Rathbone's "Ailment"

[BettyO]

I just finished Caleb's wonderful book, Worst Seat in the House.

I've always been terribly interested in the Rathbone story - and Caleb has more than filled in the blanks in this terrible tragedy.

My question is, can PTS cause such terrible "insanity?" Caleb has supported this theory admiringly and in some depth. There was seemingly no other history of mental disorder in the Rathbone family. Could any of the doctors here on our Forum chime in?

[RJNorton]

Betty, I do not know what the doctors will say, but I first got the impression that Rathbone had a tendency toward mental instability after reading Thomas Mallon's Henry and Clara. This feeling was reinforced when I read Caleb's book. On p. 39 Caleb writes, "He (Rathbone) may have had difficulty managing feelings of anxiety even as a child. His father's death may have precipitated a nightmare of emotions for him, but he was able to hide away in a large house with little else to worry about. An affluent upbringing provided Henry the means to escape."

Caleb continues, "Rathbone's station in life rarely forced a need to overcome hardship, and it's possible that an underlying mental illness was present all along."

IMO the assassination added a huge burden to a man who may possibly have been predisposed to mental instability well before the tragedy of 1865. He may have had issues even without being in the box when the assassination took place; the assassination served to make his condition much worse than otherwise would have been the case. Just my opinion.

[BettyO]

Makes perfect sense, Roger. I found Caleb's book totally fascinating on an already intriguing subject. I was just curious inasmuch as it is usually stated (or used to be) that mental instability ran genetically through families. There seemed to be no disposition to it in the Rathbone line - either on the paternal or maternal side. The PTS theory does make a lot of sense - as do underlying causes from childhood on.

[Wild Bill]

I agree with Roger.

There was much racial violence in the South after the war which was lost. Texas seemed full of men with possible PTS.

To name two, whom I have written on, Culllen Baker and Ben Griffith. Baker would kill anyone white or black he thought was in his way. Griffith specialized in killing freedmen, often to negate labor contracts so planters would not have to pay their employees. He was so feared that whenever a white man on a bay mule rode by, freedmen took to the woods. He would shoot a black man for fun. Even ran one up a tree for an interesting shot.

This merely scratches the surface. Another who comes to mind is John Wesley Hardin. All had Civil War combat experience or trouble with Reconstruction troops enforcing "Yankee" edicts.

[HerbS]

I agree with Roger100%.I suffer from PTSD from Viet-Nam.But,my father was abusive towards me and my mother.I vowed to never be like him.That's why I am trained in mediation and anger management.I also enjoy working with"At Risk"kids.Then again,all kids are"At Risk"!

[LincolnToddFan]

Good for you, HerbS...I think people like yourself are nothing less than heroic. God Bless.

[HerbS]

Thanks--It has been very tough row to hoe,But,I look at myself as a-Survivor!-Herb

[LincolnToddFan]

That, you definitely are!