Dr. Eli Todd (July 22, 1769 – November 17, 1833)[1][2] was a pioneer in the treatment of the mentally ill. His efforts in the medical field of mental care and smallpox treatment had a significant impact on not only the residents of his town, Farmington, Connecticut, but contributed to the establishment of high standards for the rest of the newly formed nation.

He studied medicine as an apprentice under Dr. Ebenezer Beardsley of New Haven, and began his own medical practice in Farmington at the age of 21.

[2] He also founded the Society of Medical Friends in Farmington, where doctors from around Connecticut could share treatments and discuss opinions.

In 1791, working with Dr. Theodore Wadsworth, Todd gained permission to start a hospital near the present-day Farmington/Plainville border for smallpox inoculation.

The facility, commonly called Hospital Rock, is found deep in the second-growth hardwood forest of Rattlesnake Mountain in Connecticut and was used from 1792 to 1794.

Some individuals, such as Todd and Dorothea Dix wanted more humane care for the mentally ill as they were appalled at the treatment of such people.

“He advised a 3-pronged attack that was as follows: there should be an association of respectable men who would make it unfashionable to take ardent spirits; work houses of ‘idle, drinking persons’ after their third conviction for drunkenness; and heavy taxes on imported and domestic liquor”.

[6] Todd concluded that “the return to social and political stability during the first years of independence was undoubtedly eased by the availability of unlimited land to the west”.

[7] He was not a very good businessman and although his fame grew statewide, his wealth never swelled to match until he became director of the Connecticut Retreat.

[9] Todd had thought he had cured her, multiple times, but she still had episodes, and when she had to attend to a large farm in empty Vermont alone, she was pushed over the edge.

This began his revolutionary treatments, and what made the government give so much money for the mental hospital to be built.