Those Places Thursday: Lakeland Asylum, Jefferson Co., KY

[dee_burris]

also known as Central Kentucky Asylum for the Insane

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It hasn't been uncommon for me to find some of my kinfolk committed to asylums of one kind or another.

But in the case of one of my many times removed Parrish cousins, I wonder why.

Sudie Parrish Vittitow was three months shy of her 74th birthday when she died at Lakeland Asylum on 25 Feb 1936.


Sad, but telling that the place where she had lived for three years thought she was Sadie instead of Sudie.

A simple Google search tells some horror stories about the care and treatment at the place where Sudie lived for 3 years, 3 months and 13 days after her commitment - like how in the 1930s, cold showers, insulin injections, lobotomies and shock therapy were used to "cure" the patients, many of whom were just old and had dementia.

Some people say the place is haunted.

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Sudie was the daughter of William Foster Parrish and Elizabeth Holbert. She was born on 15 May 1862 in Nelson County, KY, as were most of her ten siblings. She had a twin sister named Sallie.

She married twice, first to Samuel Vittitow, from whom she was divorced, and then to his cousin, Anthony, who died in 1929.

Altogether, Sudie had 8 children, including sons Clarence and Charlie, who had lived in their parents' home well into their adult years - and up to and including the 1930 census, when they were living with their newly widowed mother as men in their 30s.

So why was Sudie committed to an asylum?

I guess I'll have to wait and ask her on the other side...

Comments

[captain_catgut]

It looks like a Walt Disney castle. Pity it was actually a house of horrors.

[dadadadio]

I recently watched an episode of Ghost Adventures where they entered the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia. It was a huge 18th century building similar to Lakeland. You can only imagine the horrors committed behind those walls and the helpless souls condemned to inhumane treatment.

The program was more than a little campy but I was convinced they made contact with former patients who still inhabit the place. It's a very interesting program but you have to overlook some oddities in production ......... and where did they come up with all the spook-o-meter devices?

[(Anonymous)]

This place was a massive assortment of the unwanted. Elderly, poor, deformity, pedifiles, just any type of person you can think of that didn't fit the mold in the later 1800's and early 1900's. It wasn't until the 60's that they finally stopped housing people that weren't actually mentally insane. I've spent a lot of time researching the grounds and few remaining buildings and have spoken wiht many of the dead there. This place astounds me and saddens me at the same time.There were so many horrors there that people suffered. If the staff didn't abuse you then likely another patient would. So much suffering and it's stained the land. The evidence I've gotten there is absolutely remarkable and undeniable. I often gets names of the dead, asking me to pray for them. If I ever hear the name Sadie or Sudie I'll let you know.

Terri

www.terrigrimes.com

Lakeland

[(Anonymous)]

My aunt also died here in 1939. None of the family I have talked to knows why she was there, but she was only 30 when she died. Her death certificate looks just like your cousins, and interestingly enough, they also misspelled my aunt's last name. Her cause of death was listed as "pelvic abscess and toxic exhaustion". Neglect, maybe?