u/ImBackMemers

Julia (Bard) Ingalls, wife of George Whiting Ingalls and aunt of Laura Ingalls Wilder, was born July 15, 1859. She married George Ingalls in 1876. The couple lost several children shortly after birth; one son lived for a year but suffocated after being wrapped too tightly following a winter visit with family.

Overcome by grief, Julia was admitted to the Wisconsin State Hospital for the Insane on February 3, 1888, at age 29, from Burnett County, Wisconsin. She was transferred to the Dunn County Asylum for the Chronic Insane in Red Cedar Township on February 3, 1893, where she remained until her death on May 20, 1910.

She appears as an inmate in the 1900 and 1910 federal censuses for the asylum.

FindAGrave

Growing up with my brother was like watching the person I loved slowly disappear. It was devastating. He was ten years older than me, my babysitter, the person who taught me how to ride a bike, and the guy who'd spend hours outside playing with me.

And then schizophrenia started creeping in when I was five, and piece by piece, it took him. His voice changed. His face changed. His whole personality shifted until I didn't recognize him anymore.

In the end, he stabbed my mother 44 times. 44 times. And the worst part? I'm not just grieving her. I'm grieving him too. Because the brother who did that wasn't the brother I grew up with. It was the disease.

I understand why, but I still get frustrated with my sister who hates him with everything inside of her.

How do you ever move on from something like that? I don't know. I really don't. I wish there was more I could do to tell people my story, to make them understand what schizophrenia actually does to a family.

And on top of everything, the system failed him. A week before it happened, he checked himself into a hospital, begging for help, and they let him out with no changes, no real care. A week. So yeah, schizophrenia is no joke. And this whole thing is a perfect example of how you never know what's coming next. And sometimes the “resources” people tell you to seek aren’t truly there.

Anyways, this was a few months ago that he killed my mom. This process of watching my brothers ups and down suffering with this tragic disease has now been 13 years. What do I do next with my life?

cursed hospital dilemma

My great-great aunt’s preferred way of transport

Benedictine monks tending their fields, Monastery of the Holy Cross, Huntsville, Utah, 1954. [1345 × 1170]

Patient Record Card, Dunn County Asylum — Julia (Bard) Ingalls: The Tragic Life of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Aunt

Laura McQuillin — 10 years old. In 2004, she fell into the Little Tok River on a family fishing trip. Her dad and brother drowned trying to save her. This photo, taken close to the time of her death, shows her beside what is believed to be the river where the tragedy unfolded. [1206 × 1486].

Cursed_nickname

Amish funeral procession for a man and his two daughters, who were killed when a freight train struck their buggy in Whitehall, Wisconsin, on February 5, 1966 [1110 x 590]

this is extremely funny to me at 1 AM

Wild West - Col. Orluirne & Native American’s: Standing Elk & Little Wolf - June 1891 [1206 x 1309]

My grandpa and his pet beaver (1970s)

Snorkeling was a surreal experience! Got up close to a sea turtle and everything.

buddies

My grandpa and his Korean friend he made during the Korean War reuniting and meeting my family in northern WI, USA - also him trying a pogo stick for the first time, circa 1955

A photo from Holter. Publisher, Ashland, Wis. – “Diesen in the air”, a locally famous skier, circa 1908 [ 934 x 1683 ]

A photo of my grandmother and her uncle, taken around 1962. Even now with dementia, she still could tell me the show that was playing on the TV in the background (The Lawrence Welk Show)

A 17 year old married mother and her son posing for a photo – 1952 [ 1170 x 1139 ]

Patrick Renwick — Skagway, Alaska, circa 1898. A gambler and bartender at the Board of Trade Saloon, he was known for wearing the largest gold nugget watch chain of his time. He died of alcoholism in 1909 at age 47. [ 1052 x 1224 ]

Korean War Veteran Reunites with Korean Comrade and Introduces Him to the Family — First Encounter with a Pogo Stick, ≈ 1955 [ 2109 x 4032 ]

My doctor told me to join a Facebook support group for my autoimmune disease.

Grieving my family