Family History

Dr. Dwight Seymor Spellman, Toms River, NJ. Circa 1919

March 3, 2009

The above photo is of my great-grandfather ice skating on Tom's River in New Jersey. If you don't think it looks safe, you're right. In 1919, he fell through the ice and died.

I don't know if this will be interesting to anyone else besides me, but since the same goes for just about everything else I write, here it is.

My father sent me a post from the blog of the Beachwood Historical Alliance. (Beachwood, New Jersey) titled Local Founders Profile and Photo Essay.

It contains some photographs and information about my great-grandfather, Dr. Dwight Spellman, an early resident of Beachwood, NJ. (Which, of course, is why the Beachwood Historical Alliance was interested in posting about him.) But more interesting to me is reading that he also lived in New York City, where he worked as a psychologist at The New York City Asylum on Ward's Island.

I can only imagine what it was like to be a psychiatrist at an asylum in 1890 (ten years before the publication of Freud's Interpretation of Dreams ), and it inspired me to see what else I could dig up. I found a report in The New York Times from 1899 about three attendants accused in the death of a patient at Manhattan State Hospital (formerly The New York City Asylum), which includes a reference to my great-grandfather's testimony:

Dr. Dwight S. Spellman, assistant physician at the hospital, testified that he was summoned by attendant McConnell about 10 o'clock Saturday morning to attend to McGuire, O'Connell reporting that the patient had been violent and was restrained with difficulty. Upon Dr. Spellman's arrival in the ward, he found McGuire sitting in a rocking chair in a critical condition, and despite the administration of restoratives, the patient died shortly thereafter.

The article goes on to describe the results of the patient's autopsy, which showed the following injuries:

Fracture of six ribs, right side; bruising of the intestines, with rupture of the abdominal membranes; a deep grooving of the first four ribs on the right side, as if victim had been struck with an iron bar or hard club, and other minor injuries.

When I started this post, I was going to write about how creepy, gothic, and medieval it must've been to work in a turn-of-the-century insane asylum, but as I transcribed the coroner's report, I decided, hell, it doesn't sound much different from anything you'd read in today's paper.

My father told me that the guy from the Beachwood Historical Alliance is interested in meeting with him.

"To show him more pictures and tell stories of your youth?" I asked.

"Ha, no. To talk about my grandfather, I guess. I don't think I'm quite ready to talk about my own childhood to a historical society. I'm not there yet. I'll leave that to you guys."

ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF DR. DWIGHT SEYMOUR SPELLMAN

Dr. Dwight S. Spellman, senior assistant physician, Manhattan State Hospital, was accidentally drowned in the Tom's River, New Jersey, December 18, 1919. He was spending the day at his bungalow on the Jersey coast, and while walking across the frozen river to procure a Christmas tree for his family, he broke through the ice and was submerged in the freezing water. A boy of 13 who accompanied the doctor also broke through but, fortunately, was able to reach solid ice and extricate himself. His cries brought help, but it came too late to rescue Dr. Spellman.

Dr. Spellman was born at Rootstown, Ohio, in 1867. He attended the public school of his native village and the high school at Minerva. His medical education was obtained at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Baltimore. Md., from which he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1889. He accepted a position as assistant physician in the New York City Asylum in 1890, and the remainder of his life was devoted to the care of the insane in the same institution, which in 1896 became the Manhattan State Hospital. His work for years was among the more acute forms of psychoses, and he was considered a psychiatrist of sound judgment and keen acumen. He kept in close touch with the latest developments in psychiatric science, and although he published but few of his observations and consequently was not widely known, his ability was recognized by his colleagues, and his service in the Manhattan State Hospital was greatly appreciated.

He was a member of the American Legion of Military Surgeons, the American Medico-Psychological Association, the Masonic Order, and several local medical societies. He was commissioned as captain during the war and was stationed for several months at Plattsburg, N.Y.

Dr. Spellman's sudden death came as a shock to his many friends in the State hospitals, as well as to his wide circle of acquaintances in other walks of life.

The funeral services, in the Main Building on Ward's Island, were conducted by Rev. Dr. White of the Episcopal Church and by the Masonic Order. The body was taken to Ohio for interment.

Dr. Spellman is survived by a widow and two children.

J.T.W.R.