Cannon Brought Medicine to Balsam Grove

Edward Gaine Cannon was born in the Calvert community of Transylvania County in 1900 to James and Anna Whitmire Cannon.  James Cannon was a physician who served the surrounding mountain area on horseback.  The Cannons moved to Pickens, South Carolina in the early 1900s where they raised their seven children.

Gaine Cannon graduated from Berea College in 1925, then attended the Medical College of Virginia at Richmond and studied at Northwestern University and in Denmark.  Cannon served in the Army for 12 years after graduating from Medical School. 

There were two doctors that Cannon held a great respect and admiration toward—Dr. James Alvin Cannon, his father, and Dr. Albert Schweitzer.

Gaine Cannon first learned about Dr. Albert Schweitzer through a magazine article in 1931.  He was inspired to learn all he could of Schweitzer and later met the revered doctor while travelling in Africa.  The two formed a close friendship that lasted until Schweitzer’s death in 1965.

In 1947 Gaine Cannon returned to Pickens where he started a three-room clinic.  The little clinic, named for James A. Cannon, grew quickly.  He typically saw 70-90 patients and made 10-20 house calls a day. 

Dr. Gaine Cannon in Balsam Grove

Realizing he needed a place to get away and relax Cannon bought property in the Balsam Grove community.  When the local people learned that they had a doctor, who was also a native Transylvanian, living nearby they flocked to his little cabin.

Dr. Cannon soon “retired” and made caring for the people of Balsam Grove and surrounding communities his sole purpose.   He lived Albert Schweitzer’s philosophy of Reverence for Life.  His dream was to build a 30-bed hospital; the only hospital in U.S. that Dr. Schweitzer allowed to use his name. 

Dr. Cannon did not turn away patients who could not pay.  He accepted whatever they could offer.  Patients were asked to contribute two or more river rocks for each visit to the doctor.  The rocks were used to build the hospital.

The people of Balsam Grove and throughout the mountains supported Dr. Cannon with volunteer labor and by organizing fund raisers.  Money flowed in from around the country and from all over the world.  Donald McCall, one of the early supporters of the project tells of taking “a big box full of foreign money” to the Rosman Bank where banker Rowell Bosse exchanged it for U.S. currency. 

Early Construction on the Albert Schweitzer Memorial Hospital

McCall’s Boy Scout troop was among those who worked tirelessly to dig and lay the hospital foundation.  Brevard contractor C.R. Sharp donated his time and skills to lead volunteers from Balsam Grove, Quebec and Lake Toxaway in completing the roof.

Unfortunately, Dr. Gaine Cannon died in 1966 before the hospital was able to open.  Stored in the building were 41 hospital beds and all the equipment for the unfinished hospital.

In 1980 the dream of medical care in Balsam Grove finally became a reality when the Balsam Grove Medical Clinic opened.  Staff included registered nurse, Juanita Butterworth and receptionist, Fran Whitmire.  Dr. James Keeley and Dr. Raymond Dunkleberg each visited the clinic once a month.  Services offered included general outpatient, immunizations, health education and illness prevention, monitoring chronic illnesses, physicals, prenatal care and even minor surgery and emergency stabilization.  There was also an in-house pharmacy so patients did not have to travel to Brevard for prescriptions.  Although the facility only operated for a few years Doc Cannon is remembered with love and respect in the community.

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library.  Visit the NC Room during regular library hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about our history and see additional photographs.  For more information, comments or suggestions contact Marcy at marcy.thompson@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-3151 X242.