SHOPTAUGH, George P. - Putnam

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SHOPTAUGH, George P.

Source: Indianapolis News Wed 24 April 1895 p 1

George P. Shoptaugh was superintendent of the Putnam County Asylum for several years. Recently the county commissioners ordered a change of management and Willis Mark was elected to the superintendency. Possession was quietly given.  Shortly after the retirement of the Shoptaugh family, Mrs. Shoptaugh conceived the hallucination that the family had been accused of appropriating the property of the institution and her mind gave way. Yesterday a commission was called to pass upon her condition. Her malady is attributed to heredity, coupled with the idle gossip of the neighborhood and the innuendoes of political  enemies. When the neighbors went to her relief, they found the ex-superintendent’s wife violently insane and it required the strength of several men to restrain her from burning the home. Miss Sophia Shoptaugh, worn out with watching and sorrow-stricken, had attempted suicide with morphine, while Mr. Shoptaugh, brooding over the fancied accusations against his honor and physically exhausted by long watching was himself bordering on insanity. Mrs. Shoptaugh will be removed to the insane hospital. Miss Shoptaugh continues in a critical condition but sympathetic friends are bringing both her and Mr. Shoptaugh back to a normal condition.                                                                                                              
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