E.R. Vernor On The Horrors Of Real Life Haunted Asylums

Would you share something with us about Riverside patient Mary Mallon, also known as “Typhoid Mary?

ERV: Mary Mallon, the most infamous patient to reside at Riverside was more commonly called “Typhoid Mary.” A carrier of typhoid, Mary had the disease, but showed no apparent signs of the illness — yet she was quite capable of spreading it. She worked as a cook at various places in Manhattan and Long Island between the years 1900 and 1907, where she transmitted the infection to as many as fifty-three people. As they got sick or died, she would find employment elsewhere. Soon, Mary was questioned by health officials. Her response was that she did not believe she had the disease and adamantly refused to cooperate. In 1907, Mary was taken into custody by police officers and the Health Department gave her an ultimatum — either have her gall bladder removed (where typhoid carrier germs lived) or be exiled to North Brother Island. She refused the surgical operation, which was risky and unpredictable at the time, and was committed to Riverside Hospital, where she lived out the rest of her life in an isolated cottage on the island. She began working at the hospital in 1918, becoming a nurse and finally a laboratory assistant. Mary suffered a stroke in 1933 and remained bedridden at Riverside until she died on November 11, 1938.

Could you tell us a story about one of the other haunted asylums for our readers sake to give them nightmares? Smile.

ERV: In truth, the most horrific story is the fact Henry Cotton, the 1916 superintendent of the Trenton State Hospital in New Jersey, believed psychosis was caused by “chronic pus infections” and treated sufferers not only with tooth removal, but also mutilated patients by removing limbs, the stomach, large intestine, tonsils, uterus, and colon. A 1924 study revealed that forty-three percent of Cotton’s patients had died, and that he had killed more than one hundred people with his intestinal surgeries alone. It is sad and tragic that horror movies pale in comparison to the brutal reality that happened at so many of these places. That is just one of many stories the book has. CONTINUED..

Definitely one not to miss the rest of and well worth checking out the rest of for more knowledge on Haunted Asylums ER Vernor’s new book plus many more questions and answers

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