Kirkbride Buildings - Historic Insane Asylums Forum

I found this little piece about a Taunton State Hospital patient and thought it was worth noting here.

"Jane Toppan of Bourne was arrested in 1901 for more than a dozen murders committed while she was working as private nurse and in several hospitals. Rather than caring for her patients, she poisoned them with overdoses of opiates. Tried in Barnstable, she was declared insane and sent to Taunton State Hospital until her death in 1938. She eventually claimed to have murdered more than 31 people as a type of euthanasia for people whose life was not worth living in her mind. Dubbed "Jolly Jane" by her patients before her crimes were known, her name on her birth certificate from 1857 was Honora Kelley. She changed her name in 1864 after she was taken in by the Toppan family. By all accounts, she suffered an unhappy childhood and mental illness afflicted her family. While at Taunton State, she was thought to have set fires to the main building more than once, and she often refused to eat the food, ironically claiming that it was poisoned."

Not surprisingly, the source is a collection of stories fit for Halloween: More Scary Folklore in Greater Taunton

Hello.....What is your interest in Taunton State Hospital and what do you know about it? My mother was a patient there in the 1960's. I am looking for her records. Do you know where I can find them or direct me to someone who cam help me? Thank's mary

Hi Mary,

My interest is mainly in the original asylum building at Taunton:

http://www.kirkbridebuildings.com/buildings/taunton/

although I'm also interested in general about the hospital's history. The main focus of this site is providing information and images of buildings like it across the country. They're called Kirkbride buildings. Here's the home page:

http://www.kirkbridebuildings.com/

For the information I can give you regarding patient records, please read this forum thread:

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=370

Hope that helps.