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Methodist Hospital, an internationally known referral
hospital, was constructed in 1922, opening in 1924. It
developed from a thirty-bed private hospital founded in
1908 by Dr. Oscar L. Norsworthy (1871-1935). The
Norsworthy Hospital Building was a rectangular,
five-story building with a 70' front presence on Rosalie
Street whose address was known as 3020 San Jacinto in
the 1919 Houston City Directory. The building also
featured a four-story porch gallery on the front facade.
It occupied the south half of the north half of Block 2,
Holman Outlot 31. When the Sarah Francelia Bell
Home was built in 1922, it was placed on the south side
of the Norsworthy Hospital building, also fronting
Rosalie Street, with a 40' front presence. In the
1925 City Directory the address was shown as 1111
Rosalie Street. By the 1930s an additional, U-shaped,
two-story, brick hospital building with a raised
basement had been constructed facing San Jacinto Street
at Rosalie. It was called the "little hospital," and, it
had been built by The Blue Bird Circle for the Shrine
children. The building featured a gable end roof
with clipped gable ends and a huge wall dormer in the
center, facing Rosalie. The address and name of
the building was still shown as the Norsworthy Hospital
in the 1925 Directory. The total beds, counting
the upper two floors of the Sarah Francelia Bell Home,
varied from ninety to one hundred and fifty, according
to need and the arrangement of space.
The Sarah Francelia Bell Home remained closely
associated with the hospital. The residents were cared
for by resident physicians, ate in the hospital dining
room, and were sent trays if they were confined to their
rooms. But the home did not attract in great
numbers the elderly women for whom it was planned.
Probably no more than twelve lived there at any one
time, and they all lived on the ground floor for the
sake of their convenience. This left the two upper
floors free for use by the hospital either as a
residence for nurses and student nurses or as hospital
rooms.
The Sarah Francelia Bell Home is a three-story, concrete
frame building with brick veneer cladding, a type of
building not commonly found in the Midtown area. It
features a fat roof with a three foot high parapet wall.
Just under the parapet wall on the South elevation are
three concrete cornices. The upper cornice projects out
two feet from the building and the other two smaller
cornices run above and below the window openings on the
third floor. Also on the south elevation are two
examples of brick corbelling, approximately two and
one-half feet by four feet in size. The building's brick
walls consist of three courses of Lucas and San Jacinto
brick on the first two floors, and two courses on the
third floor. The entry features a three step concrete
stoop leading up to a double, front door within a
concrete arched opening.
The floor plan consists of a central hallway on each
floor with one large bay on both sides and a door at the
far end of the hallway. The internal staircase leading
from the ground floor to the third floor features a
handrail with iron balusters ending with forged iron
newel posts. Originally there were rooms along each side
of the hallway, now destroyed by vandals, and no other
original interior elements survived.
The architect for the Methodist Hospital and the Sarah
Francelia Bell Home was James Ruskin Bailey. Bailey was
a Houston architect who practiced for a number of years
in Houston. Between the years 1914 and 1919, he was in
partnership with Joseph Finger, another prominent
Houston architect (Handbook of Texas). Bailey was
closely tied to the Methodist community, most likely the
reason for his selection. When Bailey's firm was chosen
for the design of the Methodist Hospital building and
the Sarah Francelia Bell Home in 1922, his
father-in-law, John T. Scott, offered to resign from the
Trustees of the Methodist Hospital so there would be no
conflict. However, the other trustees would not accept
his resignation, but instead honored Scott's request
that he not serve on the building committee. Scott was
also an old member of Shearn Methodist Church, and
likely a life-long friend of Mrs. Bell. Scott, who was
President of the First National Bank of Houston, served
as Board President of the Methodist Hospital from 1922
to 1941. While Scott was president, Bailey designed the
six-story educational building of the First Methodist
Church at 1320 Main Street in 1929, which when built,
"was erected for possible conversion into an office
building" (Fox). His other commissions included the
Public National Bank. Building (1925) at 402 Main Street
and Preston (N.R.; City of Houston Landmark); John Henry
Kirby House (1926 remodeling) at 2006 Smith Street;
Eastwood Elementary School (1927 rear addition) at 100
Telephone Road; and Peden Company Building (1930) at 610
North San Jacinto (Fox).
Among its early trustees of the Methodist Hospital
were William L. Clayton, Jesse H. Jones, and Walter W.
Fondren. A long-term benefactor was Ella Cochrum (Mrs.
Walter W.) Fondren, who became a trustee after her
husband's death and who for many decades was the only
woman on the board. Methodist struggled to survive
during its early years. It remained open during the
Great Depression only through the management of its
administrator, Josie Mooring Roberts. It took a new
direction after World War II due to the actions of two
Houston philanthropists, Monroe D. Anderson and Hugh
Roy Cullen. Anderson left a bequest of $22 million
that led to the development of the Texas Medical
Center at Houston. Cullen, a legendary oilman, and his
wife Lillie gave $1 million to Methodist Hospital, a
gif that enabled it to move to the Medical Center. The
new 300 bed facility opened in 1951.
Methodist became a teaching hospital for Baylor
University College of Medicine, which had also moved
to the Texas Medical Center. Because of Dr. Michael E.
DeBakey, the Baylor affiliation transformed Methodist
from a good hospital into a great one. DeBakey, who
joined Baylor in 1948, pioneered cardiovascular
procedures that brought him wide acclaim. Patients
from all over the world, including the Duke of
Windsor, came to him for treatment and taxed the
facilities of the hospital during the 1950s and 1960s.
To accommodate these patients and the growing
population of Houston, Methodist enlarged to 1,040
beds by 1971 under the administration of Ted Bowen.
The growth continued under the administration of Larry
Mathis, who succeeded Bowen in 1983. By 1990 the
Methodist Hospital complex included more than 1,500
beds, outpatient facilities, office buildings, parking
garages, and a hotel. By various agreements, Methodist
also included a number of hospitals in other locations
that utilized its specialists and high technology.
While maintaining its position as a cardiovascular
center, Methodist, in cooperation with Baylor, also
pioneered in organ transplants, neurological disorders
of children, and other areas of research and
development. Chairmen of the board of directors have
been John T. Scott, Raymond P. Elledge, Walter L.
Goldston, Robert A. Shepherd, Sr., O'Banion Williams,
Curtis B. Delhomme, and A. Frank Smith, Jr. (Sibley).
Sarah Francelia McElroy was born in 1825 in Hartford,
Connecticut, and came to Texas with her four siblings
and parents, Philip and Almyra McElroy, in 1832, first
settling on the Colorado River, eight miles below the
present city of Austin. This early Texas pioneer
family then settled the next year with Stephen F.
Austin at San Felipe de Austin. Founded by Austin in
1824, San Felipe de Austin, located on the west bank
of the Brazos River at the Old San Antonio Road
crossing, was the unofficial capital of Texas and
became the first urban center in the Austin colony.
The town, simply called San Felipe, was unquestionably
the social, economic and political center of the
colony. One of the earliest newspapers in Texas, the
Texas Gazette, began publication there in 1829.
Sarah's father, Philip McElroy died in 1835 near San
Felipe de Austin, Austin County, and her mother,
Almyra, his widow, and all of her children left their
possessions behind, and traveled on horseback to the
banks of the Sabine River for safety when on March 30,
1836, the town was burned to keep it from falling into
the hands of the advancing Mexican army. The fleeing
eastward was known as the Runaway Scrape. According to
a biography of Sarah's brother, Charles S. McElroy,
which was published in the "History of Fort Bend
County," the family left the Sabine River and after
the Battle of San Jacinto, then came to Harrisburg,
and from there to Houston in 1837 where they lived "in
the first house built there." "The house was double
log cabins, situated at the foot of what is now Main
Street, on Buffalo Bayou, and if still standing would
be in the middle of the street." After the
victory at San Jacinto, many returned to San Felipe,
as did Almyra McElroy. On February 4, 1838 as
widow of Philip McElroy, she was granted one labor of
land. She was married for a second time shortly
thereafter to George W. Powell, another early Texas
pioneer, who had been granted a 1/3 League on July
1836, for being a "Citizen of the Republic."
They had a son named George P. Powel. Almyra
McElroy Powell died shortly thereafter on November 20,
1839 and was buried in Old Founder's Park Cemetery in
Houston, as were some of her children who had preceded
her in death. Sarah Francelia Bell's sibling
were: Elizabeth McElroy, who married 1) Zadoc
Hubbard and 2) F. N. Butt; Henry P. McElroy; Charles
S. McElroy who married Elizabeth R. Little; and Mary
Almyra McElroy and Napoleon B. McElroy (the only child
born in Texas in 1832),both who died young and are
buried in Old Founder's park Cemetery on W. Dallas
Street, in Houston.
Sarah McElroy was first married on September 19, 1844
in Houston to Andrew Crawford, a tailor, entrepreneur,
and charter member of Shearn Methodist church (History
of Shearn Church). This is where his close
affiliation with the Methodist Church began.
While married to Crawford, they adopted a girl with
the given name of "Savannah Georgia" before 1860 as
the seven year old girl was living with the Crawfords
in the 1860 census. The "adoption" is confirmed
in the will of Sarah F. Bell, dated July 13, 1911
(probated after her death on August 12, 1914, Harris
County, Texas), in which she mentions her adopted
daughter, "Mrs. Savannah G. Cohen." according to
family descendants, Savannah was most likely a
daughter of one of the four Terry brothers, of Harris
and Brazoria County, who were sons of Joseph Royall
Terry and Sarah "Sallie" D. Smith, daughter of
Obedience Fort and David Smith (Ancestry.com).
Obedience Fort Smith was another early Texas pioneer.
Research completed thus far, has not produced
conclusive proof regarding the actual parents of
Savannah.
Andrew Crawford, husband of Sarah McElroy Crawford,
was engaged in the clothing business as he was listed
as a tailor in the census and city directory of
Houston, although he had other business interests as
well. Andrew Crawford, who had been a
charter member of Shearn Church, became a prominent
citizen of Houston. He died on March 29, 1867
(tombstone) and was buried in the Old City Cemetery
(now known as Founder's Park) on W. Dallas Street.
Andrew J. Burke was the executor of the will of Andrew
Crawford, and Charles Shearn, Founder of Shearn
Church, assisted in the inventory. The cemetery
where Crawford is buried was known as "old Methodist
Cemetery" according to the 1866 city directory of
Houston. Their daughter, Savannah used the name
of Crawford when she was married in Houston on Feb 6,
1868 to Laurence L. Cohen. He was a native of
South Carolina and a veteran of the Confederacy.
He later became a member of Dick Dowling Camp,
Houston, Texas.
After Andre Crawford died, Sarah Crawford is found
living with her sister, Elizabeth Butt, and her
husband, F. N. Butt, in the 1879 Census of Harris
County. According to the History of Shearn
Church, Mrs. Butt was a charter member of Shearn's
Ladies Aid Society, " organized in 1876, to provide
relief to the poor. Savannah Georgia
Cohen's husband, Laurence Cohen, Sr., who was listed
as a portrait painter in the Houston City Directory
and in the 1880 Census Harris County Texas, also was a
Professor of Art. He and his wife were also very
active members of the Methodist Church as was Mrs.
Bell and her sister. In March 1882 Cohen was
named Superintendent of the Methodist Mission of North
Houston, where Shearn Church began to provide worship
services and a Sabbath School to those living along
White Oak Bayou.
Sarah McElroy Crawford married her second husband,
John W. Bell, later in that year on October 11, 1870
in Harris County. John W. Bell was a native of
Scott County, Kentucky having come to Houston soon
after completing his service in the Confederate army
in Mississippi, where he was commissioned as a
Lieutenant. He began work as a carpenter in Houston,
but later became engaged in the business as a railroad
builder. He, like Laurence Cohen, husband of
Savannah G. Crawford Cohen, was a member of Dick
Dowling Camp No. 197 in Houston. The Bells lived
at 1014 Walker Street at Fannin. John W. Bell
died at his home on September 5, 1911 and was buried
in Glenwood cemetery. His monument reads: Major
John W. Bell, born near Lexington, Kentucky December
4, 1835, Died September 5, 1911, A brave solder in the
Mexican War - A staunch defender of the Confederacy -
A prominent Mason, A soldier of Christ.: The
Cross of Honor has also been bestowed on his grave by
Robert E. Lee Chapter United Daughters of the
Confederacy.
His wife, Sarah Francelia Bell, died at their home on
August 12, 1914 and is buried in Glenwood Cemetery.
The inscription of the joint monument with her husband
John W. Bell reads "Born in Hartford, Connecticut
December 10, 1825, died in Harris County, Texas August
12, 1914." Her obituary revealed she was a
Charter Member of Old Shearn Methodist church.
According to the History of Shearn Church (1908), the
church was the first brick church in Houston, and it
was dedicated in 1843. The pastor in 1844 was
Rev. Josiah W. Whipple, and when he married Sarah
McElroy (Sarah Francelia Bell) to Andrew Crawford
there that year it was one of the first weddings in
which he officiated as a minister. Mrs. Bell and
her second husband John W. Bell, are also mentioned in
the history which recounts that "she and her husband
are constant attendants at the church service at this
time (1909)." At the time of Mrs. Bell's death,
Shearn was known as First Methodist Church , at Main
and Clay. Dr. C. S. Wright, pastor officiated at
her funeral as did Rev. J. W. Moore of Chattanooga,
Tennessee, one time pastor of Shearn. Sarah's
obituary also referred to her as any early pioneer of
Houston. It also mentions that when Mrs.
Bell and her family fled San Felipe, they had to
abandon all their worldly possessions except for a
large family bible, which Mrs.. Bell and her mother
carried on Horseback, now in Mrs. Bell's possession.
The funeral was held at First Methodist church, and
the bible used during the service was the very bible
saved by Mrs. Bell and her mother.
Sarah Francelia Bell had been very generous in her
bequests to her daughter and other relatives in her
will, while leaving the bulk of her estate for the
purpose of assisting indigent Methodist women of
Houston. Her daughter Savannah Georgia Crawford
Cohen, died on January 28, 1945 in Houston at her home
at 2702 Hamilton Street, which she had inherited from
her mother as provided for in her 1911 will.
Savannah, according to her obituary in the Houston
Post, had lived most of her life in Houston and
had been an active member and worker at St. Paul's
Methodist Church and in her bible class. Her
husband, Laurence Ludlow Cohen, had preceded her in
death on August 20, 1918 at their summer home in
Kemah, Galveston County, Texas. Both are buried
in Glenwood Cemetery, Houston. The Cross of
Honor has also been bestowed on Cohen's grave by
Robert E. Lee Chapter United Daughters of the
Confederacy.
Found among the burial records at Glenwood Cemetery
was a letter and brochure dated 1991 written by Rev.
Dr. Guston H. Browning, United Methodist Foundation,
Texas Annual Conference, Houston, Texas. The
information included about Mrs. Sarah Francelia Bell
was placed there in the hopes that someone would visit
the cemetery one day and discover information about
"An Untold Story" about service to elderly women.
The brochure begins: "An Untold Story - Unknown to
most people in the Texas Annual Conference, a small
group of seven trustees elected by the Conferences
seek faithfully to assist in caring for needy elderly
women according to the wishes of Mrs. Sarah Francelia
Bell, a Christian woman who died August 12, 1914.
Hers and theirs is a story which needs to be expanded
in order to fulfill more completely the vision Mrs.
Bell expressed in her Will." It goes on further
to state: "After certain specific bequests, Mrs. Bell
in her will left the remainder of her property for
'the establishment and maintenance of an old ladies
home, to be built of brick in the city of
Houston. It was to be operated under control and
supervision of the Texas Conference 'to shelter,
support, and accommodate, first, indigent widows of
ministers of said church...and then, if more can be
accommodated, aged, indigent lady members of said
church in the State of Texas, and such others,
especially the sick, infirmed or helpless, as the
Trustees of said Home, in the spirit of Christianity,
may see proper to admit." Furthermore, it states
according to "The Methodist Hospital of Houston" by
Sibley "when construction costs exceeded original
estimates and funds on hand (for the building of the
Methodist Hospital), the Sarah Francelia Bell Trust
loaned the Methodist Hospital $60,000 at 7 percent
interest and took a mortgage on the assets of the
hospital. With the Bell loan, the
construction continued, and during the Great
Depression, "the interest rate on the Hospital's load
was reduced by the Bell Trustees to 6 percent.
Final payment on the loan was not made until late 1944
when 'for the first time in its existence (the
hospital) was out of debt. The payment cleared
the way for a new building program.'" And then
the brochure states: "It is interesting to speculate
if the great Methodist Hospital of today would even be
here now if the Sarah Francelia Bell Trust had not
come to its aid in 1922."
In her will, Mrs. Bell said "I pray God's richest
blessings upon said Home and trust that it shall be
and remain a Christian shelter, refuge and home for
those in need of its accommodation."
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