How do I go about finding information on Kalamazoo State Hospital patients?
The records on Kalamazoo State Hospital patients have been closed for eternity to everyone, including members of the family. These patients can be tracked on the U.S. Federal census and records of their deaths can be found in the Kalamazoo County Death Index. However, even with a death date, it is rare to find an obituary in the Kalamazoo Gazette for people who died in the State Hospital. State Hospital patients came from all over Michigan and if they had obituaries published it was often in the county where they were living before they were admitted. You can also find information on their admission to the hospital in the probate court in the county where they were living when they were admitted provided that they were admitted involuntarily, which most patients were. This will generally tell who had the person admitted, the symptoms they were exhibiting at the time and any medication they were taking.
