental asylum patients in Massachusetts, Illinois, Iowa, and Maine. One of her biggest accomplishments came from her conversations with First Lady Julia Grant, (wife of President Ulysses Grant) which was the driving force behind an 1874 act of Congress which stated that mental asylum patients must have the right to access the postal service.
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