In the next installment of my series following the lives of my cousins, Esther and Ruth Caskey, I'm sharing a little more information about their father, Jacob Caskey. Thanks for coming back!
Jacob Phillip Caskey (Kasky) was born December 9, 1898 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Albert Kasky, a naturalized Russian Polish immigrant. In 1918 Jacob registered for the draft and reported that he was a pipe fitter helper in the James Laughlin Company steel mill. He had light hair and blue eyes and was of medium height and build.
In November 1918, Jacob eloped with my 2nd-great aunt, Cecelia Wisneski, who was pregnant. Their daughter Esther was born around April 1919, and the small, young family lived on Arlington Avenue on the South Side of Pittsburgh, near Jacob's family, at the time of the 1920 Census. At that time Jacob's occupation was "craneman" in the steel mill. A second daughter, Ruth, was born around 1923-24.
Unfortunately, the family's trajectory took some sharp turns during the 1920s. Esther and Ruth became residents of Concordia Orphans' Home in April 1927, and their mother Cecelia died in October of that year. The girls lived the rest of their childhoods in the orphanage.
Where was their father? I found evidence that he was a patient in the Pittsburgh City Homes and Hospitals at Mayview in the mental health ward in both the 1930 and 1940 Censuses. But I wanted to understand more. Why was Jacob admitted to the hospital, and when? From what condition did he suffer and what treatments were given? Did he die in the hospital, or was he ever released?
I requested records from the Pennsylvania State Archives. They recently sent me three records. The most informative is Jacob Caskey's admission card.
Both sides of Jacob Caskey's Mayview Hospital admission card, with notes about dates admitted and eloped, as well as his closest family contact. Courtesy of the Pennsylvania State Archives.
This record holds a wealth of information. From it I learned that Jacob Caskey was first admitted to Mayview on May 5, 1926. He "eloped" on August 30, 1926. At this time he would have had a wife and two young daughters (ages 7 and 3-4) at home. In this context, elopement means that he left the hospital against medical advice or orders (we might phrase it "escaped" but since it's not a prison, that isn't quite right). From what I can gather, I think patients who eloped and did not return were automatically "discharged" after about 1 year. In this case, Jacob was initially discharged November 30, 1927.
I don't have any information about whether Jacob returned to his family and home after eloping from Mayview in 1926, or whether he was able to work again. During the time he was out of Mayview, his daughters entered Concordia Orphans' Home and his wife Cecelia died of a self-induced abortion.
What is clear from this record, though, is that on April 11, 1929, a year and a half after his wife died, Jacob Caskey was re-admitted to Mayview Hospital. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. It also says that he was an electrician by trade and currently living at the police station when he was admitted. His diagnosis from his previous admission was listed as "dementia praecox," which was an older term for schizophrenia.
None of the records I received from the archives discussed treatments received. Jacob was committed to Mayview during a time of transition in mental health treatment methods. What he may have experienced could have been quite horrific and harmful, or may have simply been ineffective. According to an article on Psych Central written by Gina Ryder and Christie Craft and medically reviewed by Matthew Boland, PhD:
"Common 20th century treatments for schizophrenia included:
- insulin coma therapy: repeatedly injecting large amounts of insulin to induce daily comas over a period of weeks,
- Metrazol shock: a potentially fatal form of shock therapy involving injections of Metrazol (pentylenetetrazol) to trigger convulsions and coma,
- electroconvulsive therapy: stimulating or shocking the brain with electricity to induce seizures,
- surgery: including frontal lobotomy." (https://psychcentral.com/schizophrenia/history-of-schizophrenia#origins-and-history. Published 1/7/2022. Accessed 2/17/2023.)
After being treated and living at Mayview Hospital for over 19 years, Jacob eloped again on May 20, 1948 and never returned. He was officially discharged one year later.
I have not been able to find a death certificate for Jacob, nor a burial record. So far I have not found him listed in the 1950 Census either. His family contact listed on the admission card is his sister, Mollie Caskey. In 1950, she was working as a salesperson in a retail department store and living with her sister Mathilda's family, on the South Side of Pittsburgh relatively close to where they grew up. They lived across the river from Ruth Caskey in 1950, where she is boarding on Ivy St. and working as a cashier in a retail food store.
I wonder if any of them ever connected after childhood. I know that Ruth and Esther reunited and lived the rest of their lives in proximity to one another (and were buried in the same grave). But whether Ruth connected with the rest of the Wisneskis in Washington, PA, or whether either of the sisters had any relationship with their father once he eloped from Mayview or his siblings, remains a mystery.
It seems to me that Esther and Ruth must have had extremely difficult childhoods, full of trauma. It gives me hope to know that they found one another again.
Thank you for reading about the lives of Cecelia, Esther, Ruth, and Jacob Caskey. I welcome your comments and questions.
Comments
Post a Comment