Finding "certificates, orders and judgments of indigence and lunacy" from the 1890s: How to do this?
I'm trying to verify the age of a supercentenarian called Alice Meeder (1880-1991). Her 1900 US Census entry is ambiguous because it (likely erroneously) lists her as being born in September 1888 while also (likely correctly) listing her as being 19 years old. FWIW, she claimed to be born in September/October 1880 for her entire life, and got married in 1901, which is much more plausible at age 20 than at age 12, especially for a white female from New York state in the early 20th century. (Indeed, on the 1930 US Census, when she was already in her second marriage, she listed her age at first marriage as 20 rather than as 12 and had no incentive to lie about this during this time. There was no penalty for her if she would have said age 12 rather than age 20 as her answer to this question on the 1930 US Census. She was in any case estranged from her first husband by 1930, having divorced her husband and then remarried to another man after her first husband simply abandoned her and their kids.)
Anyway, I'm curious about this because I found a February 8, 1895 reference in a newspaper (from the website NYS Historical Newspapers) that might be for our Alice. I would have posted the link here, but it doesn't allow me to. Anyway, it mentions Andrew J. Lorish, a county judge for Wyoming County, New York, making and granting certificates, orders, and judgments of indigence and lunacy of, to, and concerning an Alice McMahon from Middlebury, New York and several other people. Our Alice was born in Middlebury, New York and her stepfather's name was James McMahon, so it's possible that she was known as Alice McMahon for a time in the 1890s. I also searched for any other Alice McMahon's and Alice MacMahon's who lived and died in Wyoming County, New York back then but couldn't find anyone, which increases the odds that it's our Alice. (FWIW, Alice's younger sister Cora was an epileptic, so it's not unreasonable to hypothesize that Alice could have had mental and/or financial problems in her youth.)
My question is this: How exactly would an ordinary person like myself, who is not related to Alice in any way, acquire access to certificates, orders, and judgments of indigence and lunacy (that's literally what they were called in that newspaper article) from the 1890s? The fact that a county judge was issuing such certificates, orders, and judgments would make one think that they would be stored somewhere, no? Yet I can't seem to find them anywhere on FamilySearch.org. Can anyone here give me any ideas on how exactly I can find them? I specifically want the one from the 1890s for Alice McMahon.
The link is this one: https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=wyon18950208-01.1.8&srpos=9&e=------189-en-20--1--txt-txIN-alice+mcmahon-------Wyoming--
It's from The Wyoming County Herald from February 8, 1895.
Alice is mentioned near the top left of page 8.
FWIW, the reason that I'm so interested in this document is to see whether this document actually lists an age and/or a birth date for Alice--and, if so, what exactly it lists for her.
Answers
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In some locations, such records can be found in the probate court records. I have found records of competency hearings there.
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Thank you, Aine. I have a question, though: Did the records that you yourself find in regards to this (for other people) list their age and/or their birth date? Because that's the main value that such a record would have for me. I want to use this record to help verify Alice Meeder's age, if this record would indeed be for her.
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While my 4th GGM's specific age is not mentioned, the details in the hearing confirmed that she was indeed the same Nancy Hill. Her son-in-law, my 3rd GGF, was appointed her guardian and filed the returns for her estate in 1850. The FAN Club at its finest.
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Was her birth date mentioned?
Also, specifically which FAN Club are you talking about here? That of your 4th GGM?
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Aine, where exactly here do you think that I can find certificates, orders, and judgments of indigence and lunacy? https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/index?owc=Q7PM-DP8%3A213305401%3Fcc%3D1920234
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specifically which FAN Club are you talking about
The Elizabeth Shown Mills Fan Club.
Was her birth date mentioned?
No, but that wouldn't have mattered. I don't know her exact DOB, but the collateral information contained in the record was sufficient evidence of her identity.
No two probate files with lunacy/competency hearings are the same. What I found for Nancy Crain Hill may not be in other files. And, other files, of a later date, may contain more information than I found. The format varies from place to place and over time. Both Ancestry.com and FamilySearch have very large record sets of probate files from all over the USA.
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Which category of probate files would judgments of indigence and lunacy belong to, though? There are many different categories of probate files and I don't see a specific probate file category for mentally ill people.
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