There are many tantalizing aspects to historical research. First and foremost, of course, is that you seldom get ‘the whole story.’ It’s the bits and pieces that keep you going. That, and the fascination that ‘some things don’t change,’ human nature being what it is.
Take the hundred-year-old Pacific County Prison Book that I am working with right now. (It is the basis for an upcoming book for History Press, tentatively called “Jailhouse Stories from the Jumping-off Place.”) There are three entries in the Prison Book for October 1915.
On October 4, 1915, one Frank Ross was arrested on two counts of assault. His fine for the first was $50, for the second was $463.00, and his time spent in jail was 171 days.
Eleven days later, on October 15th, M.B. Frost was arrested for hunting without a license. He was fined $16.50 and spent 7½ days in jail.
Finally, on October 18, 1915, Edla Erickson was arrested, and was judged to be “insane” the following day at Superior Court, and was subsequently transferred to the ‘Western Mental Hospital.’
Pacific County Prison Record No. 1, Page 33 (Verso)
There is no personal information whatsoever entered in the book about Ross or Frost. Edla Erikson, however, was described as “age 27, 5 feet 4 inches tall, with blond hair and blue eyes, of fair complexion, from Finland.”
That’s precious little to go on for a writer of a century later – unless, of course, your genre of choice is fiction. Mine is not, so the Prison Record Book provides just the first, tantalizing glimpse of that proverbial iceberg’s tip. Sometimes, no matter how deep you dive into the official documents and newspapers or other records of the past, bits and pieces such as these provide the sum total of the specific information that’s available.
Pacific County Prison Book No. 1, Page 33 (Recto)
But, of course, the door opens to a whole host of other research possibilities. Exactly what were the penalties for assault in those days and how do they compare with present times? When were hunting licenses first required and how much did they cost? Would acquiring one have been money well spent for Mr. Frost? And, most importantly, who made the judgements about “insanity” and what were the consequences – incarceration or treatment?
Researching the answers to these (and many, many more) is how I am spending my time just now. In case you wondered…
The “insanity” finding and possible treatment are the most frightening. A hundred years ago, treatment for mental problems (assuming that was really the case) could be more like torture. Poor Elda Erikson.