The year 1985 marked the 170th anniversary of the arrival of the
first settler within the corporate limits of Bellevue. A week-long street fair
and Homecoming celebration in 1915 reminded Bellevueans of the progress that was
achieved in the first 100 years. Bellevue in 1915 had a population of nearly
6,000 inhabitants. Four railroads and an electric street railway (Lake Shore
Electric) contributed to the city’s industrial development.
“Eight well supported churches, a splendid
school system,” boasted a Gazette scribe, “not to mention a fine public library
and a well equipped YMCA. Local citizens have been lavish in the financial
support for public and civic improvement,” concluded the writer.
One important facility was needed – a modern
public hospital. Dr. J.C. Morrow began laying groundwork for a public hospital
in July, 1914. He held a series of meetings with local physicians. They were
Drs. F. M. Kent, H.R. Dewey, M. W. Bland, C.C. Richards, Dora L. Horn, C. J.
Wehr, C. M. Cooper, II. Good, M. R. Nichols, and C. L. Harding.
Dr. Morrow and his colleagues quietly
investigated, ascertained that sentiment of Bellevue citizens favored a public
hospital. Encouraged, they began visiting hospitals in Marion, Bucyrus, and
other cities. They also looked at some of the larger homes in Bellevue that
could be converted into a hospital. However, they soon found that state laws
required a building site be purchased and the new building must be completely
fireproof, along with many other specifications.
Dr. Morrow must have been somewhat discouraged
when he realized the cost of such a facility, to furnish and equip along with
maintenance costs was almost an impossible venture for Bellevue to undertake. He
then turned to his life-long friend, Williams L. Harkness, for assistance.
Will, as he was affectionately called by older
citizens at that time, was born in Bellevue Aug. 8, 1858. He received his
preparatory training in the Bellevue Public School System and Brooks School in
Cleveland. In 1877, Will entered Yale University, graduating in 1881. Following
graduation, he returned to Bellevue and entered business with his father, Dan
Harkness, then Bellevue’s wealthiest citizen. Dan owned a considerable amount of
land in Bellevue, including several farms.
According to the Gazette files, Dan also owned
land in Kansas, Iowa, and a large plantation in Illinois. He had investments in
Standard Oil and countless other enterprises. Huron County Court records reveal
that throughout the 1880’s much of the land in this area was transferred into
Will’s name.
Dan was a generous donor to just about any
charitable cause. His eccentric behavior was well known also. He donated $40,000
to build the beautiful Congregational Church in 1887. When the church was
completed, Will donated $3,000 for a new organ. Dan donated $100 per year to the
Union Aid Society, beginning in the early 1870’s. After Dan’s death, Will
continued until his death in 1919.
Dan died Aug. 5, 1896, and shortly after the
funeral, Will moved to Cleveland. On June 22, 1897, he married Edith Hale. In
addition to their home in Cleveland, they purchased a home in Glen Cove, Long
Island, N.Y. Will sold the homestead in Bellevue to George Friendley, a local
real estate dealer, in July, 1903. The home was converted into a YMCA the
following year. Will donated one half of the purchase price of $7,500.
He was a frequent visitor to Bellevue. During
his visit here in June, 1907, his tour around town ended at this old home, the
YMCA. Here he walked through the rooms that were so familiar to him. He noticed
the paint was peeling on the wall of one of the rooms. He wrote a check for $50
to the secretary to see that the room was painted. Several other rooms were
painted in the process. Will never actively engaged in business but became a
well-known financier in New York.
He was a well-known yachtsman. In 1910, Will
and his family cruised the Mediterranean, Norway, and Sweden. His yacht was lost
in a storm on Lake Superior in 1911. He purchased another and when the United
States entered World War I, he loaned the yacht to the government. It was used
overseas until it was returned in early spring, 1919.
Will answered Dr. Morrow’s plea for aid. In his
letter to Dr. Morrow, Will stated he would donate $20,000 to build the hospital
if local citizens would donate money to furnish and equip the building. He then
suggested that Dr. Morrow seek the city council’s approval of a tax levy to
provide monies for the hospital maintenance. He also stated that as soon as a
permanent hospital association was organized and a treasurer elected, the check
for $20,000 would be forthcoming. Dr. Morrow already had the hospital
association formed and incorporated in August, 1914.
The incorporators were then Bellevue’s most
prominent and influential citizens. They were Sol M. Wolf, J.D. Cook, J. B.
Wood, Max Endle, Daniel Seltzer, C. B. Hoyt, C.R. Ruffing, J. A. Wright, E. A.
King, and Dr. W. S. Kern. The announcement of Will’s donation came on April 29,
1915 when members met at a dinner meeting at the Hotel Bourdette.
The association was low-keyed and would move
slowly to let local citizens decide the course of action. On May 6, a Gazette
story may have convinced everyone that a modern public hospital was needed in
Bellevue. The headline and sub-headline read, “Lake Shore Electric cars crash
head-on – Interurban cars come together with terrific impact – Many passengers
injured.” Although no one was fatally injured, there were five Bellevueans
injured in the crash. The accident took place between Clyde and Fremont.
The Gazette article offered this timely advice.
“Perhaps not in many years has the need or advantage of a general and fully
equipped hospital in Bellevue been forcibly shown or received more general
comment than the following news of the wreck. What if it had been here?”
It wasn’t until the June 30 council meeting
that a resolution was introduced for the tax levy. Two weeks later, on July 15,
council passed the resolution to provide $1,500 per year for assistance in
maintenance of the proposed hospital until it was self sufficient.
Committee members proposed that the facility be
named Harkness Memorial Hospital rather than Bellevue Hospital. Will declined
the honor stating that it was not his intention to perpetuate his name, only the
assurance that the community would be able to support the hospital.
The association began the city-wide campaign on
Aug. 5, 1915. Their intentions were to raise $7,500 in a whirlwind campaign. In
less than six weeks, $10,225 was raised. Dr. Morrow kept Will informed of every
detail. Other members of the Harkness family donated money to the project.
On Sept. 13, Will mailed his check for $20,000
to L.P. Oehm, who was the treasurer of the Bellevue Hospital Association. He
wrote, “It gives me great pleasure to see what a splendid response that the
citizens have made to the effort of the committee.”
The site committee recommended that the
association purchase five lots on Northwest Street at the corporation line
(present location). The last lot, No. 1381, was then Donaldson Street and it was
abandoned by the city. The property was purchased for $1,950 in Nov., 1915.
In early March, 1916, contractor E. L. Conklin,
Maumee, and a force of men began to make Dr. Morrow’s dream a reality. Poor
weather hampered the construction throughout the spring and early summer.
However, the hospital was completed within the allotted time. The dedication
ceremony was held on March 6, 1917. Will was unable to attend and expressed his
regret in a letter to Dr. Morrow.
In tribute to his exhaustive effort toward the
success of the hospital project, the association chose Dr. Morrow to deliver the
address at the ceremony.
Excerpts from his speech in part: “This
hospital recognized neither creed, color, nor station in life. Its mission on
Earth is to care for the sick and injured. The doors of the Bellevue Hospital
will ever stand open to receive the poor patient and to extend the same
courteous and scientific treatment that is extended his more fortunate brother,
the rich.”
Dr. Morrow continued with, “Have you been on a
high hill in the thick of a thunderstorm when the sky is like the black lid of
hell and the lightning stabs the Earth here, there, and everywhere, then you
have had a faint conception of the utter despair that enshrouds the home of the
poor as they realize that from day to day their loved one is slipping one step
nearer to the away over yonder, due to the inadequate means for combating
disease. I know of naught that comes closer to the great beyond than a hospital.
Go with me if you will to the maternity ward of this institution and be
permitted to look into the eyes of a mother as she for the first time looks upon
her new born babe and you will agree with me that you have had a glimpse of
heaven.”
Dr. Morrow offered his praise for Will.
“William Lamon Harkness who has given so freely of his means and has taken such
a heartfelt interest in his own hometown, deserves more praise that you or I can
bestow. He has builded better than he knew. We, the recipients of his
magnificent gift as yet do not fully comprehend what his beneficence means to us
and for us, but as time goes on the gift will be the more appreciated as its
benefits are recognized. Many a future inmate of the Bellevue Hospital in the
silent watches of night, offering up a prayer for his recovery, will not forget
to add And God Bless Will Harkness.”
Dr. Morrow then unveiled a two feet by eighteen
inch plaque that read, “This building was erected through the generosity of Wm.
L. Harkness and presented to the City of Bellevue in 1916.”
The plaque that was donated by grateful
citizens of the community to honor one of their sons who contributed so much
today lies in response in a storage room at the Bellevue Hospital.
On April 6, Mrs. S.C. Cramer gave birth to
first baby born in the Bellevue Hospital. Dr. H.R. Dewey was the attending
physician. The baby, a boy, was named David Lamon by Will. The names were chosen
in honor of Will’s paternal and maternal grandfathers.
Graduating in 1934, David Lamon Cramer was
presented a check for $2,000 to be used toward his college education by Mrs.
Harkness. David graduated with honors from Oberlin College and Ohio State
University, where he received his masters and doctor of philosophy degrees.
The United States entered World War I one day
prior to David’s birth. On April 12, Dr. Morrow volunteered and was waiting
orders. On April 29, he returned from evening services at St. Paul Episcopal
Church, and when he returned to his home, he suffered a fatal heart attack. In a
letter to the hospital association, Will wrote, “I was very much shocked to hear
of the sudden death of Dr. Morrow and presume appropriate resolutions will be
adopted by the association for which he has done so much.”
In those days a notice of resolution of respect
appeared frequently in newspapers at someone’s death of outstanding achievement.
The resolution for Dr. Morrow appeared in the Gazette on May 29 and echoed the
feelings of the community. It read in part, “Therefore, be it resolved that we
deeply mourn his loss and realize that the community has suffered the loss of a
true worker whose efforts were constant in behalf of this association and were
more largely for its permanent existence than any other.”
Will’s total contribution to the hospital was
$25,000. His final visit to Bellevue was in the summer of 1918. His tour of the
hospital must have given him a great deal of satisfaction. That same year Will
donated $400,000 to Yale University for the construction of a recitation and
administration building. Will died on May 15, 1919. His wife, Edith Hale
Harkness, donated $1,000 each year toward the maintenance cost of the hospital
until her death on Jan. 14, 1947.
Mrs. Harkness and her daughter, Mrs. David
(Louise) Ingalls, donated $15,000 for the construction of a nurse’s home. A son,
William Hale Harkness, also made several donations during the 1920’s.
Since that bright day in March, 1917, there has
been countless numbers of donations and bequests from a grateful community to
the Bellevue Hospital.
Mr. Bill Oddo is a local historian from Bellevue, Ohio.
His articles appear frequently in The Bellevue Gazette.
