In 1918 with World War I raging in Europe, the world suddenly faced a global influenza outbreak. New Jersey and the Somerset Hills were soon impacted and hospitals in Morristown and Somerville were crowded with seriously ill patients. Local organizations needed to step up to meet the public health emergency.
In the Somerset Hills, the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) and St. Bernard’s Episcopal Church of Bernardsville were in the forefront. A temporary hospital was set up on October 18, 1918 in the Parish House of St. Bernard’s and operated until November 7 (21 days).[1] This corresponded with some of the darkest days of the pandemic nationally.
The emergency hospital served 51 patients, eight of whom died there including Henrietta O. Kronenberg, age 25; James O. Swan, aged 39; and Mrs. Samuel Day, aged 39.[2] In addition, there were many more ill for whom the VNA arranged home care.
To get the hospital up and running, the Red Cross and individuals loaned beds and equipment. Hemmendinger Drug Store donated medicine and medical appliances at cost, and the Getzoff Market provided supplies at wholesale prices. Friends and the community at large donated food from their homes for patients and nurses.[3]
Operations at the emergency hospital were summarized in the VNA annual report for 1919 (see below).
The Parish House of St Bernard’s still stands but was converted to condominiums in 2018.
[1] Annual Report of the Visiting Nurse Association of the Somerset Hills, June 1919.
[2] Bernardsville News, Oct. 31, 1918, p 8; Nov. 7, 1918, p. 5. See obituaries.
[3] Bernardsville News, Nov. 14, 1918, p. 1.
I wonder if there is a more complete listing of names of volunteers, though i think you would have included one if it existed. My grandmother was in the Red Cross, but she was in France at this time.
Hi Marion,
I didn’t come across the Red Cross except for providing beds and other supplies. Most of the volunteers appear to have been with the VNA. THSSH will soon post the full 1919 VNA annual report so that should include more names although they may not all be associated with the hospital project. Stay tuned.
I think it is so valuable to provide accounts like this. From these small sketches great perspectives appear. When I find family deaths in records from this era I first suspect the flu epidemic.
I can’t imagine buying a condo in the Parish House, however. I am not an excessively spooky person, but surely there are echoes of this time recorded in the building.