Virginia Memory, Library of Virginia
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THIS DAY IN VIRGINIA HISTORY

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May 12, 1788

Virginia, Governor (1786—1788: Randolph), Executive Papers of Governor Edmund Randolph, 1786—1788 (bulk 1787—1788), Accession 40084, State Government Records Collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. Virginia, Governor (1786—1788: Randolph), Executive Papers of Governor Edmund Randolph, 1786—1788 (bulk 1787—1788), Accession 40084, State Government Records Collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. Virginia, Governor (1786—1788: Randolph), Executive Papers of Governor Edmund Randolph, 1786—1788 (bulk 1787—1788), Accession 40084, State Government Records Collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Benjamin Franklin Wrote to Governor Randolph

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) wrote to Governor Edmund Randolph (1753–1813) about a Virginia man Joseph Elam, who had been hospitalized several times in Philadelphia for insanity and imprisoned for disturbing Quaker meetings. Franklin responded to Randolph's inquires about Elam and asked for guidance in dealing with the man in his unstable condition. In the 1770s Virginia constructed the first public hospital in America for people with mental illness in Williamsburg.