- Transcription
ALLSBROOK & PHILIPS
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
TARBORO, N.C.
November, 3, 1919.
Governor T. W. Bickett,
Raleigh, N.C.,
My dear Governor:
I would much prefer seeing you in person and talking over this matter with you; but, I am busy here with public matters and you are busy there, with the same, and so I must resort to a letter. Having enjoyed your friendship for a number of years and believing that you have confidence in me, to a limited extent to say the least, I am calling upon you to interest yourself in what is a pitiful situation right here in Tarboro.
As the copy of the enclosed letter will show we have been trying, without success, for sometime to get a boy, now 21 years of age into the Insane Asylum; and we are solemnly and seriously told that because the boy was so unfortunate as to be born idiotic, that he must so remain, and forever remain a charge upon those who were responsible for his birth. I can follow the logic of that situation up to the point where the parents of the child are no longer in the flesh, that is to say, when they die. And that is the case of Charlie Hyman; his father is dead; and his mother is now suffering with an incurable disease; the Doctors tell her that she can't get well, and she is gradually growing weaker.
When she is gone the home in which this young man is now found will be composed of 3 or 4 sisters of his, young ladies, all grown, all smart energetic and all having positions of honorable employment about town; there is an older brother, but, he spends his time chiefly elsewhere; he is unmarried, and at present is without a job.
Charlie Hyman up until lately could be managed by his mother; but now it seems that he has just sens enough to know that his mother can no longer conquer him or control him when he becomes enraged, and with the young ladies out of the house away from home, frequently Mrs. Hyman is at the mercy of this strong enraged son of hers, and without timely assistance, might suffer instant death.
Never until she realized her own physical condition, would Mrs. Hyman consent for the boy to go away; now, she is beseeching me and others to find a place for him, somewhere.
She and her daughters, who work, are perfectly willing to pay as much as $30 to $35.00 per month for his keep and maintenance; while Mrs. Hyman has some income-bearing real estate, a small farm, and a few tenant houses here in Tarboro, she is not a rich woman by any means. The boy is in a state of passivity the greater portion of the time, and only needs an attendant to give him water, food and make him stay comfortable; at other times, during a thunder storm, or any condition thrust upon him suddenly, he becomes enraged so to speak, and then proceeds to break out window panes with chairs stools or any other weapon convenient; his general health is fairly good his mother says to me and only requires a little medicine occasionally for indigestion, due doubtless to the fact that he doesn't masticate his food properly. The boy lives withhin 100 yards of me, on another street, and I have seen him under all conditions, and having been in the Insane Asylum myself (not tho' as an inmate as yet) I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt, to a moral certainty, that the Insane Asylum is the proper place for him. What could Dr. McNairy do with him at Kinston? It is not a question of feeble-minedness with Charlie Hyman; the sad fact is that he has no mind at all, or so little that it leaves him in poor plight. Nobody who has ever seen him expects him to get better; but, there are a number to my knowledge from Edgecombe County in the Insane Asylum now, for whom, no hope is entertained/ Why the difference?
I am not appealing to you in the sense nor in the spirit of having you over-rule Dr. Anderson, or, have Dr. Anderson do something for which the law-making body would impeach him or even investigate him; far from that; nor am I appealing to you as an hired and paid Attorney rather as a plain citizen am I appealing to you as the directing head of all the institutions of the State, a great Executive of a great State and a great people to find a way within the spirit of the law at least whereby this young man can be removed from his mother's home and spend the remainder of his days in comparative safety and without shortening the days of another. In conclusion, I might say, that I have had Beasley write all over the State of Virginia looking for some sort of private instition that would admit him, and he is unable to help us. I would certainly appreciate it, and I know Mr. Holderness and Mr. George Howard and the entire Hyman family would, if you would call Dr. Anderson to your office and talk over the matter and see if you cannot arrange to relieve the situation.
You will pardon the length of the letter; but, I could hardly state the boy's case in shorter language.
Assuring you now that whatever is done will be thoroughly appreciated and remembered, I beg to remain, with sentiments of esteem and warm personal regards,
Faithfully Yours,
