Horace A. Buttolph
| Horace A. Buttolph | |
|---|---|
 Dr. Horace A. Buttolp | |
| Born | April 6, 1815 North East Township, New York |
| Died | May 21, 1896 Short Hills, NJ |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Doctor |
| Known for | First Superintendent of Trenton State Hospital, Superintendent |
Horace Buttolph was born on April 6, 1815 in the township of North East in Dutchess County, New York by the Connecticut border. He was the son of Warren Buttolph, who was of German decent, and Mary McAllister Buttolph, or Irish decent. He was schooled in Dutchess county and later at the Stockbridge Academy in nearby Massachusetts. His degree in medicine came from Berkshire University in Massachusetts, which he graduated in 1836 and shortly thereafter began a practice in his home county. Soon he moved to Sharon Connecticut and continued his practice there for five years before moving again to New York City where he took at course of medical lectures at New York University. This was where he became interested in mental sciences.
After becoming interested in mental healthcare he visited the principal asylums in New England and soon acquired the position of assistant to Dr. Amariah Brigham, then the Superintendent of Utica State Hospital in New York. He served in this position for five years from 1842 until 1847. It was in this year when he was appointed to the position of Superintendent at the newly constructed New Jersey Lunatic Asylum at Trenton, now the Trenton State Hospital and the first mental hospital to be built on the Kirkbride Plan. However, before taking his position there he toured 30 asylums across Britian, France, and Germany in order to better prepare for the roll. He continued to serve as the Superintendent of this hospital for 29 years (1847-1876), at which point he left in order to serve at New Jersey's newest asylum at Morris Plains.
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