Perseverance Pays Off: How One 19th century Individual Restored His Rights

In recent years, readers may have become familiar with the term “conservatorship.” Most prominently, this topic has been connected to one of the most popular and well-known 21st-century pop stars: Britney Spears. However, other celebrities have also been placed under court-ordered conservatorships, including Amanda Bynes, Joni Mitchell, and Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson. Conservatorships are not a new legal tool, however. They have been used in the American legal system for centuries, in both helpful and harmful ways.

The court grants a conservatorship for individuals who are unable to make their own decisions for some specific reason such as intellectual disability, injury or illness, or age-related conditions such as dementia. The conservatorship may be temporary or permanent. For example, Joni Mitchell made such a significant recovery from her illness that her conservatorship was dissolved by the court. In other cases, individuals under conservatorships go to court to argue that they are capable of making their own life decisions, as was the case with Britney Spears, whose story blanketed the news cycle.

No one would better understand her struggle than Shenandoah County’s Christian Bowman who in three related chancery causes, 1835-001, 1839-003, and 1851-006, sued his committee (the 19th-century version of a conservator) to take back control of “his person and property.” As mentioned in the first cause, it was “two years since he [Christian] was declared by the County Court of Shenandoah to be a person of unsound mind proceeding from intemperance.” The court intervened by appointing a committee. There was a real concern that Christian’s mind had become impaired and that he would “squander his whole estate in procuring whiskey and bartering or trading off his property.” Numerous individuals on both sides gave depositions. As one deponent stated about Bowman’ s conduct, “when he is sober, he is a good neighbor and behaves well.” In the end, the court agreed not to “suspend the powers of the committee.”

With the institution of the third suit in July 1851, Bowman’s son, Daniel, and another individual, George Coffelt, served as his committeeship. Significant progress was made in the twelve years between suits. According to his committees, Christian for “the past 5 or 6 years has conducted himself with propriety, sober and industrious.” He had been “restored to his mind.” His mind was clear and he was deemed “every way mentally competent.” The committeeship stated “there is no reason for their continuance and may be annulled, vacated and set aside.” Christian Bowman had twelve years to work on himself with an additional six years to prove himself. Finally, the court agreed. It was “adjudged, ordered and decreed, that the said order appointing said committee, be and the same is hereby set aside, suspended, annulled and revoked and the said Christian Bowman be restored to his personal rights and to the rights of his property.”

During this time, Shenandoah County was an unforgiving land. Debt was a constant presence; Christian Bowman was trying to manage a family and a farm. His journey mirrored what was happening in American culture at large with respect to drinking habits. In the 1820s, whiskey sold for 25 cents a gallon. By 1830, U.S. residents drank more than seven gallons of alcohol a year, mostly in the form of whiskey. Whiskey was less dangerous than water, which was frequently contaminated, and was easy to produce on the frontier.

Soon a call for moderation, if not outright abstinence, began to rise, especially from the Protestant pulpit. Like-minded citizens formed temperance societies in the New England states. Organizations like the YMCA and Women’s Christian Temperance Union characterized drunkenness as a sin and encouraged members to sign pledges of temperance. These strategies had an effect – half of the U.S. population had stopped drinking entirely by 1850.¹

By the time Christian Bowman recovered, “inebriate homes” were opening in the United States to give individuals a chance to recover. These homes provided short, voluntary stays that included non-medical detoxification, isolation from drinking culture, moral reframing, and immersion in newly formed sobriety fellowships. Boston opened its first home in 1850. These homes were modeled after state-operated psychiatric hospitals.²

Alcohol addiction can contribute to the worsening of many mental health problems. Alcoholism or alcohol use disorder can be classified as a substance use disorder or mental illness and can occur with other mental health disorders either simultaneously or sequentially. Sometimes, addiction goes hand in hand with a mental health disorder. Treatment outcomes are improved when addiction specialists are partnered with mental health specialists. Thankfully, addiction is no longer regarded as a moral failure or weakness. Addiction is widely regarded by doctors and scientists as a medical condition—chronic, sometimes relapsing, but treatable.³  Somehow, Christian Bowman persisted against the attitudes toward addiction during the 19th century. Today, a more integrated treatment approach is possible and leads to much greater success.