This collection contains of 29 incoming letters, written on postal cards, to the Kansas Insane Asylum at Osawatomie, Kansas, between 1873 and 1876. Sixteen of these cards pertain to general administration of the asylum, employment matters, personal subjects, and other topics, while 13 cards regard patients. The correspondence respecting patients are requests for health and update information about relatives and friends; two are requests for the admission of patients.
Custom printed United States postal cards include one from the "Kansas State Agricultural College, PRESIDENTS OFFICE", Manhattan, Kansas; a "Paola, Kansas", "The MIAMI COUNTRY MEDICAL SOCIETY" invitation; and one invitation to the "Young Men's O.A.M. Dancing Club" [Paola, Kansas?].
Names of patients mentioned:
- Blacker, Mrs. (husband W. T. Blacker of Williamstown, Kansas, February 6, 1876)
- Chase, Cyrenus F. (wife Jane E. Chase of Parsons, Kansas, June 23, 1874)
- Chatham, John A. (wife Sophia Chatham of Topeka, Kansas, [post November 5, 1874], May 25, 1875, and [post July 13, 1875])
- Coleman, Elizabeth (guardians W. H. Cox and F. M. Coalman of Elk City, Kansas, November 3, 1874)
- Gifferd, William (brother Joseph Gifferd of Olathe, Kansas, September 27, 1875)
- Williams, George (son Thomas Williams of Parsons, Kansas, March 4, 1874, and May 24, 1874)
- Wood, Mr. (wife Martha A. Wood of Barry, Illinois, September 27, 1875)
The Kansas Insane Asylum (also called the State Lunatic Asylum, State Insane Asylum, and, later, Osawatomie State Hospital) was founded with passage of an act dated March 2, 1863, and opened its doors to patients near Osawatomie in 1866. Dr. Abraham Huntley Knapp accepted an appointment as superintendent of the asylum and served from 1873 to 1877 and 1878 to 1892. Dr. Knapp was considered a humane man that dealt tenderly with his patients, though his time as head of the institution was not without controversy. Shortly after he began work, his rigid and military-like administration led a number of employees to quit, and later, he established a racetrack at the asylum that was purportedly maintained by patient labor.
Abraham Huntley Knapp (also known as Abram H. Knapp) was born in Coxsackie, New York, on August 16, 1829, to parents Nathan and Susan Knapp. He studied in a medical college of New York City and entered private practice at Gilboa, New York. Dr. Knapp returned to Coxsackie and married Clara L. Jackson (1829-1919) in 1851. The couple had five children, including Louis Reed (1855-1891), Dora M. (b. ca. 1856), Marie Antoinette (1860-1934), Frank (b. ca. 1861), and Clara M. (b. ca. 1863). The family moved to Poughkeepsie, New York, to Ottawa, Kansas, and then settled in Osawatomie, Kansas. There, Abram Knapp served as superintendent of the Kansas Insane Asylum from 1873 to 1877, then 1878 to 1892. Dr. Knapp died on December 30, 1892, in Ottawa, Kansas.