Doctor's Residence*

The Arthurdale doctor provided healthcare to the formerly impoverished homesteaders and their families. He and his family lived next to the health clinic. The first physician, Dr. Harry Timbres, arrived in Arthurdale in 1934 to provide much needed medical services to the community. He was paid by the American Friends Service Committee (Quakers) who were involved in several areas of Arthurdale. Dr. M.J.W. White was the first physician to live in this home when he became the community doctor in 1935. From 1935-1939, the resident doctor was John Lehman.

A doctor is an important part of a community, and having a doctor in town was necessary for the citizens of Arthurdale. Though there were various doctors who lived and worked in Arthurdale, we were fortunate to receive artifacts and information from the son of Dr. John Lehman, who served here from 1935-1939. While working in Arthurdale, he accepted a salary of $150 per month with no sick leave or vacation, but a house was provided for him and his wife Virginia.

After leaving Arthurdale, Dr. Lehman practiced medicine in Kingwood. During WWII, he served as a Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy from 1942 until 1946, and was stationed at the Navy Fleet Hospital on Guam. He later served from 1956 through 1959 as the Chief of Staff at Preston Memorial Hospital in Kingwood. He passed away on October 4, 1964 at the age of 56.

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Haid, Stephen Edward. "Arthurdale: An Experiment in Community Planning, 1933-1947." Master's thesis, West Virginia University, 1975.

Maloney, C. J. Back to the Land: Arthurdale, FDRs New Deal, and the Costs of Economic Planning. John Wiley & Sons, 2013.

Patterson, Stuart. “A New Pattern of Life: The Public Past and Present of Two New Deal Communities.” Doctoral Thesis, Emory University, 2006.

Penix, Amanda Griffith. Images of America: Arthurdale. Arcadia Publishing, 2007.

Sauer, Svea. The Doctor's Wife: My Life in Arthurdale. Arthurdale Heritage Newsletter. 2007. https://arthurdaleheritage.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Lehman-Article-2007.pdf

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