Keene Sanitarium

Keene Sanitarium was an Adventist health facility, also known as the Lone Star Sanitarium, operated between 1899 and 1916 in Keene, Texas. The sanitarium operated as an independent institution during its earliest development (1899-1902). It then was affiliated with the Battle Creek Sanitarium and owned by the denomination (1903-1906) before becoming independently operated (1906-1907). After its closure, the sanitarium building was moved and turned into a dormitory at Keene Academy. Alma French (1867-1926)¹ operated a self-supporting Keene Sanitarium out of her home (1907-1915) before a lack of resources necessitated merging this health facility with the Southwestern Sanitarium in Cleburne, Texas.

Founding of the Keene Sanitarium

The Keene Sanitarium was initially established in 1899 under the leadership of W. S. Greer as president and Dr. E. H. Mathewson as secretary of the board. The fledgling institution was re-organized under new leadership on August 27, 1902, on the property of B. F. Woods.² He requested that $1,000 be raised after which he would deed the property to the Southwestern Union Conference.³ Within a month, the requisite funds were raised, and plans were made to drill a well for a more permanent water supply.⁴ By 1905 the property was turned over to the Texas Conference from the Southwestern Union Conference.

In 1905 Dr. David C. Ross (1873-1930), a graduate of Union College, stopped at the Keene Sanitarium on his way to serve as a missionary in the Philippines. Finding the sanitarium devoid of patients and in dire need of repair, he delayed his appointment so that he could help re-establish the sanitarium. He began to work on the sewer and plumbing and started treatment rooms in nearby Cleburne and Fort Worth.⁵ On April 1, 1906, Dr. Ross severed his connection with the Keene Sanitarium and focused instead on the other treatment rooms.⁶ Part of the reason for Ross’s separation from the institution was the continual hemorrhaging of funds, which church leaders estimated at $100 per month.⁷

For several months in 1906 the sanitarium closed. Dr. Herman Gottfried Schaumloffel (1875-1964) briefly re-opened the sanitarium later that year. It was believed that “As this work will be conducted more as a private home, greater attention can be paid to the ailments of patients than in a large institution.”⁸ This experiment only lasted a few months. Dr. Thomas J. Leach (1867-1952) pleaded with church members to come for treatments in order to help support of the Keene Sanitarium.⁹ Later that year, the inability of the institution to still make a profit meant that the constituency of the Texas Conference asked the Southwestern Union Conference to negotiate merging Keene Sanitarium with Keene Academy.¹⁰ Once again the core issue was the significant loss of funds.¹¹ Negotiations resulted in closing the facility and moving the building on to the Keene Academy campus where it provided 46 young men with dorm rooms.¹² In contrast, church leaders noted that treatment rooms in Dallas and Fort Worth were able to remain profitable.

After the sanitarium closed, Alma French believed that a health facility was still needed in Keene, Texas, so she offered medical treatments in her own home. These treatments included “vapor, and electric, and other baths, sprays, fomentations, massage, &c.”¹³ This privately-operated version of the Keene Sanitarium meant turning their large home into rooms for patients and one room was made into an operating room.¹⁴ They recruited Dr. Charles Christopher Cooke (1875-1955) to be the physician in charge.¹⁵ Later that year they reported that every room in their home was occupied.¹⁶ The need was so great that they re-opened the treatment room in Cleburne as well.¹⁷ By early 1914 they began a major expansion on to their home.¹⁸ French and Dr. Cooke purchased equipment from Dr. D. C. Ross’ treatments rooms to expand their treatment capability.¹⁹

In 1915 Theodore S. Jackson (1843-1927) arrived to expand the treatment rooms in Cleburne into a full-fledged sanitarium.²⁰ This new health facility, branded as the Southwestern Sanitarium, was sufficient for local healthcare needs. This along with the loss of Dr. Cooke to serve on the battlefront during World War I necessitated Alma French merging the Keene Sanitarium that she ran in her home with this new medical facility, effectively ending an institutional Adventist healthcare presence in Keene, Texas.²¹ The lack of patients and medical staff, along with competing facilities nearby, made it extremely difficult to provide adequate health resources and to remain financially viable.

Superintendents

P. F. Haskell (1903-1905); D. C. Ross (1906); Thomas J. Leach (1907)

Sources

Hughes, C. B. “We Need More Dormitory Room and a Music Hall.” Southwestern Union Record, August 29, 1911.

“Keene Items.” Southwestern Union Record, August 24, 1903.

“Keene Locals.” Southwestern Union Record, January 26, 1903.

“The Keene Sanitarium.” Southwestern Union Record, November 20, 1906.

Leach, Thos. J. “The Keene Sanitarium.” Southwestern Union Record, January 8, 1907.

“Local News.” Southwestern Union Record, May 11, 1915.

McCutchen, W. A. “Help for the Keene Sanitarium.” Southwestern Union Record, January 5, 1903.

McCutchen, W. A. “Sanitarium at Keene.” Southwestern Union Record, June 18, 1912.

“News Notes.” Southwestern Union Record, August 12, 1913.

“Sanitarium Notes.” Southwestern Union Record, January 1, 1913.

Santee, Clarence. “President’s Address, Alvarado, Texas, August 3, 1906.” Southwestern Union Record, August 21, 1906.

“Treatment Rooms.” Southwestern Union Record, June 11, 1907.

“Treatment Rooms in Cleburne.” Southwestern Union Record, October 29, 1912.

Notes

1. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/69325889/alma-josephine-french [accessed 12/10/22].↩

2. The date is based upon the one-year anniversary celebration. See “Keene Items,” Southwestern Union Record, August 24, 1903, 4.↩

3. W. A. McCutchen, “Help for the Keene Sanitarium,” Southwestern Union Record, January 5, 1903, 3.↩

4. “Keene Locals,” Southwestern Union Record, January 26, 1903, 8.↩

5. See conference report, Southwestern Union Record, February 20, 1906, 5.↩

6. See note Southwestern Union Record, April 3, 1906, 5.↩

7. See report by Clarence Santee, “President’s Address, Alvarado, Texas, August 3, 1906,” Southwestern Union Record, August 21, 1906, 2, 3.↩

8. “The Keene Sanitarium,” Southwestern Union Record, November 20, 1906, 8.↩

9. Thos. J. Leach, “The Keene Sanitarium,” Southwestern Union Record, January 8, 1907, 8; January 15, 1907, 8.↩

10. See report in Southwestern Union Record, October 1, 1907, 4. An earlier financial report noted that the sanitarium for that year had lost $50. See Southwestern Union Record, March 26, 1907, 1.↩

11. 1907 Year Book of the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination; The Official Directories (Washington, D.C.: Review & Herald Publishing Association, [1908]), 138; 1908 Year Book of the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination: The Official Directories (Washington, D.C.: Review & Herald Publishing Association, [1909]), 175.↩

12. C. B. Hughes, “We Need More Dormitory Room and a Music Hall,” Southwestern Union Record, August 29, 1911, 1.↩

13. See “Treatment Rooms,” Southwestern Union Record, June 11, 1907, 8.↩

14. W. A. McCutchen, “Sanitarium at Keene,” Southwestern Union Record, June 18, 1912, 7.↩

15. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/69324345/charles-c-cooke [accessed 12/10/22.]↩

16. See note in Southwestern Union Record, December 17, 1912, 8.↩

17. “Treatment Rooms in Cleburne,” Southwestern Union Record, October 29, 1912, 8.↩

18. “News Notes,” Southwestern Union Record, August 12, 1913, 2.↩

19. “Sanitarium Notes,” Southwestern Union Record, January 1, 1913, 8.↩

20. See “Local News,” Southwestern Union Record, May 11, 1915, 7.↩

21. See note in Southwestern Union Record, May 16, 1916, 8.↩