"An Insane Plot"

Wealthy Physician Accuses Wife of Plotting to Steal Fortune by Committing Him to an Italian Asylum

In a Brooklyn courtroom, in the year 1889, Dr. Sumner Mason, a physician with a personal fortune estimated at close to half a million dollars, leveled shocking accusations against his wife. He claimed she orchestrated his kidnapping and wrongful commitment to an insane asylum in Genoa, Italy, in a scheme to seize his assets.

The harrowing story, presented by Dr. Mason's lawyer, began in the summer of 1888. Dr. Mason was suffering from the lingering effects of a sunstroke when, against the advice of his friends, he agreed to travel abroad with his wife and their two teenage children.

After traveling through Germany, the family arrived in Italy. There, Dr. Mason’s daughter was placed in a convent school, a decision he strongly opposed. Shortly after their arrival in Genoa, Dr. Mason fell seriously ill. His wife, who spoke Italian, summoned a local doctor unknown to him. As Dr. Mason did not speak the language, he was helpless as his wife described his symptoms to the physician. Soon after, Mrs. Mason informed her husband that he would be moved to an institution to treat his "nervous troubles." Immediately suspicious, Dr. Mason declared, "I will not go to a lunatic asylum. I will kill myself first." His wife reportedly assured him, "It is not a lunatic asylum at all." Despite his protests, he was taken to the facility.

Dr. Mason recounted a horrifying experience inside the asylum, describing routine brutality toward the patients. He alleged that staff would beat him with heavy keys. His inability to speak Italian only worsened his situation. During one particularly agonizing night, he suffered a severe attack of colic and cramps. He cried out in English for a surgeon, but instead, three large attendants entered his room. Ignoring his pleas for mercy, which they could not understand, they chained his hands to the head of his bed and his feet to the foot, leaving him to endure the intense pain alone all night. He also stated that the straitjacket was used on patients for the slightest reason. Determined to maintain his sanity, Dr. Mason constantly looked for a way to contact the outside world. He began writing letters, attaching them to stones, and throwing them over the asylum walls. 

Miraculously, one of these messages reached his brother in a western city in the United States. Upon learning of the doctor's plight, his brother immediately traveled to Italy to rescue him. With the assistance of United States Consul Reed, stationed in Milan, Dr. Mason’s release was secured after several months of confinement. To leave no doubt about his mental state, Dr. Mason traveled directly to Paris. There, he was immediately examined by the renowned physician Dr. Brown-Sequard, who pronounced him "absolutely sane."

Upon returning to the United States, Dr. Mason found his life in disarray. His medical practice was nearly gone, and he claimed his wife had taken control of all his property, setting the stage for a dramatic legal battle.