Union Co., GA  -
Court Records  

Within these minutes you'll find lots of helpful information.  One type of court proceeding cited frequently is that of declaring older folks insane and sending them to the lunatic asylum.  The asylum cited was the Georgia State Mental Hospital in Milledgeville, Baldwin Co., GA which exists today.  It was originally called "Georgia State Sanitarium at Milledgeville".

Alzheimer's Disease has been around for thousands of years.  Of course, they didn't call it even senile dementia back in the 1890's much less Alzheimer's.   The catch-all terms were insane or idiot which have completely different meanings today.  If they had means and someone to care for them, a guardianship would be established for them and they would likely continue to live in Union Co., GA.

Unfortunately, when a victim of this disease was also poor and had no one to care for them, the only option was to send them to Milledgeville making the State of Georgia their Guardian.  Folks suffering from epilepsy were also sent there.  Check out these websites for additional information such as it's history, census of residents, how to find a relative's grave, and status of the cemetery holding over 20,000 graves, now unmarked, and its on-going restoration project:

• Central State Hospital - brief history, photos
• Hospital's Cemetery Restoration