In print here for the first time since 1855 are the rules and regulations that dictated life at one of the first mental institutions in the United States - Western Lunatic Asylum in Staunton, Virginia. Founded in 1828, the asylum marked a revolution in the treatment of the mentally ill, supplanting barbarity with enlightened approaches that would set the institution apart from all others. These bylaws regulated the actions of everyone who worked at the asylum, from the board of directors down to the lowliest servant. Accompanied by the 1855 Code of Virginia regarding the management of the insane, and supporting articles by Staunton historian Charles Culbertson, this volume sheds new light on a topic within a forgotten time period that has long been ignored.