Alzheimer’s/Dementia

Much of my family history has been compiled by my wonderful progenitors.  Pedigree charts and family group records have been filled out almost a century ago and that information has been handed down to us, their many descendants.  For a very long time I looked at that information as the gospel truth.  About 15 years ago I decided to start collecting copies of births, marriages and deaths to document what has been handed down.  Most of the information that has been handed down is true, but I’ve found some discrepancies and a few interesting stories.

One of those has to do with with my great-great grandfather, George Clark.

George Clark (1826-1902)

He was born 6 July 1826 in Summercotes, Derbyshire, England.¹  At the age of 27 he was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 9 May 1853 in Summercotes.²  His wife Catherine was baptized 15 months later on 19 Aug 1854 in Portland Row, near the parish of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire.³ In 1863 their young family emigrated to Utah to join the Saints. They settled in Alpine, Utah. And that is where George Clark died 26 May 1902. Or did he?

I was searching for old newspaper obituaries and death notices of my ancestors and found the following for George Clark:

Provo News Notes.  George Clark, an old gentleman over 70 years of age, died today at the State Mental hospital.  The remains were taken to his home in Alpine for burial.

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The State Mental Hospital in Provo?!  What was that about?  Even my father didn’t know.  This needed investigating!  I contacted the Utah State Hospital which is still in operation today, and asked if I could get information on George Clark.  After proving through documentation that I really was one of his direct descendants, they sent me copies of his case files.  They were sad, interesting, and pertinent even today.

George had been admitted to Utah State Hospital on 3 September 1900 with a diagnosis of “delusional.”  He was 74 years old.  Named in the Warrant of Commitment issued by the 4th Judicial District were F.C. Clark [son Frederic Charles Clark], David McDaniel [son-in-law] and J.T. Bateman, who gave testimony to the judge asking that George Clark be committed to Utah State Hospital, and that he was indigent and unable to take care of his costs while in the Hospital.  Their reasons for wanting to have George committed:

Acts strangely.  Talks peculiar.  Smashes windows.  Threw stones into his son’s house.  Says “the league” is working against him.  Some “stink” is bothering him.

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The paperwork also asked if he had any relatives, including grandparents and cousins, who were insane.  It says he had a sister who died in an Asylum in Wyoming.  He stayed in the Hospital until his death on 26 May 1902.  He was in the Utah State Hospital for 20 months.  I’m not sure what the conditions were like there, but I hope he received good care.

Back in 1900, not much was known about diseases of the brain, and I wonder if he had Alzheimer’s, or some other kind of dementia.  That fact that his sister also suffered from dementia of some kind makes me wonder if there was a genetic component to it.  My own father Vern Clark, George Clark’s great-grandson, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at the age of 85.  And DNA testing done with 23andMe shows that genetically, he has an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s.  It’s all very interesting, and something for George Clark’s descendants to be aware of.

And just because information has been handed down for generations in the family doesn’t always mean it’s accurate.  Sometimes it pays to dig a little deeper.

Sources:

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1. Riddings Independent Church (Riddings, Derbyshire, England), “Church Baptisms from 1823-1837,” baptism of George Clark (1826); FHL microfilm # 590,685, item 1. ↩
2. Portland Row Branch, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Records of Members, 1848-1871,” p. ?, line 9, record of George Clark, 1853; FHL microfilm 87,028, items 4-5. ↩
3. Ibid. ↩
4. Provo News Notes,” Salt Lake (Utah) Herald, 27 May 1902; digital images, Utah Digital Newspapers (digitalnewspapers.org). ↩
5. Case Files of George Clark, no. 0880, dated 1900-1902, Utah State Hospital, Provo. ↩