The plan was donated by Mr. George Washington Smith and proved acceptable. The corner-stone was laid April 14, 1899, this day being chosen to commemorate George Washington’s latest visit to Fredericksburg and his dying mother. The corner-stone itself is a portion of the old Mary Washington monument, begun in 1833, and never completed, and was donated by Mr. John H. Myer. It was laid with imposing Masonic ceremonies by Fredericksburg Lodge, No. 4, A. F. and A. M., in which George Washington was made a Mason, District Deputy Grand Master James P. Corbin presiding, Rev. F. P. Ramsey, D. D., of Fredericksburg College, making an impressive address on the occasion.
The hospital was completed the summer following, and all the money in the treasury was expended. The house faces the east and is a modest structure, with a porch in front and an extension on the west end. Two rooms open upon the entrance hall, one of which is the operating room, the other the especial room for a single patient. Back of this is a hall, running north and south, beyond which is the kitchen, matron’s room, bath-room and store rooms; cellar beneath for wood and such articles as can be kept there. In the extensions are respectively the two large, well-lighted and ventilated rooms for the men’s and women’s wards.
The capacity of the hospital is small, but there is plenty of room for any additions which the future may warrant being made. With the faith that characterized the movement from the beginning, the ladies met on September 25, 1899, elected a matron, Miss Virginia Aldridge, and appointed Wednesday, October 4th, “Donation Day.” Their confidence was rewarded and donations poured in from every one, rich and poor. Among so many it would be invidious to mention names, but Mr. Spencer, of Snowden, a new comer to Fredericksburg, liberally furnished the single room with every appliance for comfort in illness, and the ladies gratefully named it, for him, the Spencer room. From the druggists came a generous donation of accessories, and everything—chairs and china, beds and other belongings—came in abundantly.
On Sunday, October 8th, the building was formally dedicated, Rev. W. D. Smith, rector of St. George’s church, presiding, all the ministers having been invited to participate in the ceremonies, which were simple, but appropriate. The first patient was received in December, and since that time there has been continued service in the hospital. There is no endowment, and it is hoped that, seeing the work, some humanely-disposed individual may be moved to undertake this noble charity.
By heroic efforts there have been no debts incurred, the citizens having so far responded in every case of need; yet there is much lacking, both in furniture and appliances. Donations of every kind are urgently desired. The physicians are most liberal in their services and attentions and their work is to their great honor, for, of the several difficult cases thus far operated upon each has been successful, and the recipient has returned home sounding the praises of the Mary Washington Hospital and its medical service. May the good work grow and prosper. Since this article was written the building has been greatly enlarged and improved, and the hospital is regarded as a permanent institution with a noble mission.
NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS.
The first newspaper established in Fredericksburg was the semi-weekly “Virginia Herald and Falmouth Advertiser,” in 1786, by Timothy Green. It was soon found that the name was too long and was no advantage to the paper, and in a few months the Falmouth Advertiser part of the name was dropped and the paper was continued as the Virginia Herald. Some years after its establishment Mr. Green associated with him in the conduct of the paper a Mr. Lacy and Mr. James D. Harrow, and the firm name was Green, Lacy & Harrow. This firm was succeeded by Wm. F. Gray, and he by James D. Harrow, a practical printer, who conducted the paper for many years, with Jesse White, afterwards known as “the old practical printer,” as foreman.
Mr. Harrow died in 1851, and the office, fixtures and good will were purchased by Major J. Harrison Kelly, who conducted the Virginia Herald successfully as a semi-weekly until the year 1875, when failing health compelled him to discontinue its publication and it has never been resumed.
A bound volume of this paper, running through the years 1796, 1797 and 1798, is now owned by this writer, who prizes it very highly. Its columns have furnished accounts of incidents, dates and gatherings of the people in public meetings, noted in this historical sketch of the town.
In the year 1795 another paper was started in Fredericksburg, known as the “Genius of Liberty and Fredericksburg and Falmouth Advertiser.” This name was even larger, longer and less euphonious than the first name of its competitor, the Virginia Herald, and, like its competitor, soon dropped most of it. This paper came into existence at a time when party spirit ran high and the political blood was at fever heat. It vigorously espoused the cause of what was then known as the “Strict Constructionists” of the Federal Constitution, while the “Virginia Herald” as vigorously supported the “Loose Constructionists.”