John Massey, son of Tom and Mary J., was born in South Carolina, most likely the Lancaster area, in 1866. He would become the first black physician of Monroe and Union County, NC and the first to actually build a hospital for the area. The hospital, pictured here before 1930, was known as Quality Hill Sanatorium. Erected at 802 W. Windsor Street, it would serve the community for some thirty-odd years.
The hospital would "open its doors...for inspection" on Monday, August 19, 1912. Dr. Massey placed an announcement in The Monroe Journal on July 23rd, thanking "the many friends who have made the existence of the institution possible by the generous contributions" and inviting the public to attend the open house.
Massey trained at Leonard Medical School, a defunct part of Shaw University in Raleigh, NC. Graduating in 1896 he settled in Union County, possibly in Waxhaw before coming to Monroe. (Note: Supposedly a metal cabinet that was once in the hospital was donated to Shaw University)
He may have already been a student at Shaw University before entering Leonard as he was employed as a schoolteacher; this was gleaned from a copy of letter written to Katie in 1891 (he references that he is "teaching at my old stand" in Waxhaw, NC).
He would later marry Kate "Katie" Julia Massey of Van Wyck, SC, about 1898. There son, Clarence Sherman Massey who would also become a physician, was born in June of 1899.
Sometime around 1900 he built a fine home next to his hospital at 800 W. Windsor Street. It is easy to imagine a man completely immersed in his career and community.
By 1915 he purchased an x-ray machine (article in New York Age, Sept. 15, 1915) - probably another first for the area! In 1917, the Annual Report of Public Charities (NC) showed he has 14 beds, admitted 200 patients in the previous year and that "crippled & deformed children" were treated. By 1922 the number of beds would drop to ten (per "Southern Medicine and Surgery", June 1922, Vol. 84, No. 1, p.324 - accessed at www.archive.org).
Katie would die in September 1937. Dr. Massey would remarry, to a widow named Ola Brewer.
There would be problems with tax payments (street assessments) and he would actually lose the hospital yet the City of Monroe would allow him to stay on and 'lease' the property. Eventually he would ask to redeem his property but instead, the property was to be sold to the highest bidder on February 3, 1939.
No one bid against him and Dr. Massey would win back his property for $3,000. (Union County Deed Book 85, p. 47)
He died May 12, 1946 after some years of illness. He was survived by his adopted daughter, Thelma Gallashaw and son-in-law, Henry; son Clarence and daughter-in-law, Susie; at least two grandchildren (Reginald Gallashaw and Mary Massey).
Sadly, son Clarence, practicing in Wadesboro, NC, would die in October (15th) 1947.
Many years later, after several owners and eventual neglect, both the home and former hospital won historical designation in 1984 through efforts of the Monroe-Union County Historic Properties Commission. Sadly, the day after photos were taken by the State for a different application for the National Register of Historic Properties, a fire destroyed the home and gutted the medical facility on March 27, 1985.
Around 2020, two homes were built on the lots that had remained empty up to that point. In August of 2021, the City of Monroe recognized the importance of Dr. John S. Massey and his hospital by installing a historical marker between the two addresses on West Windsor Street.
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The photo of the old hospital in this post was taken before 1930. It is cropped from a postcard that was probably in the possession of Ethel Helms Dennis Stokes (or her family), who ran a boarding house/hotel in the former hospital. We like to think that Dr. Massey is seen in the photo but we have no verification for this. This "cropped" postcard photo is owned by The Heritage Room of the Carolinas Genealogical Society. The North Carolina State Archives has a copy as well plus the photos taken by the state just before the fire. The library purchased the 1985 digital images taken by the state - most of these have been printed and have been placed in a smaller booklet next to "John S. Massey, First Black Physician of Union County: A Scrapbook" compiled by myself for the Dickerson Room of the library. It can be found at R 921 Massey and contains copies of the letters written by John Massey in his 'courting days' and his time at the Leonard School of medicine (shared by a collector), articles found from diligent web searches by a helpful patron, local articles from the Monroe paper, some copies of deeds, a timeline for Dr. Massey and more.
Visit the The Dickerson Genealogy & Local History Room of the Union County Public Library, 316 E. Windsor St., Monroe, NC. The Heritage Room, located in the historic courthouse of downtown Monroe on N. Main Street, also has two files on "Quality Hill Sanatorium" with invaluable information.
A bio similar to the above can be found at Dr. Massey's
memorial at Find A Grave.
Article written by Patricia Poland, Dickerson Genealogy & Local History Room, Union County Public Library, March 2008 Revised January 8, 2014 (web links updated 2018 as well as Ethel Dennis' name) Revised with historical marker, corrected year of original historical designation, links updated and/or removed in Nov 2025 - pmp)
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