TALA Tales: J.G. Whitten

Source: WV History on View

In my quest to document the lives (and deaths) of the men and women who called Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum home, today’s blog is about the unfortunate end of John G. Whitten, a 52 year old man from Monroe County who managed to escape the hospital…but not with his life.

On March 13, 1890, Whitten was admitted as a patient to the asylum in Weston, but it wouldn’t take him long to realize that institution life was not for him. After only six weeks, John managed to escape on April 26th. A search was implemented, and he was tracked three miles away from the asylum, where evidence was uncovered that he had had help crossing the river. From there, the trail ran cold, and the search was abandoned. 

A month later, on May 27th, Mrs. Joseph Markley and her young son were out harvesting ginseng in the woods near the William Propst Farm. They came across a horrific sight; a man’s body lying beside a large log. Alerting the officials, Coroner Conelly, accompanied by two officials from the asylum went out to the location, which was in the neighborhood of where Whitten was last seen. They arrived at about 9:30am. 

The body was severely decomposed. The head had separated from the shoulders, the hair and beard had detached, and what little flesh remained was black and rotting. However, Whitten was able to be identified due to the fact that his name was written on his shirt. Because the decomposition was so advanced, it was suggested that Whitten be buried where he lay, but the asylum Superintendent insisted that he be brought back to the hospital and buried in the patient cemetery.

Following the discovery, an inquest was held, and it was presumed that Whitten had been dead for three weeks and had died from starvation and exposure. The hospital was found not to be at fault, as all efforts had been made to find him. It was noted that the area in which he found was high up a mountain and in dense woods. That fact alone makes it remarkable that his body wasn’t in worse condition than it was, and that he was found at all. Those circumstances also kind of remind me of modern Missing 411 cases. How did Whitten get up the mountain? Why didn’t he seek help at the nearby Propst farm, unless he had planned on dying? Why didn’t the local wildlife do more damage? Did the hospital REALLY thoroughly search his last known area?

These are questions that will never have answers, and unfortunately J.G. Whitten has become just one of many tragedies associated with the old hospital in Weston. If you would like to learn more about the tragic (and haunted) history of the former Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, please see my page:

Collections: The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

West Virginia Argus 05 June 1890

Entry for Lewis County’s Death Registry