Local Founders Profile and Photo Essay: Dr. and Mrs. Dwight S. Spellman

Today we present you with a photo essay and comment on Dr. Dwight S. Spellman and his wife, Mrs. Mary E. McGlone Spellman, original founders and residents to Beachwood, courtesy of their grandson, Mr. Dwight Boud of Barnegat.

Following this will be the 1924 Who’s Who entry on Mrs. Spellman (as you’ll find, her husband died before the book was published) and a short account on the events surrounding Dr. Spellman’s untimely death. Afterward is a biography of Dr. Spellman’s life and further details surrounding his accident as recorded by the American Medico-Psychological Association for their 76th annual meeting held in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 1-4, 1920.

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“[This] is a photo of my maternal grandparents, Dr. D. S. Spellman and his wife Mary, outside their new bungalow on Forepeak Avenue in Beachwood. The only date I can provide is that it was taken before Dec. 18, 1919 [the date of Dr. Spellman's unfortunate death].”

“[This] photo shows Dr. Spellman and his wife, Mary E. McGlone Spellman from Sligo Ireland, standing beside their new Beachwood bungalow.”

“[This] one shows Dr. Spellman alone in the same spot.”

“[Here is] the front of the bungalow in the snow. The person is not clearly identified, but I believe it’s my grandmother.”

“[This] is the bungalow from across the street. Note that it appears to stand on cement blocks. When I lived in the house during WWII, it had a cellar, so it seems a cellar (and foundation) had been built under the house.”

“[This one] shows Dr. Spellman on the ice with his dog (name unknown). Ironically, my grandfather died from a skating accident. He was skating on the river when a neighborhood youngster fell through the ice. When he went to help, he, too, fell through the ice. He was hot from skating and the sudden plunge into the cold water caused a heart attack from which he died.”

“Dr. Spellman was on staff at the New York Hospital for the Insane on Ward’s Island in the East River, NYC. His wife had been a nurse (presumably at the same institution). They had built their bungalow as a vacation home, but after he died, my grandmother decided to live there full time.”

- Dwight Boud

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Beachwood Directory and Who’s Who 1924 -

1919

“The second drowning accident in Beachwood took place on December 18th, when Dr. D.S. Spellman, a prominent New York physician and summer resident, broke through the ice while skating off Buhler’s Point. Arthur Hoffman, son of Jacob J. Hoffman, also broke through the ice with Dr. Spellman, but managed to clamber out and was saved.”

From the Resident Directory

Spellman, Mary E., north side Forepeak Ave., near Beachwood Boulevard, Block D-40. Other address, 2508 Seventh Ave., New York City, N.Y. Widow of Dr. D.S. Spellman, a lover of Beachwood, whose untimely death, by breaking through the ice on the bay, took place on December 18th, 1919.

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American Medico-Psychological Association Biography:

DWIGHT S. SPELLMAN, M. D.

Dr. Dwight S. Spellman, senior assistant physician, Manhattan State Hospital, was accidentally drowned in the Tom’s River, New Jersey, December 18, 1919. He was spending the day at his bungalow on the Jersey coast, and while walking across the frozen river to procure a Christmas tree for his family, broke through the ice and was submerged in the freezing water. A boy of thirteen who accompanied the doctor also broke through, but fortunately was able to reach solid ice and extricate himself. His cries brought help, but it came too late to rescue Dr. Spellman. Dr. Spellman was born at Rootstown, Ohio, in 1867. He attended the public school of his native village and the high school at Minerva. His medical education was obtained in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, Md., from which he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1889. He accepted a position as assistant physician in the New York City Asylum in’ 1890, and the remainder of his life was devoted to the care of the insane in the same institution, which in 1896 became the Manhattan State Hospital. His work for years was among the more acute forms of psychoses, and he was considered a pyschia- trist of sound judgment and keen acumen. He kept in close touch with the latest developments in pyschiatric science and although he published but few of his observations, and consequently was not widely known, his ability was recognized by his colleagues and his service in the Manhattan State Hospital was greatly appreciated.

He was a member of the American Legion of Military Surgeons, the American Medico-Pyschological Association, the Masonic Order and several local medical societies. He was commissioned as captain during the war and was stationed for several months at Plattsburg, N. Y.

Dr. Spellman’s sudden death came as a shock to his many friends in the state hospitals, as well as to his wide circle of acquaintances in other walks of life.

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The B.H.A. thanks Mr. Boud for sharing his family’s Beachwood history with us and looks forward to more past or present residents that would like to share their stories, photographs and artifacts for presentation here on our website.