Histories Mysteries Part I - SC State Hospital for the Insane

I knew getting into researching my genealogy, there may be some surprises. When I was younger and first started this, I found a footnote of a Cherokee ancestor named Miss Smothers. I have still been searching for her, with very little results.

Yesterday, I came across some things I had never seen before. If you know my family, you know we're all a little crazy...lol... but finding bonafide records of it was shocking! Now, I will admit, while it's likely this is my relative - I have not verified it 100%. I would like to make a trip down to the archives building in Columbia and see his patient files. The dates/ages approximately match, so it might be! This would make him my 4x great grandfather. The father of Ella Jane Eddins who married Samuel Murphy, who bore Theodore who married Helen, who bore Jerry Sr - the patriarch of my family and my grandfather.

Line 74 of the 1900 census for Richland County (Columbia Township) at the State Hospital for the Insane lists a John W. Eddins as a patient. Listed as born in 1860, a 40 year old married man, somewhat lines up with my relative who I have listed as born about November 1857. Now, I know these records are not 100% accurate. I can tell this by every single birth month, as well as father and mothers birthplace being listed as unknown. Surely, a room of 50 adults, someone knew their birth month - or the place their father/mother was born. I hope to dig further into this mystery soon!