Fantastic. It has given me a hint about a St. Clair family that is very
likely related to me, but that I wasn't aware of. This database is going to
be worth looking through in detail.
Mike
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Randy and Penny Casey" <penny_randy(a)msn.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2011 10:10 PM
To: <idgen(a)rootsweb.com>
Subject: [IDGEN] FW: Unclaimed cremated remains at the Oregon State
MentalHospital
From: penny_randy(a)msn.com
To: idahogenweb(a)gmail.com
Subject: Unclaimed cremated remains at the Oregon State Mental Hospital
Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2011 05:08:17 +0000
I read this article in the Lewiston Tribune about 3,500 unclaimed cremains
at the Oregon State Mental Hospital. Thought it might interest some of
you. Please pass this along. Perhaps we can reunited lost family
members. Below is a link to the list and I cut/pasted an article I found
online.
http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/mentalhealth/osh/cremains.shtml
Hoping to unite families with the cremated remains of thousands of
patients who died in state custody long ago, the Oregon State Hospital has
posted online a list of names of those whose ashes still are stored at the
Salem psychiatric facility.
The online registry took effect Friday.
OSH is the custodian of the cremated remains of about 3,500 people who
died between 1914 and the 1970s.
Most of them died at the state hospital. But some were residents of the
Oregon State Penitentiary or four now-defunct institutions — Fairview
Training Center, Dammasch State Hospital, Oregon State Tuberculosis
Hospital and Mid-Columbia Hospital.
In the past, any ashes not claimed by families of deceased patients were
stored in sealed canisters at OSH.
For decades, the cans were left to slowly rot in the darkness of a storage
room. But that changed in recent years, as publicity about the
long-forgotten ashes transformed them into stark symbols of the neglect of
Oregon's main mental hospital, spurring reform-minded efforts.
"It was the discovery of the room of forgotten souls in 2004 that served
as the catalyst for the construction of a new Oregon State Hospital and a
new devotion to improving the mental health care system in our state,"
said Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem.
Courtney authored a law that allowed the state hospital to make public the
names and dates of birth of those former patients whose cremated remains
are in the possession of OSH. The information otherwise would be protected
by medical confidentiality laws.
Hospital officials urge anyone who thinks he or she may have a family
member who died at OSH or at one of the other state institutions to review
the list of names posted on the Web site. As soon as the connection can be
confirmed, the hospital will make arrangements for the remains to be sent
to the family.
"We hope all remains will be united with family, but we also know that may
not be possible given how much time has passed," hospital Superintendent
Greg Roberts said. "Those remains that stay at the hospital will be given
a final resting place with all due dignity and respect."
Plans call for creating a memorial at OSH to honor those patients whose
remains went unclaimed for decades, and those that may never be claimed.
The memorial is expected to be completed in 2012.
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