Dr. Flora L.S. Aldrich
Dr. Flora L.S. Aldrich was born at Westford, New York. Her ancestors were of the class known as the Old Knickerbockers of the Lower Hudson River Valley, and the Sutherlands of Dutchess and Otsego Counties, New York. Through the Von Hoffman and Von Arneldts, Flora came from the founders of the Dutch republic; from the Sutherlands she is of such revolutionary stock as to make her eligible to the Colonial Dames and the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Flora married Dr. Alanson G. Aldrich of Adams, Massachusetts in 1883. Shortly after their marriage, they traveled westward to visit friends in Anoka, Minnesota. They ultimately made their home in this community. Flora pursued the study of medicine and became the first woman of Anoka to graduate from a medical school. She received her diploma on March 11, 1887, from the University of Minnesota College of Medicine. She and her husband also did medical research in Europe. Dr. Flora Aldrich was a member of the Hennepin County Medical Society, the State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association, and was a director of the Minnesota Public Health Administration.
Flora's beloved Colonial Hall was built in 1904. The house was built for two uses. There was the house proper and the medical office and consultations rooms on the north. Here in a suite of three rooms, Flora worked side by side with her husband. As a physician in her own right, she specialized in the treatment of women and children.
The house was colonial in design, having heavy brass knobs and escutcheons. A brass door knocker bearing the name "Colonial Hall" adorned the massive front door. All the modern conveniences were installed in this house. These included a hot water heating plant, a laundry, cold storage room and a fuel room. The house was fitted with all the needed call bells and connections. Two telephones, two bathrooms and electric lights were also installed in this ideal home. It was perhaps the most modern home in Anoka and was the pride of its owners.
Dr. Aldrich was a very prominent club woman, having been the first elected president of the Philolectian Society. As a member of this organization, she and others were instrumental in securing funding to build and Andrew Carnagie library in Anoka in 1904. Flora was also honored for her welfare work in connection with the State Federation of Women's Clubs. She was chairwoman of the Democratic Women of Anoka County and a member of the Episcopal Church.
Dr. Flora Aldrich was an author, having written several books.
My Child and I was a book for mothers. A Boudoir Companion was concerned with hygiene and health care for women and The One Man was a novel she dedicated to her husband, Alanson.
Dr. Flora Aldrich of Anoka wrote a book not long since and called it "The One Man." The doctor is a suffragist and it all goes to show that the girls are all alike when it comes to the most important thing in the world, after all, one man.----Duluth News Tribune
Mrs. Dr. A.G. Aldrich secured the first prize, a very fine Laryngascope, last week, at the Minneapolis Hospital college, for passing the best examination on diseases of the throat and lungs. Mrs. Aldrich will graduate next month, and will then practice in Anoka. The Union wishes her unlimited success.
(Anoka Union, February, 1887)
Drs. Aldrich have purchased a handsome new automobile, and when Mrs. Dr. Aldrich drives the car Dr. Aldrich holds on for dear life----Anoka Union, May 28, 1913
Dr. Aldrich Passes Away----Death Came Suddenly Saturday Noon After Short Illness.....
Cause Heart Trouble----Funeral Services Will Be Held From the Residence This Afternoon.
Friends of Dr. F.L.S. Aldrich were pained and shocked to hear of her sudden death which occurred Saturday noon. Her friends had known that she had not been well for a long time and that she was contemplating a trip away for rest and quiet but they did not deem her condition quite so serious. A few weeks ago, she had taken two weeks rest in bed but had again resumed seeing some of her patients. She had not been sleeping well nights and had told her maid who slept near that if she was sleeping in the morning, not to disturb her as she needed the rest. When the maid, fearful lest she was ill, tried to arouse without any results, she became alarmed and summoned friends nearby. Physicians were difficult to locate but Dr. Crowley and Dr. Wheat reached her bedside as she was breathing her last.
Her brother, in the east, notified Anoka friends that he would arrive here probably Tuesday and funeral services will be held from the home at two o'clock today. Rev. A.D. Stowe will officiate .........
(Anoka Union, March 21, 1921)