Prior to Melanie’s passing, there were concerns about Aimé’s relationship status, for he was 31 years old and still single. The asylum housed a significant number of women; therefore, it was communicated that it would be inappropriate for him to occupy such a position. Worried about the lack of descendants to effectively oversee the establishment properly, she called on the community of the Sisters of Saint Vincent de Paul.

She passed away on August 10, 1846, before the agreement was finalized with the congregation, prompting her husband to endorse the agreement drafted by his wife on behalf of their children, who had inherited ownership.

On the 27th of the same month, a small group of seven nuns led by a superior moved to Saint-Paul, as well as a chaplain, Father Jean Baptiste Edmond Chargros.

The treaty established with the community of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul granted them dominance over the asylum’s daily operations, a circumstance that Aimé struggled to accept. Consequently, a conflict ensued. The nuns also complained about the conditions in which they were living. The linens, clothing, and supplies were of poor quality, and repairs needed to be carried out. The departmental inspector reprimanded Aimé, acknowledging the validity of the complaints and the need for improvement. He would be instructed to limit the house provisionally to the men’s quarters due to his marital status and to ensure that all the sick women were returned to their families if the ladies of St. Vincent de Paul were to leave the property.

According to the expressed intentions of the late Madame Chabrand, none of the owners of the establishment should live, sleep, or take their meals there; the superior would have all the keys and would only give them to whomever she wanted, the owners obliging themselves not to keep any of them without her approval.

Aimé Chabrand’s title of director is therefore no more recognized internally than officially approved externally. His place at Saint-Paul was so discreet that it was not he but his father, a signatory of the treaty, whom the sisters considered their interlocutor. According to Dr. Blain, who evokes the first disagreements between heirs, Aimé did not have the upper hand over his brother Louis, even though he was his junior: “The will of the director is far from being able to prevail over that of his brother.” Following this episode, both bowed.

Disputes among the nuns, authorities, doctors, and the three grandchildren persisted for years. Louis Chabrand, the younger sibling of Aimé, passed away on 27 May 1858. His property was apportioned between his brother and sister, and with the resignation of Dr. Charrière, the physician of Saint-Paul, a very turbulent era commenced. Within a decade, the directors transitioned rapidly, and after the Sisters of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul staged demonstrations in 1865, they were superseded by the Sisters of Saint-Joseph-de-Vesseaux. Dr. Blain also departed from his position as medical advisor.

Aimé and the superior general of the order signed a new agreement on May 1, 1866. In accordance with the regulations and their extensions, the agreement established the newcomers’ position in the hierarchy and detailed their mission: under the authority of the director and the doctor, they would manage all internal services of the women’s division, where the superior served as chief supervisor. For men, their role will be more limited:

In the gentlemen’s quarters, the sisters’ service will consist only in the distribution of food in the refectory, the care of linen and effects, the inspection of the cleanliness of the dormitories and rooms to make sure that the beds are well made, in a word to ensure the little cares of cleanliness and foresight for which a woman’s eye always has a great superiority. The Sister shares her observations with the Chief Overseer who accompanies her and, if necessary, with Director.

The Sisters will also be responsible for the following general services: pharmacy, laundry, linen room and kitchen. The superior will regularly present to the accountant “the detailed and paid bill of the small expenses made at the local market and for any other expense the paid invoices of the suppliers”, in exchange for which the amount of the invoices and notes will be given to her. The house assigned to the special use of the nuns “a refectory, a common dormitory, a small conference room”. They will be furnished, fed, heated, laundered, and lighted. The agreement indicates the sum allocated annually and personally to the superior (300 francs), to each sister (250 francs), lay sister (200 francs) and orphan (120 francs).

Calm had been restored to Saint-Paul (for now), and a document promoting the establishment appeared, entitled Maison de santé de Saint-Rémy de Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône), a private establishment devoted to the insane of both sexes, owned by M. A. de Chabrand, grandson of Doctor Mercurin, its founder.

By now, Saint-Paul had earned itself a negative reputation among the asylums of Provence and the south of France generally. Aimé Chabrand spoke of the discontent of the families who ended up withdrawing their lunatics and of the destruction and ruin of his establishment, for which he blamed the director in place, Baissade, and Doctor Blain.

In 1866, accommodations were priced accordingly:

• 3rd class: 800 francs per year included accommodation in a common dormitory and living room unless there is a need for isolation or incidental illness. Sufficient, suitable table.
• 2nd class: 1200 francs per year included a modestly furnished private room. The food was healthy, similar to that of the third class, but with a wider variety; the common lounges were more comfortable, frequently fostering social interactions with the first class, unless a specific situation arose.
• 1st Class: 1600 francs per year included a private room furnished with a certain elegance and a very complete table well served.
• Grand pensionnaires was considered luxury at a cost of 3600 francs per year. These fortunate souls received several furnished rooms and plentiful meals. Some had a specially assigned servant for said luxuries.

On 26 August 1868, the prefectural decree was published designating Pierre Égiste Lisle, former chief physician of the public asylum in Marseilles, as medical director of Saint-Paul. From then on, and until the death of Dr. Peyron in 1895, only one person would perform at a time, like Dr. Mercurin before 1844, the functions of director and doctor.

The number of asylum attendees fluctuated under the governance of the nuns, authorities, doctors, and Dr. Mercurin’s three grandchildren; by 1874 there were 59 patients, 55 of whom were considered incurable. Prior to the advent of medications in the early to mid-1900s, cures were typically rare in French insane asylums.

In a matter of a few years, the facility’s regression became increasingly apparent to the departmental inspector, and in March 1874, the inspector general Constans visited Saint-Paul; the state of the establishment was reminiscent of its worst hours at the end of Louis Mercurin’s life, noting:

The general dress of the house is not good. Everything there breathes carelessness and misery. Mr. Bourgarel’s discouragement is obviously not unrelated to this situation, the main cause of which is the shortage of allowances granted by the owner. Only rarely are the most much-needed supplies made in a timely manner. The diet seemed to me to be mediocre and above all not very varied, a presumption which agrees with the complaints addressed to me by several patients on this subject.

I have seldom seen anything more dreadful than the bedtime of the spoilers. […] Not only had their straw probably not been disturbed for several days, not only was it wet but absolutely reduced to manure. […]

Families are really very stupid or very indifferent when they come to place their patients in such a place