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How The Hospital Got Started...The Story of Grace Cottage Hospital
In 1844, Reverend Horace Fletcher built a simple, practical cottage in Townshend, Vermont. From its front porch, he eulogized Abraham Lincoln and condemned slavery. The house remained in the Fletcher family after his death in 1871, until 1905 when Harriet Fletcher invited Mary Plumb to share her home.
Miss Plumb, a teacher and school principal, inherited the house after Miss Fletcher's death. When she retired, she rented the downstairs to the town's new doctor, Dr. Carlos G. Otis and his wife, Ruth. From that day in 1938, it served as both home and doctor's office until Miss Plumb offered the building to Dr. Otis to fulfill his dream of a cottage hospital.
The initial financing for the hospital came from Dr. Otis's neighbor and friend, Dr. Abel Grout. In return, the hospital was named after his wife, Grace. Other friends made substantial donations and sparked fund drives to turn the house into a hospital. The community jumped in to begin a Grace Cottage Hospital Auxiliary.
All these efforts paid off, and nine hundred guests attended the opening of Grace Cottage Hospital on August 7, 1949. The work of the hospital began that night when Dr. Otis delivered its first baby.
Within a year, the house next door was added. This house had been owned by Hattie Stratton; after her death it was given to the hospital, as specified in her will. It opened as Stratton House nursing home in 1953. Later Ruth Heins deeded the house on the other side of the hospital building to be used as a community care home.
Dr. Otis served as hospital administrator until 1990, and as chairman of the board until he died in 1994. Grace Cottage Hospital is now the centerpiece of the Otis Health Care Center, named and dedicated to its founder.
