Individual Details

Charles apparently inherited his mother's mental problems.

1880 Census. City of Saint Louis, MO ED 47
St. Vincent's Institution for the Insane
Chas. E. Whitsett, age 25, Dementia, b. KY

Died in St. Vincent Asylum, St. Louis.

http://genealogyinstlouis.accessgenealogy.com/hospitals.htm
Early St. Louis Hospitals, Homes, and Asylums
In "Pictorial St. Louis ... 1875" is written:
.....In the matter of hospitals, we have eleven as noble institutions as ever graced any modern city - institutions whose hospitable walls multitudes are rescued from misery, and perhaps death, by the kind attentions of those to whom they were litter strangers, and on whom they had no claim but a common humanity. These buildings are all large, well ventilated, remarkable for strict cleanliness, and to supplied with every facility for restoring the sick to perfect health. Some of these buildings are also highly ornamented, doing great credit to their founders and managers, and also to the city, by whom they are sustained. Some of them are self-sustaining, others are sustained entirely by charity. Both, however, deserve the greatest credit for the space they fill in our midst. We do not wish to make any invidious comparisons, but simple justice, which the public of St. Louis will not fail to appreciate, compels us to state that the greater number of these establishments have been established by the friends of the Roman Catholic Church, whose members have, in all ages, been noted munificent charities.

THE COUNTY INSANE ASYLUM is one of the finest asylums in the United States. This is emphatically a public charity, and is supported by the public. This institution contains from 400 to 500 patients, from the county and city. It is conducted by the county court, who regulate all its different departments. It is fitted up with every facility for the cure or amelioration of the condition or the afflicted of God's creatures, who find an asylum within its walls. Dr. D. V. N. Howard is the physician in charge.

Nominated for the National Historical Record [but it was not the original building - it was one built in 1895] The notes do state that the Sisters of the Charity of St. Vincent first came to St. Louis in 1828. They opened their hospital for the insane in 1858. It was known as "one of the most renowned in the West". The application was prepared in December of 1979. The site covered over more than 85 acres. A picture shows the 1895 building - a beautiful structure indeed.
http://dnr.missouri.gov/shpo/nps-nr/82004722.pdf

Found on Google Books: A Tour of St. Louis; or the Inside Life of a Great City, by Dacus & Buel, Western Publishing Co, 1878. Dr. Howard was the physician in charge. The book describes encountering "harrowing sights and heartreading sounds" if you cross the threshhold of St. Vincent's. In early May of 1878 there were about 340 patients in residence. Tours were offered, usually conducted by an assistant of Dr. Howard, Dr. George W. Hoover. The chapter describes some of the interesting characters of the institution and their illusions in great detail - it is obvious the authors took the tour. There were also about 200 incurable insane housed in the County Poor House in St. Louis. The chapter does say the sisters provide a homelike atmosphere for the patients who come from a "better class" than those at the Poor House. Balls are given for the patients twice a week and they are allowed an abundance of exercise in the open air; there is a farm about six miles from the city which cultivates vegetables and flowers for the benefit of the patients and their keepers. The patients go on picnic excursions to the farm in the summer. Descriptions of the reasons for the illness of the patients were interesting and obviously belonged to an earlier era.

Birth	1855	Texas
Death	1887	Saint Louis, Saint Louis County, Missouri

Father	William C. Whitsett MD (1812 - 1882)
Mother	Elizabeth Lee Edmunds (1815 - 1883)
Sibling	William Edmunds Whitsett (1837 - 1901)
Sibling	Joseph Whitsett (1837 - 1839)
Sibling	Mary Jane Whitsett (1841 - 1900)
Sibling	Elizabeth Henry Whitsett (1843 - 1908)
Sibling	James Whitsett (1845 - 1862)
Sibling	Joseph Haden "Hade" Whitsett (1847 - 1951)