1920-1921 – Archive of seven letters from a physician assigned to Public Health Service Hospital No. 45 at Asheville, North Carolina following World War I.
- SIGNED Envelope or Cover
- Biltmore, North Carolina , 1921
Biltmore, North Carolina, 1921. Envelope or Cover. Very good. This lot consists of seven letters totaling 13 pages of text (12 manuscript; one typed) and one postally used mailing envelopes sent by Dr. Edward West Hollingsworth at Public Health Service Hospital No. 45 at Biltmore, North Carolina to Mary G. Hiss in Granite Falls, North Carolina. The letters are written on letterhead that reads “Treasury Department / United States / Public Health Service / Office of the Medical Officer in Charge.” The mailing envelope bears a circular postmark that reads “Biltmore (Kenilworth Rur. Sta.) / N.C.” which was located in the Appalachian Mountains not far from the Tennessee state line. Mary, perhaps an old school friend, was a teacher in Granite Falls just east of Charlotte.
Public Health Service Hospital #45 had once been a luxury resort, the Kenilworth Inn, which was built in 1918 by Asheville, North Carolina developer James Madison Chiles. However, its tenure as a hotel was short-lived as Chiles soon leased it to the Army to serve as General Hospital #12, a 1,000-bed facility that provided convalescent care to soldiers suffering from respiratory illnesses including emphysema, tuberculosis, poison gas injuries, and influenza. Following the armistice, the facility was transferred to the Public Health Service who dedicated its use to the Treasury Department’s Bureau of War Risk Insurance, the forerunner of today’s Department of Veterans Affairs.
Hollingsworth, a graduate of the University of Virginia’s Medical School, was commissioned as a uniformed Public Health Service officer in 1920, and reported to the facility, as the “medical officer in charge” when it opened. Most of his slightly flirty letters address his daily life with only two referencing his medical work, one of which was an outburst of frustration in dealing with some patients and possibly family members.
“Warren Allen was out at Kenilworth a week ago for examination, looks very well.”
“Take my advice and give up trying to teach ignorant people medical facts., they can’t understand them and won’t believe those who tell them – it is a discouraging job.”
However, most of his letters address his enjoyment of the mountains and his recent marriage which must have surprised Mary.
“I finally got to Pisgah – it is a wonderful ride from the lodge, several miles up the mountain . . . too steep all the way for high gear, just wide enough for one car, but withal quite a good road . . . to the foot of the peak, [then] a long steep climb . . . . The view from there is wonderful, unobstructed in any direction and Kenilworth in sight.”
“Saturday we attempted Mitchell [the highest peak east of the Mississippi] but getting the [lumber railroad] trainman to carry on is no small job and it took quite a bit of argument and then the engine broke down only part of the way up the mountain. . ..”
“Miss Parr and I are being married Saturday by Mr. Clark. Very quiet, her Mother has been here a month, no other of the family.”
“Yes, Father Clark did the knot tying and did a good job. . .. Edith is the lady’s first name sorry if I neglected to mention it before. At present we are living at the hospital where we have a suite consisting of room and bath. . .. We get our meals at a house about halfway up the big hill from the hospital where Edith’s mother [is] boarding and believe me it is some improvement on our meals here.
“The toaster came safely and Edith and I want to say many ‘Thank you’s’ it was one thing we had particularly wanted and it was very kind of you and Lillian.”
“Our [new] quarters are just off the car line – 2 or 3 blocks, but it is worth it to be out of town. [If you can visit] Edith and I will meet you, can promise no excitement but will give you something to eat . . . and can manage . . . a bunk. . .. We would both love to see you. . .."
Mary kept no more of Edward’s letters. Perhaps he stopped writing, or perhaps Mary had harbored romantic feelings and finally gave up hope for a future with Edward but kept these letters in remembrance. . Shortly after these letters were written, the hospital was transferred back to James Madison Chiles who reconverted it to a luxury resort. It still stands as an impressive 93-unit apartment complex in what today is considered downtown Asheville.
The Public Health Service operated 61 hospitals like the one at Biltmore following World War One with a total of more than 18,000 beds. When the Biltmore facility closed in 1921, Hollingworth transferred to the new Veterans Administration Hospital at Hines, Illinois where he eventually became the Chief Medical Services until his early death from a heart attack in 1941.
(For more information, see “100+ years of the Kenilworth Inn” at the Asheville Today website, “General Hospital No. 12, Biltmore, N.C.” at the Army Medical Department Center of History website, and “Dr. Edward West Hollingsworth” in volume 15 of the Annals of Internal Medicine.) .
Public Health Service Hospital #45 had once been a luxury resort, the Kenilworth Inn, which was built in 1918 by Asheville, North Carolina developer James Madison Chiles. However, its tenure as a hotel was short-lived as Chiles soon leased it to the Army to serve as General Hospital #12, a 1,000-bed facility that provided convalescent care to soldiers suffering from respiratory illnesses including emphysema, tuberculosis, poison gas injuries, and influenza. Following the armistice, the facility was transferred to the Public Health Service who dedicated its use to the Treasury Department’s Bureau of War Risk Insurance, the forerunner of today’s Department of Veterans Affairs.
Hollingsworth, a graduate of the University of Virginia’s Medical School, was commissioned as a uniformed Public Health Service officer in 1920, and reported to the facility, as the “medical officer in charge” when it opened. Most of his slightly flirty letters address his daily life with only two referencing his medical work, one of which was an outburst of frustration in dealing with some patients and possibly family members.
“Warren Allen was out at Kenilworth a week ago for examination, looks very well.”
“Take my advice and give up trying to teach ignorant people medical facts., they can’t understand them and won’t believe those who tell them – it is a discouraging job.”
However, most of his letters address his enjoyment of the mountains and his recent marriage which must have surprised Mary.
“I finally got to Pisgah – it is a wonderful ride from the lodge, several miles up the mountain . . . too steep all the way for high gear, just wide enough for one car, but withal quite a good road . . . to the foot of the peak, [then] a long steep climb . . . . The view from there is wonderful, unobstructed in any direction and Kenilworth in sight.”
“Saturday we attempted Mitchell [the highest peak east of the Mississippi] but getting the [lumber railroad] trainman to carry on is no small job and it took quite a bit of argument and then the engine broke down only part of the way up the mountain. . ..”
“Miss Parr and I are being married Saturday by Mr. Clark. Very quiet, her Mother has been here a month, no other of the family.”
“Yes, Father Clark did the knot tying and did a good job. . .. Edith is the lady’s first name sorry if I neglected to mention it before. At present we are living at the hospital where we have a suite consisting of room and bath. . .. We get our meals at a house about halfway up the big hill from the hospital where Edith’s mother [is] boarding and believe me it is some improvement on our meals here.
“The toaster came safely and Edith and I want to say many ‘Thank you’s’ it was one thing we had particularly wanted and it was very kind of you and Lillian.”
“Our [new] quarters are just off the car line – 2 or 3 blocks, but it is worth it to be out of town. [If you can visit] Edith and I will meet you, can promise no excitement but will give you something to eat . . . and can manage . . . a bunk. . .. We would both love to see you. . .."
Mary kept no more of Edward’s letters. Perhaps he stopped writing, or perhaps Mary had harbored romantic feelings and finally gave up hope for a future with Edward but kept these letters in remembrance. . Shortly after these letters were written, the hospital was transferred back to James Madison Chiles who reconverted it to a luxury resort. It still stands as an impressive 93-unit apartment complex in what today is considered downtown Asheville.
The Public Health Service operated 61 hospitals like the one at Biltmore following World War One with a total of more than 18,000 beds. When the Biltmore facility closed in 1921, Hollingworth transferred to the new Veterans Administration Hospital at Hines, Illinois where he eventually became the Chief Medical Services until his early death from a heart attack in 1941.
(For more information, see “100+ years of the Kenilworth Inn” at the Asheville Today website, “General Hospital No. 12, Biltmore, N.C.” at the Army Medical Department Center of History website, and “Dr. Edward West Hollingsworth” in volume 15 of the Annals of Internal Medicine.) .