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.