On a hot July day in 1910 in a farm house near Disco, Mary Frances Davier, having been bedfast for three days and sensing she was about to be called home by her Maker, requested a local farmer write out her last Will and Testament.
The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
On a hot July day in 1910 in a farm house near Disco, Mary Frances Davier, having been bedfast for three days and sensing she was about to be called home by her Maker, requested a local farmer write out her last Will and Testament.
Her home was left to a cousin (Pauline), her horse and buggy to another cousin (Peter), and her personal affects to another cousin (Helen). It was also Mary's desire to sell her farmland (over 1/2 section). The proceeds were to be used to build a hospital in La Harpe.
That very evening it seemed best to call a nurse and soon after her arrival, Mary passed away.
Mary's remaining relatives were astounded by her desire to build a hospital in La Harpe. The idea of squandering Mary's estate to build a hospital in rural Hancock County was viewed with alarm and horror by the Davier family and local citizens. The family, driven by their own desires, immediately contested the validity of Mary's "death bed" Last Will and Testament.
For eight years the idea of a hospital in La Harpe languished in the Illinois courts, going all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court.
In Mary's time there were no hospitals in Hancock County. "Big City" hospitals, Burlington, IA or Fort Madison, IA, were far away and places many rural people looked upon with suspicion. In the early 20th Century, little was known about the infections and viruses that mysteriously could afflict people.
Consumption (Tuberculosis), various fevers, Small Pox and other maladies were often the result of a visit to a distant hospital.
Three years prior to Mary's death, her beloved brother and business partner, Antoine, fell victim to such a visit. While being treated for "Brights" Disease at St. Francis Hospital in Burlington, IA, Antoine was stricken with the fever and died there after a 10 day stay. Mary never seemed to be what she was before her brother's death.
Even though Mary had been an invalid since childhood due to a fall from a stone wall resulting in a hip fracture that did not heal correctly, she chose to share equally with her brother, Antoine, in the toils and hardships of farming the prairie in the late 1800s by first renting a farm from James Gittings (Cassell Farm) working together, investing the proceeds of their labor into buying their own land. In later years the partners embarked in the grain and stock business in Disco.
Antoine and Mary, immigrants from St. Etienne, France, realizing that labor is the foundation of honorable success worked their way steadily upward in America from a humble beginning as "French Icarians" in Nauvoo to fulfilling their desire to own their own farm.
In 1918, the Illinois Supreme Court released Mary Davier's land to the city council. After the land was auctioned, the city council realized there was only enough money, $23,000 to build the stone structure but not to refurnish the rooms.
The city council appropriated $1,100 to buy the ground for the hospital, but there was still no money left to furnish the barren rooms. To their rescue, however, came La Harpe citizens and organizations.
Rooms were "sponsored" by various organizations -Christian Church, Union Church, bank, Attorney C. Warner, and Masonic Lodge. Virtually every Sunday School Class, club or organization pitched in to complete the task.
W.B. Kaiser, a local banker, was selected to form "The La Harpe Hospital Association". Mr. Kaiser's philosophy was that the community built this business and the people shall run their own business.
In 1922 the association received its charter from the State. It was written into the constitution that each church, Masonic Lodge, City Council, Odd Fellows, Eastern Star and Rebekah Lodge should name a director, and also, four members of the medical fraternity of La Harpe were given seats on the board.
The "Hospital Association" Board members are selected to this day as they were in 1922, only from La Harpe churches and organizations.
La Harpe-Davier is a Not-for-Profit Corporation, dedicated to the betterment of the community and has never been owned by another entity. The citizens of La Harpe control the destiny of their corporation. For the past 72 years the La Harpe Hospital Association has been a vital part of the community making possible hundreds of babies to be born, lives saved and some drawing their last breath here, as well as providing employment for many people.
The path of a small town medical center is filled with pitfalls. The second half of the 20th Century brought stricter State and Federal regulations.
In the 60's, the board was faced with modernizing the hospital or to close it. The community met the challenge and a new wing was added.
In the 70's, to meet the needs of the community, an extended care facility was built with the support of the community. In recent years, the "citizen board" has been plagued by more government regulations, an unfair Medicaid reimbursement rate and, at times, the lack of the state to pay their bills on time, but just like in the past these "plagues" will pass.
The "Hospital Association" comprised of unpaid local citizens will continue to serve the health care needs of La Harpe and surrounding area into the future with the community's support and patronage preserving the Gift of Mary Davier.