October 11, 2025 • 56 mins
A brilliant young woman becomes the principal of a prestigious school by age nineteen. Her crime? Using her mind too well.
When she dares to challenge her husband's authority in public, voicing opinions that contradict his teachings, he finds a legal solution to silence her permanently. In 1860s America, disagreeing with your husband could be diagnosed as insanity. No trial was required. No defense was permitted. A signature was all it took.
Locked away in an asylum, she discovers she's far from alone. Hundreds of women have been committed for similar "symptoms"—reading novels, expressing political opinions, or simply refusing to obey. The superintendent offers her freedom, but only if she returns home as an obedient wife and recants everything she believes.
She refuses.
How do you fight for your freedom when the law says you don't exist? How do you prove your sanity when disagreement itself is considered madness? And what becomes of the children left behind when their mother disappears?
Some battles change everything.
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When she dares to challenge her husband's authority in public, voicing opinions that contradict his teachings, he finds a legal solution to silence her permanently. In 1860s America, disagreeing with your husband could be diagnosed as insanity. No trial was required. No defense was permitted. A signature was all it took.
Locked away in an asylum, she discovers she's far from alone. Hundreds of women have been committed for similar "symptoms"—reading novels, expressing political opinions, or simply refusing to obey. The superintendent offers her freedom, but only if she returns home as an obedient wife and recants everything she believes.
She refuses.
How do you fight for your freedom when the law says you don't exist? How do you prove your sanity when disagreement itself is considered madness? And what becomes of the children left behind when their mother disappears?
Some battles change everything.
SUPPORT THE SHOW & LISTEN AD-FREE
Join our Patreon and unlock ad-free episodes directly in Apple Podcasts or Spotify after you connect your Patreon account.
Patreon: patreon.com/NightwatchFiles
Apple (after joining): bit.ly/4i7XcNW
Spotify (after joining): bit.ly/4oVVEsT
www.nightwatchfiles.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Before we begin. Do you have a theory about this
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(00:26):
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(00:48):
Now let's get into today's case. On the night of
June seventeenth, eighteen sixty, Elizabeth Packard couldn't sleep Around midnight,
She crept out of bed in her locker nursery room
and peered through the darkness. There she saw her husband
moving silently through the house, searching through her trunks, careful
not to make a sound. She knew then that arrangements
(01:11):
were being made to carry her off somewhere. The next morning,
men would come to the door. Her children would watch
as she was forced onto a train, beginning a two
hundred mile journey that would last not hours, but years.
The crowd of supporters at the station would do nothing
to stop it. No sheriff's warrant existed, though they were
(01:31):
told otherwise, no crime had been committed. Though she would
lose her freedom, Elizabeth Packard's offense was simple. She had
dared to think for herself. What followed would become one
of the most extraordinary legal battles of the nineteenth century,
a fight that would expose the dark machinery used to
silence women who refused to conform, and ultimately change the
(01:54):
laws of an entire nation. But on that June morning
in eighteen sixty, as the train pulled away from the station,
Elizabeth had no way of knowing if she would ever
see her home or her children again. Elizabeth Parsons Ware
(02:42):
was born in eighteen sixteen. She received what was described
as a thorough scientific education, an unusual achievement for a
woman of her time. Her intellect and capabilities led to
a remarkable teaching career. By nineteen she had become principal
of Randolph College in Massachusetts, an institution known for employing
only the best classical educators. But on February sixth, eighteen
(03:04):
thirty six, at that same age of nineteen, Elizabeth's father,
Samuel Ware, had her committed to the State Lunatic Hospital
in Worcester, Massachusetts. The reason given was mental labor, the
strain of her demanding work as a school principle. This
diagnosis reflected the medical beliefs of the era. Doctors maintained
(03:25):
that women who pursued intellectual work were susceptible to derangements
of the nervous system. The prevailing theory held that women's
minds had a limited capacity to comprehend subjects, and attempting
to exceed this capacity would lead to mental breakdown. A
visitor to an all female school in eighteen fifty eight
would later remark that the teachers were training young girls
(03:47):
for the lunatic asylum. This medicalization of female behavior served
as a mechanism to police women who stepped outside their
prescribed gender roles. Home and children for women, work and
intellect for men. Other common reasons for committing women to
asylums included novel reading. Doctors believed those who engaged in
(04:08):
this pernicious habit lived a dreamy kind of existence so
nearly allied to insanity that the slightest exciting cause would
be sufficient to derange them. Beyond her supposed overuse of
her brain, Doctors at the Worcester Asylum were concerned with
Elizabeth's irregular menstrual cycle, which was noted on her admittance form.
(04:30):
In the nineteenth century, medical theory held that women's menstrual
cycles made them prone to madness, a belief dating back
to ancient Greece and the concept of a wandering womb
causing hysteria. Every stage of a woman's reproductive life was
viewed as a potential threat to her mental stability. Elizabeth
maintained a different account of her first commitment. She insisted
(04:53):
that her father had very needlessly and unkindly placed her
in the asylum after she became physically ill with what
was then called brain fever, likely meningitis or encephalitis by
modern medical understanding. She claimed her mind recovered the moment
she recovered from the physical illness and its treatment, which
had included what she considered excessive bleeding. Her medical records
(05:17):
appear to support her version of events. While most patients
remained in the asylum for months or years, Elizabeth was
released after just six weeks. This first experience in an
asylum would not be her last. Theophilus Packard was born
around eighteen o two. He worked as a preacher and
had been a professional colleague of Elizabeth's father, Samuel Ware
(05:41):
for many years. Elizabeth had known him since she was
about ten years old around eighteen twenty six. His own
diary entries from before his marriage provide insight into his character.
He described himself as having unusual timidity when it came
to public speaking, a notation he made as early as
August eighteen eighteen he was just a teenager. His outlook
(06:02):
on life was grim. In a diary entry from March first,
eighteen twenty nine, he wrote, this Sabbath is the commencement
of spring. Rapidly do the seasons revolve? The spring time
of life is fast spending. Soon the period of death
will arrive. He preferred rural life, noting in April eighteen
thirty four his belief that there was more ostentation, pride,
(06:25):
and vice in cities than in country towns. A December
eighteen thirty two diary entry revealed a core aspect of
his philosophy. Self interest is a powerful principle of action.
Theophilus was deeply devout. His faith centered on a God
he viewed as a distant tyrant who dispensed mercy so
sparingly and secretly that one never quite knew if one
(06:46):
had done enough to be saved. He believed everyone was
damned unless they found his specific God, a belief that
extended to himself. In his prayers, he used to tell
God what an awful bad man he was. The courtship
between all Elizabeth and Theophilus has been described as clumsy
and awkward. Throughout this period, Elizabeth harbored significant reservations about
(07:07):
her fiancee, who was fifteen years her senior. She feared
that he did not seem to love her much, a
feeling that caused considerable anxiety about their future together. Despite
these misgivings, Elizabeth was an obedient daughter of her era.
She later stated that she married to please her father.
Their wedding took place in eighteen thirty nine. Elizabeth was
(07:30):
twenty two, Theophilus was thirty seven. Elizabeth entered the marriage
with a sense of duty and optimism. Committing herself to
her new husband with all the trusting confidence of woman.
Having been raised to be a silent listener, she initially
accepted that her preacher husband would be the sole voice
in their marriage. Her primary goal was his happiness. To
(07:52):
make him happy was the height of my ambition, she wrote,
That's all I wanted to make my husband shine inside.
And In eighteen forty eight, the first Woman's Rights Convention
was held in Seneca Falls, New York. The event ignited
a national conversation about the rights of women. Elizabeth Packard
took part in this conversation. Her husband participated less willingly.
(08:16):
This marked a significant turning point in their marriage. Inspired
by the movement, Elizabeth began to challenge traditional roles. She
started to argue that wives are not mere things, they
are a part of society. This stood in stark contrast
to Theophilus's belief that a woman has no rights that
a man is bound to respect. Their differing views led
(08:38):
to countless warm discussions. Elizabeth, who possessed a rare command
of language, consistently triumphed in these arguments, but her intellectual
victories came at a cost. She sensed that her husband
felt a jealousy lest she outshine him. Theophilus, feeling stung
by his wife's superior arguments, began recording her perceived slights
(08:59):
in his life diary. He complained that his wife had
become unfavorably affected by the tone of society and zealously
espoused almost all new notions and wild vagaries that came
along the women's rights movement inspired a realization in Elizabeth. I,
though a woman, have just as good a right to
my opinion as my husband has to his, she declared,
(09:21):
I have got a mind of my own and a
will too, and I will think and act as I please.
This new found independence was unacceptable to Theophilus. The scriptural
passage wives obey your husbands became frequently quoted in their home,
but Elizabeth was no longer the silent listener she had
been raised to be. She felt that her husband might,
(09:42):
with equal justice, require her to subject her ability to breathe,
to sneeze, or to cough to his dictation, as to
require the subjugation of her rights to think and act
as her own conscience dictates. Theophilus's response was telling. He
did not engage with her ideas or incur courage her independence. Instead,
he began to suggest that her mind was failing. He
(10:05):
wrote that he had sad reason to fear his wife's
mind was getting out of order. She was becoming insane
on the subject of woman's rights. In eighteen fifty five,
the Packard family moved west to Illinois. The change from Shelbourne, Massachusetts,
defined by mountains and trees, to the open prairies of
the Midwest had a profound effect on Elizabeth. The wide
(10:27):
skies and open landscapes seemed to represent endless possibilities. Living
in this new environment, Elizabeth's intellectual and personal growth continued
to flourish. Her differences with Theophilis only increased after the move.
She declared, no man shall ever rule me, for I
ain't a brute made without reason. I'm a human being
made with reason to rule myself. With quick break ads
(11:03):
keep the show running, but if you want to skip them,
the ad free versions on Patreon for just three bucks
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Thanks for sticking through that. Let's get back to it.
The first half of eighteen sixty brought escalating conflict to
(11:26):
the Packard household. The tensions that had been building for years,
were about to reach their breaking point. The catalyst was
a Bible class run by Theophilus's Presbyterian church. Elizabeth began
attending the classes, which were partly intended to persuade the
congregation to adopt a recent switch from New School to
the more conservative Old School doctrines. Instead of conforming, Elizabeth
(11:50):
challenged her husband's theological positions and encouraged her classmates to
think critically. She possessed what was described as a rare
command of language and an irrisistable magnetism. She easily eclipsed
her husband in these discussions. Though initially reticent, she grew
more confident over the weeks, voluntarily reading her essays aloud
(12:12):
to prevent misrepresentation of her views. She made a point
of putting all her statements into written form. Theophilus was
horrified by her public dissent. He asked her to stop
attending the class and insisted she tell the congregation it
was her choice to leave. She refused, But dear, it
is not my choice, she told him truthfully. Having begun
(12:33):
to find her voice, Elizabeth refused to be silenced or
to act the hypocrite by professing to believe what she
could not believe. One key point of disagreement was abolition.
Elizabeth supported the freedom of slaves, while the New Church
Creed was ambivalent on the issue. Feeling powerless in the
face of her eloquence, Theophilus conceived a plan to silence her.
(12:56):
He began a concerted campaign to label his wife as insane,
thereby discrediting her opinions. During an argument, Theophilus warned Elizabeth,
I shall put you into the asylum. At first, Elizabeth
laughed at the threat. She believed she lived in a
free country where freedom of religion was sacrosanct. But Theophilus
was serious. He began publicly undermining her in the Bible class.
(13:20):
He dismissed her ideas as the result of a diseased brain.
He told their neighbors she was suffering from an attack
of derangement. His evidence consisted of her acting so different
from her former conduct, her strange and unreasonable doings in
her verbal and written sayings, and what he saw as
the definitive proof, her lack of interest in her husband.
(13:42):
Elizabeth was aware of his strategy. She confronted him directly,
why do you try to injure and destroy my character
rather than my opinions. In May eighteen sixty, Elizabeth grew bolder.
She made the decision to formally leave her husband's church.
To be false to my honest conviction, I could not
be made to do, she stated. Theophilus feared others in
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the congregation might follow her example. His parishioners sided with
their pastor. On May twenty second, eighteen sixty, thirty nine
of them signed a petition to have Elizabeth placed in
an insane asylum as speedily as it can be conveniently done.
In the days immediately preceding June eighteenth, Theophilus intensified his
(14:25):
efforts turning their home into a prison. He boarded the
shutters of her ground floor nursery shut and locked her
in the room, supposedly to withdraw her from conversation and excitement.
Elizabeth knew the real reason was because her sane conduct
might betray his falsehoods. He also brought a twenty three
year old parishioner, Sarah Rumsey, into their home. Though supposedly
(14:48):
a housekeeper, Sarah was a teacher from a wealthy family.
Elizabeth knew she was no servant but a spy. Two
days before her removal. On June sixteenth, eighteen sixty, theofa
full as summoned parishioners to their parlor for what Elizabeth
later called a mock trial of her sanity. Deacon Spring
acted as the biased moderator. Elizabeth's son Isaac, attended and
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was devastated by the inevitable verdict of insanity. Her sixteen
year old son, Isaac was her most staunch defender. He
had alerted his older brother toaffy to the situation and
secured pledges of help from townspeople who were not members
of his father's church. They promised they would intervene if
Theophilus tried to have her committed. Before being locked up,
(15:34):
Elizabeth had sought legal advice from mister Comstock, a lawyer
who was also a member of Theophilus's church. He assured
her that under Illinois law, an insanity trial before a
jury was required for commitment. This gave her a feeling
of comparative security. Believing a trial was her only obstacle,
She began preparing her Bible class essays as her defense
(15:56):
and started sewing a pocket in her underskirt to hide them.
On the night of June seventeenth, eighteen sixty, Elizabeth was
unable to sleep. Around midnight, she crept out of bed
and discovered Theophilus noiselessly searching through all her trunks. This
confirmed her suspicion that arrangements were being made to carry
her off somewhere. On June eighteenth, eighteen sixty, Elizabeth Packard
(16:26):
was forcibly removed from her home in Mantano, Illinois. A
large crowd of supporters had gathered at the train station,
but no one intervened to stop her husband from committing her.
Deacon Dole falsely told the crowd that a sheriff had
a formal warrant and anyone interfering would be arrested. The
only person to speak out was her friend, Rebecca Blessing,
(16:47):
who cried, is there no man in this crowd to
protect this woman? Elizabeth was carried on to the train
and began the two hundred mile journey to the Jacksonville
Insane Asylum. Arrived late that evening, past eight o'clock. She
surveyed the large, five and a half story hospital with
its endless rows of barred windows. She was greeted by
(17:09):
the assistant physician, doctor Tenney, who escorted her to the
seventh ward in the original west wing. The first thing
that struck her was the horrid and sickening stench that
permeated the area beyond the public reception hall. Due to overcrowding,
she was given a tiny private room with a narrow
settee bed. That night, she heard the unearthly sounds of cries, screams,
(17:31):
and uncanny laughter from the other patients for the first time.
On June nineteenth, the day after her arrival, Elizabeth had
her first interview with the asylum's superintendent, doctor Andrew MacFarland.
She found him to be a fine looking gentleman and
a true man. During a wide ranging conversation that touched
on religion and politics, Elizabeth felt she had found a
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feast of reason and a flow of soul. She was
so confident that she had demonstrated her sanity that she
believed mac farland was fully convinced in his heart that
she was not insane before their interview ended. However, her
admittance was a foregone conclusion. Theophilus's application had included two
medical certificates attesting to her insanity. Doctor Christopher not cited
(18:17):
her derangement of mind on religious matters, as well as
her unusual zealousness and strong will. The other from doctor Newkirk,
a member of her husband's church, cited her incessant talking
as evidence of madness, unbeknownst to her. On that same day,
mac Farland formally entered her into the asylum's register, recording
her as slightly insane, with the attack becoming more decided
(18:40):
the past four months, a period that directly coincided with
her joining the Bible class. When Theophilus left the asylum
later that afternoon, he gave her one look of satisfied delight,
his face radiant with joy. In the initial weeks of
her stay, Elizabeth became what staff called the asylum favorite.
Mac Farland relaxed the rules for her, granting her almost
(19:03):
queenlike attention. She was allowed to keep her clothes in
her room, borrow books from the library, and was even
given her own set of ward keys, permitting her to
leave without an attendant. Mac Farland in turn found his
new patient a truly interesting study, with a fine mind
and brilliant imagination, as he wrote to Theophilus on August eleventh.
(19:25):
In late June, her friends the Blessings visited her from Manteno,
bringing a doctor Shirley, who, after conversing with Elizabeth, declared
she is the sanest person I ever saw. The Blessings
informed her of a public indignation meeting planned for June thirtieth,
and promised to seek a rid of habeas corpus to
secure her release. On July thirteenth, Theophilus sent a large
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trunk of her belongings, dashing her hopes for a short stay.
Searching through the tangled contents, she found no letters from
her children, only a single devastating note from her libby.
We are glad to hear you are getting better. Hope
you will soon get well. This cemented Elizabeth's fear that
Theophilus was teaching the children to despise their mother. Soon after,
(20:12):
McFarland offered her a path to liberty, but with one condition.
She would have to return to Theophilus as his obedient
wife and submit. Elizabeth refused, declaring self defense forbids it. Instead,
she decided to stay at the asylum voluntarily to give
the doctor more time to see the truth of her
sanity for himself. Through the summer, Elizabeth and MacFarland developed
(20:35):
a close intellectual relationship with his visits becoming the greatest
pleasure of her asylum experience. However, her trust in him
was shattered in late summer when her eldest son, Taffi,
came to visit. After he left, Elizabeth happened to be
in macfarland's office and saw a letter addressed to her
in Toffy's handwriting. McFarland snatched it from her and refused
(20:57):
to tell her what it said. That that moment, Elizabeth
realized with sadness his word could no longer be trusted.
Elizabeth began to watch the doctor more closely, observing his
censorship and realizing he was trying to impress upon her
mind that she was friendless. In September, after another patient
accused her of acting indiscreetly on a swing, she went
(21:20):
to macfarland's office to discuss it. During the conversation, he
kissed her on the forehead. While she later recalled it
as an impulsive act, at the time, she worried it
might be a stepping stone to insults and felt an
imperative necessity of devising some self defensive armor. This armor
came in the form of her writing. She decided to
(21:41):
write two documents, A formal defense of her sanity and
a reproof detailing the abuse and mistreatment of patience she
had witnessed. Determined that her voice against it would be heard.
On October twenty sixth, eighteen sixty, she presented her defense
to doctor MacFarland. In it, she requested an honorable discharge,
(22:01):
stated her determination never to return to her husband, and
described him as a perverted and unnatural man. She even
quoted David's prayer for his persecutors in reference to Theophilus,
and act MacFarlane later described as diabolical and evidence of
her madness. When MacFarlane did not respond to her defense
after several days, Elizabeth decided to proceed with her second document.
(22:25):
On November twelfth, eighteen sixty, six, days after Abraham Lincoln
was elected president, she presented MacFarland with her reproof. In it,
she called his principles contrary to reason, to justice, to humanity,
and accused him of being incapacitated for his office. She
included testimony she had gathered from other patients and staff,
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and threatened to expose him with the iron pen of
the press if he did not repent. McFarlane's only emotional
reaction came when she mentioned there had been an eye
witness to his kiss. At this his feelings burst their
confinement and seem determined from that moment to either rule
or ruin her. A few days later, McFarland acted on
that determination. He led Elizabeth away from the privileged seventh
(23:10):
ward to a heavy door she had never seen before.
He opened it, and a most fetid scent hit her
as she was ushered into the asylum's eighth ward, the
maniac's Ward, home to the filthy, the suicidal, the raving,
and the furious. As the door slammed shut behind her,
her status as the asylum favorite was officially and brutally terminated.
(23:57):
Quick break ads keep the show running, but if you
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notes and we're back. Thanks for sticking through that. Let's
get back to it. On September fourth, eighteen sixty two,
(24:20):
after more than two years of confinement, Elizabeth Packard was
granted an in person meeting with the asylum's Board of Trustees.
She dressed carefully for the occasion in a white lawn
dress with sky blue trimmings and a tasteful head dress
doctor Andrew mac farland escorted her to the meeting where
her husband, Theophilus had already presented his case protesting her discharge.
(24:43):
Given just ten minutes to speak, Elizabeth read from a
prepared document that mac farland had previously reviewed. She then
surprised every one by producing a second appeal, which she
had secretly written on torn out pages from a ward Bible,
and asked for permission to read it. The trustees agreed,
and for nearly fifty minutes, Elizabeth eloquently exposed what she
(25:06):
called the foul conspiracy and wicked plot that had led
to her imprisonment for her religious beliefs. She argued against
her husband's claim that her children's welfare demanded her confinement,
questioning his right to dictate her beliefs, and challenging the
double standard that would see her institutionalized for making the
same demands of him. Her presentation was met with a
(25:28):
positive reaction from the trustees, who even laughed at her
witty analogies. After she spoke, mac farland was asked for
his opinion. In a stunning reversal, he recommended her discharge. However,
the trustees made an unusual decision Citing the remonstrance from
her husband, father, brothers, and other relatives, they decided to
(25:51):
postpone the final consideration of her case until their next
meeting in December. Elizabeth interpreted this deferment as good news.
She believed the trustees needed time to figure out how
to grant her unprecedented request to be released as an
independent woman, not back into her husband's care. Convinced they
now saw the injustice of her imprisonment, she fully expected
(26:13):
to be discharged at the next meeting and began to
dream of being home with her children for Christmas. Believing
the tide had turned, she felt a complete victory was
at hand. The day after the meeting, doctor mac Farland,
seemingly pleased with her presentation, encouraged her to write down
her story. He offered to pay to have it printed
(26:34):
and told her write what you please. This grant of
spiritual liberty was something no man had ever allowed her before,
and it fundamentally shifted her perception of the doctor. What
began as a plan to print her appeal to the
trustees quickly expanded into a grander vision for a book.
Elizabeth felt her hitherto prison bound intellect rapidly expand as
(26:56):
she conceived of a work that would explore women's rights,
legislative reform, and her personal story. This book, which she
titled The Great Drama, became her single anchor and her
primary hope for securing financial independence and ultimately her freedom.
McFarlane gave her an unlimited supply of paper and instructed
(27:17):
attendants not to disturb her. For six weeks, she wrote
in a stream of consciousness, her pen, leaping from topic to topic.
The work was a mix of allegory, biography and political appeal,
with passionate calls for women's rights, rights for the mentally ill,
and the emancipation of African Americans and Native Americans. The
(27:37):
writing process brought her a delightful feeling of satisfaction, and
she believed her book was a great battery that would
make her financially independent and secure her safety from her husband.
During this period, her two eldest sons, Taffy and Isaac,
visited her, further boosting her spirits. They brought news that
their father had resigned from his ministry in Manteno in
(27:59):
July eighteen sixty two and now lived on charity. They
also shared a letter from Theophilus, in which he expressed
fear that he should not be able to keep his
mother much longer in the asylum. This confirmed Elizabeth's belief
that her release in December was a certainty. By mid October,
she had completed a manuscript of twenty five hundred pages.
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The book caused a universal sensation throughout the hospital, with
copied pages secretly passed between wards, inspiring other patients to
believe in a better world. On December third, eighteen sixty two,
the trustees met again. Elizabeth, full of hope, waited all
day for the verdict. Instead of freedom, MacFarlane delivered devastating
news her release had been indefinitely postponed. The trustees had
(28:46):
sided with her husband and male relatives, who continued to
protest her discharge. The decision plunged Elizabeth into the gulf
of black despair. She felt desolate and forsaken, and believed
there was no hope of her ever receiving justice at
their hands. Thoughts of her children became agonizing, and she
feared she would die a prisoner in her cell. By
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the new year, Elizabeth, feeling desperate, concluded that her only
hope lay in getting her book published. But McFarland appeared
to be dragging his heels on his promise to fund
the printing. On January nineteenth, eighteen sixty three, she made
what she later called a dark exchange. She wrote MacFarland
a secret letter, her last, her only hope, in which
(29:30):
she offered him her heart and soul in the after
life in exchange for his help. She wrote, to such
a one alone, can I entrust the key with which
to unlock the fountain of conjugal love within me? This
key I entrust to you, Doctor McFarland. I shall regard
the act on my part as an engagement sealed to
be yours alone until death. Part Us, I must not
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love your person so long as that love is justly
claimed by another woman, your legal wife. She asked him
only to issue aus small first edition of her first volume.
When he read the letter, McFarland offered his hand, and
with a slight pressure, he seemed to accept her terms. However,
when he still took no action, she wrote him another note,
(30:12):
threatening to publish a second secret book she called the Exposure.
McFarland retaliated by briefly putting her in solitary confinement and
confiscating the entire manuscript of the Great Drama. Believing he
was bound by their secret deal, Elizabeth remained confident he
would not destroy it. Three weeks later, he returned the
(30:32):
papers with an apology. Around this time, Elizabeth received unsettling
news from her cousin Angeline Field. Theophilus, disturbed by the
possibility of her release, had found another asylum willing to
take her, the State Lunatic Hospital in Northampton, Massachusetts. This
asylum would accept her as a hopeless case, where she
(30:54):
could be imprisoned for life. This new threat filled her
with fear as the next trustees meeting on March fourth,
eighteen sixty three, approached. At this meeting, the trustees made
another decision. Elizabeth was ordered to be discharged after June nineteenth,
eighteen sixty three. The reason given was that her case
was now considered incurable. Faced with the prospect of being
(31:16):
handed over to Theophilis and taken to Northampton, Elizabeth protested vehemently.
Now feeling safer inside the asylum, Elizabeth now viewed Jacksonville's
walls as a refuge of safety. Her eldest son, Taffei,
had recently turned twenty one and she arranged for him
to pay for her to stay at the asylum as
a boarder, believing this changed her legal status and would
(31:39):
protect her from Theophilis. For the first time in years,
she felt free enough to leave the hospital grounds, taking
a walk into Jacksonville with toffee in May. She was unaware, however,
that McFarlane was actively colluding with her husband. On May fifth,
eighteen sixty three, he issued a formal certificate to Theophilis
stating that elizabeth disease was not cured and that he
(32:02):
had no question of her insanity. This certificate was all
Theophilus needed to get a second one and commit her
to Northampton without a trial. On June eighteenth, eighteen sixty three,
exactly three years after her commitment, Elizabeth's time was up.
McFarlane was away, and his assistant, doctor Tenney, with two
(32:22):
other men, burst into her room. Despite her protests that
she had a right to herself, she was forcibly carried
from her room out of the asylum and placed in
a carriage where Theophilus was waiting. As she was driven away,
she was certain her husband was taking her to the
asylum in Northampton for life. The journey however, ended late
(32:42):
that night in the town of Tonica, Illinois, when the
train stopped, A terrified Elizabeth followed her husband off the car,
bracing for the worst. Instead of another asylum, she stepped
into the arms of her dearest friend, her cousin Angeline,
who had come to take her to the safety of
her home in Granville. The year eighteen sixty four began
(33:18):
with Elizabeth Packard imprisoned in her own home by her husband, Theophilus,
who planned to commit her to an asylum in Northampton,
Massachusetts for life. However, on Tuesday January twelfth, eighteen sixty four,
her friends secured a writ of habeas corpus, compelling Theophilis
to bring Elizabeth before Judge Charles R. Starr in kanka
Kee for a hearing on the legality of her confinement.
(33:41):
This legal maneuver was possible only because she was imprisoned
at home. Had she already been in the Northampton asylum,
the commitment would have been legal and habeas corpus could
not have been used. Elizabeth had orchestrated this situation months
earlier by stealing and hiding the house keys, ensuring Theophilus
would lock her up securely enough to justify the writ.
(34:03):
The trial began that same day, amid a massive crowd
that had gathered in Elizabeth's support. Theophilus, represented by lawyers
Thomas Bonfield and Mason Loomis, denied unlawfully imprisoning his wife,
but admitted to exercising a slight necessary restraint over her
on account of her insanity. In a highly unusual move
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for a habeas corpus case, Judge Starr ordered Theophilus to
prove this claim before a jury of twelve men. The
prosecution's case for Elizabeth's insanity quickly unraveled. Doctor Christopher Not,
who had issued an insanity certificate in eighteen sixty, testified
that he only ever considered her a monomaniac on religion,
(34:44):
and that three fourths of the religious community are insane.
In the same manner, he added that confinement would have
made her worse and that she had only needed rest.
Doctor J. W. Brown, who had examined Elizabeth while posing
as a sewing machine salesman, declared he her hopelessly insane. However,
under cross examination by Elizabeth's lawyer Stephen Moore, his reasons
(35:07):
were ridiculed by the court room. They included her aversion
to being called insane, her claim to be the personification
of the Holy Ghost, and her use of complex theological language.
Doctor Joseph Way, another physician hired by Theophilus, backed away
from his initial diagnosis, stating I would not swear now
that she was insane. Members of Theophilus's church, including Deacon
(35:30):
Abijah Dole and Sybil Dole, testified that Elizabeth was crazy
because her religious ideas were wrong. She was filled with
spite toward mister Packard, and she asserted herself by declaring
she would talk what and when she had a mind to.
A dramatic moment occurred when Sybil Dole brought Elizabeth's daughter,
Libby into the court room. The girl ran to her
(35:53):
mother and threw her arms around her, only for Sybil
to snatch her away, hissing, come away from that woman,
she is not fit to take care of you. The
incident caused quite a stir and moved many in the
crowd to tears. Fearing the trial was going against him,
Theophilus's lawyer tried to get it adjourned for ten days
to allow doctor Andrew MacFarlane to testify. When the judge
(36:16):
refused the prosecution was permitted to read McFarland's damning certificate
and letters to the jury, in which he stated he
had no question of Elizabeth's insanity and that she was incurable.
In her defense, Elizabeth was permitted to read one of
her Bible class essays to the jury, which the prosecution
had cited as evidence of her madness. Her articulate and
(36:38):
reasonable performance was met with a murmur of applause from
the courtroom. Her final witness, doctor Alexander Duncanson, a physician
and dissenting Presbyterian clergyman, delivered a powerful testimony. He declared
Elizabeth not only sane, but the most intelligent lady he
had talked with in many years, and affirmed that her
theological views were ancient dogmas entertained by many of the
(37:02):
nation's most eminent men. On the evening of Monday, January eighteenth,
eighteen sixty four, after seven minutes of deliberation, the jury
returned its verdict saane. The courtroom erupted in cheers and applause.
Judge Starr officially ordered that Elizabeth be relieved of all
restraint incompatible with her condition as a sane woman. Elizabeth's
(37:25):
victory was immediately overshadowed by a devastating blow. As she
prepared to return home to her children, she was handed
a letter from Theophilus, warned of mob violence against him.
He had fled the state for Massachusetts, taking their three
youngest children, Libby, George, and Arthur with him. When Elizabeth
rushed back to Manteno, she found her home stripped of
(37:46):
every piece of furniture and rented to a stranger. At
forty seven years of age, she found herself homeless, penniless,
and childless. When she consulted her lawyers, they explained the
legal doctrine of coverts. As a married woman, she had
no legal existence and therefore no right to her property,
her earnings, or her children. On the principle of common law.
(38:09):
They told her, whatever is yours is his, Your property
is his, your earnings are his, Your children are his,
and you are his. Her only hope of regaining custody
was to get a divorce, a path her lawyers, friends,
and the press all urged her to take. On February eighth,
eighteen sixty four, she filed for divorce, citing repeated and
(38:29):
extreme cruelty. While her legal status was in limbo, Elizabeth
faced a public relations war. Starting on January twenty ninth,
Doctor MacFarland and Theophilus launched a media campaign to discredit
the verdict. In a letter published in the Chicago Tribune
on February fourth, McFarland reiterated his belief that Elizabeth was insane.
(38:49):
On February fifth, Theophilus wrote to his local Massachusetts paper
blasting the sham trial. On March twelfth, the Chicago Tribune
sided with them, declaring a Liizabeth was afflicted with a
well defined species of monomania and that the public should
give this painful subject no further thought. Recognizing she needed
(39:09):
to support herself and fight back, Elizabeth decided to become
her own protector and pursue a career as a writer.
On March seventeenth, eighteen sixty four, she traveled to Chicago,
having borrowed ten dollars from friends. There, she arranged for
the printing of two thousand copies of a thirty two
page pamphlet containing her eighteen sixty reproof to doctor MacFarland.
(39:32):
To fund the publication of her larger book, she devised
a crowdfunding plan, traveling across Illinois to sell advance purchase
tickets for fifty cents each. On March twenty third, she
placed an advertisement in the Chicago Tribune appealing to the
public for support, explaining she had been left penniless by
the desertion of her husband. Her highly public independent work
(39:55):
was scandalous for the era. Her own son Tafei, wrote
to his father on March twenty ninth beggar him to
get her into proper keeping. In April eighteen sixty four,
Elizabeth made a pivotal decision when her divorce case came
to court. She abandoned the proceedings. She realized a divorce
would only save herself, whereas changing the discriminatory laws could
(40:16):
save thousands of other married women. She also understood that
remaining a married woman in legal peril made her a
more compelling advocate for reform. Being in the position of
a married woman, she explained, I was in eminent danger
of being wronged still further unless the politicians helped me.
In May eighteen sixty four, having raised seven hundred dollars
(40:38):
through her own efforts, Elizabeth self published her first book,
The Exposure, an anthology of her asylum writings. It concluded
with an impassioned appeal to the government for protection, asking
for laws that would allow a married woman to stand
on the same platform as a married man. The book
was an immediate success. A second edition was on sale
(41:01):
by June eighteenth, eighteen sixty four, and by the end
of the year she had sold three thousand dollars worth
of books, finally achieving financial independence. With this, Elizabeth Packard
the Housewife was reborn as a political campaigner. Quick break
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to it. Having established herself as a financially independent author
(41:46):
and activist in eighteen sixty four, Elizabeth Packard began her
work of reforming the laws. In eighteen sixty five, Elizabeth
began her campaign in Massachusetts, the state where her husband,
Theophilis had fled with their three youngest chiin children. She
feared that without a change to the state's commitment law,
which was nearly identical to the old Illinois law, another
(42:08):
kidnapping was inevitable for her. She enlisted the help of
Samuel Sewell, a lawyer and passionate advocate for women's rights,
who taught her the tricks of her new trade. Together,
they lobbied the legislature, and Elizabeth appeared in person before
a joint special committee. She also pounded the streets of
Boston to gather signatures for a petition, fearlessly canvassing masculine
(42:31):
spaces like the custom House and Navy Yard. On May sixteenth,
eighteen sixty five, the Massachusetts legislature amended its insanity law,
making secret frame ups more difficult by requiring that interested
persons be informed of a commitment. This victory gave Elizabeth
immense confidence. On February sixteenth, eighteen sixty five, a new
(42:54):
law was passed in Illinois that allowed all persons accused
of insanity, including married women, to have a jury tree
trial before being committed to an asylum. The extensive coverage
of Elizabeth's own case undoubtedly inspired these reforms. By the
end of the year, Elizabeth's literary career was also flourishing.
By January eighteen sixty five, an additional six thousand copies
(43:16):
of her first book, The Exposure, were printed in Boston,
with the Illinois General Assembly not sitting. In eighteen sixty six,
Elizabeth took her campaign to Connecticut. She launched an ambitious
campaign to overturn the legal doctrine of coverture, proposing a
bill that would allow a married woman to retain the
same legal existence and receive the same legal protection of
(43:39):
her rights as does a man. This was a trial
run for reforms she hoped to pass in Illinois and
Massachusetts which would ultimately allow her to sue for custody
of her children. Despite winning the support of hundreds of men,
the Judiciary Committee ultimately found it inexpedient to make such
radical changes at the present time, and the bill failed.
(44:02):
In March eighteen sixty six, Elizabeth published her second book,
Marital Power Exemplified. This slim volume focused more directly on
married women's rights, and was inspired by the success of
Uncle Tom's cabin In swaying public opinion. The book was
another hit, further solidifying her financial independence and providing her
a platform for her political work. The year eighteen sixty
(44:25):
seven was a period of intense and consequential activity for Elizabeth,
as she returned to Illinois to secure justice for the
women still in the Jacksonville Asylum. In January, Elizabeth arrived
in Springfield, the state capital, and went to the Governor's
mansion to meet with Governor Richard j Oglesby. Though he
(44:45):
was initially dismissive due to his personal friendship with doctor
mac farland, Elizabeth presented him with a petition signed by
thirty six influential men, which changed his tone and secured
her a meeting. The governor introduced her to the legislators,
who helped her draft a new personal liberty bill. Elizabeth
successfully insisted that the bill include penalties for doctors who
(45:08):
admitted patients without a trial and a sixty day deadline
for current inmates to be granted a trial. Doctor MacFarland
campaigned aggressively against the bill, meeting personally with politicians to
discredit Elizabeth and urge them to repeal the eighteen sixty
five law. Elizabeth countered by lobbying politicians in their boarding
(45:29):
house parlors, using a clever strategy of flattery and appealing
to their sense of manly duty. On February twelfth, Elizabeth
was invited to address the Illinois General Assembly. In a
powerful speech, she argued for her bill detailed the injustices
of the current system and strongly hinted that a full
investigation into the asylum was necessary. Her address was a sensation.
(45:52):
On March fifth, Governor Oglesby signed the bill into law.
It became widely known as Packard's Law. Elizabeth's speech had
an immediate impact, prompting an unannounced legislative visit to the
Jacksonville Asylum the very next day. Several legislators who had
been briefed by Elizabeth visited her friends Sarah Minard and
Maria Chapman, and left convinced of the injustice of their confinement.
(46:17):
Despite a favorable report from the Senate Finance Committee on
February twenty third, the public outcry, fueled by Elizabeth's campaign
and newspaper articles detailing horrible revelations of abuse, led to
the appointment of a special joint committee to investigate the
asylum on February twenty sixth. The State Register credited the
(46:37):
committee's formation mainly to the efforts of Missus Packard. The committee,
chaired by the highly respected General Allen C. Fuller, was
given the power to examine witnesses under oath. The committee
began its work in May eighteen sixty seven. On June sixth,
Elizabeth was called to testify. She spoke for nearly seven hours,
(46:58):
detailing her commitment, the censorship, the violence she witnessed, and
Macfarland's cruelty. In a dramatic turn, MacFarland, who was present
to cross examine her, publicly produced and had read aloud
her secret love letter from January nineteen, eighteen sixty three.
The committee was shocked, viewing it as either a sign
of a diseased and disordered intellect or a degrading invitation
(47:20):
of illicit intercourse. The next day, Elizabeth gave a powerful
written explanation, framing the letter as a desperate but justifiable
act of self defense. The investigation continued through the fall,
hearing from twenty two former patients and numerous employees who
corroborated the claims of widespread abuse. On December fourth, General
(47:41):
Fuller read the committee's final report to the hospital's trustees.
The report was damning. It confirmed that Patience had been
unjustly committed in violation of the law, that Macfarland's classification
of Patience was fundamentally wrong, and that his rule of
force has too often usurped the law of love. It
unanimously recommended an immediate change in the office of Superintendent
(48:04):
that doctor mac farland be fired. The trustees were enraged
and refused to act on the recommendation. Governor Oglesby, mac
Farland's friend, agreed to suppress the report, planning to sit
on it for over a year until the next General
Assembly convened in eighteen sixty nine. On December seventh, in
a stunning move, General Fuller leaked the entire report to
(48:27):
the Chicago Tribune. Its publication caused a profound sensation across
the country and even in Europe, as the public learned
of the horrific abuse and mismanagement at the hospital. For Elizabeth,
it was total vindication, as the report confirmed the truth
of all her charges against the superintendent. The year eighteen
(48:52):
sixty nine marked a pivotal victory for Elizabeth in her
long fight to be reunited with her children. With her
three eldest sons, Taffey, Isaac, and now the lawyer Samuel
publicly supporting her, she traveled to Boston to launch a
custody suit. By this time she had become a financially
independent business woman, owning two houses and possessing some ten
(49:13):
thousand dollars in savings. Her husband. Theophilis, in contrast, had
not held a permanent pastorship since eighteen sixty five and
was living on charity. On May twenty fourth, eighteen sixty nine,
before the custody case could proceed, Theophilus's lawyer, seeing which
way the legal and public winds were blowing, advised him
to surrender. The three youngest children, Libby, George, and Arthur
(49:36):
wrote to Elizabeth, stating, we will gladly accept of your
offer to go out and live with you in Chicago.
Elizabeth replied, my fond heart is filled with joy for her.
The mother's battle was fought, and the victory won. In
the summer of eighteen sixty nine, Elizabeth established a new
home for her family at fourteen ninety seven Prairie Avenue,
(49:59):
then Chicago's finest residential area. In a remarkable reunion, all
six of her children came to live with her. Theophilus
also moved to Chicago to be near them, and relations
between the estranged husband and wife became cordial, though distant.
Elizabeth allowed him to visit the children, but she treated
him as a stranger gentleman. On June eighth, eighteen seventy,
(50:22):
doctor Andrew MacFarland, after years of public pressure following the
investigating Committee's report, finally resigned from his post as superintendent
of the Jacksonville Asylum. In a pattern that had become familiar,
double the usual number of patients were discharged just before
his departure. Instead of returning to a quiet domestic life
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as she had once planned, Elizabeth, changed by her experiences,
chose to dedicate her undivided energies to the great work
of reformation. For the next three decades, Elizabeth campaigned tirelessly
across the country. She proved to be a remarkably successful
and persistent political force. By her own count, she was
(51:03):
responsible for the passage of thirty four bills in twenty
four states, fighting for both women's rights and the rights
of the mentally ill. One of her most significant and
lasting achievements was securing the postal rights of patients, guaranteeing
them uncensored access to mail, a reform directly inspired by
her own experience with McFarlane's censorship. These bills often bore
(51:25):
her name with headlines marking the passing of Packard's law.
She also successfully campaigned for the establishment of independent asylum
inspection bodies, sometimes insisting that a female inspector be included.
In eighteen seventy eight, Elizabeth made a concerted effort to
reclaim her public narrative. She published The Mystic Key, a
(51:47):
book intended to explain the context of her controversial love
letter to doctor McFarland, which she called the greatest obstacle
to her work. That same year, having finally raised enough capital,
she published her agnum Opus, The Great Drama, the book
she had written in the asylum. She dedicated it to
my beloved sisters, the married women of America. Throughout her career,
(52:11):
she was relentlessly attacked by opponents, who labeled her a
half cured lunatic and used her letter to be smirch
her virtue. MacFarlane himself remained her most terrible antagonist, reportedly
making a special trip to Washington, d c. To inform
committee members of her insanity when she was lobbying President
Grant for a federal postal rights bill, which subsequently failed
(52:33):
to pass. Theophilus never held a permanent pastorship after eighteen
sixty five. He spent his final years living a quiet,
solitary life in his sister Sybyl's house. His world reduced
to a single room, in an echo of the confinement
he had forced on Elizabeth. He died in December eighteen
eighty five, at the age of eighty three. A late
(52:54):
diary entry reads, I acknowledged the justice of God in
this great calamity and hoped that He and Mercy is
overruling it for my spiritual welfare. Doctor MacFarlane's reputation and
career blossomed after leaving the state hospital. He became incredibly
wealthy and opened a successful private asylum called Oak Lawn.
He was consulted on the high profile insanity cases of
(53:17):
President Garfield's assassin and Mary Todd Lincoln. On November twenty second,
eighteen ninety one, suffering from a fatal brain inflammation and depression,
he died by suicide, hanging himself in a vacant room
in his asylum. He was seventy six. His inquest cited
temporary mental aberration. Elizabeth's son scattered across the country and
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pursued various careers, with Samuel becoming a successful lawyer and
advocate for reform inspired by his mother. Tragically, her daughter Libby,
suffered a lifelong struggle with mental illness, which the family
attributed to the intense stress she endured as a child.
After her mother's commitment, Elizabeth stopped her reform work for
three years to care for Libby full time. When Libby
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was later committed to an asylum in California by her husband,
Elizabeth rescued her and cared for her personally at her
son Taffi's house. Libby eventually died in an asylum at
the age of fifty one. Elizabeth outlived both of the
men who had tried to silence her. She lived with
her son Taffi, in California while caring for Libby. In
(54:23):
July eighteen ninety seven, she traveled with her daughter to Chicago.
Less than a week later, she was rushed to the hospital.
On July twenty fifth, eighteen ninety seven, Elizabeth Packard died
from a strangulated hernia at the age of eighty. Her
death was reported across the country, with obituaries mourning the
loss of the wise friend of the insane and comparing
(54:46):
her influence to that of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Her funeral
was private, and she was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery
next to her son George. Her gravestone bears a single
word mother, a
Before we begin. Do you have a theory about this
case or a story of your own, leave a message
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Files without the space, or head over to night watchfiles
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insights might be featured in a future episode. I'm Harper
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(00:26):
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(00:48):
Now let's get into today's case. On the night of
June seventeenth, eighteen sixty, Elizabeth Packard couldn't sleep Around midnight,
She crept out of bed in her locker nursery room
and peered through the darkness. There she saw her husband
moving silently through the house, searching through her trunks, careful
not to make a sound. She knew then that arrangements
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were being made to carry her off somewhere. The next morning,
men would come to the door. Her children would watch
as she was forced onto a train, beginning a two
hundred mile journey that would last not hours, but years.
The crowd of supporters at the station would do nothing
to stop it. No sheriff's warrant existed, though they were
(01:31):
told otherwise, no crime had been committed. Though she would
lose her freedom, Elizabeth Packard's offense was simple. She had
dared to think for herself. What followed would become one
of the most extraordinary legal battles of the nineteenth century,
a fight that would expose the dark machinery used to
silence women who refused to conform, and ultimately change the
(01:54):
laws of an entire nation. But on that June morning
in eighteen sixty, as the train pulled away from the station,
Elizabeth had no way of knowing if she would ever
see her home or her children again. Elizabeth Parsons Ware
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was born in eighteen sixteen. She received what was described
as a thorough scientific education, an unusual achievement for a
woman of her time. Her intellect and capabilities led to
a remarkable teaching career. By nineteen she had become principal
of Randolph College in Massachusetts, an institution known for employing
only the best classical educators. But on February sixth, eighteen
(03:04):
thirty six, at that same age of nineteen, Elizabeth's father,
Samuel Ware, had her committed to the State Lunatic Hospital
in Worcester, Massachusetts. The reason given was mental labor, the
strain of her demanding work as a school principle. This
diagnosis reflected the medical beliefs of the era. Doctors maintained
(03:25):
that women who pursued intellectual work were susceptible to derangements
of the nervous system. The prevailing theory held that women's
minds had a limited capacity to comprehend subjects, and attempting
to exceed this capacity would lead to mental breakdown. A
visitor to an all female school in eighteen fifty eight
would later remark that the teachers were training young girls
(03:47):
for the lunatic asylum. This medicalization of female behavior served
as a mechanism to police women who stepped outside their
prescribed gender roles. Home and children for women, work and
intellect for men. Other common reasons for committing women to
asylums included novel reading. Doctors believed those who engaged in
(04:08):
this pernicious habit lived a dreamy kind of existence so
nearly allied to insanity that the slightest exciting cause would
be sufficient to derange them. Beyond her supposed overuse of
her brain, Doctors at the Worcester Asylum were concerned with
Elizabeth's irregular menstrual cycle, which was noted on her admittance form.
(04:30):
In the nineteenth century, medical theory held that women's menstrual
cycles made them prone to madness, a belief dating back
to ancient Greece and the concept of a wandering womb
causing hysteria. Every stage of a woman's reproductive life was
viewed as a potential threat to her mental stability. Elizabeth
maintained a different account of her first commitment. She insisted
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that her father had very needlessly and unkindly placed her
in the asylum after she became physically ill with what
was then called brain fever, likely meningitis or encephalitis by
modern medical understanding. She claimed her mind recovered the moment
she recovered from the physical illness and its treatment, which
had included what she considered excessive bleeding. Her medical records
(05:17):
appear to support her version of events. While most patients
remained in the asylum for months or years, Elizabeth was
released after just six weeks. This first experience in an
asylum would not be her last. Theophilus Packard was born
around eighteen o two. He worked as a preacher and
had been a professional colleague of Elizabeth's father, Samuel Ware
(05:41):
for many years. Elizabeth had known him since she was
about ten years old around eighteen twenty six. His own
diary entries from before his marriage provide insight into his character.
He described himself as having unusual timidity when it came
to public speaking, a notation he made as early as
August eighteen eighteen he was just a teenager. His outlook
(06:02):
on life was grim. In a diary entry from March first,
eighteen twenty nine, he wrote, this Sabbath is the commencement
of spring. Rapidly do the seasons revolve? The spring time
of life is fast spending. Soon the period of death
will arrive. He preferred rural life, noting in April eighteen
thirty four his belief that there was more ostentation, pride,
(06:25):
and vice in cities than in country towns. A December
eighteen thirty two diary entry revealed a core aspect of
his philosophy. Self interest is a powerful principle of action.
Theophilus was deeply devout. His faith centered on a God
he viewed as a distant tyrant who dispensed mercy so
sparingly and secretly that one never quite knew if one
(06:46):
had done enough to be saved. He believed everyone was
damned unless they found his specific God, a belief that
extended to himself. In his prayers, he used to tell
God what an awful bad man he was. The courtship
between all Elizabeth and Theophilus has been described as clumsy
and awkward. Throughout this period, Elizabeth harbored significant reservations about
(07:07):
her fiancee, who was fifteen years her senior. She feared
that he did not seem to love her much, a
feeling that caused considerable anxiety about their future together. Despite
these misgivings, Elizabeth was an obedient daughter of her era.
She later stated that she married to please her father.
Their wedding took place in eighteen thirty nine. Elizabeth was
(07:30):
twenty two, Theophilus was thirty seven. Elizabeth entered the marriage
with a sense of duty and optimism. Committing herself to
her new husband with all the trusting confidence of woman.
Having been raised to be a silent listener, she initially
accepted that her preacher husband would be the sole voice
in their marriage. Her primary goal was his happiness. To
(07:52):
make him happy was the height of my ambition, she wrote,
That's all I wanted to make my husband shine inside.
And In eighteen forty eight, the first Woman's Rights Convention
was held in Seneca Falls, New York. The event ignited
a national conversation about the rights of women. Elizabeth Packard
took part in this conversation. Her husband participated less willingly.
(08:16):
This marked a significant turning point in their marriage. Inspired
by the movement, Elizabeth began to challenge traditional roles. She
started to argue that wives are not mere things, they
are a part of society. This stood in stark contrast
to Theophilus's belief that a woman has no rights that
a man is bound to respect. Their differing views led
(08:38):
to countless warm discussions. Elizabeth, who possessed a rare command
of language, consistently triumphed in these arguments, but her intellectual
victories came at a cost. She sensed that her husband
felt a jealousy lest she outshine him. Theophilus, feeling stung
by his wife's superior arguments, began recording her perceived slights
(08:59):
in his life diary. He complained that his wife had
become unfavorably affected by the tone of society and zealously
espoused almost all new notions and wild vagaries that came
along the women's rights movement inspired a realization in Elizabeth. I,
though a woman, have just as good a right to
my opinion as my husband has to his, she declared,
(09:21):
I have got a mind of my own and a
will too, and I will think and act as I please.
This new found independence was unacceptable to Theophilus. The scriptural
passage wives obey your husbands became frequently quoted in their home,
but Elizabeth was no longer the silent listener she had
been raised to be. She felt that her husband might,
(09:42):
with equal justice, require her to subject her ability to breathe,
to sneeze, or to cough to his dictation, as to
require the subjugation of her rights to think and act
as her own conscience dictates. Theophilus's response was telling. He
did not engage with her ideas or incur courage her independence. Instead,
he began to suggest that her mind was failing. He
(10:05):
wrote that he had sad reason to fear his wife's
mind was getting out of order. She was becoming insane
on the subject of woman's rights. In eighteen fifty five,
the Packard family moved west to Illinois. The change from Shelbourne, Massachusetts,
defined by mountains and trees, to the open prairies of
the Midwest had a profound effect on Elizabeth. The wide
(10:27):
skies and open landscapes seemed to represent endless possibilities. Living
in this new environment, Elizabeth's intellectual and personal growth continued
to flourish. Her differences with Theophilis only increased after the move.
She declared, no man shall ever rule me, for I
ain't a brute made without reason. I'm a human being
made with reason to rule myself. With quick break ads
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The first half of eighteen sixty brought escalating conflict to
(11:26):
the Packard household. The tensions that had been building for years,
were about to reach their breaking point. The catalyst was
a Bible class run by Theophilus's Presbyterian church. Elizabeth began
attending the classes, which were partly intended to persuade the
congregation to adopt a recent switch from New School to
the more conservative Old School doctrines. Instead of conforming, Elizabeth
(11:50):
challenged her husband's theological positions and encouraged her classmates to
think critically. She possessed what was described as a rare
command of language and an irrisistable magnetism. She easily eclipsed
her husband in these discussions. Though initially reticent, she grew
more confident over the weeks, voluntarily reading her essays aloud
(12:12):
to prevent misrepresentation of her views. She made a point
of putting all her statements into written form. Theophilus was
horrified by her public dissent. He asked her to stop
attending the class and insisted she tell the congregation it
was her choice to leave. She refused, But dear, it
is not my choice, she told him truthfully. Having begun
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to find her voice, Elizabeth refused to be silenced or
to act the hypocrite by professing to believe what she
could not believe. One key point of disagreement was abolition.
Elizabeth supported the freedom of slaves, while the New Church
Creed was ambivalent on the issue. Feeling powerless in the
face of her eloquence, Theophilus conceived a plan to silence her.
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He began a concerted campaign to label his wife as insane,
thereby discrediting her opinions. During an argument, Theophilus warned Elizabeth,
I shall put you into the asylum. At first, Elizabeth
laughed at the threat. She believed she lived in a
free country where freedom of religion was sacrosanct. But Theophilus
was serious. He began publicly undermining her in the Bible class.
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He dismissed her ideas as the result of a diseased brain.
He told their neighbors she was suffering from an attack
of derangement. His evidence consisted of her acting so different
from her former conduct, her strange and unreasonable doings in
her verbal and written sayings, and what he saw as
the definitive proof, her lack of interest in her husband.
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Elizabeth was aware of his strategy. She confronted him directly,
why do you try to injure and destroy my character
rather than my opinions. In May eighteen sixty, Elizabeth grew bolder.
She made the decision to formally leave her husband's church.
To be false to my honest conviction, I could not
be made to do, she stated. Theophilus feared others in
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the congregation might follow her example. His parishioners sided with
their pastor. On May twenty second, eighteen sixty, thirty nine
of them signed a petition to have Elizabeth placed in
an insane asylum as speedily as it can be conveniently done.
In the days immediately preceding June eighteenth, Theophilus intensified his
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efforts turning their home into a prison. He boarded the
shutters of her ground floor nursery shut and locked her
in the room, supposedly to withdraw her from conversation and excitement.
Elizabeth knew the real reason was because her sane conduct
might betray his falsehoods. He also brought a twenty three
year old parishioner, Sarah Rumsey, into their home. Though supposedly
(14:48):
a housekeeper, Sarah was a teacher from a wealthy family.
Elizabeth knew she was no servant but a spy. Two
days before her removal. On June sixteenth, eighteen sixty, theofa
full as summoned parishioners to their parlor for what Elizabeth
later called a mock trial of her sanity. Deacon Spring
acted as the biased moderator. Elizabeth's son Isaac, attended and
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was devastated by the inevitable verdict of insanity. Her sixteen
year old son, Isaac was her most staunch defender. He
had alerted his older brother toaffy to the situation and
secured pledges of help from townspeople who were not members
of his father's church. They promised they would intervene if
Theophilus tried to have her committed. Before being locked up,
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Elizabeth had sought legal advice from mister Comstock, a lawyer
who was also a member of Theophilus's church. He assured
her that under Illinois law, an insanity trial before a
jury was required for commitment. This gave her a feeling
of comparative security. Believing a trial was her only obstacle,
She began preparing her Bible class essays as her defense
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and started sewing a pocket in her underskirt to hide them.
On the night of June seventeenth, eighteen sixty, Elizabeth was
unable to sleep. Around midnight, she crept out of bed
and discovered Theophilus noiselessly searching through all her trunks. This
confirmed her suspicion that arrangements were being made to carry
her off somewhere. On June eighteenth, eighteen sixty, Elizabeth Packard
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was forcibly removed from her home in Mantano, Illinois. A
large crowd of supporters had gathered at the train station,
but no one intervened to stop her husband from committing her.
Deacon Dole falsely told the crowd that a sheriff had
a formal warrant and anyone interfering would be arrested. The
only person to speak out was her friend, Rebecca Blessing,
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who cried, is there no man in this crowd to
protect this woman? Elizabeth was carried on to the train
and began the two hundred mile journey to the Jacksonville
Insane Asylum. Arrived late that evening, past eight o'clock. She
surveyed the large, five and a half story hospital with
its endless rows of barred windows. She was greeted by
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the assistant physician, doctor Tenney, who escorted her to the
seventh ward in the original west wing. The first thing
that struck her was the horrid and sickening stench that
permeated the area beyond the public reception hall. Due to overcrowding,
she was given a tiny private room with a narrow
settee bed. That night, she heard the unearthly sounds of cries, screams,
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and uncanny laughter from the other patients for the first time.
On June nineteenth, the day after her arrival, Elizabeth had
her first interview with the asylum's superintendent, doctor Andrew MacFarland.
She found him to be a fine looking gentleman and
a true man. During a wide ranging conversation that touched
on religion and politics, Elizabeth felt she had found a
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feast of reason and a flow of soul. She was
so confident that she had demonstrated her sanity that she
believed mac farland was fully convinced in his heart that
she was not insane before their interview ended. However, her
admittance was a foregone conclusion. Theophilus's application had included two
medical certificates attesting to her insanity. Doctor Christopher not cited
(18:17):
her derangement of mind on religious matters, as well as
her unusual zealousness and strong will. The other from doctor Newkirk,
a member of her husband's church, cited her incessant talking
as evidence of madness, unbeknownst to her. On that same day,
mac Farland formally entered her into the asylum's register, recording
her as slightly insane, with the attack becoming more decided
(18:40):
the past four months, a period that directly coincided with
her joining the Bible class. When Theophilus left the asylum
later that afternoon, he gave her one look of satisfied delight,
his face radiant with joy. In the initial weeks of
her stay, Elizabeth became what staff called the asylum favorite.
Mac Farland relaxed the rules for her, granting her almost
(19:03):
queenlike attention. She was allowed to keep her clothes in
her room, borrow books from the library, and was even
given her own set of ward keys, permitting her to
leave without an attendant. Mac Farland in turn found his
new patient a truly interesting study, with a fine mind
and brilliant imagination, as he wrote to Theophilus on August eleventh.
(19:25):
In late June, her friends the Blessings visited her from Manteno,
bringing a doctor Shirley, who, after conversing with Elizabeth, declared
she is the sanest person I ever saw. The Blessings
informed her of a public indignation meeting planned for June thirtieth,
and promised to seek a rid of habeas corpus to
secure her release. On July thirteenth, Theophilus sent a large
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trunk of her belongings, dashing her hopes for a short stay.
Searching through the tangled contents, she found no letters from
her children, only a single devastating note from her libby.
We are glad to hear you are getting better. Hope
you will soon get well. This cemented Elizabeth's fear that
Theophilus was teaching the children to despise their mother. Soon after,
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McFarland offered her a path to liberty, but with one condition.
She would have to return to Theophilus as his obedient
wife and submit. Elizabeth refused, declaring self defense forbids it. Instead,
she decided to stay at the asylum voluntarily to give
the doctor more time to see the truth of her
sanity for himself. Through the summer, Elizabeth and MacFarland developed
(20:35):
a close intellectual relationship with his visits becoming the greatest
pleasure of her asylum experience. However, her trust in him
was shattered in late summer when her eldest son, Taffi,
came to visit. After he left, Elizabeth happened to be
in macfarland's office and saw a letter addressed to her
in Toffy's handwriting. McFarland snatched it from her and refused
(20:57):
to tell her what it said. That that moment, Elizabeth
realized with sadness his word could no longer be trusted.
Elizabeth began to watch the doctor more closely, observing his
censorship and realizing he was trying to impress upon her
mind that she was friendless. In September, after another patient
accused her of acting indiscreetly on a swing, she went
(21:20):
to macfarland's office to discuss it. During the conversation, he
kissed her on the forehead. While she later recalled it
as an impulsive act, at the time, she worried it
might be a stepping stone to insults and felt an
imperative necessity of devising some self defensive armor. This armor
came in the form of her writing. She decided to
(21:41):
write two documents, A formal defense of her sanity and
a reproof detailing the abuse and mistreatment of patience she
had witnessed. Determined that her voice against it would be heard.
On October twenty sixth, eighteen sixty, she presented her defense
to doctor MacFarland. In it, she requested an honorable discharge,
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stated her determination never to return to her husband, and
described him as a perverted and unnatural man. She even
quoted David's prayer for his persecutors in reference to Theophilus,
and act MacFarlane later described as diabolical and evidence of
her madness. When MacFarlane did not respond to her defense
after several days, Elizabeth decided to proceed with her second document.
(22:25):
On November twelfth, eighteen sixty, six, days after Abraham Lincoln
was elected president, she presented MacFarland with her reproof. In it,
she called his principles contrary to reason, to justice, to humanity,
and accused him of being incapacitated for his office. She
included testimony she had gathered from other patients and staff,
(22:46):
and threatened to expose him with the iron pen of
the press if he did not repent. McFarlane's only emotional
reaction came when she mentioned there had been an eye
witness to his kiss. At this his feelings burst their
confinement and seem determined from that moment to either rule
or ruin her. A few days later, McFarland acted on
that determination. He led Elizabeth away from the privileged seventh
(23:10):
ward to a heavy door she had never seen before.
He opened it, and a most fetid scent hit her
as she was ushered into the asylum's eighth ward, the
maniac's Ward, home to the filthy, the suicidal, the raving,
and the furious. As the door slammed shut behind her,
her status as the asylum favorite was officially and brutally terminated.
(23:57):
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get back to it. On September fourth, eighteen sixty two,
(24:20):
after more than two years of confinement, Elizabeth Packard was
granted an in person meeting with the asylum's Board of Trustees.
She dressed carefully for the occasion in a white lawn
dress with sky blue trimmings and a tasteful head dress
doctor Andrew mac farland escorted her to the meeting where
her husband, Theophilus had already presented his case protesting her discharge.
(24:43):
Given just ten minutes to speak, Elizabeth read from a
prepared document that mac farland had previously reviewed. She then
surprised every one by producing a second appeal, which she
had secretly written on torn out pages from a ward Bible,
and asked for permission to read it. The trustees agreed,
and for nearly fifty minutes, Elizabeth eloquently exposed what she
(25:06):
called the foul conspiracy and wicked plot that had led
to her imprisonment for her religious beliefs. She argued against
her husband's claim that her children's welfare demanded her confinement,
questioning his right to dictate her beliefs, and challenging the
double standard that would see her institutionalized for making the
same demands of him. Her presentation was met with a
(25:28):
positive reaction from the trustees, who even laughed at her
witty analogies. After she spoke, mac farland was asked for
his opinion. In a stunning reversal, he recommended her discharge. However,
the trustees made an unusual decision Citing the remonstrance from
her husband, father, brothers, and other relatives, they decided to
(25:51):
postpone the final consideration of her case until their next
meeting in December. Elizabeth interpreted this deferment as good news.
She believed the trustees needed time to figure out how
to grant her unprecedented request to be released as an
independent woman, not back into her husband's care. Convinced they
now saw the injustice of her imprisonment, she fully expected
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to be discharged at the next meeting and began to
dream of being home with her children for Christmas. Believing
the tide had turned, she felt a complete victory was
at hand. The day after the meeting, doctor mac Farland,
seemingly pleased with her presentation, encouraged her to write down
her story. He offered to pay to have it printed
(26:34):
and told her write what you please. This grant of
spiritual liberty was something no man had ever allowed her before,
and it fundamentally shifted her perception of the doctor. What
began as a plan to print her appeal to the
trustees quickly expanded into a grander vision for a book.
Elizabeth felt her hitherto prison bound intellect rapidly expand as
(26:56):
she conceived of a work that would explore women's rights,
legislative reform, and her personal story. This book, which she
titled The Great Drama, became her single anchor and her
primary hope for securing financial independence and ultimately her freedom.
McFarlane gave her an unlimited supply of paper and instructed
(27:17):
attendants not to disturb her. For six weeks, she wrote
in a stream of consciousness, her pen, leaping from topic to topic.
The work was a mix of allegory, biography and political appeal,
with passionate calls for women's rights, rights for the mentally ill,
and the emancipation of African Americans and Native Americans. The
(27:37):
writing process brought her a delightful feeling of satisfaction, and
she believed her book was a great battery that would
make her financially independent and secure her safety from her husband.
During this period, her two eldest sons, Taffy and Isaac,
visited her, further boosting her spirits. They brought news that
their father had resigned from his ministry in Manteno in
(27:59):
July eighteen sixty two and now lived on charity. They
also shared a letter from Theophilus, in which he expressed
fear that he should not be able to keep his
mother much longer in the asylum. This confirmed Elizabeth's belief
that her release in December was a certainty. By mid October,
she had completed a manuscript of twenty five hundred pages.
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The book caused a universal sensation throughout the hospital, with
copied pages secretly passed between wards, inspiring other patients to
believe in a better world. On December third, eighteen sixty two,
the trustees met again. Elizabeth, full of hope, waited all
day for the verdict. Instead of freedom, MacFarlane delivered devastating
news her release had been indefinitely postponed. The trustees had
(28:46):
sided with her husband and male relatives, who continued to
protest her discharge. The decision plunged Elizabeth into the gulf
of black despair. She felt desolate and forsaken, and believed
there was no hope of her ever receiving justice at
their hands. Thoughts of her children became agonizing, and she
feared she would die a prisoner in her cell. By
(29:09):
the new year, Elizabeth, feeling desperate, concluded that her only
hope lay in getting her book published. But McFarland appeared
to be dragging his heels on his promise to fund
the printing. On January nineteenth, eighteen sixty three, she made
what she later called a dark exchange. She wrote MacFarland
a secret letter, her last, her only hope, in which
(29:30):
she offered him her heart and soul in the after
life in exchange for his help. She wrote, to such
a one alone, can I entrust the key with which
to unlock the fountain of conjugal love within me? This
key I entrust to you, Doctor McFarland. I shall regard
the act on my part as an engagement sealed to
be yours alone until death. Part Us, I must not
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love your person so long as that love is justly
claimed by another woman, your legal wife. She asked him
only to issue aus small first edition of her first volume.
When he read the letter, McFarland offered his hand, and
with a slight pressure, he seemed to accept her terms. However,
when he still took no action, she wrote him another note,
(30:12):
threatening to publish a second secret book she called the Exposure.
McFarland retaliated by briefly putting her in solitary confinement and
confiscating the entire manuscript of the Great Drama. Believing he
was bound by their secret deal, Elizabeth remained confident he
would not destroy it. Three weeks later, he returned the
(30:32):
papers with an apology. Around this time, Elizabeth received unsettling
news from her cousin Angeline Field. Theophilus, disturbed by the
possibility of her release, had found another asylum willing to
take her, the State Lunatic Hospital in Northampton, Massachusetts. This
asylum would accept her as a hopeless case, where she
(30:54):
could be imprisoned for life. This new threat filled her
with fear as the next trustees meeting on March fourth,
eighteen sixty three, approached. At this meeting, the trustees made
another decision. Elizabeth was ordered to be discharged after June nineteenth,
eighteen sixty three. The reason given was that her case
was now considered incurable. Faced with the prospect of being
(31:16):
handed over to Theophilis and taken to Northampton, Elizabeth protested vehemently.
Now feeling safer inside the asylum, Elizabeth now viewed Jacksonville's
walls as a refuge of safety. Her eldest son, Taffei,
had recently turned twenty one and she arranged for him
to pay for her to stay at the asylum as
a boarder, believing this changed her legal status and would
(31:39):
protect her from Theophilis. For the first time in years,
she felt free enough to leave the hospital grounds, taking
a walk into Jacksonville with toffee in May. She was unaware, however,
that McFarlane was actively colluding with her husband. On May fifth,
eighteen sixty three, he issued a formal certificate to Theophilis
stating that elizabeth disease was not cured and that he
(32:02):
had no question of her insanity. This certificate was all
Theophilus needed to get a second one and commit her
to Northampton without a trial. On June eighteenth, eighteen sixty three,
exactly three years after her commitment, Elizabeth's time was up.
McFarlane was away, and his assistant, doctor Tenney, with two
(32:22):
other men, burst into her room. Despite her protests that
she had a right to herself, she was forcibly carried
from her room out of the asylum and placed in
a carriage where Theophilus was waiting. As she was driven away,
she was certain her husband was taking her to the
asylum in Northampton for life. The journey however, ended late
(32:42):
that night in the town of Tonica, Illinois, when the
train stopped, A terrified Elizabeth followed her husband off the car,
bracing for the worst. Instead of another asylum, she stepped
into the arms of her dearest friend, her cousin Angeline,
who had come to take her to the safety of
her home in Granville. The year eighteen sixty four began
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with Elizabeth Packard imprisoned in her own home by her husband, Theophilus,
who planned to commit her to an asylum in Northampton,
Massachusetts for life. However, on Tuesday January twelfth, eighteen sixty four,
her friends secured a writ of habeas corpus, compelling Theophilis
to bring Elizabeth before Judge Charles R. Starr in kanka
Kee for a hearing on the legality of her confinement.
(33:41):
This legal maneuver was possible only because she was imprisoned
at home. Had she already been in the Northampton asylum,
the commitment would have been legal and habeas corpus could
not have been used. Elizabeth had orchestrated this situation months
earlier by stealing and hiding the house keys, ensuring Theophilus
would lock her up securely enough to justify the writ.
(34:03):
The trial began that same day, amid a massive crowd
that had gathered in Elizabeth's support. Theophilus, represented by lawyers
Thomas Bonfield and Mason Loomis, denied unlawfully imprisoning his wife,
but admitted to exercising a slight necessary restraint over her
on account of her insanity. In a highly unusual move
(34:23):
for a habeas corpus case, Judge Starr ordered Theophilus to
prove this claim before a jury of twelve men. The
prosecution's case for Elizabeth's insanity quickly unraveled. Doctor Christopher Not,
who had issued an insanity certificate in eighteen sixty, testified
that he only ever considered her a monomaniac on religion,
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and that three fourths of the religious community are insane.
In the same manner, he added that confinement would have
made her worse and that she had only needed rest.
Doctor J. W. Brown, who had examined Elizabeth while posing
as a sewing machine salesman, declared he her hopelessly insane. However,
under cross examination by Elizabeth's lawyer Stephen Moore, his reasons
(35:07):
were ridiculed by the court room. They included her aversion
to being called insane, her claim to be the personification
of the Holy Ghost, and her use of complex theological language.
Doctor Joseph Way, another physician hired by Theophilus, backed away
from his initial diagnosis, stating I would not swear now
that she was insane. Members of Theophilus's church, including Deacon
(35:30):
Abijah Dole and Sybil Dole, testified that Elizabeth was crazy
because her religious ideas were wrong. She was filled with
spite toward mister Packard, and she asserted herself by declaring
she would talk what and when she had a mind to.
A dramatic moment occurred when Sybil Dole brought Elizabeth's daughter,
Libby into the court room. The girl ran to her
(35:53):
mother and threw her arms around her, only for Sybil
to snatch her away, hissing, come away from that woman,
she is not fit to take care of you. The
incident caused quite a stir and moved many in the
crowd to tears. Fearing the trial was going against him,
Theophilus's lawyer tried to get it adjourned for ten days
to allow doctor Andrew MacFarlane to testify. When the judge
(36:16):
refused the prosecution was permitted to read McFarland's damning certificate
and letters to the jury, in which he stated he
had no question of Elizabeth's insanity and that she was incurable.
In her defense, Elizabeth was permitted to read one of
her Bible class essays to the jury, which the prosecution
had cited as evidence of her madness. Her articulate and
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reasonable performance was met with a murmur of applause from
the courtroom. Her final witness, doctor Alexander Duncanson, a physician
and dissenting Presbyterian clergyman, delivered a powerful testimony. He declared
Elizabeth not only sane, but the most intelligent lady he
had talked with in many years, and affirmed that her
theological views were ancient dogmas entertained by many of the
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nation's most eminent men. On the evening of Monday, January eighteenth,
eighteen sixty four, after seven minutes of deliberation, the jury
returned its verdict saane. The courtroom erupted in cheers and applause.
Judge Starr officially ordered that Elizabeth be relieved of all
restraint incompatible with her condition as a sane woman. Elizabeth's
(37:25):
victory was immediately overshadowed by a devastating blow. As she
prepared to return home to her children, she was handed
a letter from Theophilus, warned of mob violence against him.
He had fled the state for Massachusetts, taking their three
youngest children, Libby, George, and Arthur with him. When Elizabeth
rushed back to Manteno, she found her home stripped of
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every piece of furniture and rented to a stranger. At
forty seven years of age, she found herself homeless, penniless,
and childless. When she consulted her lawyers, they explained the
legal doctrine of coverts. As a married woman, she had
no legal existence and therefore no right to her property,
her earnings, or her children. On the principle of common law.
(38:09):
They told her, whatever is yours is his, Your property
is his, your earnings are his, Your children are his,
and you are his. Her only hope of regaining custody
was to get a divorce, a path her lawyers, friends,
and the press all urged her to take. On February eighth,
eighteen sixty four, she filed for divorce, citing repeated and
(38:29):
extreme cruelty. While her legal status was in limbo, Elizabeth
faced a public relations war. Starting on January twenty ninth,
Doctor MacFarland and Theophilus launched a media campaign to discredit
the verdict. In a letter published in the Chicago Tribune
on February fourth, McFarland reiterated his belief that Elizabeth was insane.
(38:49):
On February fifth, Theophilus wrote to his local Massachusetts paper
blasting the sham trial. On March twelfth, the Chicago Tribune
sided with them, declaring a Liizabeth was afflicted with a
well defined species of monomania and that the public should
give this painful subject no further thought. Recognizing she needed
(39:09):
to support herself and fight back, Elizabeth decided to become
her own protector and pursue a career as a writer.
On March seventeenth, eighteen sixty four, she traveled to Chicago,
having borrowed ten dollars from friends. There, she arranged for
the printing of two thousand copies of a thirty two
page pamphlet containing her eighteen sixty reproof to doctor MacFarland.
(39:32):
To fund the publication of her larger book, she devised
a crowdfunding plan, traveling across Illinois to sell advance purchase
tickets for fifty cents each. On March twenty third, she
placed an advertisement in the Chicago Tribune appealing to the
public for support, explaining she had been left penniless by
the desertion of her husband. Her highly public independent work
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was scandalous for the era. Her own son Tafei, wrote
to his father on March twenty ninth beggar him to
get her into proper keeping. In April eighteen sixty four,
Elizabeth made a pivotal decision when her divorce case came
to court. She abandoned the proceedings. She realized a divorce
would only save herself, whereas changing the discriminatory laws could
(40:16):
save thousands of other married women. She also understood that
remaining a married woman in legal peril made her a
more compelling advocate for reform. Being in the position of
a married woman, she explained, I was in eminent danger
of being wronged still further unless the politicians helped me.
In May eighteen sixty four, having raised seven hundred dollars
(40:38):
through her own efforts, Elizabeth self published her first book,
The Exposure, an anthology of her asylum writings. It concluded
with an impassioned appeal to the government for protection, asking
for laws that would allow a married woman to stand
on the same platform as a married man. The book
was an immediate success. A second edition was on sale
(41:01):
by June eighteenth, eighteen sixty four, and by the end
of the year she had sold three thousand dollars worth
of books, finally achieving financial independence. With this, Elizabeth Packard
the Housewife was reborn as a political campaigner. Quick break
(41:24):
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to it. Having established herself as a financially independent author
(41:46):
and activist in eighteen sixty four, Elizabeth Packard began her
work of reforming the laws. In eighteen sixty five, Elizabeth
began her campaign in Massachusetts, the state where her husband,
Theophilis had fled with their three youngest chiin children. She
feared that without a change to the state's commitment law,
which was nearly identical to the old Illinois law, another
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kidnapping was inevitable for her. She enlisted the help of
Samuel Sewell, a lawyer and passionate advocate for women's rights,
who taught her the tricks of her new trade. Together,
they lobbied the legislature, and Elizabeth appeared in person before
a joint special committee. She also pounded the streets of
Boston to gather signatures for a petition, fearlessly canvassing masculine
(42:31):
spaces like the custom House and Navy Yard. On May sixteenth,
eighteen sixty five, the Massachusetts legislature amended its insanity law,
making secret frame ups more difficult by requiring that interested
persons be informed of a commitment. This victory gave Elizabeth
immense confidence. On February sixteenth, eighteen sixty five, a new
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law was passed in Illinois that allowed all persons accused
of insanity, including married women, to have a jury tree
trial before being committed to an asylum. The extensive coverage
of Elizabeth's own case undoubtedly inspired these reforms. By the
end of the year, Elizabeth's literary career was also flourishing.
By January eighteen sixty five, an additional six thousand copies
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of her first book, The Exposure, were printed in Boston,
with the Illinois General Assembly not sitting. In eighteen sixty six,
Elizabeth took her campaign to Connecticut. She launched an ambitious
campaign to overturn the legal doctrine of coverture, proposing a
bill that would allow a married woman to retain the
same legal existence and receive the same legal protection of
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her rights as does a man. This was a trial
run for reforms she hoped to pass in Illinois and
Massachusetts which would ultimately allow her to sue for custody
of her children. Despite winning the support of hundreds of men,
the Judiciary Committee ultimately found it inexpedient to make such
radical changes at the present time, and the bill failed.
(44:02):
In March eighteen sixty six, Elizabeth published her second book,
Marital Power Exemplified. This slim volume focused more directly on
married women's rights, and was inspired by the success of
Uncle Tom's cabin In swaying public opinion. The book was
another hit, further solidifying her financial independence and providing her
a platform for her political work. The year eighteen sixty
(44:25):
seven was a period of intense and consequential activity for Elizabeth,
as she returned to Illinois to secure justice for the
women still in the Jacksonville Asylum. In January, Elizabeth arrived
in Springfield, the state capital, and went to the Governor's
mansion to meet with Governor Richard j Oglesby. Though he
(44:45):
was initially dismissive due to his personal friendship with doctor
mac farland, Elizabeth presented him with a petition signed by
thirty six influential men, which changed his tone and secured
her a meeting. The governor introduced her to the legislators,
who helped her draft a new personal liberty bill. Elizabeth
successfully insisted that the bill include penalties for doctors who
(45:08):
admitted patients without a trial and a sixty day deadline
for current inmates to be granted a trial. Doctor MacFarland
campaigned aggressively against the bill, meeting personally with politicians to
discredit Elizabeth and urge them to repeal the eighteen sixty
five law. Elizabeth countered by lobbying politicians in their boarding
(45:29):
house parlors, using a clever strategy of flattery and appealing
to their sense of manly duty. On February twelfth, Elizabeth
was invited to address the Illinois General Assembly. In a
powerful speech, she argued for her bill detailed the injustices
of the current system and strongly hinted that a full
investigation into the asylum was necessary. Her address was a sensation.
(45:52):
On March fifth, Governor Oglesby signed the bill into law.
It became widely known as Packard's Law. Elizabeth's speech had
an immediate impact, prompting an unannounced legislative visit to the
Jacksonville Asylum the very next day. Several legislators who had
been briefed by Elizabeth visited her friends Sarah Minard and
Maria Chapman, and left convinced of the injustice of their confinement.
(46:17):
Despite a favorable report from the Senate Finance Committee on
February twenty third, the public outcry, fueled by Elizabeth's campaign
and newspaper articles detailing horrible revelations of abuse, led to
the appointment of a special joint committee to investigate the
asylum on February twenty sixth. The State Register credited the
(46:37):
committee's formation mainly to the efforts of Missus Packard. The committee,
chaired by the highly respected General Allen C. Fuller, was
given the power to examine witnesses under oath. The committee
began its work in May eighteen sixty seven. On June sixth,
Elizabeth was called to testify. She spoke for nearly seven hours,
(46:58):
detailing her commitment, the censorship, the violence she witnessed, and
Macfarland's cruelty. In a dramatic turn, MacFarland, who was present
to cross examine her, publicly produced and had read aloud
her secret love letter from January nineteen, eighteen sixty three.
The committee was shocked, viewing it as either a sign
of a diseased and disordered intellect or a degrading invitation
(47:20):
of illicit intercourse. The next day, Elizabeth gave a powerful
written explanation, framing the letter as a desperate but justifiable
act of self defense. The investigation continued through the fall,
hearing from twenty two former patients and numerous employees who
corroborated the claims of widespread abuse. On December fourth, General
(47:41):
Fuller read the committee's final report to the hospital's trustees.
The report was damning. It confirmed that Patience had been
unjustly committed in violation of the law, that Macfarland's classification
of Patience was fundamentally wrong, and that his rule of
force has too often usurped the law of love. It
unanimously recommended an immediate change in the office of Superintendent
(48:04):
that doctor mac farland be fired. The trustees were enraged
and refused to act on the recommendation. Governor Oglesby, mac
Farland's friend, agreed to suppress the report, planning to sit
on it for over a year until the next General
Assembly convened in eighteen sixty nine. On December seventh, in
a stunning move, General Fuller leaked the entire report to
(48:27):
the Chicago Tribune. Its publication caused a profound sensation across
the country and even in Europe, as the public learned
of the horrific abuse and mismanagement at the hospital. For Elizabeth,
it was total vindication, as the report confirmed the truth
of all her charges against the superintendent. The year eighteen
(48:52):
sixty nine marked a pivotal victory for Elizabeth in her
long fight to be reunited with her children. With her
three eldest sons, Taffey, Isaac, and now the lawyer Samuel
publicly supporting her, she traveled to Boston to launch a
custody suit. By this time she had become a financially
independent business woman, owning two houses and possessing some ten
(49:13):
thousand dollars in savings. Her husband. Theophilis, in contrast, had
not held a permanent pastorship since eighteen sixty five and
was living on charity. On May twenty fourth, eighteen sixty nine,
before the custody case could proceed, Theophilus's lawyer, seeing which
way the legal and public winds were blowing, advised him
to surrender. The three youngest children, Libby, George, and Arthur
(49:36):
wrote to Elizabeth, stating, we will gladly accept of your
offer to go out and live with you in Chicago.
Elizabeth replied, my fond heart is filled with joy for her.
The mother's battle was fought, and the victory won. In
the summer of eighteen sixty nine, Elizabeth established a new
home for her family at fourteen ninety seven Prairie Avenue,
(49:59):
then Chicago's finest residential area. In a remarkable reunion, all
six of her children came to live with her. Theophilus
also moved to Chicago to be near them, and relations
between the estranged husband and wife became cordial, though distant.
Elizabeth allowed him to visit the children, but she treated
him as a stranger gentleman. On June eighth, eighteen seventy,
(50:22):
doctor Andrew MacFarland, after years of public pressure following the
investigating Committee's report, finally resigned from his post as superintendent
of the Jacksonville Asylum. In a pattern that had become familiar,
double the usual number of patients were discharged just before
his departure. Instead of returning to a quiet domestic life
(50:42):
as she had once planned, Elizabeth, changed by her experiences,
chose to dedicate her undivided energies to the great work
of reformation. For the next three decades, Elizabeth campaigned tirelessly
across the country. She proved to be a remarkably successful
and persistent political force. By her own count, she was
(51:03):
responsible for the passage of thirty four bills in twenty
four states, fighting for both women's rights and the rights
of the mentally ill. One of her most significant and
lasting achievements was securing the postal rights of patients, guaranteeing
them uncensored access to mail, a reform directly inspired by
her own experience with McFarlane's censorship. These bills often bore
(51:25):
her name with headlines marking the passing of Packard's law.
She also successfully campaigned for the establishment of independent asylum
inspection bodies, sometimes insisting that a female inspector be included.
In eighteen seventy eight, Elizabeth made a concerted effort to
reclaim her public narrative. She published The Mystic Key, a
(51:47):
book intended to explain the context of her controversial love
letter to doctor McFarland, which she called the greatest obstacle
to her work. That same year, having finally raised enough capital,
she published her agnum Opus, The Great Drama, the book
she had written in the asylum. She dedicated it to
my beloved sisters, the married women of America. Throughout her career,
(52:11):
she was relentlessly attacked by opponents, who labeled her a
half cured lunatic and used her letter to be smirch
her virtue. MacFarlane himself remained her most terrible antagonist, reportedly
making a special trip to Washington, d c. To inform
committee members of her insanity when she was lobbying President
Grant for a federal postal rights bill, which subsequently failed
(52:33):
to pass. Theophilus never held a permanent pastorship after eighteen
sixty five. He spent his final years living a quiet,
solitary life in his sister Sybyl's house. His world reduced
to a single room, in an echo of the confinement
he had forced on Elizabeth. He died in December eighteen
eighty five, at the age of eighty three. A late
(52:54):
diary entry reads, I acknowledged the justice of God in
this great calamity and hoped that He and Mercy is
overruling it for my spiritual welfare. Doctor MacFarlane's reputation and
career blossomed after leaving the state hospital. He became incredibly
wealthy and opened a successful private asylum called Oak Lawn.
He was consulted on the high profile insanity cases of
(53:17):
President Garfield's assassin and Mary Todd Lincoln. On November twenty second,
eighteen ninety one, suffering from a fatal brain inflammation and depression,
he died by suicide, hanging himself in a vacant room
in his asylum. He was seventy six. His inquest cited
temporary mental aberration. Elizabeth's son scattered across the country and
(53:39):
pursued various careers, with Samuel becoming a successful lawyer and
advocate for reform inspired by his mother. Tragically, her daughter Libby,
suffered a lifelong struggle with mental illness, which the family
attributed to the intense stress she endured as a child.
After her mother's commitment, Elizabeth stopped her reform work for
three years to care for Libby full time. When Libby
(54:02):
was later committed to an asylum in California by her husband,
Elizabeth rescued her and cared for her personally at her
son Taffi's house. Libby eventually died in an asylum at
the age of fifty one. Elizabeth outlived both of the
men who had tried to silence her. She lived with
her son Taffi, in California while caring for Libby. In
(54:23):
July eighteen ninety seven, she traveled with her daughter to Chicago.
Less than a week later, she was rushed to the hospital.
On July twenty fifth, eighteen ninety seven, Elizabeth Packard died
from a strangulated hernia at the age of eighty. Her
death was reported across the country, with obituaries mourning the
loss of the wise friend of the insane and comparing
(54:46):
her influence to that of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Her funeral
was private, and she was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery
next to her son George. Her gravestone bears a single
word mother, a
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