So, I found court records in regards to Alice Hamilton’s case and decided to do a bit of digging. According to the records;
That for many years prior to her decease in 1905, said Alice Hamilton was insane, suffering from that form of insanity sometimes called chronic melancholia, or melancholia of involution, being in a delusional state, having hallucinations of sight and hearing, and having delusions, such as that she was dead; that her relatives were dead; that she had seen God, and that He had gone away from her; that the devil had appeared; that she had committed unpardonable sins, that she heard voices, and saw things which nobody else heard or saw. That she had so suffered from this form of insanity from a time about one year prior to October 24, 1889, and on or about said 24th day of October, 1889, in proceedings had and taken under Chapter 446 of the Laws of the State of New York of the year 1874, said Alice Hamilton was duly examined by Doctors F. Leroy Satterlee and Clement Cleveland, two medical examiners in lunacy and found and duly certified by them to be an insane person, having hallucinations of sight and hearing and delusions and in a mental condition dangerous to herself and family, and a proper person for care and treatment under the provisions of said act. and which said findings of lunacy set forth in said certificate were duly approved by Hon. George I. Andrews, a Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, according to the provi sions of said statute, and thereupon said Alice Hamilton was duly committed to, and for several years confined in an asylum for the care of insane persons, located at Pleasantville, in the State of New York.
That afterwards and on or about the 27th day of April, 1898, said Alice Hamilton was committed a second time to said insane asylum, being a lunatic suffering from chronic melancholia, with hallucinations and delusions, to wit, that she was dead; that all persons about her were dead; that she was eternally lost; that she couldn’t walk; that she couldn’t talk, and being in a mental condition dangerous to herself and to her friends
That afterwards, and on or about the 23d day of December, 1898, upon the petition of the defendant Adelaide Hamilton, dated on that day, proceedings were duly instituted in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, in New York County, for the purpose of inquiring as to the lunacy of said Alice Hamilton, and such proceedings were there upon had and taken in said matter that on or about the 16th day of January, 1899, said Alice Hamilton was found by the jury impaneled in such case, to be a lunatic of unsound mind, suffering from chronic melancholia, not having lucid intervals and was incompetent, in consequence of such lunacy, to manage herself and her affairs, and which finding was, on or about the 27th day of January, 1899, duly confirmed by the order of the Supreme Court, made in said proceeding on that day and in and by which order said defendant, Ade laide Hamilton, was appointed the committee of the person of said Alice Hamilton and the defendant, William Pierson Hamilton, was appointed the committee of the estate of said Alice Hamilton.
Basically this whole court case is the family trying to figure out what is to be done about her property and belongings after she’s died. But it does provide insight about her mental condition. Apparently she was deducted to have been suffering from chronic melancholia, which is “a mental condition marked by persistent depression and ill-founded fears.”. Alice believed she was dead, and everyone around her was too. She had hallucinations like seeing God and the devil, and these visions telling her she had committed unforgivable sins. Another newspaper says;
Dr. Austin Flint, who examined Miss Hamilton at Pleasantville on December 13, states, in an affidavit, that it required considerable persuasion on his part to induce her to answer questions or to engage her in conversation but finally she told him that she was dead, and that she and the persons around her were dead. This seemed to be her chief delusion. He states that she is suffering from chronic melancholia, with delusions, and that she is incapable of caring for herself or her estate.
Source — The evening times, [December 28, 1898], Pg. 5
And it even brings up Alexander too;
Charges of insanity were made against Gen. Alexander Hamilton, a brother of Miss Alice Hamilton, in 1893, by his wife. She alleged that he was irresponsible for his acts and had frequently threatened to kill her. At her request Judge Dykman 1 appointed a commission to inquire into Gen. Hamilton’s mental condition. It developed then that the general and his wife had lived unhappily for years, and it was hinted that her charges were perhaps prompted by malice. Later Mrs. Hamilton withdrew her complaint and she and her husband became reconciled.
It doesn’t appear that Alice showed any signs of mental illness as a child, the correspondence with her siblings seems affectionate and normal. [x] And she seems to have been close with her brother, Laurens Hamilton. [x] It’s eerily similar to Angelica’s case, but there isn’t much to actually deduct what happened here or anything.
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