Bond books for transfer of cadavers to medical schools, 1893-1944 (bulk 1899-1924, 1937-1944)

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Bond books for transfer of cadavers to medical schools, 1893-1944 (bulk 1899-1924, 1937-1944)

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/476253815

St 1831, c 57 allowed bodies of persons who were to be buried at public expense, and unclaimed by family or friends, to be given to physicians or medical schools for the study of anatomy. Those receiving a body had to provide a bond guaranteeing that it was only to be used for anatomical study, that they would "in no event outrage the public feeling," with bodies to be decently buried after use. St 1891, c 185 directed the State Workhouse (i.e., the State Farm as of 1887) to provide such bodies to medical schools, allowing three days for family members to reclaim the body for burial. St 1898, c 479 lengthened the interval to fourteen days. Each volume contains such printed bonds for a specific medical school, including Tufts, Harvard, Boston University, and Massachusetts College of Osteopathy. Each surety bond for $100 provides name and/or number of the deceased, and is made out to, signed, and sealed by a representative of the medical school. For letters informing families of the potential for such transfers, see: State Workhouse/State Farm superintendent letter books, 1883-1912 ((M-Ar)2525X)

1.25 cubic ft. (11 v. in 1 record center carton)

Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Archives

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SNAC Resource ID: 7582558

Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Archives

Related Entities

There are 3 Entities related to this resource.

Massachusetts. State Asylum for Insane Criminals (Bridgewater, Mass.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sg3p7b (corporateBody)

Massachusetts. State Farm (Bridgewater, Mass.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62279gs (corporateBody)

Bridgewater, Mass., was the site successively of a State Almshouse (1854-1872) for so-called willing and needlessly dependent paupers, and the State Workhouse (1866-1887), for paupers convicted of misdemeanors as well as paupers generally (from 1872), and incorrigible juveniles (1869-1948). The State Workhouse was renamed the State Farm (1887-1955), which also included a State Farm Hospital for the medical needs of all inmates, as well as locals and poor admitted solely for medical treatment. Th...

Bridgewater State Hospital (Mass.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fv314t (corporateBody)

The State Asylum for Insane Criminals was established in Massachusetts in 1895 at the State Workhouse in Bridgewater. Under the workhouse's successor, the State Farm (from 1887), the asylum was renamed Bridgewater State Hospital in 1909. In 1919 the State Farm, including the State Hospital, was transferred from the State Board of Charity to the Massachusetts Bureau of Prisons (later Dept. of Correction), although as of 1923 the Dept. of Mental Diseases (later Dept. of Mental Health) retained the...