The Nankin Township Historical Society

Plymouth Mail , October 12, 1894 Eloise wasn't the only institution taking on the perilously insane. Kate Dusseau,22, of Monroe had been confined to the St. Joseph Retreat in Dearborn but her parents thought her to be cured of her insanity. The Muncie Daily Herald , October 9, 1894 She proved them wrong the next morning when she slit her throat, cutting a 6 inch gash and completely severing her windpipe. She had been ill and apparently became insane due to a love affair that her parents didn't approve of. She was not expected to live though I can find no evidence that she perished. The Times Herald , October 9, 1894

The Buffalo Commercial , February 2, 1878 The history of the Wayne County Asylum at Eloise was beleaguered with incidents of cured but not cured . That is, patients who were released as mentally fit only to commit acts of violence against others or self-immolation. Mrs. Jane Howard, a wife of a Dover, Michigan physician D. M. Howard, seemingly had an ideal station in life but it was for naught. For whatever reasons she was incarcerated at the Wayne Asylum on multiple occasions. A month there in late 1877, which, weaved into the new years didn't cure her hurts. She fatally jumped down a well on her husband's farm near Adrian on the last day of January, 1878. She was 36-years-old.

Detroit Free Press , March 27, 1907 Frequently when a mental patient from Eloise was deemed cured or was released due to improvement in their mental health it was often followed by a return to the institution or a tragedy. In William Rowe's case it ended in suicide 3 months after a stint at the asylum. He was found in the attic by his wife after she had gone out to make a phone call. Initially she couldn't track him down at the house or around the neighborhood and as a last resort checked the attic where she found him hung. She ran from the house and flagged down two men, Frank Ritter and A. F. Martin, who determined that Rowe was dead and summoned the coroner, who confirmed it.