Section 1 created the state institution under the name “The General Hospital for the Insane of the State of Connecticut.” This page comes from an 1895 reprint.
Evidence, credit & reuse: Public domain in the United States by publication in 1895; digitization states no known US copyright restrictions on the text. Not a camera photograph. Record/engraving publication date is separate from date of the events described. Passed visual review: upright; source borders and printing retained; legible at full size; no generative reconstruction.
Source: Connecticut General Assembly; reprinted by H. Sidney Hayden; Cornell University Library, via Internet Archive
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ACT TO CREATE A HOSPITAL FOE THE INSANE IN THE STATE OF COxNNECTlCUT. Whereas, The report of the Commission appointed by this Assembly in the year 1865 shows that there are seven hun- dred and six insane persons in the State of Connecticut, of whom two hundred and two are in the Retreat at Hartford ; two hundred and four are in the almshouses, and three hun- dred outside of both ; and whereas, it is impossible to secure suitable care and medical attention for this large and deeply afflicted class, either in the Retreat or in the almshouses, or in private houses ; and whereas, considerations of humanity and of true economy, as well as public welfare and of our holy religion, all alike demand that these persons should lib- erally be provided for by the State ; therefore, Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened : Section 1. There shall be established and maintained, at some place in this State to be selected by a Board of Trustees as hereinafter provided, an institution to be named " The General Hospital for the Insane of the State of Connecticut." Sec. 2. The government thereof shall be vested in a board of twelve trustees, consisting of the Governor, and one from each county, to be appointed by the Senate, and of three to be appointed by the other trustees, which three shall be selected from the town or vicinity in which the institution shall be located, two of whom shall be so appointed and com- missioned annually ; and the places of the two senior members, as they stand in the order of their appointment, shall be annually vacated ; and no trustee shall receive any compen- sation for his services, but he shall be allowed the amount of
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Silent Grounds Collective, Connecticut Valley Hospital, SGC-CV-017, CV-005, “The founding act, 1866.” Source: Connecticut General Assembly; reprinted by H. Sidney Hayden; Cornell University Library, via Internet Archive. https://archive.org/download/cu31924012463208/cu31924012463208.pdf#page=15. Research edition, accessed 2026-09-08.