Henry Spoon: An "orphan" son finds life too difficult to handle

Map shows Amo and neighboring towns in relation to Indianapolis

Born in 1821, exact date unknown, Henry Spoon appears to have had a difficult life from the very beginning.

His father, David Sylvester Spoon, died in 1823, so Henry probably had little or no memory of him. Henry and his brothers, Turly and David Jr., were in 1830 placed in the care of John Spoon Jr., assumed by researchers to be their uncle. From that time until 1842, when he turned 21, Henry is listed as a ward of John Spoon Jr., living in Guilford County, North Carolina. By this time his mother had long since remarried, leaving her "orphan" children in the care of a relative.

There are indications that John Spoon Jr. provided a good life for Henry, Turly and David Jr. during their youth. Each year he filed documents claiming profit on the sale of corn and wheat crops to be used for their care. It certainly does not appear that young Henry and his brothers were neglected or abused.

But considering what happened later in Henry's life, one wonders just how well he endured his childhood and young adult years.

Shortly after he was legally declared an adult, Henry left North Carolina. One can only speculate about his reasons for doing so, but apparently Henry followed the lead of a large group of immigrants who had previously left Guilford County and moved northwest, settling in central Indiana. This appears to have been some sort of organized effort, probably accelerated by word sent back to friends and relatives in North Carolina, because many of these immigrants ended up in the same region of Indiana and settled an area that soon became known as Guilford Township.

The surrounding area was officially designated Hendricks County in 1824 in honor of Indiana Gov. William Hendricks. Just a few minutes' drive west of Indianapolis using the modern transportation we have today, the heart of Hendricks County was in those days a good little buggy ride from the city that would one day become famous for its 500-lap auto race.

We're not sure exactly what year Henry Spoon arrived in Indiana, but it was sometime between 1842 and 1846. One thing we know for certain -- once he got there, Henry made friends fast.

An artist’s rendering depicts the Indiana Hospital for the Insane in the 1870s

Court records show that on Sept. 17, 1846, at the age of 25, Henry married Rebecca Medaris in Hancock County, just east of Indianapolis. He is next found in the 1850 census for Hendricks County. Those records list Henry as a farmer with a personal value of $400, a decent bankroll in those days. Also listed as residing in his household are Rebecca Spoon, age 26 and a native of Virginia; Sarah Jane Spoon, just one year old; and William Amick, 26, a "farm operative" from North Carolina.

William Amick probably was a stepbrother to Henry. He shares the same surname and home state as Peggy Greeson Spoon's second husband, Jacob Amick. It seems likely that Henry and William grew up as childhood friends and decided to strike out together for a new life in Indiana. After Henry married Rebecca, William was welcomed into the Spoon household as a farm hand.

Unfortunately, this is the last we hear of Rebecca, William and young Sarah Jane. Hendricks County records show that on May 23, 1858, Henry married Sarah Catherine Reitzel, daughter of prominent local land owner David Reitzel, like Henry a native of North Carolina. We have no idea what happened to Henry's first wife, Rebecca, or his daughter, Sarah Jane. We do know that Henry soon started a new family, however. In the 1870 Hendricks County census, he and his new wife are listed as the parents of six children: Ellen, 11; Nancy, 7; Oliver, 5; John, 3; and twins Marietta and Rose Zetta, 1. Henry, still listed as a farmer, this time has real estate valued at $1,600 and personal value of $250.

It appears Henry worked a small farm in the southeast corner of Clay Township, a neighboring township to Guilford in the fledgling county of Hendricks. The small parcel of land is shown on a map of that era between larger lots belonging to Adam Reitzel and David Reitzel, whose real estate was just across the border into Franklin Township. As David Spoon's father-in-law had done for him several years before, it appears Henry's father-in-law gave or sold part of his farm land to the man who promised to provide for his daughter.

Within Clay Township were several smaller towns, some of which have survived until today and some that are now merely spots on an old map. Amo, close to the center of Clay Township, is today a town of about 450 residents located a few miles west of Clayton (pop. 700). Pecksburg, a bit to the east of Amo, was the location given for the Spoon and Reitzel farms in the mid-1800s. Today it is a ghost town, little more than the remains of some buildings at the intersection of Reeves Road and Clayton Road by the railroad tracks.

It was here that Henry Spoon, in his late 30s and working on his second marriage, began to decide that there might be more to life than harvesting crops. References made to him during that time list two occupations -- farmer and "trader." According to sources describing his character in various documents, Henry soon became obsessed with gathering wealth. Whether simply trading crops and selling farm goods or dealing in something less virtuous, Henry apparently was consumed with making money.

Since we have no record of Henry’s first wife Rebecca or their infant daughter Sarah Jane after the 1850 Hendricks County census, it's possible that the stress of a divorce or a death had emotionally scarred Henry before he ever reached the altar a second time. Perhaps he was adversely affected by the Civil War, although he was probably considered too old to have served in the military at that time. Maybe he carried emotional scars from a childhood without a father, or perhaps he simply became too fond of the bottle.

An excerpt from Henry Spoon’s commitment papers at the Indiana Hospital for the Insane

The reasons for Henry's problems are merely speculation. The final years of his downfall are well documented, however, if one digs deep enough.

The first sign of trouble we see in Henry's life came in 1869, when he was institutionalized at the Indiana Hospital for the Insane. A 100-acre complex of brick buildings and gardens opened in 1848 on the outskirts of Indianapolis, this facility was later renamed Central State Hospital and was closed in 1994, serving since then as a museum. The first record of Henry Spoon's stay there, according to Indiana State Archives records, was a commitment paper dated April 5, 1869 and signed by Henry's father-in-law, David Reitzel.

At the time, Henry and Sarah Catherine had been married 11 years. The couple had six children, including twin girls -- Mary Etta and Rose Zetta -- born just weeks before, on Feb. 28. The only indication given on that first commitment form was the comment, "Papers represent this man's insanity at three months, five or six months at most. He has been reputed insane three or four years in his neighborhood." His behavior was described as "restless and noisy, aggravated at night." His age, for years a subject of debate because of conflicting records, was listed as 53.

There is no record of the date when Henry was released from the Indiana Hospital for the Insane. All we know is that he was committed a second time on Nov. 18, 1873, this time with William Reitzel, his brother-in-law, signing the papers. In contrast to his wife's staunch religious beliefs, Henry's religion was listed as “none.” His form of mental disorder was described as "mania, periodical (acute)," having lasted "three months this time." The cause was described as "intemperance." He was also listed as "homicidal -- threatened wife." Adding to the confusion about his age, Henry's age at his previous commitment two years earlier was listed this time as 51, not 53.

It appears that throughout this ordeal, Sarah Catherine Spoon made every effort to stand behind her troubled husband while trying to raise six children on her own in his absence. There is a notation that she visited Henry in the hospital on Jan. 15, causing no change in Henry's behavior other than the note, "He was extremely anxious to go home."

A doctor's evaluation of Henry around that time described him as suffering from insanity caused by "intemperance in living, irregular habits, with the excessive use of coffey and alcohol." Nonetheless, Henry was eventually released. Now described in hospital documents as both a farmer and a trader, Henry apparently was well known around town for his greed, drunken behavior and abuse of his wife and children. There is no arrest record indicating physical violence involving family matters, but this is alluded to in 1877, during yet another stay in the Indiana Hospital for the Insane.

After being committed a third time, this time by his son-in-law Columbus Pierce, Henry was described this way by Dr. C. L. Lawrence: "I have been acquainted with Henry Spoon for eight years and know him to be a very disagreeable man. At this time, his treatment of his family -- children especially -- amounts to cruelty and his remaining at large (would be) dangerous."

Brochure describes abuse of hospital inmates

There is no doubt that Henry's wife and relatives believed they had no choice but to keep Henry confined in the state hospital. Sarah Catherine, struggling to raise six children and keep a farm running, could hardly be expected to expose herself and her children to this kind of danger. If this situation had taken place today, Henry might be sent to a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center or a psychiatric ward for therapy. But in the 1870s, lacking the medical knowledge we have now, doctors simply locked their patients up and monitored them to see if the problem would go away.

While the doctors waited, their patients often lived in the most deplorable of conditions. One shudders to think what Henry went through during his stays over nearly a 10-year period at the Indiana Hospital for the Insane.

For decades, the hospital confined its worst inmates -- those who screamed incessantly or were otherwise disruptive -- to the basement, or the "dungeon" of the hospital. In 1870, hospital superintendent Dr. Everts was so appalled by the wretched living conditions and conduct of employees he witnessed, he appealed to the governor for help. Among his statements: "Basement dungeons are dark, humid and foul, unfit for any kind, filled with maniacs who raved and howled like tortured beasts, for want of light, and air, and food, and ordinary associations and habiliments..."

According to Everts, inmates were forced to sleep on beds of straw thrown on iron cots. Repairs to the hospital were rarely made, leading to "abundant leakages" and rotten floors. Kitchen areas were infested with cockroaches.

Apparently, Everts felt he had no control over the conditions because of the limited state funding provided. Despite his pleas, nothing was done. Frustrated and defeated, Everts resigned in 1872. Not until 1880 did the Indiana legislature appoint an investigating committee to review charges of staff misconduct at state penal and charitable institutions. Helping lead to the eventual improvement of the facility was a series of pamphlets published by Albert Thayer, a former hospital inmate, in which former patients told their horror stories. These pamphlets had compelling titles like "Indiana Crazy House" and "The Rough Diamond" and were illustrated with frightening sketches depicting living conditions in the hospital.

Change did come. Unfortunately, it came too late to save Henry Spoon.

An account of Henry Spoon’s death in the Danville (Ind.) Union

On Aug. 3, 1877, Henry decided he couldn't take it anymore. With another inmate, Henry plotted his escape from a fourth-floor window of the room in which he was lodged. An article in the Danville Union describes how Henry, using a rope made of bed clothes, tried to descend the four stories and escape. Henry made it about halfway down before the rope broke, sending him crashing to the ground. A few hours later, he was dead.

In the Amo Cemetery, under the 12th headstone in the seventh row from the east end, lies the body of Henry Spoon. The stone is in the shape of a shaft, with a book on top engraved with a verse that is no longer legible. Only the death date, once again conflicting with Henry's documented birth year of 1821, is readable: Aug -- 51 yrs, 10 mo., 22 days.

One can only hope that, finally, Henry is at rest.

Douglas Spoon

15 November 2008