Insane asylums in San Francisco California 1881.

Can you provide a little more information like date and place of birth, her maiden name, names of husband, children or other family members? A name is for a search not enough, unfortunately.

Sabine

Hello Sabine, Here is more detailed information. 

Name: Henrietta Kittridge ( Other Spellings: Kittredge, Kitteredge - Maiden Name) Merrill or Mrs. Willis Perry Merrill,

Mrs. W.P Merrill. Born: 1853 ( 1851, however it is debatable. ) 

Parents:  Mother: Maria (Mariah) L. Kittridge  B. 1819. in New York City, NY Maiden name might be Neff. Died:  May 27,1867 - Woodfords, Alpine County California Father: George Kittridge B. 1809 , D: circa 1871

Husband: Willis  Perry Merrill - Born  Westport Essex, Essex county New York: 1835- died  1899-Woodfords, Mesa Vista, Alpine County, California

Married: November 19, 1867, Monitor, Alpine County, California - Divorced 1882- Markleeville, Alpine California

Children: Willis Newton Merrill B. 1869, ;  Edith May Merrill B. 1871 ;Ruby Helen  Merrill - B. 1878 ;Franklin Cole Merrill B. 1874 ( died at 2 yrs) 

We were  told that Henrietta, lived in SF, after the divorce, but no records can be found. Also there is a record of an "Etta" Merrill dying in 1885 and it was found as a mortuary record , however the age of this person does not match the date of birth, 

There is a record in the San Francisco morning call in 1883, for a death of a Mrs. W. P. Merrill but I have not been able to get ahold of this record to see if that is significant. 

Unfortunately because of the 1906 earthquake and fire, official documents might have been destroyed. 

Thank you for your help. 

MJD

Hi MJD,

I am just trying to get an overview over several Merrill people, but I came also over a story about a W.P. Merrill who was committed to an asylum. Is that maybe the family "scandal" you mentioned???

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015104/1892-12-23/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=1870&index=19&rows=20&words=Merrill+p+W&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=California&date2=1900&proxtext=%22W.+P.+MERRILL%22&y=19&x=20&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1

Sabine

Hi Sabine, I was very excited to get that information however, when I went to read the newspaper clipping, it was about a man who was a partner with a firm and all about their business and man, his dementia. It had nothing to do with, Henrietta or her ex-husband WP Merrill. I’m trying to find something in the census under the” insane and feeble minded “ enumeration. Thanks so much, Mary. 

I could not locate the death notice in the San Francisco morning call but there was a notice for a Mrs. W.P. Merrill in another newspaper

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014381/1888-12-11/ed-1/seq-4/#date1=1871&index=16&rows=20&words=Merrill+P+W&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=California&date2=1900&proxtext=%22W.+P.+Merrill%22&y=21&x=12&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1

Since this happened in Chicago this might not be your Henrietta. Where did you find the note you are referring to? 

Hi Sabine, I read the article and although the date could be right and it’s interesting that it’s being published in a Sacramento newspaper, what we would need to find out is more about this Mrs. WP Merrill, in terms of herself, her age, where she was from , if that could be Henrietta. The fact that happened in Chicago normally not be a place I would think she would have gone however anything is possible. Perhaps we could look up that murder to see if there’s any extra information about mrs. WP Merrill, what do you think?

Here is the San Francisco call notice that I got from San Francisco genealogy

Merrill, Mrs. W.P. ... died in 1880 ... age 30 ... 1880D-3005

I’ll get the mortuary notice for you However, I’ve determined because of the age of the woman that Had died being 26 years old it would not have been Henrietta. Thank you so much, Mary.

Here is the mortuary notice

Gender:	Female
Burial:	Oct 29 1885  San Francisco, San Francisco, California
Age:	26
Funeral Home:	N. Gray & Co. Funeral Records
Funeral Place:	San Francisco, San Francisco, California
Record Type:	Register
Source Reference:	p. 1-140, 1879-1887
Digital Folder Number:	4183785
Image Number:	00114
Number of Images:	2

I found the the source for Etta.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DYXQ-T2T?i=111&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AJN58-D3L

Unfortunately there is no other information that would help. I do not really think that she is the right person since her age is noted with 26. She would be too young for your Henrietta who was born around 1853.

The other notice from the San Francisco Morning Call  I could not find yet although it does not sound right either because you wrote they divorced in 1882 and the article seems to be from 1880. Maybe that was a first wife of the W.P. Merrill they send to the asylum??

Another question: On ancestry as well as on familysearch are family trees which have for Henrietta a death date of October 31, 1885 in San Francisco. Have you contacted these people to find out where their knowledge comes from? Nobody has a source connected but they published pictures of a woman they write it would be Henrietta. Unfortunately it looks they a common thing that it was just copied from someone without proof but maybe someone knows more?

I also wondered, did the children live with W.P. and his second wife?? Another chance could be the obituaries for Henrietta's children or her siblings. Maybe they mention her in some way as being still alive or where she lived as long they passed away after 1882??  Her son's W. N.'s obituary does not mention her.

The both articles I linked before are not connected. The W.P. Merrill they send to a asylum was another one. I found a divorce notice about his wife trying to divorce him because he was insane and still in the asylum.

Sabine

Willis P Merrill filed in court to obtain custody of his daughter Ruby who was with her mother Henrietta in 1881. Henrietta had deserted her husband. Source: The Daily Appeal, Carson City, Nevada, Sat, Jun 11, 1881 ·Page 3. That court case should reveal whether Henrietta was considered insane or not.