Court orders and Board of Supervisors’ orders regarding alleged insane persons, 1859-1871; Committee on the Insane records, 1877-1913; and Asylum Board of Trustees records, 1883-1913. Records, 1859-1871, consist of orders issued by the county judge to examine individuals, determine their sanity, commitment to the state hospital or make other arrangements for their care and the Board of Supervisors approval for using county funds for care. Committee on the Insane records, 1877-1913, consist of communications and reports to the County Board, and claims regarding payment for care and support of individuals. The records reflect the Committee’s charge to examine claims and recommend to the Board of Trustees that they be paid or declined. In 1883, the Board of Supervisors approved building an Insane Asylum and elected a Board of Trustees. Opened in 1885, the Board of Trustees was responsible for, according to the County Board Proceedings, “general control and management of said Hospital and property.” This included the facility, land, employees, and asylum population. In addition, the Board audited bills submitted by the Committee on the Insane, and submitted an annual report to the Board of Supervisors.
In the absence of admission logs, the bills of costs and other records in this series serve as a record of Asylum residents until circa 1887 when annual reports and the County Board Proceedings list patient names.
The Board of Supervisors, the Committee on the Insane, and the Board of Trustees, cooperated to govern and manage the institution; therefore, the division of responsibilities as reflected in the records is imperfect.
