"History of Grand Rapids"
Goss, 1906
Pages 1268 - 1275

Butterworth Hospital is the successor of St. Mark’s Home and Hospital which for many years was conducted under the auspices of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. January 1, 1873, the church authorities established a "Church Home," and by the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. E. P. Fuller were given the use of a frame house at No. 60 Kent street, where six sick and aged members were accommodated during the first year. Demands and needs increased, and in 1876 Mr. and Mrs. Fuller donated to the trustees of St. Mark’s the use of a large building on Island street which was occupied as a home and hospital for fourteen years. June 26, 1877, "St. Mark’s Home and Hospital" became incorporated, and ever since the institution has been conducted as an incorporated body to furnish a home and hospital for the sick and needy, irrespective of sect and creed, and to relieve the necessities of persons requiring any assistance by any charitable means that may seem proper, and to educate and train nurses for the care of the sick. Mrs. H. W. Hinsdale, President; Mrs. E. P. Fuller, Vice-President; Miss Louise Miller, Secretary and Treasurer; Mrs. Charlotte Cuming, Mrs. John McConnell, Mrs. P. R. L. Pierce, Mrs. James H. McKee, and Mrs. George Kendall constituted the first board of trustees.

November 28, 1887, the board of directors received a letter from Richard E. E. Butterworth offering to donate the association a site for a hospital at the southwest corner of East Bridge and Bostock streets, valued at $15,000. The offer was accepted. January 6, 1888, Mr. Butterworth died, and by the terms of his will gave to the association the site mentioned, $15,000 in cash and a block on Canal street valued at $15,000; so that his entire gifts to the association amounted to $41,500. Ground was broken for the new building on August 10, 1888. On Sunday, March 24, 1889, after regular morning services at St. Mark’s church, the entire congregation went in a body to the site of the hospital, and the corner stone was laid with appropriate ceremonies, Dr. Fair pronouncing the benediction. On St. Mark’s day, April 26, 1890, the present hospital building was completed and opened with a public reception and dedicatory exercises conducted by Rev. Dr. Campbell Fair, assisted by Rev. Peter Moerdyke, Rev. Dr. S. H. Cobb, Rev. A. R. Merriam, and Rev. Dr. Knapp. Prayer was offered by Bishop Gillespie.

In the walls of the building is a marble slab about five by three feet in size which words the grateful remembrance of Richard Edward Emerson Butterworth, by whose benevolence the building was erected. There are also life-sized portraits of Mr. and Mrs. E. P. Fuller, by whose fostering care the institution was established and promoted.

At the opening of the building there were rooms furnished by the following philanthropic citizens of Grand Rapids: Mrs. S. L. Fuller, Mrs. Francis Letellier, Mrs. E. P. Fuller, Berkey & Gay Company, Mr. C. W. Wright, Mr. Henry Ives, Mr. A. E. Worden, Mrs. W. F. Bulkley, Mrs. Joseph Penney, Helping Hand Society, Mrs. A. J. Brown, Mrs. M. A. Tinkham, Mrs. Arthur Meigs, Mrs. J. H. Wonderly, Mrs. J. Boyd Pantlind.

The building is one hundred and forty-eight feet long by eighty-four feet deep, three stories high, made of Ohio and pressed brick, with Lake Superior and sandstone trimmings, slate roof. It was erected under the supervision of C. W. Davidson. Its total cost was $47,088.42.

On January 25, 1894, the name of the institution was changed to that of its chief patron and it has since been called "Butterworth Hospital."

It has a high and commanding position, which affords a fine view of the city and Grand River valley. In consequence of its elevated position its drainage is perfect. Exposed to the breeze from every quarter, the air is pure and fresh at all times. It is heated by steam and lighted by both electricity and gas. Each room is provided with an electric call bell by which attendance can be summoned at any moment. There are four general wards and eighteen private rooms furnished with every modern convenience. There is an operating room, dispensary, and all the accommodations of a first class hospital. The institution is open to the suffering of all classes, without regard to religion, sex or color. Persons suffering from accident and serious illness are admitted at any hour of the day and night. It has four free beds. All cases of accident, and diseases, except those which are incurable and contagious, are treated. The association is out of debt. During the past year its total income was $31,345.51, and it paid off a bonded indebtedness of $9,000 and interest and its total expense $22,580.84. Seven hundred and fifty-eight patients were treated during the year past. The following constitutes the present officers and physicians of the institution:

Board of Trustees — George K. Johnson, term expires April 25, 1905; Philo C. Fuller, term expires April 25, 1905; Rev. J. N. McCormick, term expires April 25, 1905; Willard Barnhart, term expires April 25, 1906; J. Boyd Pantlind, term expires April 25, 1906; Claude Hamilton, term expires April 25, 1906; Harvey J. Hollister, term expires April 25, 1907; Edward Lowe, term expires April 25, 1907; Henry Idema, term expires April 25, 1908; Howard A. Thornton, term expires April 25, 1908; J. Edward Earle, term expires April 25, 1908.

Officers of Board of Trustees — President, Edward Lowe; Vice-President, J. Edward Earle; Treasurer, Harvey J. Hollister; Secretary, Claude Hamilton.

Executive Committee — J. Boyd Pantlind, Philo C. Fuller, Harvey J. Hollister, Claude Hamilton, Edward Lowe.

Board of Managers—Mrs. Wm. H. Anderson, Mrs. Roy S. Barnhart, Mrs. Charles H. Bender, Mrs. Eugene Boise, Mrs. J. Edward Earle, Mrs. Campbell Fair, Mrs. Charles Fox, Mrs. F. A. [Page 1271] Gorham, Mrs. Charles S. Hazeltine, Mrs. Charles E. Hooker, Mrs. Wm. Oden Hughart, Jr., Mrs. Collins H. Johnston, Mrs. Joseph Kortlander, Mrs. Daniel McCoy, Mrs. J. Boyd Pantlind, Mrs. Charles H. Perkins, Mrs. Cyrus E. Perkins, Mrs. Geo. Raymond, Mrs. Huntley Russell, Mrs. Stephen A. Sears, Mrs. Wm. R. Shelby, Mrs. Albert Stickley, Mrs. T. W. Strahan, Mrs. Richard R. Smith, Mrs. Bertha K. Witherbee, Mrs. J. H. Wonderly, Miss Katherine O’Brien.

Officers of Board of Managers—President, Mrs. Eugene Boise; First Vice-President, Mrs. J. Edward Earle; Second Vice-President, Mrs. Charles Fox; Third Vice-President, Mrs. J. Boyd Pantlind; Secretary, Mrs. Huntley Russell; Treasurer, Mrs. F. A. Gorham; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Charles H. Perkins.

Training School Committee—Mrs. T. W. Strahan, Chairman; Mrs. Joseph Kortlander, Miss Elizabeth G. Flaws, ex-officio, Mrs. Charles H. Perkins.

Kendall Home Committee—Mrs. Chas. H. Perkins, Chairman; Mrs. Joseph Kortlander.

House Supply Committee—Mrs. Albert Stickley, Chairman; Mrs. Charles Fox, Mrs. W. O. Hughart, Jr., Mrs. J. H. Wonderly, Mrs. J. Boyd Pantlind, Mrs. Wm. H. Anderson, Mrs. W. R. Shelby, Miss Katherine O’Brien.

Housekeeping Committee—Mrs. Charles H. Bender, Mrs. R. Smith, Mrs. Bertha Witherbee, Mrs. Roy S. Barnhart.

Surgical and Hospital Committee—Mrs. F. A. Gorham, Chairman; Mrs. Richard R. Smith.

Publishing and Advertising Committee—Mrs. Cyrus E. Perkins.

Entertainment Committee—Mrs. Charles S. Hazeltine, Chairman.

House Officers—Superintendent of Hospital, Elizabeth G. Flaws; Assistant Superintendent, Isabel S. Fairchild; Night Supervisor, Fannie McLeod; Instructor of Diet Kitchen and Supervisor of Cooking, Elizabeth C. Carroll; Bookkeeper, Cora E. Barber; Surgical Nurse, Mary L. Stratton; Resident House Physician, F. N. Pritchard.

Medical Staff

Dr. George K. Johnson, Honorary Chief of Staff; Dr. Eugene Boise, Chief of Staff.

Medicine — Visiting Physicians: Joseph Albright, Ralph Apted, Alexander M. Campbell, Elizabeth Earle, William Hake, J. B. Hilliker, Clarence White, Henry Hulst, Collins H. Johnston, C. E. Koon, T. M. Koon, John A. McColl, T. W. Toan, J. B. Whinery. Consulting Physicians: George K. Johnson, Eugene Boise.

Surgery — Visiting Surgeons: J. Orton Edie, R. J. Hutchinson, G. L. McBride, Perry Schurtz, Richard R. Smith, Ralph H. Spencer, Rowland Webb, W. G. Young. Consulting Surgeons: George K. Johnson, Samuel R. Wooster.

Gynecology — R. J. Hutchinson, Perry Schurtz, Richard R. Smith, W. G. Young.

Diseases of Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat—Visiting Physicians: R. J. Kirkland, John R. Rogers, Louis A. Roller, E. W. Tolley. Consulting Physician: D. Emmett Welsh.

Obstetrics—Ralph Apted, H. W. Howard, Elizabeth Earle.

Dermatology—Charles E. Hooker

Diseases of Children—Henry W. Howard, Collins H. Johnston.

Pathology—Joseph B. Whinery.

X-Ray—Henry Hulst.

House Physician—Frederick Pritchard.

After the hospital was opened, great inconvenience and expense was experienced by the management in caring for the nurses, which resulted in a rich donation to the institution from the heirs of George Kendall, who died in October, 1890. Mr. Kendall had long been a faithful and devoted parishioner of St. Mark’s, and his children, Mrs. J. Edward Earle, Mrs. David R. Breed, Mrs. John J. Shields and George T. Kendall, as a remembrance of his interest in church affairs, gave to the institution the Kendall Home, which is a building erected at a cost of over $7,000 on grounds adjoining the hospital, and affords a home for the nurses of Butterworth and also a training school for nurses. The building was paid for by funds from the Kendall estate and was completed in 1892. The first class from the training school for nurses was graduated in 1893 and consisted of seven members. The following are the graduates:

Graduate Nurses

Class of 1893 — Miss E. H. Knapp, retired, Hillsdale, Mich.; Miss Luda Konkle, army nursing, Philippines; Miss E. Brosseau, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss E. Packer, private work; Miss F. Bohn, private work, Chicago, Ill.; Miss C. M. Sturderant, married, Battle Creek, Mich.; Miss Jessie Crichton, private work, St. Johns, Mich.

Class of 1894 — Miss Agnes Jamison, private work, New York City; Miss Georgia File, married, Canada; Miss Ruth Handy, private work, Hastings, Mich.; Miss Margaret Dooley, dead; Miss Ruby Hathaway, surgical nurse, Orange, N. J.; Miss Elizabeth Wooster, married, Ohio; Miss Agnes Daw, private work, Chicago, Ill.

Class of 1895 — Miss W. Hutchinson, at home, Traverse City, Mich.; Miss Isabel Barr, married, Georgia; Miss Mary Johnston, private work, New York City; Miss Florence Gilchrist, dead; Miss Katherine Booth; Miss Anna M. Gunn, married, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Susan Hewitt, private work, Orange, N. J.

Class of 1896 — Miss Rowena Raymond, at home, Canada; Miss Mary Goldie, private work, New York City; Miss Elna Byork, physician, Michigan.

Class of 1897 — Miss Addie E. Deutsch, married, Toledo, Ohio; Miss Mary Baldwin, married, Cleveland, Ohio; Miss Mary Crichton, married; Miss Anna Schwender, married; Miss Eva Amas, at home, Toronto, Canada; Miss Carrie McDowell, hospital, London, England; Miss Mary Mingane, private work, New York City; Miss Gertrude Lyle, private work, Grand Rapids; Miss Inez Mosher, private work, Grand Rapids; Miss Anna Burlingame, at home, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Miss Eleanor Lason, U. S. Army Corp.; Miss Elizabeth DePree, married; Miss Maria Harley, private work, New York.

Class of 1898 — Miss Pearl Bellows, married, Byron Center, Mich.; Miss Ida Richards, private work, New York City; Miss Josephine Foster, Bass River, Mich.; Miss Lula Cudney, private work, Grand Rapids; Miss Helen Hutchins, married, Toronto, Canada; Miss Isabel Fairchild, assistant superintendent, Butterworth Hospital; Miss Mabel Morehouse, private work, Grand Rapids; Miss Alice Newton, superintendent, Norfolk, Va.

Class of 1899 — Miss Ethel Alexander, married, Pomona, Mich.; Miss T. Wilkkinson, private work, Houghton, Mich.; Miss Mary Burgess, assistant superintendent, Liberty, N. Y.; Miss Violet Whitman, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Bessie Williamson, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Jean Elliott, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Emma Himmler, private work, New York City.

Class of 1900 — Miss Endora Brown, married, Portland, Ore.; Miss Eva Rockwell, private work, Petoskey, Mich.; Miss Emma Miller, private work, New York; Miss Kate Gifford, hourly nursing, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Class of 1901 — Miss Vine Gifford, hourly nursing, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Bertha Stauffer, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss E. J. Rowland; Miss Mary Crosby, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Mabel Jones, U. S. Army Corps; Miss Ella J. Smith, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Agnes Elliott, married, Manistee, Mich.

Class of 1902 — Miss Clara Hogle, married, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Nellie Hall, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss May Wylie, married; Miss Kate Innes, at home, Michigan; Miss Hilda Schull, married, Holland, Mich.; Miss Cora Warren, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Class of 1903 — Miss Rebecca Hunt; Miss Lucy Breen, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Irma Bechtold, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Mae McIntyre, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Rose De Merse, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Alice DePree, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Nona Michael, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Mamie Moerdyke, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Class of 1904 — Miss Abbie Stone, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Mary Sutherland, private work, Shelby, Mich.; Miss Marie Gaiser, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Florence Launt, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Mary Plowman, private work, Copemish, Mich.; Miss Minnie Jenkins, private work, Traverse City, Mich.; Miss Sarah Halsey, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss May VanDommelen, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Louise Shuler, private work, Traverse City, Mich.; Miss Helen Duncombe, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Class of 1905 — Miss Katherine Currie, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Mary Marshall, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Luella Bockstahler, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Jeannette Boer, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miss Beatrice Graham, private work, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Since the opening of the school the graduates have done good work and carried the practical results of the Kendall Home into every quarter of the earth. The school course is two and one-half years. Suffering humanity has reason to thank the philanthropy of Richard E. Butterworth, George Kendall, Mr. and Mrs. E. P. Fuller, and a host of other members of St. Mark’s Church, whose thoughtful, energetic methods have brought aid and comfort to many distressed bodies and souls.