On Dec. 6, 1797, Warren County Court magistrates ordered John Hall to keep John Dickerson “who is described as disordered” at Hall’s home “until said Dickerson shall get well of his Disorder.”

Others were appointed to arrange the hire of a “keeper” and to sell Dickerson’s horse to help pay his keep. Court-ordered private care for the mentally ill was common prior to the building in 1817 of what is now known as Eastern State Hospital. Dickerson did recover, and later married Polly Uselton on Aug. 15, 1806.

– “Way Back When in Warren County” is compiled by researchers at the Warren County Public Library and appears twice weekly in the Bowling Green Daily News. For more information about the library, visit warrenpl.org.