Eli Todd

Dr. Eli Todd (July 22, 1769 – November 17, 1833) was a pioneer in the treatment of the mentally ill. His efforts in the medical field of mental care and smallpox treatment had a significant impact on not only the residents of his town, Farmington, Connecticut, but contributed to the establishment of high standards for the rest of the newly formed nation.

Early life Eli Todd was born in 1769 in New Haven, Connecticut. Prior to 1800, it was common for people deemed mad to be locked away and forgotten about. Some individuals, such as Todd and Dorothea Dix wanted more humane care for the mentally ill as they were appalled at the treatment of such people. The Connecticut Retreat for the Insane was built in 1823, and was opened to admissions in 1824. Eli Todd was its first director. It was often referred to as the Hartford Retreat for the Insane, and is now known as The Institute of Living. The Hartford Retreat for the Insane cost $12,000 to build and could serve up to 40 patients at a time. “It cost $3.00 a week for a state resident and $4.00 a week for an out of state resident”.

Dr. Eli Todd also viewed alcohol as the “prominent evil of the day”. Todd concluded that “the return to social and political stability during the first years of independence was undoubtedly eased by the availability of unlimited land to the west”.

He was not a very good businessman and although his fame grew statewide, his wealth never swelled to match until he became director of the Connecticut Retreat. In 1796, shortly after starting his work in Farmington, he married Rachel Hills. In the same year, his half-brother Michael died at sea. In 1797, his sister Polly died of spotted fever. His mother died in 1806. In 1811, Rachel's brother Reuben died, and Todd and his wife adopted his two daughters Theresa and Jennet. Rachel died in 1825, and Todd subsequently married her younger sister, Catherine. She would outlive him by 33 years, dying herself in 1866.

His sister Eunice died by suicide after a long history of depression and the death of her son. Todd received a letter from Eunice's husband in August 1829, which told of her death. Todd had thought he had cured her, multiple times, but she still had episodes, and when she had to attend to a large farm in empty Vermont alone, she was pushed over the edge. This began his theory that mental retardation (insanity at the time) was a disease and had a cause and possibly a cure. This began his revolutionary treatments, and what made the government give so much money for the mental hospital to be built.

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