Hansford: Mental Defectives in County H,, Indiana 81 
Two weeks later Frank married Minnie McHaley, the 
daughter of Matilda and George. Altho of the same name, 
they are not related. This family seem to have wanderlust in 
their makeup. They are professional tramps and beggars. 
In summer they systematically make all the small towns in the 
central part of the state, each place telling a new story as the 
reason for asking help. In one place they tell that their house 
has burned, in another that disease has almost wiped out the 
family, and they are no longer able to work. Until about 2 
years ago they always spent the winter in or near a nearby 
county seat. For the past 2 years they have been making 
Stonetown their headquarters. They are all feeble-minded. 
The mother came from an adjoining county and for her second 
husband married George McHaley, a feeble-minded man who 
had been born and reared in County H. Matilda does not 
know her age but is probably somewhere between 55 and 65 
years old. When asked about her age or that of Pearlie, her 
daughter, she always says, '‘Lor! Sister, I dunno.’^ The only 
thing she seems to know for sure is that Minnie, the oldest 
child, is 18 years old. One would guess Pearlie to be about 14 
years old. She has never been able to attend school as she is 
a low-grade imbecile. She has already had 1 illegitimate child. 
She will often sit for hours staring into space during which 
time she says she is talking with God. It is difficult to say 
whether the child suffers from hallucinations or is acting on 
suggestions received at the Holy Roller church. Janie has 2 
illegitimate children dead. Both were in a horrible syphilitic 
condition when born. One paternal aunt of Minnie was seen. 
She was a woman perhaps 70 years of age who had deterior- 
ated so badly that it was impossible to get any information 
from her. One brother who is now dead was feeble-minded. 
Matilda says that she had a brother who “was not right in 
his head'' but as she also said that his “brains run out of his 
head through his nose", her word cannot be taken as final, 
Minnie has been seen once since her marriage to Frank Mc- 
Haley. They were living in a two-room shack in which there 
was no furniture but an old tumbled down bed. The custom- 
ary stove and broken dishes were missing. It is not know 
how they cooked. Frank and Minnie were seated on the floor 
sorting mayapple root for the market. Her sole garment 
6—26177 
