The "Country Doctor" will ever remain a picturesque figure in the annals of history – beloved by all who knew him, and remembered by posterity. As his loving presence recedes into the past, however, the younger generations fail, in their haste, to give him his <i> just due </i> as a pioneer who helped build the foundation for our present community. In sickness and in health, he was faithful to his duty; many a hero lived to dote upon past escapades with a flair for creating excitement in the active imaginations of incredulous grandchildren because the kindly pioneer doctor was his benefactor of health and cheer. Many a laugh-provoking story sparkled with the gems of sympathy and gaiety because the dear old country doctor entered into its plot.
Lincoln County, as many a pioneer will assure you, has not lacked in its share of pride for pioneer doctors who gave up friends and treasures in the comfortably settled East to make it easier for those who courageously broke the Middlewest into communities safe for habitation.
In passing, we wish to mention an early practitioner who gave much in the interest of Lincoln County’s welfare and whose family has, in its continuity of residence here, maintained the highest esteem and respect of all who have known them
We refer to Dr. H.M. Hall, well remembered by the older members of our citizenry, who brought his practice to Lincoln in 1885 and who, thirty years ago, was the oldest practitioner in Lincoln.
Born near London, England, in 1835, Mr. Hall immigrated to America at the tender age of one year; the Hall family settled in Toulon, Illinois.
Doctor Hall was educated in the schools of Illinois, and the Knox Seminary in Galesburg. A graduate of Iowa University, Mr. Hall received his doctor’s degree in medicine in 1858. After several years of practice in Stark County, Illinois, he entered the Chicago Medical College, which later became the medical department of the Northwestern University, from when he graduated in 1881.
Dr. H.M. Hall practiced constantly in Lincoln County, Kansas, after moving his family here in 1886. He set up a drug business in connection with his practice in 1898.
Having been initiated into the activities of a Mason in 1862 – Doctor Hall was, at his passing, one of the oldest Masons in the State of Kansas.
As has been observed concerning the success of men down through the ages whose strength and perseverance was tempered and made manifest through the encouragement of good women -- women whose love and character were equal to the tests of Time -- so this pioneer doctor found it possible to bring his family to a vast unbroken prairie and to set roots in its rich soil.
In the words of Doctor Hall’s daughter, Miss Maude – loved by many for her very gracious charm -- they hardly knew what to make of their new home in the utterly bare-appearing Lincoln of younger days. Because they were accustomed to nice homes and schools surrounded with trees and flowers in an atmosphere of refinement, it is difficult to analyze the true picture of Lincoln its sense of proportion as first seen through the eyes of the doctor’s children.
Miss Maude Hall describes it thus. "There were very few buildings and absolutely no trees here when we moved to Lincoln. It looked as if a handful of tiny houses had been assembled and set down in the middle of nowhere. The only trees to be seen were some cottonwoods on the hill about two blocks north of where the water tower now stands and a few small trees next to our house; our first home in Lincoln was the Walizer property across the street from the school -- the best home in Lincoln at that time. The school, situated where Central School now is, was, I thought, the funniest looking little two-story building. Mrs. Anna Wait was the teacher. My father became discouraged at times and would have been willing to go back East if we had wanted to leave. People were not especially ‘hard-up’ in those days, however, so that we did not find it difficult to have plenty to eat and to get along; we found that all the people here were very nice to know. We had the loveliest neighbors, and we never regretted having settled here!"
An old friend of the Hall family from Illinois who had settled in Topeka persuaded the doctor to locate in Lincoln. Although dubious about accepting the challenge, Doctor Hall was persuaded by his daughter to at least try he new country and see how he made out before declaring definitely to practice his profession this far west.
Dr. COGSWELL, the only physician in Lincoln when Mr. HALL arrived, welcomed the newcomer because he had acquired more patients than he could care for adequately alone.
The first year Doctor Hall practiced in Lincoln, circumstances obliged him to use a single room in a boarding house -- about where Sutton’s modern office building stands – for both his home and office. He had decided to leave and was on his way to the post offce to change his address to Topeka one day when he was privileged to rent two office rooms above the Saline Valley Bank.
Miss Hall recalls that there was very little sense of direction for the doctor to follow when calling on his patients living any distance from town. There were few roads and no fences to guide him, so that Doctor Hall – who generally used ponies – often rode straight across miles of pasture land to reach his destination. One incident of which we were told concerns an occasion on which Doctor Hall, while using a rig and team, had the misfortune to run into a rock pile after dark; he was compelled to remain until help arrived the following day.
A very close friend of Doctor Hall’s was Mr. Dan DAY, the father of Mrs. Emil RASMUSSEN. Mr. Day, who was closely associated with the old "Pennsylvania Store" – established on March 29, 1886, by Jas. R. LOGAN and John C. PATTON of Indiana, Pennsylvania, and moved into the Saline Valley Bank building in January 1887 – is credited with having created many an amusing episode in the history of the store which years ago advertised "The Best of Everything."
It seems that following a jolly celebration on July 4, 1891, many people found themselves "stranded in town," so to speak, due to a heavy rain the evening which "had swollen the waterways to the extent that they were impassable." Mr. Day conceived the idea of serving bread and butter, cheese, crackers, pickles, hot coffee, etc., to the crowd on two counters the full length of the store. In order to discourage any slighting comments which some observers might be tempted to make discrediting the "spread," Mr. Day mounted a stool with a Colt six shooter in each hand. Needles to say, no offender was called to account for having made any but the most complimentary remarks.
Mr. Day, because he enjoyed reading all kinds of books, including many novels, conferred a great favor on our budding community by leaving fifty books for the city library of which Miss Maude Hall was Secretary and Treasurer for many years.
The first library was situated in one room about the present Model Cash Grocery, and its source of reading material was limited to an insignificant collection of volumes. It was maintained by the "city dads;" most of the revenue expended on its upkeep came out of the local dog tax. Each family who desired to use the library books bought a ticket which sold for $1.00 each and were good for one year. If a stranger, having bought a ticket, stayed only a short time, his dollar was redeemed when he made ready to move on.
The library, having been founded by the women of Lincoln in the "eighties," was owned by stockholders in 1897, at which time the books together with all property belonging to the association were given to the city. The persistent little institution became a public city library in 1899 and, within nine years, it was boasting of 1,526 volumes. It is believed that the Social Science Club of Lincoln, Kansas, was first organized in the original library over the Model Cash. The library was moved to a small stone structure on Main Street shortly thereafter.
The court house which burned in 1898 was a "crude looking structure" built in 1872. Miss Hall has a vivid recollection of the fire which destroyed the building. "It was so bitter cold that it was impossible to fight with water and there was nothing left to do but let it burn to the ground." The beautiful building to which our eyes have become accustomed replaced the old court house in 1900.
Another fire of historical significance which Miss Hall and her friends recall was the burning of the newspaper establishment in 1901. The printing office, 20 by 56 feet, was built in 1885 and housed the "Beacon" -- edited by W.S. WAIT and his son, A.H. WAIT – at the time of its destruction. Miss Hall noticed the fire while caring for her sick mother about two o’clock one morning. There were no telephones then, and while she was contemplating as to how she could spread the alarm, she noticed a man cross the street by the livery barn. A fire-alarm in those days apparently caused enough confusion almost to "arouse the saints from their slumber." A large bell had been suspended from a tower-like structure for the purpose of sounding alarms, and the school and church bells joined in to add volume to the clamor.
Founding new homes in a community built by sturdy pioneers such as Lincoln County can proudly boast of the younger generation should naturally inherit or acquire a measure of the indomitable will which enabled the old-timers to live worthily and to leave rich memories of their heroic deeds in effecting the safety and prosperity of their loved ones.
