John Woodruff

John Woodruff was a mixed-blood Oglala Indian whose father was a Negro man, his parents are unidentified. he lived with his wife Julia Old Shield on the Pine Ridge Reservation until sometime around 1893 when he was committed by the Pine Ridge Agency to the St. Elisabeth Hospital in Washington DC, which opened in 1855 under the name Government Hospital for the Insane, the first federally operated psychiatric hospital in the United States.

Then c. 1900...

Canton Asylum’s First Patients
On January 10, 1903, the superintendent at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Washington, D.C. received permission to release its Indian patients to the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians in South Dakota. The first patients were:
-Chu-rah-rah-he-kah; Pawnee from the Ponca Agency; suffering from chronic mania
-Joseph D. Marshall; Sioux from the Rose Bud Agency; suffering from chronic epileptic dementia
-Miguel Maxcy; Mesa Grande from the Carlisle Indian School; suffering from chronic melancholia
-Robert Brings Plenty; Sioux from the Pine Ridge Agency; suffering from chronic epileptic dementia
-John Woodruff; Sioux-Mulatto from the Pine Ridge Agency; suffering from chronic melancholia
-Arch Wolf; Cherokee transferred from the penitentiary in Brooklyn New York; suffering from acute melancholia

These patients arrived at the Canton Asylum under the escort of Dr. J.E. Toner, who received $157.71 reimbursement for expenses.
Source: Joinson, Carla. Indians, Insanity, and American History Blog, 19 Aug. 2012, http://cantonasylumforinsaneindians.com/history_blog/tag/o-s-gifford/. Accessed 18 Sept. 2023.

after Closure c. 1987...

and Now 2021...
After the 1.375 MSF Phase II of the US Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) new Headquarters Consolidation to St. Elizabeths Campus in Washington, DC.
and
Source: “History of St. Elizabeths - GSA Development of St. Elizabeths Campus.” Www.stelizabethsdevelopment.com, May 2013, www.stelizabethsdevelopment.com/history.html#:~:text=Elizabeths%20continues%20to%20operate%20as. Accessed 31 May 2024.

Biography:
John Woodruff was born c. 1858. He is described as a Sioux-Mulatto, a person of White and Black heritage. Although this is true to a point, it is historically false in that it was an oversimplification. From the earliest U.S. Census, the term Mulatto or Free People of Color was used to describe individuals of mixed race, which included mixed-blood American Indians...in John's case probably a Negro father and a Sioux Indian mother.

From the data outlined below in the Research Notes, I conclude the following:
1. Julia O.S. (Old Shield) Woodruff was the wife of John Woodruff.
2. They were married sometime before June 30, 1887
3. John was committed to St. Elizabeth's Hospital sometime before Jun 30, 1891, Julia moved back with her family, that of Old Shield in the Porcupine District.
4. John was transferred from St. Elizabeth's Hospital to the Canton Asylum on January 3, 1903. He was not reunited with his wife Julia.
5. In the 1902 census Julia Woodruff was listed on line 3263 as Head, age 25, living with niece Lucy Catches Enemy age 20, and nephews Paul Voice in Sight age 17, and George Old Shield age 10.
6. In the 1903 census Julia Woodruff was listed on line 3282 as Head, age 46, living with two nephews Paul Voice in Sight age 18, and George Old Shield age 11.

Carla Joinson, in her book, Vanished in Hiawatha, states that John was a Mulatto or Sioux-Mulatto, and in her blog, she identifies him as Sioux-Mulatto from Pine Ridge Agency, S.D.

In the letter dated February 17, 1934, to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Dr. L.L. Culp advises that *John was a Negro, "records (NOT identified) state above was a Negro and not an Indian" from Pine Ridge, South Dakota, (Curator Note: I believe this statement incorrect, and it was John's father who was Negro, John was mixed-blood.)

His profile is part of the The Canton Asylum One Place Study.

Research Notes:
My theory...
John Woodruff has been referred to as a Negro man, and a Mulatto Sioux, I think Indian censuses have it more correct with the classification of mixed-blood Indians. I believe that John Woodruff had a Negro father and an Oglala Lakota Sioux mother, and a complexion which leads to the multiple classifications of Race.

According to the 1900 census from St. Elisabeth Hospital in Washington D.C., where John was a patient, he was Black and was married, but his wife was not named.

Tiyospaye has an entry for Julia O. S. Woodruff, b=1865, who according to the Indian census from the Pine Ridge Agency dated June 30, 1893, Julia Woodruff was 28 and living at home with her father Old Shield (aka Wahacanka Wicahca), and her mother Big Her (aka Nayunspa Tanka). Julia's name appears in the census reports annually through 1897 and her identified age is consistent. Since the census shows her "surname" as Woodruff, one can presume that she had been married to someone named Woodruff, but had ceased being married by June 30, 1893. I suggest that she was still married to John Woodruff, but that he had been committed to St. Elizabeth's Hospital sometime before that date with his diagnosis of chronic melancholia as indicated by Carla Joinson in her book Vanished in Hiawatha. This diagnosis remained with John after his transfer to the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians in January 1893.

- - -
(?) Her Big1,2,3,4,5 (F)
(1812 - ), #35392

Also known as (?) Nayunspa Tanka.4 Also known as (?) Big Ax.5 The nationality of (?) Her Big was Oglala Lakota Sioux.2,3,5 Also known as (?) Tawa Tanka.1 Also known as (?) Big Ox.2,4 Also known as (?) Ptewakin Tanka.2 (?) Her Big was born in 1812.1,2 Another source states that she was also listed with a birthdate in 1833.3,4,5 She married (?) Old Shield circa 1862.1,2,3,5 She was listed as residing with her husband (?) Old Shield on the U.S. Indian Census Rolls taken on July 1, 1890 at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Porcupine District, Shannon Co., South Dakota, USA.1 She was listed as residing with her husband (?) Old Shield on the U.S. Indian Census Rolls taken on July 1, 1892 at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Porcupine District, Shannon Co., South Dakota ., USA.2 She was listed as residing with her husband (?) Old Shield on the U.S. Indian Census Rolls taken on June 30, 1894 at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Porcupine District, Shannon Co., South Dakota ., USA.3 She was listed as residing with her husband (?) Old Shield on the U.S. Indian Census Rolls taken on July 1, 1895 at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Porcupine District, Shannon Co., South Dakota ., USA.4 She was listed as residing with her husband (?) Old Shield on the U.S. Indian Census Rolls taken on June 20, 1896 at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Porcupine District, Shannon Co., South Dakota ., USA.5

Children of (?) Her Big and (?) Old Shield
(?) Blue Bird b. 1863
Julia Old Shield b. 1865
Alfred Old Shield+ b. 1867
Isaac Old Shield+ b. 1868
(?) Red Shield b. 1869
White Old Shield b. 1873
(?) Throws Eagle Away b. 1877
Jessie Old Shield b. 1878
(?) Shell b. 1881
Citations
1. [S47] 1890.
2. [S556] 1892.
3. [S269] 1894.
4. [S561] June 30th 1895.
5. [S158] June 30th, 1896.
Source: Stevens, Mike. “Tiyospaye - Person Page 142.” Freepages.rootsweb.com, 2 Mar. 2010, freepages.rootsweb.com/~mikestevens/genealogy/2010-p/p142.htm#i35392. Accessed 26 May 2024.

-A review of the citations in Tiyospaye confirms over multiple years the use of the name Julia O.S. Woodruff, the O.S. referring to her maiden name as daughter of her father Old Shield, b=1828.
-Julia is NOT included with the family in the 1887,1888 and 1890 census, nor is she shown living alone or married, she is NOT shown!
-There is no 1889 Pine Ridge Agency census.
-The 1891 census shows Julia age 26 line 5397 back with her family. From this, I conclude that John Woodruff her husband had been committed to St. Elizabeth's Hospital sometime before 30 Jun 1891
-Need to identify parents of niece Lucy Catches Enemy age 20, and nephews Paul Voice in Sight age 17, and George Old Shield age 10 (I have not attempted to identify the children of all siblings of Julia)
__________
Sources:

1890 thru 1896 Jun 30 - Stevens, Mike. “Tiyospaye - Person Page 142.” Freepages.rootsweb.com, 2 Mar. 2010, freepages.rootsweb.com/~mikestevens/genealogy/2010-p/p142.htm#i35392. Accessed 26 May 2024.

1900 Jun 8 - "United States Census, 1900", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMFC-33N : Thu Apr 11 18:21:40 UTC 2024), Entry for John Woodruff, 1900, pg. 814/875, line 82 (age 42 b=1858, Race=Black, married), census of the Government Hospital for the Insane, Washington City, District of Columbia

1909 May 15 - "South Dakota, Grave Registration Records, 1940-1941." Database. FamilySearch. https://FamilySearch.org : 27 December 2023. United States, Work Projects Administration, Grave Registration Survey, South Dakota.
Name John Woodruff
Sex Male
Age 51 years
Birth Year (Estimated) 1858
Death Date 15 May 1909
Event Type Burial
Event Place Presho, Lyman, South Dakota, United States
Cemetery Indian Asylum Cemetery

1909 May 15 - Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14493839/john-woodruff: accessed May 25, 2024), memorial page for John Woodruff (15 May 1909–15 May 1909), Find a Grave Memorial ID 14493839, citing Hiawatha Asylum Cemetery, Canton, Lincoln County, South Dakota, USA; Maintained by Graveaddiction (contributor 46528400).
Name John Woodruff
Death Date 15 May 1909
Event Type Burial
Event Place Canton, Lincoln, South Dakota, United States of America
Cemetery Hiawatha Asylum Cemetery

1909 May 15 - Hilton, M. (Ed.). (2023, July 10). Hiawatha Asylum for Insane Indians Historical Marker. Historical Marker. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=183486 Photo by Ruth VanSteenwyk, July 10, 2023, courtesy of HMdb.org

Yells At Night 11-21-08 · John Woodruff 5-15-09 · George Beautiste 5-30-09

1910 Oct 12 - Camp Verde School: 1910-27; Canton Insane Asylum: 1910-22, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155854182?objectPage=674, line 5, Table 7 Form of mental disease of those admitted since opening of Asylum