How Brown
09-29-2005, 08:15 PM
This thread devoted to discussing whether JTR was a victim of syphilis or some other malady which may have affected his mind enough to become the Saucy One.....
For instance, some of the suspects [ Stephenson and Cutbush,for two examples ] were alleged to have had syphilis. The former's "case" is unproven to date,as more work is being done to prove or disprove this claim... while the latter may have thought he had syphilis [ which will drive one already on the edge,just that much farther,thinking one had that dreaded affliction....
Some legitimately had syphilis...James Kelly, Michael Kidney [ a rising candidate in many minds as the killer of Elizabeth Stride ] as well as others.
So...remembering that while syphilis is curable today,in 1888 it was not. Some tonics such as bichloride of mercury and arsenic existed...but couldn't cure syphilis.
Having syphilis in 1888,although not that uncommon,while not being a mandatory death sentence such as A.I.D.S. is now, still caused many,if not most,of the afflicted to wind up insane or dying prematurely.
James Kelly had syphilis for 47 years. If the claim that Stephenson had it is true [ the reason he was ousted from Customs House in 1868] , he had had syphilis for eight years prior to marrying Anne Deary,twenty years prior to 1888,and 48 years up to his death in 1916.
I,for one,think it is an anomaly that men [ or women ] would not be confined to a mental institution at some point,if they had syphilis...or wound up dead prematurely... Kelly did go to Broadmoor...Stephenson is not known to have been institutionialized. This, at present, is where the Stephenson with syphilis saga resides.
Your thoughts....
For instance, some of the suspects [ Stephenson and Cutbush,for two examples ] were alleged to have had syphilis. The former's "case" is unproven to date,as more work is being done to prove or disprove this claim... while the latter may have thought he had syphilis [ which will drive one already on the edge,just that much farther,thinking one had that dreaded affliction....
Some legitimately had syphilis...James Kelly, Michael Kidney [ a rising candidate in many minds as the killer of Elizabeth Stride ] as well as others.
So...remembering that while syphilis is curable today,in 1888 it was not. Some tonics such as bichloride of mercury and arsenic existed...but couldn't cure syphilis.
Having syphilis in 1888,although not that uncommon,while not being a mandatory death sentence such as A.I.D.S. is now, still caused many,if not most,of the afflicted to wind up insane or dying prematurely.
James Kelly had syphilis for 47 years. If the claim that Stephenson had it is true [ the reason he was ousted from Customs House in 1868] , he had had syphilis for eight years prior to marrying Anne Deary,twenty years prior to 1888,and 48 years up to his death in 1916.
I,for one,think it is an anomaly that men [ or women ] would not be confined to a mental institution at some point,if they had syphilis...or wound up dead prematurely... Kelly did go to Broadmoor...Stephenson is not known to have been institutionialized. This, at present, is where the Stephenson with syphilis saga resides.
Your thoughts....