The story of Elizabeth Carpenter

Thirty-one-year-old Annie Senft locked arms with her 38-year-old sister Elizabeth Carpenter as they strolled the grounds of Butler Hospital for the Insane. When all eyes were off them, they quietly advanced to a waiting horse-drawn vehicle.

Elizabeth had been hospitalized for almost eight years. Now she would go to her sister’s Providence home and the loving presence of her nieces and nephews – Ida, aged 11; Frederick, aged 10; Walter, aged 4; and Pearl, aged 1.

The relief was short. Hours later, authorities arrived to reclaim her, setting in motion one of the most chaotic legal battles in Rhode Island history.

Forty-eight-year-old Horace Francis Carpenter was a Brown University graduate and a renowned geologist and mollusk expert. He’d made his fortune through gold and silver refining, having discovered how to extract the elements from photographic waste. The wealthy man had shared his elegant Edgewood home “Fountainhurst” with Elizabeth, who he’d married in 1876, until he determined that her sanity was in question. He told doctors that she slept with her feet hanging out of the window and accused him of giving attentions to other women. Once, he claimed, she had attacked him with a knife.

On March 20, 1883, Horace had Elizabeth admitted to the hospital. There, she was kept in an 8-by-10 uncarpeted room with only a small bed, a table, looking glass and chair for the next seven years. Horace did not visit. This was not the first time he had brought her there. He’d initially had her institutionalized in 1882. After three weeks, she was taken to an attorney’s office to sign papers turning over her property deeds to him, then returned to the asylum for a short time before being released. Months later, she was returned.

After the escape to her sister’s in the summer of 1890, Horace had to go through the process of having her recommitted by the court. The wrenching story she shared during the hearing didn’t faze the judge. “For God’s sake, Sir, do not send me back,” she begged. “God help you, Sir, to see that I am not mad.”

Elizabeth claimed the whole matter was an attempt by her husband to control her properties. When the judge ordered her back to asylum, she and her sister clasped each other and cried. “God’s will, not mine, be done,” she told Annie.

State Sen. Robert Sherman had been following the proceedings and was compelled to take action. He did not believe Elizabeth was insane. He posted a public announcement. “Any contributions for her support until the court can give judgment will be thankfully received.” He then hired an attorney and the battle began.

Court testimony included that of Butler Hospital trustee William Goddard. He told the court that upon her committal, “She was unquestionably insane. She complained of poisonous vapors in the room and had delusions about her food being poisoned. She slept crosswise on the bed and denied that her name was Mrs. Carpenter.”

Goddard claimed she was a troublesome patient and he’d have been happy if she’d gone elsewhere. Another trustee testified that she was noisy and refused to wear woolen underclothing because she said it absorbed deadly gasses which were in the air. An attendant testified that Elizabeth accused one of the doctors of poisoning another doctor who had recently died, that she had thrown dishes and smashed a window.

Sherman argued that Elizabeth was perfectly sane, living with her sister and brother-in-law, barber Frederick Senft, and helping with the children.

“Mr. Carpenter is yet unwilling that she should enjoy this source of happiness,” he stated.

“Are you a physician?” asked Horace’s attorney. Sherman said no.

“Have you any great experience with the insane?” He answered no again.

“Did Mrs. Carpenter say anything about her food being poisoned at the hospital?”

“Not a word,” Sherman replied. “She said that sometimes the coffee was too strong and that at times the food did not agree with her. She spoke of having had difficulty in getting lemons when she wanted them but nothing was said about attempts to poison her food or drink.”

“Have you had any experience with insane persons?” he was asked.

“Yes. I lived with one 15 years,” he told the attorney.

“Then you probably lived alone for the past 15 years,” Horace’s lawyer quipped. Many of those in the courtroom laughed.

Two doctors who examined Elizabeth found her to be sane but nervous and run-down. Several neighbors and family members testified they had never seen her act insane. Deputy Sheriff Franklin Hamm said he saw no trace of insanity in her.

Horace sat far from his wife in the courtroom. During his testimony, Elizabeth repeatedly jumped up to tell the judge he was lying, despite her lawyer trying to keep her still. “I would not harm a worm,” she announced.

During her own testimony, she was calm and collected, denying stories about knives, gasses and poisoned food. In the end, the court ordered her release from the asylum. Sherman was not satisfied. He asked that her property be returned to her.

“Since leaving the Butler Hospital, Mr. Carpenter has never contributed anything to his wife’s support and she has been obliged to live upon the charity of friends and a small weekly amount the Overseer of the Poor has allowed her,” Sherman stated. Horace was ordered to pay her $25 per week for the rest of her life. He argued that he would pay nothing unless she returned to the hospital, calling her furiously insane and unsafe to be at large. His petition to appeal the ruling was denied.

In 1894, Frederick Senft sued Horace for the past support of Elizabeth. The court awarded him $295. Horace appealed the decision and lost.

Three years later, on Jan. 28, 1895, Elizabeth Hannah Carpenter died at the age of 43. Her cause of death was listed as insanity followed by paralysis. Her will, which concerned deeds worth about $70,000, was contested by the court. The judge refused to probate the will as she had been a former mental patient prior to the time it was written.

Horace married Jennie Hastings, 20 years his junior, that same year. With his company at the corner of Friendship and Dorrance streets continuing successfully, the couple enjoyed world travels and the help of live-in servants. They were members of several social organizations and served on numerous boards. The new Mrs. Carpenter was a popular hostess at all the Fountainhurst parties.

Horace retired in 1912 and died of senility and heart disease in 1937. Jennie had died the year before. In his will, he left $10,000 and his personal library to Hall Library and $10,000 to the Roger Williams Park Museum. The City of Providence was left his natural history collection, which consisted of 237 books and thousands of shells, minerals and other artifacts.

Horace and Jennie are buried in Swan Point Cemetery where a massive statue marks the final resting place. Elizabeth rests in the same burial ground.

Kelly Sullivan is a Rhode Island columnist, lecturer and author.