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When Dr. Brevard died in 1782, his effects were sold at public auction. Purchasers were Drs. Isaac Alexander, Thomas Henderson, and one Dysart, probably the only three doctors in the county at that time. Since then there has seldom been a period in Mecklenburg when there was no doctor by the name of Alexander.
Among the many points of interest let us consider a few. There was a virulent epidemic of smallpox in Mecklenburg in 1770. Dr. Alexander's charge for vaccinating a patient with scabs was one pound ($5). Transportation was on horseback or by buggy, over roads that were all but impassable much of the time. Obstetrical cases were handled by midwives or any woman who happened to be available when needed. All surgery was done on tables in the home, frequently by candlelight, with no further assistance to the doctor than could be given by members of the family or neighbors. Most common relief for pain after an operation was provided by doses of whiskey.
In Mecklenburg, as elsewhere, medicine greatly advanced between 1840 and 1865, especially in surgery. Antiseptic methods were by then well established. Ether was discovered; the Civil War compelled surgery on a scale never before experienced in the United States. It was during this period, according to Dr. Strong's history, that medicine emerged form the dark age of suspicion and assumed a more enlightened position among the learned professions. In Charlotte the number of physicians increased rapidly, though even then each was still known as "Physician and Surgeon." A vivid account of Mecklenburg Medicine of the Nineties is given in a chapter of Dr. Strong's book written by Dr. G. W. Pressly. Samplings from this chapter follow:
"Doctors began to move to Charlotte along with a lot of other folks. It soon became a not uncommon sight to see a perfect stranger cross the square. . . . There were three drug stores on this historic spot. Around each of these a galaxy of doctors revolved in a more or less regular orbit . . . In these halcyon days the specialists began to get their milk teeth . . . Among the many gifts vouchsafed to the men of medicine in this period and possibly the greatest of all was the trained nurse . . . The operations in vogue were amputations, circumcisions, hemorrhoids, strangulated hernia, D and C, and tonsillectomy . . . Few had ever looked an appendix right in the eye . . . no one suspected that a gold mine lay in the right quadrant . . . The colored hospital was noted, even then, as a very interesting museum of pathological anatomy . . . If Dr. Charlie Strong couldn't be located anywhere else, you would likely find him at Good Samaritan surrounded by a 40 pound multiple fibroid. . . . We must pause to shed a tear for the passing of dear old Dobbin and the saddle bags . . . In 1899 thirty manufacturers made and sold 600 motor cars. It was thought this output would last 30 years . . . Just how many lives the automobiles have saved we do not know, but at present they are killing 25,000 people every year."
Dr. Strong's book contains a valuable chapter, Medicine Among Negroes in Mecklenburg County, written by Dr. French Tyson. Dr. Tyson says, "Mecklenburg County first offered sanctuary to the black physician in 1886 . . . As we look back to the era when Negro professional men sprang into being over night, as it were from the barber's chair to the bishop's bench, and from plow handle to the medical profession, one is inclined to remark that nature was surely in her best humor when she produced such Negroes as J. T. Williams and A. A. Wyche, two real men destined to become Mecklenburg County's outstanding representatives of the Negro medical profession."
Others who followed these pioneer Negro medical men in Mecklenburg maintained the high professional standards and in 1953 membership in the Mecklenburg Medical Society was opened to qualified Negro doctors. This was the first local society in the state with courage sufficient to take this unprecedented and, in some other sections, unpopular step.
This Medical Society was organized October 7, 1903, following a call issued by Dr. E. C. Register, district organizer for the state society. The first officers were Dr. H. Q. Alexander, president; Dr. Annie L. Alexander (first woman to practice medicine in the South), vice president; Dr. Parks M. King, secretary. For more than half a century this society has been instrumental in maintaining the highest medical standards for Charlotte and in encouraging all measures pertaining to the improved well-being of the community.
Though started somewhat later, the practice of dentistry in Mecklenburg has paralleled that of medicine in technique, ethics, and number of practitioners. The first dentist to make this headquarters in Charlotte was Dr. E. H. Andrews, above 1846. "In this time," records Dr. J. B. Alexander, "there was not much dental work to do . . . he kept his home office here but traveled over several counties." By 1875, however, the profession of dentistry had made considerable progress and there were in Charlotte, four dentists: Dr. M. A. Bland and Dr. Isaiah Simpson, who practiced together; Dr. A. W. Alexander; and Dr. W. H. Hoffman.
Today, there are some ninety members in the Charlotte Dental Society. Among major accomplishments of the Dental Society have been the establishment of an out-patient department at Memorial Hospital with provisions for an internship; sponsorship for the movement for fluoridation of Charlotte water supply, the wisdom of which is now clearly demonstrable; and the introduction, locally, of a time-payment plan for dental service.
Wives of members of the Charlotte Dental Society formed a local chapter of the North Carolina Dental Auxiliary on May 9, 1952 with 35 members and the following officers: Mrs. Grady Ross, president; Mrs. Ralph Jarrett, president elect; Mrs. James Graham, vice president; Mrs. T. N. Hamer, secretary; Mrs. John Pharr, treasurer; Mrs. Horace Reeves, parliamentarian; and Mrs. L. V. Grady, historian.
The first hospital to be established in Charlotte occupied the building vacated by North Carolina Military Institute when the cadets entered service in the Civil War. It was here the Confederate wounded were treated. Perhaps, due to the awful conditions existing at the time, a strong prejudice against hospitals arose and persisted to such an extent that when the Home and Hospital of St. Peter's Episcopal Church opened in 1876, it was necessary to secure police protection.
Commenting on conditions at the time, Mrs. Hamilton C. Jones, Sr., in 1905, said: "The first few patients were brought under resistance so fierce one of the two or three policemen of which the town boasted had always to walk beside the patient, and at times to hang around the premises to intimidate the rioters who threatened to shoot into the building."
Shortly after arriving in Charlotte, Mrs. Wilkes was called on to assist in caring for the Confederate wounded in the Military Institute building. Despite this discouraging experience, she had visions of a future hospital. Eventually she secured enough support to found the institution, and much later to become known as the "Godmother of Charlotte hospitals." Familiar names of many present day Charlotte people are on the original list of 36 members of St. Peter's Church Aid Society, the organization formed and headed by Mrs. Wilkes. In addition to Mrs. Wilkes, Mrs. W. M. Shipp, Mrs. B. R. Smith, Miss Laura Orr, Mrs. Hamilton C. Jones, Sr., Mrs. C. I. Fox, and Mrs. John Van Landingham, Mrs. F. Cox, and Miss Hattie Moore were named when the North Carolina general assembly ratified the incorporation of the hospital on February 11, 1879.
St. Peter's Hospital ended its long and useful career on October 7, 1940 when remaining patients where removed to Charlotte Memorial Hospital, toward which institution the assets of St. Peter's Hospital were applied.
In the spring of 1960 the Episcopal church voluntarily donated Good Samaritan Hospital to the City of Charlotte. In an election held May 28, 1960 the citizens authorized bonds in the sum of $900,000 for improving the plant of the hospital which, at about the same time, came under the supervision of the Memorial Hospital Authority.
The first location of Presbyterian Hospital was on the corner of Trade and Mint Streets, in a building formerly occupied by the Arlington Hotel. Here, the North Carolina Medical College used space on the first floor, leaving room on other floors for about 45 hospital beds. When the Medical College opened October 2, 1907, all departments had been moved from Davidson to Charlotte and together with those that had been housed with the hospital, relocated in a three-story, brick building on the southwest corner of Church and Sixth Streets, later identified for many years as the Churchill Apartments.
Dr. J. B. Alexander, first active manager of Presbyterian Hospital, served from 1905 until 1923. During his administration, the property formerly belonging to Elizabeth College was acquired and remodeled for hospital purposes. Patients were removed to the new location February 28, 1917. A new building was erected in 1940, a new wing in 1946, and two additional wings in 1958. Large and attractive dormitory space is provided for the Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing which, since 1903, has graduated more than 1,100 trained nurses.
In founding Mercy Hospital the Sisters of Mercy was aided by Right Rev. Leo Haid, O.S.B., Abbot of Belmont Abbey, and by the Pastor of St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, Rev. Father Joseph Mueller. Notable names in the development and management of the hospital include Sister Mary Dolores, Mother Mary Bride, Mother Mary Raphael, Sister Mary Alphonse, to mention only a few of the many.
Currently, thirty beds of Mercy Hospital are assigned to Negro patients. This hospital was first primarily white hospital in Charlotte to admit patients of the Negro race. It is also of more than passing interest that in so strong a Masonic city as Charlotte, Mercy Hospital has had the financing support and general good will of highest ranking Masonic officials and personnel.
Dr. Matheson was head of the hospital until his death, August 5, 1937. He was succeeded by Dr. Sloan, who continued as chief of staff until 1958. Upon his resignation Dr. V. K. Hart became head of the hospital, all assets of which are the property of Matheson Associates, Inc. The present staff of the Charlotte Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital consists of specialists, most of whom have won high professional distinction in their respective fields. Among these are Dr. Fred E. Motley, Dr. W. E. Roberts, Dr. Frank C. Smith and Dr. Henry L. Sloan, Jr., son and worthy successor to one of the founders. A notable contribution of the Charlotte Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital to civic affairs has been its operation of the Variety Club Eye Clinic.
Very great emphasis was given to the hospital movement by the trustees of St. Peter's Hospital who were instrumental in having their institution consolidated with the new hospital. Among the more active trustees in this important transaction were Dr. Brodie C. Nalle, Dr. John Hill Tucker, John H. Cutter, Francis Clarkson (later Judge Clarkson), Mel M. Murphy, Hamilton C. Jones, Jr., and Albert Boyle, Sr.
The greatest single aid was the acquiring of nearly half a million dollars in federal funds through the efforts of Morgan B. Speir, J. B. Marshall, Paul Whitlock, and others. Following this step and through the efforts of Dr. William Allan, Dr. Watson Rankin of the Duke Endowment, Postmaster Paul Younts, and Mr. Word H. Wood, banker, a week-long campaign raised $135,000 in voluntary contributions in Charlotte, about $25,000 of which was supplied by medical men. Then came a successful $350,000 bond election to insure the building of Charlotte Memorial Hospital. In all of these efforts, a Women's Division, headed by Miss Carrie McLean, was a great help, as was the Junior League which, as an organization, took over the Medical Social Service Department of the hospital.
The $1,250,000 Medical Center was dedicated in 1940. In 1943 the entire property was deeded to the Charlotte Memorial Hospital Authority, by which legal entity it has since been operated and expanded far beyond the expectations of those responsible for its inception and completion.
Of the many facilities provided by Charlotte Memorial Hospital there is space here to mention only one, the chapel. Funds for this beautiful room were provided by the Women's Auxiliary of St. Peter's Episcopal Church of Charlotte. This chapel is for the use of Protestant, Roman Catholic, Jewish, and Greek Orthodox patients. The organ in the chapel was installed by members of her family as a memorial to Mrs. Ralph Van Landinham, former member of the board of St. Peter's Hospital through whose efforts the original Chapel Fund was started.
This hospital is supported in part by the United Appeal, by contributions from those interested by "Helping the Handicapped" and by the private patient.
The Women's Auxiliary of Memorial Hospital, typical of all three, was organized with 14 members shortly after the hospital started and now has on its active list 675 members. The most recent accomplishment was the construction and furnishing of a recreational facility for student nurses at cost of $35,000.
Development of Public Welfare as a county responsibility began in Mecklenburg about 1917 when the General Assembly of North Carolina required that a Public Welfare Department be established in all counties having a population of more than 25,000. Prior to that time, the burden of relief and counseling to the distressed had fallen largely on churches, civic groups, the family doctor, sympathetic landlords, and public-spirited citizens.
In the beginning the only financial assistance available to the Department of welfare was small accounts provided by the city and county governments. As late as 1925 the Department had only two staff members, the superintendent and his secretary. However, the depression of 1929 taught Americans that conditions could arise in a society such as ours over which individuals had no control. The result was the Social Security Act of 1935, embracing financial assistance through state and municipal agencies, to the aged, dependent children, the blind, and other categories in the field of human need.
Mecklenburg differed from most other counties in North Carolina during the depression years in that the emergency relief program was handled by the United Welfare Federation, rather than the county Department of Public Welfare. Within a few years, when the emergency subsided and the United Welfare Fund became the Community Chest, the distribution in 1937 of both local and government relief funds began and has since been administered by the Department of Public Welfare.
Presently this Department requires a staff of more than 100 persons, many of whom are professionally trained. In addition to public assistance programs in which the federal, state, and county governments all participate, and leadership in broad community social planning, local social services handled by the Department include: admission to Greenacres, the county home for the indigent; social service to families and children; special services to unwed mothers, their babies, and adoptive applications; issuance of child labor certificates; supervision of adult parolees for the county; admissions to state training schools and state institutions for the blind, deaf, epileptic, and spastic; processing sterilization papers; and cooperating with the state Medical Care Commission in its program formed under the supervision of the superintendent of public welfare who is appointed by a County Welfare Board, with the approval of the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners and the North Carolina Department of Public Welfare.
The Health Department was organized in the summer of 1917 and located in rooms beneath the City Auditorium. The opening of Camp Greene demanded a standard Health Department and Major Benjamin Brown was sent here by the United States Public Health Service to perfect the organization.
Dr. C. C. Hudson was secured as the first Health Officer in October 1917. The staff consisted of one stenographer, one part-time milk inspector, one part-time clinician, one sanitary inspector, and two nurses who were doing generalized nursing. The Red Cross sent a unit of four nurses and one supervising nurse to assist in the work.
By 1960, Charlotte and Mecklenburg Health Department had been placed under one health director; the staff expanded to 128 for servicing the needs of the city and 36 for the county; and services enlarged.
Under the guidance of Dr. Millard B. Bethel, director for many years of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Health Department, many modern methods of safeguarding the health of the community were adopted, including provisions for the fluoridation of the city's water, and the fogging of city streets for insect control.
In the fall of 1959 the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Health Department occupied its new Health Center on the grounds of Charlotte Memorial Hospital.
Credit for organizing the United Welfare Organization belongs to the Council of Social Agencies (later Community Council, and now Social Planning Council), an organization composed of representatives of public and private health, welfare, recreation, and similar services. Guiding the affairs of the Council of Social Agencies, as president during this critical period, was Mrs. Andrew Blair. The charter members of the Council were the Family Service Agency; Salvation Army; American Red Cross; Travelers' Aid Society, and Young Women's Christian Association. Shortly thereafter the Young Men's Christian Association and Charlotte Day Nursery were admitted to membership.
In 1937 the scope of the Welfare Federation was enlarged by the addition of several new services and the name changed to Community Chest. In 1942 the Community Chest became the War and Community Chest of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, and campaigns for funds include 22 war relief agencies along with 16 local services in one annual appeal. This arrangement lasted until 1946 when the war appeals were discontinued.
The Community chest campaigns were replaced by United Appeal campaigns which offered a new approach to unified giving in that it encompassed not only local agencies, but those with state and national affiliations.
Mecklenburg County Chapter of the American Red Cross has been continuously active since its organization and now provides services in the fields of family case work, health, and youth in accordance with its national charter through volunteers and professional staff. One of the most important of these is the Blood Program, established in 1948, which provides blood to residents of the county through voluntary blood donors. In December 1942 the Chapter acquired its home at 510 East Morehead Street where many activities are now housed pending selection of a larger site and construction of more modern facilities.
Camp Steere, established in 1926 for white boys and named for James E. Steere, Mecklenburg Scout Executive (1917-1941), and Camp Oak for Negro boys, established in 1950, have been among the more important Scout activities.
The history of girl scouting in Charlotte parallels, in a general way, that of boy scouting, and the results have been equally gratifying. Early pioneers in the movement included Mrs. Julian M. Metz, Mrs. Theodore M. Abbot, and Miss Helen Hodge (Mrs. S. S. Koszewski).
Facilities for camping and other girl scout activities were improved from time to time, culminating in 1955 with establishment of Camp Occoneechee at Lake Lure, North Carolina. Since then an excellent camping and outdoor program has been offered with time allotted for both white and Negro Girl Scouts.
In 1960, with a combined membership of about 3,500 Brownie, Intermediate, and Senior Girl Scouts, the Mecklenburg County Girl Scout Council, Inc., is serving its purpose well.
Meanwhile the need for nursery care continued and grew until about 1928 a small group of civic minded women convinced the state director of public welfare and the local chairman of the council of social agencies of a need, unmet by any other organization for the day care of small children of unemployed mothers. Out of this suggestion came the opening on January 16, 1929 of the first day nursery, with five children enrolled. There are now more than 300 day nurseries in the state and more than 50 in Charlotte. The hardships and triumphs of the Charlotte Day Nursery Association are vividly described in a pamphlet by Mrs. J. H. Parks, organizer and first president of the association. Highlights in the Growth of Charlotte Day Nursery, issued in 1954 as a part of the 25th anniversary observance.
For more than a quarter of a century, with several slight changes in name and location, the Charlotte Mental Health Association and Clinic have served Mecklenburg and surrounding counties with conspicuous success. This city has the distinction of being the birthplace of the North Carolina Mental Hygiene Society as well as the home of the first Mental Hygiene Clinic in the state. Housed in converted residences during most of its existence, the Mental Hygiene Clinic found a comfortable, permanent home among surrounding congenial to its purposes when the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Health Center was opened in the fall of 1959.
Incidental services toward accomplishing these aims include a Christmas Bureau, operated during the month of December to prevent duplication of Christmas giving by individuals, churches, civic, and welfare organizations; a Social Service Index, a confidential clearing-house for use by all accredited social welfare agencies; and a Volunteer Bureau where citizens may volunteer for community programs.
The property deeded to St. Peter's Church for the orphanage consisted of more than 80 acres, then on the edge of Charlotte. This property is now only a short distance from the principal business section of the city and so valuable that in 1955 some 40 acres, used as a pasture for the orphanage's herd of cows, was leased for 99 years to be used as a mammoth shopping center, Charlottetown Mall.
A history of Thompson Orphanage is contained in the Golden Jubilee issue of The Messenger of Hope of Thompson Orphanage, May 7, 1930. The institution provides home and educational facilities for upward of 100 boys and girls regularly.
Except for the construction, in 1917, of the building on East Boulevard still occupied by the Alexander Home program, no significant changes were made until 1947 when, upon recommendation of the Child Welfare League of America, the objectives were changed to provide facilities for the effective treatment of emotionally disturbed children.
The present program is constructed to give therapy and formal counseling and psychotherapy to 15 boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 12. Children accepted are severely disturbed, but not psychotic, mentally retarded, nor brain-damaged. Services include 24-hour-a-day-care, and casework for parents. The average length of stay of children is 18 months.
By 1928 the League had in operation a Sunshine School offering an educational haven for maladjusted children. Licensed by the Department of Public Welfare, chartered by the State of North Carolina, and approved by all local agencies, the Sunshine Day Nursery has a capacity of about 30 preschool children who follow a daily schedule planned to provide educational and social development, proper nutrition, rest and relaxation, as well as emotional security.
Membership in the Charity League is by invitation, and there are now about 150 members and 39 past presidents, drawn from among Charlotte women. The first president was Mrs. E. J. Wannamaker. In 1960 it is Mrs. F. W. Littlefield.
There was a reorganization of the original group in the fall of 1919 with a change of name to the Good Fellows Club. David Ovens, one of Charlotte's outstanding business men was named as president. Mr. Ovens presided at all meetings in his inimitable way and continued as president until his death in September 1957. It has always been a loose-knit organization with no by-laws and no minutes.
The following are some of the men who have served as Directors and given much of their time to carrying out the work of the Good Fellows: A. Jackson Beall; Claude A. Cochran; E. McA. Currie; W. Carey Dowd, Jr.; John C. Erwin; Dr. Edgar Gammon; Thomas M. Glasgow; Mark P. Johnson; Dr. James A. Jones; Robert A. Mayer; Dr. Oren Moore; Carl G. McCraw; Colonel J. Notman Pease; Victor Shaw; and Paul C. Whitlock.
The one meeting each year is held just before Christmas, and there is always an outstanding musical program. The heart of the program is three talks limited to three minutes each by members of the club who present needs of a destitute family or someone in distress. After these speakers have presented their cases, a vote by all present is taken and the case considered the most needy is given an extra amount of money.
The directors of the club then "take the floor" with an appeal from the president as to who wants to help which. Because of the depressing nature of the cases presented, a good bit of levity is purposely entered into by the directors. As much as $6,000 has been donated at a single meeting. This money, together with the $20 annual dues from an average of 500 members, constitutes the club's budget to carry on its work with needy cases during the entire year. The club works closely with the Welfare Department.
The club's overhead is low, its only expense being the salary for a part-time secretary and rent for a small office. Col. J. Norman Pease succeeded Mr. Ovens as president and new directors are added from time to time. Membership is open at all times to any who want to be "good fellows" by giving a helping hand.
The beneficiaries of the Duke Endowment are: (1) Duke University, (2) non-profit hospitals in North and South Carolina, (3) non-profit child-caring institutions in North and South Carolina, (4) Davidson College, (5) Furman University, (6) Johnson C. Smith University, (7) rural Methodist churches in North Carolina, and (8) superannuated Methodist ministers, their widows and orphans in North Carolina.
From its inception through December 31, 1959 distributions and allocations amounting to 156 million dollars have been made by Duke Endowment. From the 1959 season there were 175 hospitals and 43 child-caring agencies among the beneficiaries, including all those in Charlotte and Mecklenburg qualifying under terms of Endowment.
Alwinell Foundation: Grants in the fields of Protestant hospitals and religion
Thomas Milburn Belk Foundation: Grants for religious and educational purposes
The Blumenthal Foundation: Grants principally for improvement in interfaith relationships
Martin Cannon Family Foundation: Fields of interest: elementary and secondary education, hospitals, libraries, religion (Protestant), and welfare
The Celanese Foundation: Major grants in the fields of handicapped, hospitals, intercultural relations, and medical research
Charlotte College Foundation
Charlotte Foundation: A community trust
Eugene M. Cole Foundation: Superannuate Methodist ministers
Rush H. Dickson Family Foundation: Grants for religious, scientific, and educational purposes
The Dillard Foundation: Major grants in the fields of secondary and higher Protestant education
Dowd Foundation: Grants in the field of established charities
Efird Foundation: Grants in the fields of higher education and intercultural relations
Alex Hemby Foundation: Grants to local causes
Curtis B. Johnson Benevolent Association: General charitable, benevolent, and eleemosynary purposes
Lance-VanEvery Foundation: Major grants in the fields of local philanthropy for social welfare of children and youth
The Marsh Foundation: Formed to use income and principal for religious, charitable, scientific, and educational purposes
Nalle Clinic Foundation: Grants in the fields of hospitals and education
North Carolina Foundation, Inc.: Construction of community buildings
The J. L. Presman Foundation: Grants in the field of philanthropic giving, principally to Jewish causes
Saint Peter's Foundation
The Alice Speizman Charitable Foundation
United Community Foundation
In Charlotte, the emergency is far from completely solved, but a long forward step was taken in June 1948 with the opening of the first unit of the Methodist Home for the Aged, on Shamrock Drive. The Methodist Home, chartered in 1945 as a non-profit church-related institution, was the dream of Rev. E. O. Cole, widely known Methodist minister. Initial impetus to a realization of this dream came in the form of a huge gift from his brother, Eugene M. Cole, wealthy layman. These farsighted men were assisted in carrying out their plan by a number of Methodist laymen and clergy, including: Dr. L. B. Abernethy, Jackson Beall, W. Reynolds Cuthbertson, Joseph Benjamin Ivey, George F. Ivey, Edwin L. Jones, H. I. McDougle, Frank Odell Sherrill, and J. Luther Snyder.
From an original capacity of about 30 members, the facilities of the Methodist Home have been expanded from time to time by additions to the main building and building of apartments and cottages to a capacity of approximately three hundred.
The Methodist Home in Charlotte ranks with the best in quality of service, type of living accommodations, recreational, occupational, and religious facilities available to all members. Outstanding among these conveniences is the Ivey Memorial Chapel, a memorial to Rev. George Washington Ivey, who served as a Methodist itinerant minister for more than 49 years. On display are the saddle bags used by this minister as he journeyed with his Bible, hymn book, and Methodist literature to remote sections of the Confederence. The Home has a staff of nearly 100 full time members, including professionally trained nurses who serve on a 24 hour basis in a modern infirmary and trained dietitians who plan and supervise the preparation of both regular meals and special diets.
No person can be "placed" in the Methodist Home. Membership, not limited to Methodists though they are given preference, is by formal application and all applications are considered on the merits of the individual case after weighing such factors as actual need, along with a true desire to become a resident member of a large Christian family. The Methodist Home is the property of the Western North Carolina Conference of the Methodist Church and is governed by a large board of managers drawn from churches throughout the Conference. Superintendents who have served the home to date are: Dr. C. M. Pickens, Rev. B. Reid Wall, Rev. C. W. Kirby, and Mr. Willard Farrow, now serving as administrator.
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