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May 30, 2008
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Dansk tekst til venstre |
English text on the right |
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Dagens baghave: |
Backyard of the Day: |
Saint Peter Asylum for the
Insane, Saint Peter, Nicollet County, Minnesota
Saint Peter Asylum for the
Insane is today known as Saint Peter Regional Treatment Center. It is
located at 100 Freeman Drive, Saint Peter, Nicollet County, Minnesota
Thank you to Betty McGraw for
making this visit possible and for so generously sharing your
historical resources with us!
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Vi fik det særlige
privilegium at besøge det gamle "Saint Peter Asylum for
the Insane," hvor Onkel Martin
levede de sidste fem år af sit liv.
Først lidt om Onkel Martin.
Martin var ikke min onkel. Han
var min mormors onkel, født i Danmark i 1871. I 1890 kom han
som den første i familien til Amerika, og familien i Danmark
hørte meget lidt til ham derefter. Han immigrerede til
Minnesota, hvor han forsørgede sig som arbejdsmand,
gårdkarl og skovarbejder. Han giftede sig aldrig, og slog sig
aldrig rigtig ned, men boede på lejede værelser i
forskellige dele af staten, hvor han kunne finde arbejde.
Den 12. oktober 1928 fik han
hjernebrud, formentlig ved en arbejdsulykke under hans arbejde i
skoven, og hans kvæstelser resulterede i voldsomme epileptiske
anfald, en sygdom som dengang ikke kunne kontrolleres medicinsk som
den kan i dag. Den 3. januar 1929 blev Martin indlagt på
statshospitalet i Saint Peter på grund af epilepsien, og han
boede der i næsten fem år. Han klarede sig godt nok til,
at han kunne hjælpe til på hospitalet, og han fik arbejde
på systuen, hvor de syede tøj til patienterne,
spændetrøjer og endog betræk til møblerne.
Den 3. oktober 1933 døde Martin af en hjerneblødning
foranlediget af et krampeanfald, og han blev begravet på
hospitalets kirkegård i grav nummer 1194. |
We had the special priviledge of
visiting the old "Saint Peter Asylum for the Insane," where Uncle
Martin lived the last five years of his life.
First a little about Uncle Martin.
Martin was not my uncle. He was
my grandmother's uncle, born in Denmark in 1871. In 1890 he was the
first of our family to come to America, and the family in Denmark
heard little news of him afterwards. He immigrated to Minnesota,
where he supported himself as a laborer, a farm worker, and a logger.
He never married and never really settled down, but lived in rented
rooms in various parts of the state, going where he found work.
On October 12, 1928 he sustained
a skull fracture, presumedly in a logging accident, and his injuries
resulted in violent Jacksonian seizures, a disease which then could
not be controlled medically like it can today. On January 3, 1929,
Martin was committed to the State Hospital in Saint Peter because of
his epilepsy, and he lived here nearly five years. He did well enough
to be helpful around the hospital, and he worked in the sewing room,
where they sewed patient clothing, strait jackets, and even
upholstery. On October 3, 1933 Martin died of a brain hemorrhage
caused by an epileptic seizure, and he was buried in grave number
1194 of the hospital cemetery. |
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Det eneste, der er tilbage af
det gamle Saint Peter Asylum for the Insane, er hovedbygningen.
Hospitalet blev bygget i 1866, og det er Minnesotas ældste
statshospital. Det var i sin tid en hel lille selvforsynende by med,
blandt andet, en bondegård, smedje, systue, køkken og
vaskeri. Patienterne hjalp til, hvor de kunne, og det at kunne
gøre sig nyttig var en vigtig del af terapien på et
tidspunkt, hvor man rent medicinsk ikke var kommet ret langt.
Lægerne og de fleste ansatte boede også på selve
hospitalsområdet, og der blev derved et venligt og
familiært forhold mellem patienter og ansatte. |
The only building that's left of
the old Saint Peter Asylum for the Insane is the administration
building. The hospital was built in 1866 and is Minnesota's oldest
State Hospital. It was then a whole little self-sufficient town with
such facilities as a dairy farm, blacksmith shop, tailor shop,
kitchen, and laundry. The patients helped where they could, and being
able to make oneself useful was an important therapeutic tool in a
day when medical progress was limited. The doctors and most of the
staff lived on hospital grounds, and this created a friendly and
familiar tone between patients and staff. |
Dr. George H. Freeman, M. D.
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Dr. Freeman var forstander
på hospitalet mellem årene 1925 og 1948. |
Dr. Freeman was hospital
superintendent between 1925 and 1948. |
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