Deaths at Eastern State Hospital in Lexington, Fayette, Kentucky
© 2006 by Mary Hatton
Kentucky Digital Library has very sanitized images of the hospital.
Volunteers are working to identify burials and create some semblance of dignity in the burial grounds.
"Goodbye, dear loved one" - an essay
These are a small number of the scores of Carter County people who died at the Eastern State Hospital
Of the 4,400 to 10,000 people buried at the hospital, only three are in marked graves. Many were buried in mass graves.
Whenever excavations are done on the former hospital grounds, more bodies are found.
Words cannot express the squallor the patients lived in. At the time of its closing in 2013,
Eastern State Hospital was the oldest state run mental health institution in America.
The hospital opened in 1824 and the main Civil War era building was still in use when the hospital was closed.
I visited the hospital in 2011. The patient conditions were shameful. Old, dirty and dismal.
Kentuckians have the consolation to know their taxes were kept low so that the most vulnerable of
their fellow citizens could spend their last days in a waking nightmare.
Name Date of Death Place of Burial Cert.# Age DOB POB Cause of Death Parents/POB Occupation Usual Residence MS Length of Stay David Wood 30 Jun 1911 Grayson, Ky. 14702 67 1844 Carter Vascular Heart Trouble/Pneumonia Farmer Carter M 6Y/1M/12D Butler Hall 16 Mar 1911 Mt. Sterling, Ky. 6158 55 1856 Carter Exhaustion from Acute Mania Farmer Elliott/Montgomery M 1M/20D Wesley Smith 10 Nov 1911 Eastern State Hospital 28081 80 1831 KY Apoplexy/Old Age Farmer Carter W 3Y/4M/11D Amanda Ostin 28 Nov 1911 Eastern State Hospital 30195 85 1826 Carter Pellagra/Dementia Carter W 55Y/13D J. B. Roberts 27 Dec 1911 E. K. Junction, Ky. 31026 56 1855 KY TB Henry Roberts/VA Farmer Carter M 5M/16D
Name Date of Death Place of Burial Cert. # Age Date of Birth County of Burial Race George W. Donahue 21 Nov 1912 Denton, Ky. 27457 45 1867 Carter White Wm. Henderson 24 Sep 1913 Olive Hill, Ky. 24013 72 1841 Carter, Ky. White A. F. Ross 11 Jun 1914 Olive Hill, Ky. 15257 69 12 Jun 1844 Carter White (This is Austin Francis Ross, s/o John Nelson Ross) Wm. Click 24 Sep 1914 Olive Hill, Ky. 23259 47 20 May 1867 Carter White Gabriel Correll 15 Feb 1915 Aden, Ky. 3723 59 02 Nov 1855 Carter White
Name Date of Death Place of Burial Length of Stay Date of Birth Place of Birth Race DC # Parents Proffitt, Jan 08 Apr 1916 Eastern State Hospital 23Y/1M/7D 1875 Carter Co., Ky. White 10204 Champ Proffitt/Unknown Patrick, Benjamin Franklin 14 Jun 1916 Eastern State Hospital 4D 1856 Carter Co., Ky.; Res. Laurel White 15079 No History Robt. Hall 09 Mar 1917 Eastern State Hospital 2Y/2M/8D 1851 Carter Co. 7262 Jim Hall/Not Given Travis Sparks 30 Apr 1917 Olive Hill, Ky. 10M/9D 1892 Carter Co. 10534 Wm. Sparks/ Lula Hill James Smith 09 Jun 1917 Willard, Ky. 3Y/7M 1853 Virginia; Res. Carter 16569 John Smith/Phoeba Ratcliff Stephen J. Parsons 14 Sep 1917 Aden, Ky. 8Y/9D Age 41 Carter Co. 24688 No History Green, J. M. 06 May 1918 Farmer, Ky. 3M 1856 Ky.; Res. Carter Co. White 12874 No History Sloan, Seba 03 Jun 1918 Eastern State Hospital 1Y/11M/18D 1868 Ky.; Res. Carter Co. White 15264 Unknown Salyers, John 27 Jun 1918 Eastern State Hospital 9Y/3M/18D 1887 Ky.; Res. Carter Co. White 15297 No History Walk, Roland 27 Aug 1918 Eastern State Hospital 9M 1890 Ky.; Res. Carter Co. White 19941 No History Pastern, William 20 Sep 1918 Grayson, Ky. 2M/18D 13 Jan 1847 Va.; Res. Carter Co., Ky. White 22427 W. H. Pastern/No History Miller, Geo. 24 Sep 1918 Eastern State Hospital 5Y/4M/6D 1844 Res.Carter Co., Ky. White 22431 No History Kennard, John 28 Oct 1918 Eastern State Hospital 5Y/11M 1894 Ky.; Res. Carter Co. White 25989 George Kennard/Rebecca Johnson Counts, Phillip 24 Nov 1918 Olive Hill, Ky. 2M/13D 24 Dec 1877 Ky.; Res. Carter Co. Black 33108 Sam Counts/Mary Rucker Wormack, James 04 Nov 1918 Olive Hill, Ky. 9Y/5M 1870 Ky. ; Res. Carter Co. White 33131 No History Gibson, Ed 07 Nov 1918 Eastern State Hospital 3Y/11M 1877 Ky.; Res. Carter Co. White 33141 No History/Lizzie Pent Walk, Roland 8/27/1918 Eastern State Hospital 9M 1890 KY; Res: Carter White 19941 No History Koners, George Wm. 11 Dec 1918 Eastern State Hospital 27D Age 55 Carter Co., Ky.; Res. Greenup White 38650 Samuel Koners/Dead Luster, Minnie 26 Feb 1919 Eastern State Hospital 5M/4D 1874 Lawrence Co..; Res. Carter Co. White 5510 Abe Luster/ Ledenham Colley, Whitt 10 Dec 1919 Eastern State Hospital 13Y/5M/3D Age 77 Va. Res. Carter Co., Ky. White 32046 Dead Ward, Alpha 11/20/1925 Eastern State Hospital 2D Unknown KY; Res: Carter White 26372 Z. T. Ward & Jennie Shouse