By Angela. Godac
This is the letter that my mother wrote in 2003 to Stan Brown who wrote historical columns in the Roundup. She, and other long-time Paysonites used to get very upset with the way he would record things wrong! To the person who didn’t know any better, his stories became fact. Often wrong, they became the “way things were”. Here, Mother is setting him straight!
Angela (Taylor) Van Horn Godac
Angela is a 4th generation Payson Pioneer resident. She writes: I grew up in Flowing Springs on the East Verde River about 6 miles north of Payson. Mother told me that when my brother was about 4 years old (I wasn’t born yet!) that he got sick with a high fever. She had him in the tub to bring down the fever and he had a severe seizure which badly frightened her and after she got him taken care of she told my dad that she just couldn’t live like that anymore! They had to have closer access to a doctor than Cottonwood (3-hour drive) or Phoenix (half day drive). Those were their only options back then.
My mom said she met with some ladies in town (named in her letter below), who were of like mind, and well, the rest is history.
March of 2003
Dear Mr. Brown:
Since there are only four persons left who can corroborate what I am about to write, I felt that I should set the record straight. That is regarding the history of the Payson Hospital. There are so many hard-working and generous individuals who should not be left out of the history.
The Payson Junior Womens Club was formed in 1954, mainly because Payson was 100 miles in any direction from any medical help.
Pat Cline, Nora Surrett, Hazel Owens, Johnnie Cline, Leta Jean Haught and myself met at Richard and Valda Taylor’s rock house on Oak Street. Gladys Meredith joined shortly thereafter, as did Mary Holder. The group decided to join “The National Junior Women’s Clubs”.
The Senior Women’s Club agreed to let us meet in their building on Main Street. We elected officers and at our first meeting we voted to somehow acquire a doctor and a medical facility.
We held numerous raffles, started a “Buck a Month” club, and began to create enthusiasm in Payson and outlying areas. Gladys Meredith felt that we could create interest by holding style shows. She taught the “so-called models” how to walk, turn, etc, etc. The Fair Department Store in Phoenix provided the clothes for our first show. The Oxbow Hotel allowed us the have the show around their pool. Porter’s also provided us with their Western wear. Then we approached Goldwaters in Phoenix. These wonderful people astounded us with their enthusiasm and help. We went to Phoenix and spoke to Bob Goldwater who managed the store there and he was very interested and said that his secretary and her husband, who was their buyer, would bring the clothes to Payson with all of the accessories. How very kind and generous!
The morning of the show, the company’s private plane landed with the buyer and his wife, Bob Goldwater’s secretary. The show was a success—we made some money and Mary Vaughn Bishop modeled and looked absolutely beautiful! Her pretty red hair had been done by a hairdresser friend of Gladys Meredith’s from Phoenix.
The Junior Women decided to take a chance on selling tickets to a brand new Ford. We talked Tex Earnhardt into letting us have the car. We sold and sold and sold tickets but the time for the raffle was drawing near. We still needed about $300 to break even! We really worked hard to sell the tickets. We went to Pine and even went to Heber. Miraculously, (WOW!) Bill Miller, our angel, came to our aid. All in all, we made $150 on the raffle.
We had numerous raffles and style shows for several years with clothing from Goldwater’s and Karrack’s (?) Department Stores.
An M.D. from Phoenix decided to move to Payson with his family. They rented a house across the street from where Pat and Raymond Cline lived. The house had three bedrooms and Dr. Hardenbrook even delivered some babies in one of the bedrooms. He was a nice man and a good doctor but we could not provide him with any conveniences so they left after about a year.
After Dr. Hardenbrook left town, our angels appeared!!! Steve and Cindy Hathaway donated the land, and Jude Murphy and his wife, Alice, donated money and support. Don Manthe was especially helpful to us, as he was a pharmacist, the owner of our only drug store.
We formed a Payson Medical Board with the intention of building a medical facility. The board consisted of Jude and Alice Murphy, Steve Hathaway, Don Manthe, T.L. Meredith, Hazel Owens, and myself. Dick Flack, Ed Glascock, Louis Pyle, and Malcolm Pyle were members at various times.
The money-raising effort was too slow and too time-consuming, so Jude, Steve and I went to the Valley National Bank in Phoenix and borrowed $25,000. Plans were drawn and we were on our way. As the Hathaways had already donated the land, the building of The Payson Clinic began. When completed, we had a laboratory, patient rooms, a reception room, a doctor’s office and surgery room and a medical supply room. Hospital beds and tables were donated from Good Samaritan Hospital in the Valley. Marcus J. Lawrence Hospital in Cottonwood gave us an autoclave and an X-ray machine!
We interviewed several M.D.’s and decided on David B. Gilbert, M.D. who had just completed his internship in Phoenix. He, his
wife, Martha, and two young sons moved to Payson.
Dr. Gilbert rented a room in the clinic which he used as an office. He paid the Board rent for his office and started his practice. He had a Swedish nurse named Nellie Abt. The Board later applied for a license and then had an anesthetist from Marcus J. Lawrence come over once a week for scheduled surgeries.
We had built a Medical Facility, not a hospital. Later, we qualified as a hospital but we began as “The Payson Clinic”.
The Junior Women’s Club received great cooperation from the Seniors, namely, Anna Mae Deming and Valda May Taylor, for which we were so grateful.
The Junior Women’s Club received the Sears Roebuck Community Service Award for their efforts and success with their projects, and Hazel Owens, Mary Holder and I went to Detroit, Michigan to receive it.
The Juniors had also put on the first Payson Rodeo Queen Contest.
Hopefully I have not omitted the names of those who were of such great help to us. Oh, yes, many kudos to Peggy and Bill Miller, now deceased, for their love, generosity and kindness.
Sincerely Yours,
Doris Taylor
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