"History of Grand Rapids"
Goss, 1906
Pages 1259 - 1264

The Union Benevolent Association is one of the oldest organizations in the city. On December 16, 1846, the ladies of Grand Rapids met in the Prospect Hill school house, located where now is the northwest corner of Pearl and Ottawa streets, and formed a society for benevolent purposes. At their first meeting Mrs. Charlotte Cuming presided and Mrs. M. E. Church was secretary. A committee consisting of Mrs. Charlotte Cuming, Mrs. W. G. Henry and Mrs. J. C. Nelson was appointed to draft a constitution, which was adopted at their next meeting held on January 5, 1847. The name adopted was The Female Union Charitable Association. The first officers were Mrs. Charlotte Cuming, president; Mrs. W. G. Henry, secretary, and Mrs. Lucinda Shepard, treasurer.

For years the society was simply a union of church workers for organized efforts to relieve the sick and afflicted, clothe needy children, and dispense charity among the poor. System and order were among the earliest virtues of the association. The town was divided into districts and two members assigned for visitation and investigation in each district. For years the society met at the houses of its members, and obtained its funds and supplies from collections taken once a year, when all the churches of the town held a union service for the benefit of the association.

In 1858 a corporation was formed known as the Grand Rapids Orphan Asylum Association, but its work was done by the Female Union Charitable Association. Soon after a small house on Prospect street was rented and used by the association in caring for its wards, with Mrs. Lucia Johnson as matron for a time, and then the association purchased a small house on Lagrave street, which was occupied by the society for about six years.

During the Civil War the regular work of the organization ceased for a time, as all the energies of the people were devoted to caring for sick and needy soldiers and their families, but after peace came the interest of the society revived and its efforts were renewed. In 1866 its name was changed to the Ladies’ Union Benevolent Society. The house on Lagrave street was sold, and in 1869 the large lot at the corner of Lyon street and College avenue was purchased. In 1873 the society was incorporated as the Union Benevolent Association, for the purpose of doing all kinds of benevolent work, and with the privilege of equipping, maintaining and managing a home and hospital for the aged, infirm, sick, and needy. Within two years the Cuming homestead on Bostwick street was purchased, equipped and opened to receive inmates, and was nearly always filled to its utmost capacity. When the home was opened the society was in debt, but in 1878 the entire debt of the society on its building, amounting to more than eight thousand dollars, was paid by the Hon. Thomas D. Gilbert, the treasurer of the association.

The needs and work of the association increased, and on March 25, 1882, it was determined to erect a building on the lot which had been owned for many years by the association at the corner of Lyon street and College avenue. At the annual meeting, held in October of that year, nine thousand five hundred dollars were reported pledged for building. This amount was soon increased to fifteen thousand dollars, when plans were proposed and accepted, and on September 21, 1883, the association advertised for bids on the foundation work. The Hon. Thomas D. Gilbert, William Widdicomb and Mrs. Marion L. Withey were appointed a building committee, and the structure was erected under their supervision. The building was completed in February, 1886, at a cost of $31,707.32, of which $28, 096.23 was secured before it was finished. While the building was going on a furnishing committee was appointed, and for weeks were actively engaged in soliciting contributions for furnishing the building. The people of Grand Rapids responded most generously and their contributions fully and completely equipped the institution. The new home was opened with an informal reception to the public on February 23, 1886.

When the new home was opened the inmates of the old home were immediately transferred, and about a year later the old home was sold and the proceeds used to diminish the debt of the new home.

In November, 1886, a training school for nurses was established in connection with the U. B. A. Home. A two-years’ course was arranged and lectures given by the physicians of the city. In 1889, by the liberality of Hon. Thomas D. Gilbert, a suitable home for the nurses was built on the grounds. The first class was graduated in 1888. The following are the classes of each year:

Graduating Nurses

• Class of 1888 —Lillian Nichols, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Ida Graham, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Nettie Brown, married; Carrie Bucher, married; Louise Engel Corbett, married.
• Class of 1889 —Margaret Sanderson, deceased; Ellen Webster, not practicing profession.
• Class of 1890 —Miriam Jacobs, not practicing profession; Edith Brosseau, bookkeeper, Portland, Oregon; Hannah Singer, director in gymnasium, Colorado Springs, Col.
• Class of 1891 —Ida Haggart, married; Susie Peschmann, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Julia Foote, private nurse, Los Angeles, Cal.; Winifred Dayton, married; Kate Merrill, married; Emma Patton, deceased.
• Class of 1892 —Katherine Miller, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Henrietta Arnold, head nurse, U. S. Hospital, Manila, P. I.; Ida M. Barrett, superintendent U. B. A. Hospital, Grand Rapids; Ida Van Wormer, deceased; Beulah Grace, married, deceased; Jennie Farnham, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Adele M. Pangler, private nurse, Charlotte, Mich.
• Class of 1893 —Winifred Sollau, private nurse, Denver, Col.; Fannie Swift, married; Flora Smith, married; Effie Abbott, medical student, Chicago; Alberta Merritt, married; Grace Derby, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Mary Ames, private nurse, Buffalo, N. Y.; Edith Grigg, private nurse, Grand Rapids.
• Class of 1894 —Mary A. Welsh, instructor in dietetics and matron U. B. A. Hospital, Grand Rapids; Marie Vincent, married; Carrie M. Torrence, private nurse, Charlotte, Mich.; Libbie M. Lines, married; Violet M. Love, married; Helen A. Pemberton, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Louise F. Harmer, private nurse, Tacoma, Wash.; Jean G. Lovell, private nurse, Brooklyn, N. Y.
• Class of 1895 —Addie Schram, married; Jessie McRae, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Madeline R. Allen, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Alta A. Hoke, deceased; Mary J. McKelvey, head nurse, U. S. Hospital, Manila, P. I.; Martha J. Hale, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Louise E. Weekes, head nurse Kings County Hospital, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Olive Daley Bassett, married; Emma E. Barr, married; Mary B. Hall, superintendent Olean General Hospital, Olean, New York.
• Class of 1896 —Mary Fletcher, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Genevieve Fast, superintendent Hospital, Industrial School, Evanston, Ill.; Agnese T. Donald, married; Eva King, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Addie Browne, Palestine, Texas; Carrie Gregory, assistant superintendent Hackley Hospital, Muskegon, Mich.; Violet Benner, superintendent Lidgerwood Hospital, Lidgerwood, North Dakota; Alida Walbrink, married; Clara Dyring, superintendent Hackley Hospital, Muskegon, Mich.; Cynthia Coburn, private nurse, Pasadena, Cal.; Mary Wilson, married; Ata Pelton, not practicing profession; Flora Niemann, district nurse, C. O. S., Grand Rapids.
• Class of 1897 —Estella Millard, not practicing profession; Rose Geary, superintendent Lockwood Hospital, Petoskey, Mich.; Mary L. Simm, assistant superintendent U. B. A. Hospital, Grand Rapids; Caroline Felt, superintendent National Homeopathic Hospital, Washington, D. C.; Clara German, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Neva Pierce, married; Effie Moore, superintendent Woman’s Hospital, Saginaw, Mich.; Christina Bauer, head nurse, U. S. Hospital, Manila, P. I.; Harriett Cramer, married; Myrtle Bryan, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Olive Burr, married; Cora Streng, married; Dena Reidsema, private nurse, Grand Rapids.
• Class of 1898 —Mary Schermerhorn, assistant superintendent Lockwood Hospital, Petoskey, Mich.; Margaret Goodman, married; Clara Davis, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Barbara Cattanach, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Hattie Shaw, married.
• Class of 1899 —Nettie Tiffany, married; Emma Van Ostrand, not practicing profession; Minnie Richter, assistant district nurse, C. O. S., Grand Rapids; Alvina Fontaine, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Eva Geary, married; Ella Blashfield, Seattle, Wash.; Maggie Parke, superintendent hospital, Sault Ste. Marie, Can.; Lucile Emery, married; Minnie Kellond, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Theresa Thelen, not practicing profession; Katherine Macauley, private nurse, Grand Rapids.
• Class of 1900 —Hannah L. Ackerman, private nurse, Dowagiac, Mich.; Edith A. Mason, married; Adelgonda Ali-Cohen, married; Sarah Elizabeth Gannan, private nurse, Champaign, Ill.; Margaret Charbonneau, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Marietta Zuerner, private nurse, New Castle, Pa.; Clara Josenhans, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Camille W. Grout, superintendent hospital, Calumet, Mich.; Mabel R. Smith, superintendent hospital, Ottawa, Kansas.
• Class of 1901 —Mary Elizabeth Dunford, not practicing, Alpena, Mich.; Maude I. Bachelor, married; Mary Galenteen, married; Helen Millard, married; Fanny F. Waterman, deceased; Helen A. Farnsworth, superintendent Wichita Hospital, Wichita, Kan.; Katherine A. Arthur, married; Nellie Noordhoff, superintendent Hospital Rehoboth Mission, New Mexico; Flora L. Hart, married; Emma C. Johnson, not practicing profession.
• Class of 1902 —Stella May Hoffman, in hospital, Houston, Tex.; Frances H. Thompson, in hospital, Houston, Tex.; Marie C. Jacox, superintendent hospital, Temple, Tex.; Helen Graham, married; Adda Ensley Roberts, head nurse hospital, Palestine, Tex.; Nelle I. Sias, surgical nurse and supervisor, U. B. A. Hospital, Grand Rapids; Henrietta M. Hugenholtz, married; Mariea Barendse, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Ora M. Babcock, married; Edyth Young Griggs, First Reserve Hospital, Manilla, P. I.; Margaret C. Reno, married; Alice E. Newport, private nurse, Grand Rapids.
• Class of 1903 —Mayme H. Rogers, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Mayme E. Sargeant, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Mary A. Doan, deceased; Bessie Goodrich, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Hilma Fosburg, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Emma C. Dowling, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Anna Dyrin, head nurse Eye and Ear Hospital, Boston, Mass.; Lois E. Watson, head assistant Eye and Ear Hospital, Boston, Mass.
• Class of 1904 —Jane Elizabeth Hall, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Josephine M. Sullivan, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Ida Elsie Walker, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Elizabeth Margaret Kuhn, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Anna M. McMahon, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Edith Burke McClure, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Kittie Hart, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Ada Margaret O’Dell, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Wilna Carlton, private nurse, Grand Rapids; Mary B. Paloski, private nurse, Grand Rapids.
• Class of 1905 —Dena Kuypers, Caroline Stratton, Gertrude Leggett, Aline Piper, Cora Morrall, Ethel M. Rice, Ada L. Hershey, Edna Bailey.