Castile Landmark Sold, January 1957 Arcade, NY.

Contributed by Douglas Morgan, August 1998.

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Family ownership for 107 years ended in Castile last November with the
sale of the famed Greene Sanitarium by Dr. Mary T. Greene, grandniece of
the founder, to Samuel Mantitone, proprietor of the Creekside Nursing
Home, Castile, since 1954. The sanitarium closed in mid-December, the
patients were transferred, and the century-old structure is to be
renovated into a modern institution which will perpetuate the traditions
of the former "Water Cure."

Established March 12, 1849 by Dr. Jabez Greene, the Sanitarium was
continued by Dr. Cordelia A. Greene, daughter of the founder, from the
father's death in 1863 until her death, January 28, 1905. Thereupon, Dr.
Cordelia's niece, Dr. Mary T. Greene, assumed leadership and continued
these fifty-one years until the condition of her health made it
imperative that a change be made. Through three generations the Greene
family have symbolized the highest spiritual and cultural influence
which this region has inherited.

The late Elizabeth P. Gordon, writing back in 1905, told of the origins
of the Sanitarium. Of the founder, she noted that he was born of Quaker
ancestry, the Greenes coming from Rhode Island and the maternal
ancestors from Massachusetts. Dr. Jabez Greene and Phila Cooke Greene
were married Sept. 30, 1830, and near Lyons, N.Y. the following July
5th, their daughter, Cordelia Agnes was born. The parents had married
"out of meeting" and were no longer accepted by their Quaker friends in
"good and regular standing." The family moved into the village of Lyons
about 1843, and her father was a trustee of the local school when he
successfully introduced the graded system into the community. At the age
of sixteen, Cordelia received a teachers' certificate and shortly
thereafter won her first position in the classroom.

The family soon thereafter moved to Pike, N. Y. and the young teacher
taught a country school in which the pupils were often as tall as the
teacher. For this position she boarded around and was rewarded with a
salary of $3.00 per week. In 1849, when Cordelia was eighteen, the
family came to Castile to reside and she assisted her father in the care
of the water cure which he started that same year. The site was occupied
by an inn, owned by General John D. Landon, and Castile was a growing
community of dirt highways and just emerging from the appearance of a
frontier town.  Dr. Green, a complete believer in temperance, removed
the tavern and erected the first portions of the institution which
survives to this day. Inspired by the career of Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell,
the first woman doctor in the world to receive her medical diploma,
Cordelia enlisted the sympathetic aid of her father in reaching a
similar goal. Before this could be realized business reverses beset the
family and she nursed the sick in order to secure funds to pay her
college expenses. In 1856, she was awarded her degree from Western
Reserve University at Cleveland. For two years previous to her going to
Cleveland she had studied at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania
at Philadelphia. Upon graduation her professional work was with her
father and in two large sanitariums including the Clifton Springs
institution.

On the death of Dr. Jabez Greene in 1863, Dr. Cordelia. came hack to
Castile, where, at the suggestion of one of her brothers, she purchased
the water cure and March 28, 1863 entered upon the full administration
of it. As Dr. Mary Greene stated later, that was a. day when water was
advocated internally, externally and eternally" and the sulfur springs
on the property were the source of supply for this aid to healthful
living.

Dr. Cordelia A. Greene attained a national reputation in medical,
temperance and philanthropic circles. Famous patients came to her doors:
Frances E. Willard, founder of the W.C.T.U.; Anna M. Gordon, temperance
leader; Susan B. Anthony, noted suffrage advocate;  Mary A. Livermore,
suffragist; Dr. Clara A. Swain, who studied under Dr. Cordelia and was
destined to open the first hospital for women on the continent of Asia;
Elizabeth P. Gordon, woman's rights leader and author of a life of Dr.
Greene; Frances B. Callaway, author; and even the 17th wife of Brigham
Young, Mormon leader.

On the 25th anniversary of her proprietorship of the Sanitarium, Dr.
Greene was lauded by the community and by visitors and messages from
throughout the country. On subsequent anniversaries she was remembered
by numerous admirers. In 1897,she recalled that when she arrived in
Castile in 1863 to head the Sanitarium she walked in the twilight from
the railroad station along the edge of the muddy road as there were no
walks or street lights; at first she had one patient, after awhile
another, and then the total grew to twelve. Meanwhile, Dr. Greene
adopted six. children, only one of whom, Dr. Edward Greene, survives. In
recent years he has assisted in the Sanitarium.

In later years, Dr. Cordelia traveled to the West and Hawaii. In 1896,
while she was in the Pacific, friends initiated plans to erect a
memorial to her. When asked to name something she would most like, she
suggested a library for Castile. She donated a site across the street
from the Sanitarium, and there was erected the present Cordelia A.
Greene Library. Contributions came from friends but Dr. Greene herself
also gave $500for books and a $l2,O0O endowment. Over her objections the
library was opened in her name.

Dr. Greene was a pioneer in the treatment of the sick and those women
who needed rest. She fully believed in gymnasium exercise, in outdoor
recreation, and the whole atmosphere of the institution was at a high
spiritual and intellectual level. Leaders from all walks of life lent
their talents to the uplift of the patients. In the Castile community,
Dr. Greene contributed generously to all better movements. Her
benefactions were widespread: many a young girl and woman shared her
generosity; she sponsored community events with emphasis on the needs of
the youth; and local organizations and institutions had cause to
remember her generous nature.

In November 1904, Dr. Cordelia went to Washington to attend the
convention of the National Women's Christian Temperance Union, and was
presented formally to the delegates as a leading speaker. From there she
went to New York where she became ill and following an emergency
operation failed to rally. Death came January 28, 1905. Her funeral was
held in Castile where her ashes were subsequently placed beneath a large
natural boulder in Grace Cemetery. On the face of the stone are these
words: "1 know Him whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able
to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day."

Dr. Greene's death brought expressions of grief from many Sources. Susan
B. Anthony was. reminded that "she was true to humanity in whatever form
it was presented to her and that she gave of her 'earnings to the cause
of woman's s suffrage. The national and New York State suffrage
organizations acknowledged their debt to her while temperance leaders
throughout the land paid her tribute. She was an honored member of the
American Medical Association, the New York State Medical Society, and
the Wyoming County Medical Association which often held its meetings at
the Sanitarium.


Dr. Mary T. Greene

Mary Theresa Greene, M. D., proprietor and moving force behind the
Sanitarium since the death of her aunt in 1905,was born in Pike, N. Y.,
a daughter of George A. and Anna Taft Greene. Her mother was a cousin of
the late President Taft. Dr. Mary was graduated from Pike Seminary and
received her medical degree from the University of Michigan in 1890. She
practiced first with Dr. Lillian Randall in Buffalo where the two women
founded Riverside Hospital in 1892. About 189U, Dr. Mary returned to
Pike and opened offices in the family home. Traveling about the
countryside in a horse and buggy she recalled doing everything from
extracting teeth to childbirth. For the latter service, Dr. Mary charged
as little as $3.00 and never more than ~l0.OO, and for the pay she often
received services and produce.

Nearly sixty years ago, in 1897, Dr. Cordelia Greene induced her niece
to become associated with her at the Sanitarium.. From that time until
last autumn Dr. Mary was on active duty almost without interruption, a
record of more than sixty-six years in the medical profession. During
many of the earlier years she was assisted by Dr. Mary I. Slade and Dr.
Caroline Stevens, and most recently by the devoted Dr. Edward Greene.
Others of her staff served years of unselfish service.

Dr. Mary followed in the footsteps of her illustrious aunt as a
community leader and philanthropist.  In addition to her duties as
administrative head of an institution which has housed up to about
thirty men and women patients at a time in recent years, she was active
in professional and community projects. At the Sanitarium has convened
the Wyoming County Medical Association annually these many years, she
served for thirty-two years on' the local board of education, is a
member of the Women Physicians' League of Buffalo, and honorary
president of the National Women's' Medical Society of New York and
chairman of its Medical Education Committee since its inauguration, and
a member of the National Women's' Medical Association0 In 1940 she was
awarded a 50-year key by the state society and in 1951 she was
designated to receive a watch in honor of her medical activities. She
has given generously to religious groups, to her own church, to all
Castile enterprises. Annually for years she rewarded a senior girl in
the Castile school with a trip to New York.

The family friendship which Dr. Cordelia and Dr. Mary had for William
Pryor Letchworth found expression in Dr. Mary's support of historical
societies. Her deep and abiding devotion to the Wyoming County Pioneer
Association will be long remembered. For many decades she has donated a
chair annually to the oldest lady present at the August meeting, was
president from 1942-45, and l947 to 1956, and possibly has the longest
service on the board of trustees. Last year, yielding to the infirmities
of ninety years, Dr. Mary declined to head the group longer and she was
named President Emeritus.

Her support of the Castile library has continued these fifty years, and
like her aunt before her, the niece has warmly supported the temperance
movement. Most recently, the state women's medical society named Dr.
Mary as the 1954 woman of the year for her work in raising funds for the
medical education of women in India. Such support had been initiated by
Dr. Cordelia.

Dr. Mary has told us that Jabez Greene paid $800.00 for the original
building and present site of the Sanitarium back in 1849. He saw the
beauty of nearby Wolf Creek and the usefulness of the mineral springs.
The tenure of the Greene family at the Sanitarium will probably not be
repeated in local annals again. A unique combination of ability and
leadership combined to make this Castile family's influence felt for two
generations in the community, in the county, the state, the nation, and
even in the Orient. We have always been inspired by Dr. Mary' a comment
when asked how she is feeling-- "just tops" comes back the convincing
reply. She remains a staunch link with the past when women's privileges
were limited; on the other hand Dr. Mary reflects the highest attainment
of all mankind; that of a life dedicated to the service of her
fellowmen. Wyoming County salutes her upon her retirement.
   Historical Wyoming  Vol. X, No. 2             January 1957
                                                       Arcade, New York