FOR COMMITTEE. 2 
STATE LUNATIC HOSPITALS, Ac. 
[April, 
dommonwealtl) of fHassacljusetts. 
In the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty- 
Two. 
AN ACT 
Concerning State Lunatic Hospitals and Insane and 
Idiotic Persons. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives., in General Court assembled, and by the authority of 
the same, as follows:- 
1 Sect. 1. The titles of the state lunatic hospitals 
2 shall be severally, The Worcester Lunatic Hospital, 
3 The Taunton Lunatic Hospital, and The Northamp- 
4 ton Lunatic Hospital. The government of each shall 
5 be vested in a board of five trustees appointed and 
6 commissioned by the governor, with the advice and 
7 consent of the council. They shall hold their offices 
8 for five years, subject to removal only for sufficient 
9 cause, and their terms of office shall be so arranged 
10 that the term of one of them shall expire on the 
11 first Wednesday of February in each year; but any 1862.] 
SENATE-No. 000. 
3 
12 one may be re-appointed. If any be removed, resign, 
13 or die, before the expiration of his term, another 
14 shall be appointed to serve the remainder of that 
15 term. 
1 Sect. 2. The lands now holden, and which may 
2 hereafter be holden, by the trustees of any state 
3 lunatic hospital, in trust for the Commonwealth for 
4 the use of the institution of which they are trustees, 
5 shall not be taken for any street, highway, or rail- 
6 road, without leave of the legislature specially ob- 
7 tained. 
1 Sect. 3. Any of the judges of the supreme judi- 
2 cial, superior, and probate courts, and, in the city of 
3 Boston, of the police court, may commit to either of 
4 the state lunatic hospitals any insane person who, 
5 in their opinion, is a proper subject for its treatment 
6 or custody. But in all cases the evidence and certifi- 
7 cate of at least two respectable physicians shall be 
8 required to establish the fact of insanity. In all 
9 cases the judge shall certify in what place the lunatic 
10 resided at the time of his commitment, or if ordered 
11 to be confined by any court, the judge shall certify in 
12 what place the lunatic resided at the time of the 
13 arrest, in pursuance of which he was held to answer 
14 before such court; and such certificate shall, for the 
15 purposes of this act, be conclusive evidence of his 
16 residence. 
1 Sect. 4. Any person applying for the commitment 
2 or for the admission of a lunatic to a state lunatic 
3 hospital, under the provisions of this act, shall first 4 
STATE LUNATIC HOSPITALS, Ac. 
[April, 
4 give notice in writing to the mayor, or one or more 
5 of the selectmen, of the place where the lunatic re- 
6 sides, of his intention to make such application; and 
7 satisfactory evidence that such notice has been given 
8 shall be produced to the judge in cases of commit- 
9 ment, and to the trustees upon applications for ad- 
10 mission. 
1 Sect. 5. Upon every application for the commit- 
2 ment or admission of an insane person to any hospi- 
3 tai or asylum for the insane, there shall be filed with 
4 the application, or within ten days after the commit- 
5 ment or admission, a statement in respect to such 
6 persons, showing, as nearly as can be ascertained, his 
7 age, birthplace, civil condition, and occupation; the 
8 supposed cause and the duration and character of his 
9 disease, whether mild, violent, dangerous, homicidal, 
10 suicidal, paralytic, or epileptic; the previous or pre- 
11 sent existence of insanity in the person or his family; 
12 his habits in regard to temperance; whether he has 
13 been in any lunatic hospital, and if so, what one, 
14 when, and how long ; and, if the patient is a woman, 
15 whether she has borne children, and, if so, what time 
16 has elapsed since the birth of the youngest; the 
17 name and address of some one or more of his nearest 
18 relatives or friends, together with any facts showing 
19 whether he has or has not a settlement, and if he has 
20 a settlement, in what place: and if the applicant is 
21 unable to state any of the above particulars he shall 
22 state his inability to do so. The statement, or a copy 
23 thereof, shall be transmitted to the superintendent 
24 of the hospital or asylum with the order of commit- 
25 ment, or the application for admission. 1862.] 
SENATE-No. 000. 
5 
1 Sect. 6. The judge may hear and determine such 
2 applications, in respect to persons alleged to be in- 
3 sane, at such times and places as he may appoint, 
4 and the presence of the alleged lunatic at the hearing 
5 may be required or dispensed with in the discretion 
6 of the judge ; and, when requested by any friend of 
7 the alleged lunatic, he shall issue a warrant to the 
8 sheriff, or his deputy, directing him to summon a 
9 jury of six lawful men to hear and determine whe- 
10 ther the alleged lunatic is insane. Whenever a jury 
11 is summoned, pursuant to the provisions of this 
12 section, the same proceedings shall be had and the 
13 same fees and expenses paid as are provided by 
14 General Statutes, chapter seventy-three, sections 
15 twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen and sixteen. 
1 Sect. 7. The several judges of probate shall ap- 
2 point in every town, and for every ten thousand 
3 inhabitants in each city, in their respective counties, 
4 a board of lunacy commissioners consisting of two 
5 persons, one of whom shall be a justice of the peace 
6 and the other a physician, who shall hold their offices 
7 for the term of seven years. Said judges may remove 
8 said commissioners for cause, and may fill any vacan- 
9 cies in said boards occurring by death, resignation, 
10 removal from the town or city, or otherwise. 
1 Sect. 8. Upon every application for the admission 
2 of an insane person to the several state lunatic hos- 
3 pitals, or to any asylum or private house for the 
4 reception of the insane, the applicant shall file with 
5 his application a certificate, signed by a board of 
6 lunacy commissioners, certifying, after due inquiry 6 
STATE LUNATIC HOSPITALS, Ac. 
[April, 
7 and examination by them, to the insanity of the per- 
8 son in whose behalf admission is sought. And said 
9 certificate shall not be granted by said lunacy com- 
10 missioners except upon the affidavit, under oath, of 
11 another physician, who, when practicable, shall be 
12 the family physician of the patient, that said person 
13 is insane. And such affidavit shall accompany the 
14 certificate of the lunacy commissioners and be trans- 
15 mitted therewith to the superintendent of the hos- 
16 pital, or asylum, or to the keeper of such private 
17 house; and for every such examination and certifi- 
18 cate each commissioner shall be paid by the applicant 
19 the sum of two dollars. 
1 Sect. 9. Any insane person who is supported by 
2 any place as a pauper may be committed by the over- 
3 seers of the poor thereof to either of the state lunatic 
4 hospitals, with the consent of the trustees, and shall 
5 be kept for a sum not exceeding the actual expense 
6 of his support. And the trustees shall receive into 
7 the hospital any insane person having a settlement 
8 or residence in this Commonwealth, for such compen- 
9 sation as they may determine. 
1 Sect. 10. The physician of the state prison, the 
2 superintendents of the McLean Asylum, at Somer- 
3 ville, and of the Boston Lunatic Hospital, and the 
4 jail physicians in the respective counties of Essex, 
5 Middlesex, and Norfolk, shall constitute boards of 
6 commissioners to examine any prisoners in the jails 
7 and houses of correction, in said counties, supposed 
8 to be insane, when requested by the respective sheriffs 
9 thereof, and may direct their removal to either of the 1862.] 
SENATE-No. 000. 
7 
10 state lunatic hospitals. In the other counties respec- 
11 tively, except Suffolk, the superintendent of the 
12 nearest state lunatic hospital, the jffil physician, and 
13 any board of lunacy commissioners, shall constitute 
14 a board of commissioners to examine any prisoners 
15 in the jails and houses of correction, in such coun- 
16 ties, alleged to be insane, when requested by the 
17 respective sheriffs thereof, and may direct their remo- 
18 val to either of the state lunatic hospitals. But in 
19 all cases the lunatic so sent, and those likewise who 
20 may be sent from the state prison, shall be, in the 
21 opinion of the respective commissions, a fit subject 
22 for hospital treatment. Each commissioner shall 
23 receive a fee of two dollars, and his necessary ex- 
24 penses, for every prisoner so examined, to be paid by 
25 the Commonwealth for the examinations at the state 
26 prison, and by the counties for the examinations at 
27 the several jails or houses of correction. But the 
28 governor, with the consent of the council, may pro- 
29 vide for the custody and treatment of any of the 
30 curable lunatics in the prisons in this state in any 
31 other suitable hospital and cause their removal there- 
32 to ; provided, in their opinion, such provisions and 
33 removal thereto shall be for the interest of the Com- 
34 monwealth. 
1 Sect. 11. The expenses of the state lunatic hos- 
2 pitals for the support of lunatics having known 
3 settlements in this state shall be paid quarterly, 
4 either by the persons obligated to pay, or by the place 
5 in which such lunatics had their residence at the 
6 time of their commitment, unless other sufficient 
7 security is taken, to the satisfaction of the trustees, 8 
STATE LUNATIC HOSPITALS, &c. 
[April, 
8 for such support. If any place or person refuses to 
9 pay whatever sum may be charged and due, accord- 
10 ing to the by-laws of the hospital, on account of the 
11 support of such patient therein, or for the removal of 
12 any patient whom the trustees are authorized by law 
13 to remove, for thirty days after the same has been 
14 demanded by the treasurer, in writing, of the mayor 
15 and aidermen of the city, or of the selectmen of the 
16 town, or of the person liable therefor, the same, with 
17 interest from the time of such demand, may be 
18 recovered for the use of the hospital in an action to 
19 be instituted by the district-attorneys, or other prose- 
20 cuting officers, in the name of the treasurer, against 
21 such delinquent city, town, or person. 
1 Sect. 12. The expenses of the hospitals for the 
2 support of lunatics not having known settlements in 
3 this state, committed thereto, shall be paid monthly 
4 by the Commonwealth at the same rates charged for 
5 city and town pauper lunatics therein, and the same 
6 may afterwards be recovered, by the treasurer of the 
7 Commonwealth, of the lunatics themselves, if of 
8 sufficient ability to pay the same, or of any kindred 
9 obligated by law to maintain them, or of the place of 
10 their settlement if any such is ascertained; and the 
11 district-attorneys, or other prosecuting officers, shall 
12 institute suits therefor when requested. 
1 Sect. 13. It shall be the official duty of the 
2 attorney-general and district-attorneys to advise and 
3 consult with the trustees and treasurers of the several 
4 state lunatic hospitals, when requested by them, 
5 questions of law relating to their official business. 1862.] 
SENATE-No. 000. 
9 
1 Sect. 14. If, at any time, all of said state lunatic 
2 hospitals shall be so full that the inmates cannot be 
3 suitably accommodated therein, and in the opinion of 
4 the trustees of either hospital it is proper that some 
5 should be removed, the trustees may remove to their 
6 respective homes, or to the places of their legal set- 
7 tlement, so many as may be necessary to afford suit- 
8 able accommodation for the remainder. But only 
9 such patients shall be selected for removal as, in the 
10 opinion of the trustees and superintendent, are not 
11 susceptible of improvement, and can be suitably 
12 managed at their homes or in the places to which 
13 they may be sent. 
1 Sect. 15. Any judge of the supreme judicial or 
2 superior court, at any term held within and for the 
3 county in which either hospital is located, or the 
4 judge of the probate court of such county, or the 
5 trustees of such hospital may, on application in writ- 
6 ing, for the discharge from such hospital of any insane 
7 person or idiot who has remained there a sufficient 
8 time to make it appear that he is incurable, and not 
9 dangerous to the peace and safety of the community, 
10 cause him to be delivered to the agents of any place 
11 in which he has a legal settlement, or on which he 
12 has a legal claim for support, or to his friends, when 
13 it appears that it would not be to his injury, and that 
14 he would be comfortably and safely provided for by 
15 any parent, kindred, friend, master or guardian, place 
16 or institution. When request is made in writing for 
17 the purpose, by any person interested in such dis- 
18 charge, the judge before whom the trial is to be held 
19 shall issue a warrant to the sheriff of the county, or 10 
STATE LUNATIC HOSPITALS, &c. 
[April, 
20 his deputy, directing him to summon a jury of six 
21 lawful men, to hear and determine whether such 
22 insane person or idiot is incurable, and may be com- 
23 fortably and safely provided for according to the terms 
24 of this section. The proceedings shall be the same 
25 in selecting jurors, conducting the trial and allo wing- 
26 the costs, as are provided in sections twelve, thirteen, 
27 fourteen, fifteen and sixteen of chapter seventy-three 
28 of the General Statutes. 
1 Sect. 16. The several judges of probate in the 
2 counties where the state lunatic hospitals are located, 
3 shall have the same authority to at any time discharge 
4 from confinement lunatics committed to the hospitals, 
5 as is conferred upon the trustees and the justices of 
6 the supreme judicial and superior courts by the 
7 twenty-ninth section of said chapter. 
1 Sect. 17. The money and cost of clothing which 
2 the trustees of any lunatic hospital may by law fur- 
3 nish to discharged pauper lunatics, the expense of 
4 pursuing such as elope therefrom, and of burial of 
5 pauper lunatics dying in the hospitals, shall be 
6 re-imbursed to the trustees by the places of legal set- 
7 tlement of city or town paupers, and by the Common- 
8 wealth in the case of state paupers. 
1 Sect. 18. When a person held in prison on a 
2 charge of having committed an indictable offence is 
3 not indicted by the grand jury, or, on trial, is acquit- 
4 ted by the jury by reason of insanity, the jury in 
5 either case shall certify that fact to the court, and 
6 thereupon, if the court is satisfied that he is insane, 1862.] 
SENATE-No. 000. 
11 
7 they may order him to be committed to one of the 
8 state lunatic hospitals under such limitations as they 
9 may direct. 
1 Sect. 19. The first, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, 
2 nineteenth, twentieth, twenty-first, twenty-second, 
3 twenty-third, twenty-fourth, twenty-seventh, twenty- 
4 eighth, and thirtieth section of chapter seventy-three, 
5 and the fifteenth section of [chapter one hundred and 
6 seventy-one, and the seventeenth section of the one 
7 hundred and seventy-second chapter of the General 
8 Statutes are hereby repealed.