Martha Neil Ross pictured above in front of the original golf clubhouse flanked by her husband, golf pro Alex Ross on the left and golf course developer Charles Fish on the right.

In November 1915, the Excelsior Springs Daily Call Newspaper (one of three local newspapers published at the time) picked up a story from The Kansas City Star featuring the signature food of Martha Neil Ross, whose husband, Alex Ross was the
local golf pro here while she ran the dining room.

“Everybody,” the Star writer said, “who has eaten lunch between games on the links at Golf Hill, Excelsior Springs, must know how very good are Mrs. Ross’s Scotch scones.

And Mrs. Ross is as pretty and wholesome looking as her scones are good. She serves them with preserves of her own making and butter from a nearby farm. Oh, such scones. And, oh the heathery brogue Mrs. Ross brought with her from the Highlands. Her husband [the 1907 U.S. Open Champion] is the professional player in charge of the links. His skill with a brassy, though, is not greater than that of his wife with a bowl and a spoon. Here is the scone recipe as she told it to me:

“To a quart of flour add three teaspoons of baking powder (in Scotland we also make them with sour milk and baking soda and cream of tartar, but here everybody uses baking powder), half teaspoon of soda, one tablespoon lard, one tablespoon butter, one egg, three tablespoons syrup, two teaspoons salt and milk enough to make a soft dough.”

I was eating hot scones and quince preserve at the kitchen table while she rolled and patted her dough into shape at the other end of it.

“Handle it as little as you possibly can,” she said, and in a trice her dough was flat on the floury board and ready to cut like the pieces of a pie. Into a dripping pan went some and into the piping hot oven. Onto a griddle went some more and onto the top of the range. Griddle and oven full the rest were tossed right on the hot stove top, and turned when brown on one side, to bake on the other. In ten minutes they were ready for the hungry golfers coming in from the links.”

When Mrs. Ross died in December 1924, the obituary writer was even more effusive: “Mrs. Ross by her charm of manner and a personality best described as motherly has given the club a home atmosphere, which has endeared the club to golfers who come here from all parts of America. Her removal from life and scenes about the club will be felt as a distinct blow to the thousands of visitors who come and go in Excelsior Springs. The many friends of the family in this city join in the bereavement and loss of a good
woman.”

Even as late as 1950, her cooking was still remembered fondly. Major W.A.J. Bell, in one of his last visits here from Sussex, England, after selling his golf links and other Golf Hill properties to the city in 1949, recalled that “Mrs. Ross’s scones and orange marmalade became bywords of golfers far and wide.”

Mrs. Ross was actually born in Kent, England, but her father, Thomas Neil, was Scottish (as was her mother, who was not otherwise identified on the 1924 death certificate). Some accounts indicate she grew up in Scotland, as did her Scottish born husband, so
she may indeed have had a “heathery brogue.”

Learn more about the Rosses, Charles Fish and the developers of Golf Hill and the golf course in displays open through Nov. 30 at the Excelsior Springs Museum & Archives, 101 East Broadway in historic downtown Excelsior Springs. The Museum is open 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.

Researched and written by Kathy Duncan

In November 1915, the Excelsior Springs Daily Call Newspaper (one of three local newspapers published at the time) picked up a story from The Kansas City Star featuring the signature food of Martha Neil Ross, whose husband, Alex Ross was the
local golf pro here while she ran the dining room.

“Everybody,” the Star writer said, “who has eaten lunch between games on the links at Golf Hill, Excelsior Springs, must know how very good are Mrs. Ross’s Scotch scones.

And Mrs. Ross is as pretty and wholesome looking as her scones are good. She serves them with preserves of her own making and butter from a nearby farm. Oh, such scones. And, oh the heathery brogue Mrs. Ross brought with her from the Highlands. Her husband [the 1907 U.S. Open Champion] is the professional player in charge of the links. His skill with a brassy, though, is not greater than that of his wife with a bowl and a spoon. Here is the scone recipe as she told it to me:

“To a quart of flour add three teaspoons of baking powder (in Scotland we also make them with sour milk and baking soda and cream of tartar, but here everybody uses baking powder), half teaspoon of soda, one tablespoon lard, one tablespoon butter, one egg, three tablespoons syrup, two teaspoons salt and milk enough to make a soft dough.”

I was eating hot scones and quince preserve at the kitchen table while she rolled and patted her dough into shape at the other end of it.

“Handle it as little as you possibly can,” she said, and in a trice her dough was flat on the floury board and ready to cut like the pieces of a pie. Into a dripping pan went some and into the piping hot oven. Onto a griddle went some more and onto the top of the range. Griddle and oven full the rest were tossed right on the hot stove top, and turned when brown on one side, to bake on the other. In ten minutes they were ready for the hungry golfers coming in from the links.”

When Mrs. Ross died in December 1924, the obituary writer was even more effusive: “Mrs. Ross by her charm of manner and a personality best described as motherly has given the club a home atmosphere, which has endeared the club to golfers who come here from all parts of America. Her removal from life and scenes about the club will be felt as a distinct blow to the thousands of visitors who come and go in Excelsior Springs. The many friends of the family in this city join in the bereavement and loss of a good
woman.”

Even as late as 1950, her cooking was still remembered fondly. Major W.A.J. Bell, in one of his last visits here from Sussex, England, after selling his golf links and other Golf Hill properties to the city in 1949, recalled that “Mrs. Ross’s scones and orange marmalade became bywords of golfers far and wide.”

Mrs. Ross was actually born in Kent, England, but her father, Thomas Neil, was Scottish (as was her mother, who was not otherwise identified on the 1924 death certificate). Some accounts indicate she grew up in Scotland, as did her Scottish born husband, so
she may indeed have had a “heathery brogue.”

Learn more about the Rosses, Charles Fish and the developers of Golf Hill and the golf course in displays open through Nov. 30 at the Excelsior Springs Museum & Archives, 101 East Broadway in historic downtown Excelsior Springs. The Museum is open 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.

Researched and written by Kathy Duncan

The impressive building depicted in the background of this postcard was located at 120 Haynes Street on Water Tower Hill. It has been referred to over the years as “Hospital on the Hill”, “old Dr. Simmons place”, “Nichols Sanitarium” or “Old Sanitarium on North Haynes.” Although it was torn down in 1939, the stone walls that surrounded the property are still visible today.

In October 1904 Misses Harriet Simpson and Anna Thomas purchased two lots in Bates addition to build a much-needed sanitarium (a variant of hospital.) The cornerstone was laid Nov. 14, 1904, with 50 visitors in attendance and the two women each striking a blow to settle the cornerstone in place.

The building was erected on a 100 by 225 feet tract. It was topped by a small structure and two porches surrounded all four sides. With 17 rooms and one operating room, it was already functioning as a hospital by April 1905.

The hospital at this location was short lived, however. On Feb. 16, 1907, Dr. Charles Franklin Simmons purchased the property for a home. Simmons had been in the area for less than two years, having come from San Antonio. Being one of the wealthiest men in Texas, he gave Excelsior Springs the distinction of having two millionaires – Dr. William S. Woods being the other.

Harriet Simpson Lindsey (who had married Harry Lindsey in November 1905) and Anna Thomas moved their hospital to 214 E. Excelsior Street and received their first patient at that location on March 1, 1907. Their hospital was moved to other locations around the town, including Spring Street (now site of the Springdale Apartments), and Mrs. Lindsey remained affiliated with the old Excelsior Springs Hospital located on Superior Street until her death in 1937.

Dr. Simmons died Nov. 4, 1910, but the property remained a part of his estate. Nichols Sanitarium Co. leased the Simmons building in June 1911 and opened a branch hospital for the care of patients with cancer. Dr. Perry Nichols was head of a large cancer sanitarium at Hot Springs, S.D.

Needing more space, in December 1911 Nichols struck a deal to purchase the Plaza Hotel, on the northwest corner of St. Louis and Kansas City Avenue. Local citizens were outraged as to the effect this hospital “at the gate of the city” would have on the visiting public. After many public meetings and heated discussions with the Commercial Club, the city council passed an anti-cancer ordinance on Dec. 28, 1911, “forbidding the operation of a sanatorium for the cure of cancer or other contagious or infectious diseases within the city limits.” (Note this ordinance dates to a time when cancer was still believed to be a contagious disease and cancer patients were stigmatized.)

Knowing he had a long legal battle ahead to fight this ordinance, Dr. Nichols agreed to sell The Plaza Hotel back to the City or any other willing party, provided he get his money back. After obtaining an acceptable offer, Dr. Nichols gave up possession on Feb. 22, 1912, and began moving his cancer patients back to the northeast hill until permanent arrangements could be made for another and larger facility. On April 10, 1912, he and his remaining employees left for Savannah, Mo., where he would build a sanatorium.

The Hospital on the Hill was vacant until the properties in the Simmons estate were sold on the courthouse steps June 17, 1914, to J.E. Stroh of St. Louis. The building was divided into two- or three-room furnished apartments, some with kitchenettes. A two-room furnished apartment including lights, water, heat and gas rented for $3 per week in 1936. There were several owners over the years including Jesse Williams and Marion Boyer.

About October 1939, the building was torn down. Several items were found in the cornerstone including three Indian head pennies, a copy of two 1904 newspapers, a hypodermic syringe, and a professional card of Dr. O.C. O’Kell. The lumber was used in the construction of new, modern cottages on Beverly Street.

Researched and written by Jan Marasch

Side note: a news article from The Excelsior Springs Standard, dated March 1, 2005, p. 3, showed a copy of an old postcard of Dr. Nichols’ Sanatorium, verifying this is the same building that was on Haynes Street.