Remember When: Examining a house with a medical history
The Joseph Bletzacker, Sr. family was featured in an article here 28 March 2016. One bit of information missed in research seven years ago was an ad for “The Bletzacker Homestead” (24 June 1914 Daily Eagle). It recently caught my attention and led to unknown chapters in the life of 508 N. Columbus St. An unassuming house today, it has many stories to tell.
Joseph Bletzacker, Sr. died in 1909, and his wife Elizabeth died in 1912 at the home of her son Joseph, Jr. in Lima, OH. Joseph, Jr., executor, placed this ad: “Fine Opportunity – The Bletzacker Home…located at 508 N. Columbus St. Street paved; five minutes’ walk from Main Street; well-built 7-room house; good barn; wide alley in rear; good well, cistern and fruit trees and sewer connection.”
An auction was held August 13, 1913, and Joseph Goldcamp purchased it for $3,000. It was sold seven more times between 1913 and 1949.
Meanwhile, a young man graduated from Albany High School in Athens Co. in 1919, entered Ohio University, and two years later was admitted to Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. While a student there he was described as “This brilliant young man, following the footsteps of his father and grandfather, is well on the road to successfully uphold the family name in the medical profession.” This young man was Chester Parker Swett at age 22.
After graduation in 1925 he served an internship in a Harrisburg, PA hospital, then served as a resident assistant at a tuberculosis hospital, and a year at a sanitorium, before accepting a position at the Pawling Sanitorium in Troy, NY. He married in 1932 and two sons were born to the couple.
Dr. Swett returned to Ohio in 1934 and opened a general practice in Logan. “Dr. & Mrs. C. P. Swett and family have moved from Logan to their new home in Sugar Grove where the physician has purchased the property and practice of Dr. B. H. Biddle who moved to Lancaster,” reported the Gazette (24 June 1936). Dr. Swett became a member of the Fairfield Tuberculosis Society & Health Association’s board in 1939, and was the examining physician for the first diagnostic clinic that year where ten active cases were found. He was then named president of the Fairfield Co. Board of Health in 1941.
The Swett family moved to Lancaster in 1944, and resided at 228 Lake St. Dr. Swett announced the opening of his office at 205 W. Main St. in August. He then purchased the house at 508 N. Columbus St. in Sept. 1949 to be his office…and as it turned out he was there for 24 more years. Mrs. Homer (Virginia) Robinson served as his office nurse for 21 years. In addition to serving his patients, he served for some time as chief of the hospital’s medical staff, conducted the TB clinic in Lancaster for 15 years, and was a member of the county, state and national medical associations.
Dr. Swett and his wife were also members of several local organizations, and yet he found time for historical research. His article “Medicine in Fairfield County, Ohio, 1800-1850,” was published in the Ohio State Medical Journal in 1968, he contributed to a series of articles published in the Eagle-Gazette in 1971 that were written by members of the Fairfield County Medical Society, and he also presented a paper on the life of Lancaster’s Dr. George W. Boerstler (1792-1871), First President of the Ohio State Medical Society, to the Ohio Academy of Medical History on May 7, 1977.
Dr. Swett announced his retirement after 48 years as a general practitioner for Oct. 1, 1973. He was honored for his work locally in 1983 and posthumously on Oct. 16, 1986: “A sad moment came with the announcement of the death of Dr. Chester Swett who was to have been honored…but died suddenly Wednesday night…He was a doctor epitomizing the best there was in the old era of family practice…[he] made up for that lack of scientific things in knowing and practicing the art of medicine. He treated the whole man—body, mind and soul” (17 Oct. 1986 E-G).
Readers may contact Harvey at joycelancastereg@gmail.com
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Remember When: Examining a house with a medical history
