Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1926-07-13
Shattered Stump of
"Kane's Pine"
Reminder Of "Water
Cure" Days

Brattleboro, Vt, July 12-(P)-The
shattered stump of a pine, hane
Pine" and a row of dingy tenements
are all that remain of the world
famous water cure" which made
Brattleboro in the days before the
civil war one of the fashion centers
of the country. The pine had been
favorite resting place for DR..
Elisha Kent Kane during the sew
eral months he spent here in re-
cuperating from the hardships en-
dured on the Grinnell arctic eXpedi-
ton in search of Sir John Franklin,
While lolling in its ample shade, DR..
Kane carved his name upon the
trunk. 1t has borne his name since.
although the carving was overgrown
as early as 1865. The storms of the
past fall and winter carried away
the last of the branches and now the
splintered stump is fast rotting.
The Brattleboro water. cure, estab-
lished by DR.. Robert Wesselhoeft in
lS43. was the third in the country.
Robert and Wilhelm Wesselhoeft
had been driven from their Saxony
home by political persecution and
completed their medical studies in
America. Robert had been impress
sed by the success of cold water
bathing as developed in Austria
score of years before. He first
sought a site near Philadelphia but
his enthusiasm was aroused by the
springs about Brattleboro to which
he was introduced by patient,
Mrs. Lowell Farr.
The water cure was at once popu-
lar. In 1916 there were S92 patients.
They overlooked the cure buildings
and the hotels so that the townspeo-
pie We're appealed 10 for boarding
houses. 1t continued to grow and in
May 1858 the Lawrence Water Cure
was opened by. William III. klinge,
who had been superintendent of the
baths of the Wesselhoeft establish
ment
Dr.. Kane was only one of the fam
Gus personages attracted The poet
L.onsfellow and his brother Samuel,
James Russell Lowell, Mrs kath-
crime Beecher William D. Howells
! DR.. Samuel G.. Howe and his wife
Julia Ward Howe were some of the
! literary celebrities who visited the
! cure. AT the close of the civil war
many of its soldiers sought re-
! juvenation there. among them gen-
! erals George Mcclellan. William T.
/ Sherman and Charles Devens.
| The war however cut off main
| source of patronage, the South,
Many gentlemen from that section.
drawn by the cure had built sum-
mer mansions among the southern
Vermont hills and trausplanted there
the stately culture of the old South
The prewar days saw visits of
statesmen also, former President
! Martin Van Buren, and san in l849
and two sons of John c. Calhoun in
1851 among them.
The European physicians brought
with them the enjoyment of the out
of-doors. highly developed on the
Continent. They introduced the
custom OF serving meals on the
verandas, of walking for recreation
through the pine woods. of picnics
along the river side. Smart traps
driven by the socially prominent
patients darted through the streets,
beautifully Sowned women strolled
through the town. balls and all
manner of social exercise We're con-
Quoted. All this brought to Brattle-
boro cosmopolitan culture and an
appreciation of the beautiful in ma
ture and the arts which made the
town unique in rural New England
and which has been preserved.
DR.. Wesselhoeft claimed no cure
all for his treatment. Indeed he
made use OF homeopathic medicine
frequently. Beside large plun2cs
and tubs of all kinds, outdoor baths
were constructed along the banks of
the Wholesome River. The patients
were encouraged to drink deeply of
the pure spring waters and to hike
over the countryside. They built
many paths ad trails through the
woods and constructed a three story
log cabin on the summit of Mount
Wantastiquet across the Connect
cut river The cabin and most Of
the trails have now disappeared.
DR.. Robert Wesselhoeft died in
1882 and his family moved TO Boston.
One son, Reinhold, lost his life while
an officer in the Union army in the
civil war. After the war the water
cure buildings were transformed in
to summer hotels. In 1873 the
Lawrence buildings were made into
tenements and by 1890 all were clos
ed
Today Brattleboro still knows the
tenements as the water cure build
ings" and the shattered stump as
"Kanes Pine but there are few
residents indeed with first hand
recollections of the town in the DAYS
when it was hailed as the equal of
Karlsbaad and other famous water
ing places of Europe.