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William Chester Minor, also known as W. C. Minor (June 1834 – March 26, 1920) was an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 surgeon
Surgery

Surgery is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, to help improve bodily function or appearance, or sometimes for some other reason....
 who made many scholarly contributions to the Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary

The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press , is a comprehensive dictionary of the English language. Two fully-bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989; as of December 2008 the dictionary's current editors have completed a quarter of the third edition....
 while confined to a lunatic asylum.

r was born on the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India....
), the son of Congregationalist Church
Congregational church

Congregational churches are Protestantism Christianity churches practicing congregationalist church governance, in which each Wiktionary:congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
 missionaries
Missionary

A 'missionary' is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith; someone who Proselytism. The word "mission" is derived from the Latin missioninimus...
 from New England
New England

New England is a region of the United States located in the northeastern corner of the country, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and New York State, and consisting of the modern U.S....
. He had numerous half-siblings, among them Thomas T. Minor, mayor of Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the most populous city in the US state of Washington and the Northwestern United States. The encompassing Seattle metropolitan area is the 15th largest in the United States, and the largest in the Pacific Northwest....
 in the late 1880s.






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William Chester Minor, also known as W. C. Minor (June 1834 – March 26, 1920) was an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 surgeon
Surgery

Surgery is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, to help improve bodily function or appearance, or sometimes for some other reason....
 who made many scholarly contributions to the Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary

The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press , is a comprehensive dictionary of the English language. Two fully-bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989; as of December 2008 the dictionary's current editors have completed a quarter of the third edition....
 while confined to a lunatic asylum.

Early life

Minor was born on the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India....
), the son of Congregationalist Church
Congregational church

Congregational churches are Protestantism Christianity churches practicing congregationalist church governance, in which each Wiktionary:congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
 missionaries
Missionary

A 'missionary' is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith; someone who Proselytism. The word "mission" is derived from the Latin missioninimus...
 from New England
New England

New England is a region of the United States located in the northeastern corner of the country, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and New York State, and consisting of the modern U.S....
. He had numerous half-siblings, among them Thomas T. Minor, mayor of Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the most populous city in the US state of Washington and the Northwestern United States. The encompassing Seattle metropolitan area is the 15th largest in the United States, and the largest in the Pacific Northwest....
 in the late 1880s. At 14 he was sent back to the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 by steamship, finishing his education as a surgeon at Yale
Yale University

Yale University is a private university in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1701 as the Collegiate School, Yale is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher education in the United States and is a member of the Ivy League....
 in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven is the third largest municipality in Connecticut, after Bridgeport, Connecticut and Hartford, with a core population of about 124,000 people....
 in 1863.

Military career

He was accepted by the Union Army as a surgeon and served at the Battle of the Wilderness
Battle of the Wilderness

The Battle of the Wilderness, fought May 5–7, 1864, was the first battle of Lieutenant general Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against General Robert E....
 in May 1864, which was notable for the terrible casualties suffered. Minor was also given the task of punishing fugitive soldiers by branding
Human branding

Human branding is the process in which a mark, usually a symbol or ornamental pattern, is burned into the skin of a living person, with the intention that the resulting scar makes it permanent....
 them with a D for "deserter
Desertion

In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission from one's Government or superior. Ultimate "duty" or "responsibility," however, under International Law, is not necessarily always to a "Government" nor to a "superior," as seen in the fourth of the Nuremberg Principles, which states:...
". Some of these men were Irish immigrants, which would later play a role in Minor's dementia delusions.

After the end of the American Civil War
American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
 Minor saw duty in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
. He was strongly attracted to the fleshpots
Red-light district

A red-light district is a neighborhood where prostitution and other businesses in the sex industry flourish. The term "red-light district" was first recorded in the United States in 1894, in an article in The Sentinel, a newspaper in Milwaukee....
 of the city and devoted much of his off-duty time to going with prostitutes
Prostitution

The word prostitution is used to indicate:1. The exposing or otherwise offering oneself or someone else with the purpose of tempting potential customers to exchange money or goods for the promise of cooperativeness in sexual intercourse from the exposed person;...
. By 1867, his behavior had come to the attention of the Army
United States Army

The United States Army is the branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for Army operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S....
 and he was transferred to a remote post in the Florida Panhandle
Florida Panhandle

The Florida Panhandle is the region of the state of Florida which includes the westernmost 16 List of counties in Florida in the state. It is a narrow strip lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia also on the north, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south....
. By 1868 his condition had progressed to the point that he was admitted to St. Elizabeths Hospital
St. Elizabeths Hospital

St. Elizabeths [sic] Hospital, located in Washington, D.C., was the first large-scale, federally-run psychiatric hospital in the United States....
, a lunatic asylum in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
. After eighteen months he showed no improvement. He was allowed to resign his commission and take retirement pay.

Insanity

In 1871 he went to the UK
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 settling in the slum of Lambeth
Lambeth

Lambeth is a place in the London Borough of Lambeth, although the area is now more commonly known as Waterloo, after the railway station whose viaduct separates the former centre of the village from the River Thames....
, in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 where once again he took up a dissolute life. Haunted by his paranoia, he fatally shot a man named George Merrett, who Minor believed had broken into his room, on February 17, 1872. Merrett had been on his way to work to support his family of six children, himself, and his pregnant wife, Eliza. After a pre-trial period spent in London's Horsemonger Lane Gaol
Horsemonger Lane Gaol

Horsemonger Lane Gaol was a prison located close to modern-day Newington Causeway in Southwark, south London....
, Minor was found not guilty by reason of insanity
Insanity

Traditionally, insanity or madness is the behavior whereby a person flouts societal norms and may become a danger to themselves and others....
 and incarcerated in the asylum at Broadmoor
Broadmoor Hospital

Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital at Crowthorne in Berkshire, England. It is the best known of the three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, the other two being Ashworth Hospital and Rampton Secure Hospital....
 in the village of Crowthorne
Crowthorne

Crowthorne is a small village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest district of south-eastern Berkshire. It is best known for Broadmoor Hospital, one of three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England, which lies nearby....
, Berkshire. As he had his army pension
Pension

In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment.The terms retirement plan or superannuation refer to a pension granted upon retirement ....
 and was not judged dangerous, he was given rather comfortable quarters and was able to buy and read books.

Later life and OED contributions

It was probably through his correspondence with the London booksellers that he heard of the call for volunteers from what was to become the Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary

The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press , is a comprehensive dictionary of the English language. Two fully-bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989; as of December 2008 the dictionary's current editors have completed a quarter of the third edition....
 (OED). He devoted most of the remainder of his life to that work.

He proved to be one of the most effective of the volunteers, systematically reading through his library, and compiling lists of the occurrence of words. These he kept current with the words needed in the volume being worked on at the time. As his lists grew, he was able to supply quotations on demand for a particular word. Eventually he became well acquainted with the editor of the OED, Dr. James Murray
James Murray (lexicographer)

James Augustus Henry Murray was a Scotland lexicographer and philologist. He was the primary editor of the Oxford English Dictionary from 1879 until his death....
, who visited him at the asylum and befriended him.

Minor's condition deteriorated and in 1902 he cut off his own penis
Penis removal

In ancient civilizations, removal of the human penis was sometimes used as a means of demonstrating superiority: armies were sometimes known to sever the penises of their enemies to count the dead, as well as for trophies, although usually only the foreskins were taken....
. His health failed and he was permitted to return to the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 and St. Elizabeths Hospital
St. Elizabeths Hospital

St. Elizabeths [sic] Hospital, located in Washington, D.C., was the first large-scale, federally-run psychiatric hospital in the United States....
. The science of psychiatry
Psychiatry

Psychiatry is a Medicine Specialty devoted to the Treatment of mental disorders, Biomedical research and Prevention of mental disorder. The term was first coined by the German physician Johann Christian Reil in 1808....
 had progressed in the meantime and Dr. Minor was diagnosed as suffering from dementia praecox or schizophrenia
Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia , from the Ancient Greek Root schizein and phren, phren- is a psychiatry diagnosis that describes a mental disorder characterized by abnormalities in the perception or expression of reality....
. He died in 1920 in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven is the third largest municipality in Connecticut, after Bridgeport, Connecticut and Hartford, with a core population of about 124,000 people....
.

See also