Dr. Bertha Flew with Lindbergh

by

Practicing Faith

Special to United Methodist Insight | July 22, 2025

It was after preaching at a worship service at The Little Brown Church in Bear Valley, Wisconsin. I asked some of those chatting over ice tea and cookies if anyone knew where to find the grave of Dr. Bertha Reynolds, the famous Lone Rock, Wisconsin, doctor who once hitched a ride with a young, barnstorming pilot named Charles Lindburgh.  

I had looked for her grave in the church cemetery before the service but couldn’t find it. Julie Zajicheck said, “Come with me, I will show you where it is.” She led me to a modest stone about 30 yards from the church’s front door.

Then Julie told me she had written an article about Dr. Reynolds for the church’s recent newsletter. I asked to see it and here it is, another one of those Wisconsin stories that is too good not to tell:

“In the cemetery on the east side of the Brown Church is a granite monument with the inscription, ‘Dr. Bertha E. Reynolds, 1868 – 1961, She gave a life of service to the community.’ This tribute was given to a remarkable woman whose life touched those of hundreds of people in the communities of Lone Rock, Bear Valley, Plain, Spring Green, Clyde and Arena, Wisconsin.

“Dr. Bertha E. Reynolds was one of the first licensed female physicians in the state of Wisconsin. She practiced medicine in the Lone Rock area from 1902 until 1940, when she sold her practice and drug store and attempted to retire and move to Avoca, Wisconsin. But when Dr. H. A. Settlege, the only physician in their village, was called into service in World War II, she returned to work and served the Avoca area until her second retirement in 1953.

“Bertha Elizabeth Reynolds was born in Thiensville, WI, in 1868, the daughter of John and Margaret Reynolds. Her father was a physician, and Bertha had a passion to join the profession of her nine other family members who were physicians. Her family discouraged her from entering the profession saying a medical career was too difficult and inappropriate for a woman.

“When the family moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1892, she attended Lincoln Normal School and taught for a brief time, but her desire to become a doctor led her to enroll in the medical school at the University of Nebraska. Again, because she was a woman, Bertha was discouraged from continuing classes to get a medical degree, and getting homework done meant having male classmates smuggle cadavers so she could dissect them in a nearby barn by lantern light. Women in her day were forbidden to see certain bodies, likely male ones. But undeterred, in 1898 she enrolled in the Woman’s Hospital Medical College of Chicago, where she worked nights as a nurse and attended classes during the day. She completed her MD in 1901.

“For a year Dr. Bertha was an Assistant Physician at the Remedial Institute of Prairie du Chien (a sanitarium). When her father passed away, Dr. Bertha and her mother moved to Lone Rock where her brother, Dr. Nelson Reynolds, had set up a practice. She joined his practice in 1902 where she became known as Dr. Bertha, to distinguish her from her brother. She took over his practice in 1904 when her brother left to become a surgeon at Trinity Hospital in Milwaukee.

“At first acceptance of a woman doctor was only grudgingly given. Dr. Bertha recalled how when she first arrived a local doctor had broken his leg and he refused to let her touch him saying, “Not her, get someone who knows at least as much as I do.” Undaunted by his criticism, she was devoted to the care of the people in the community.

“She kept the elderly in her home until someone could be found to take care of them, made house calls when people were too sick to come to her, treated victims of the Spanish Influenza and delivered many babies. When asked how many babies she delivered, she replied that she kept all the delivery records, but never took time to count them.

“Travel was either by riding one of her favorite horses, Mutt or Brownie, that served her faithfully for 12 years, or hitching them to a buggy. In the winter, with deep snow, or at night, she would ask one of the menfolk from Lone Rock to drive her. They had great respect for her persistence when there was a sick person to reach and one said, “For a mild-mannered woman she’s got the most stubbornness when there’s a sick person to reach.” She had a reputation for always getting through regardless of rain and swollen streams or winter blizzards.

“When called to the Bear Valley area she would often stay at the farm of her close friends Nathaniel “Nat” and Elizabeth “Libbie” Carswell, and Nat would drive her by buggy or sleigh. Eventually she purchased a Ford Model T, the first person in Lone Rock to own such a vehicle. However, with only dirt roads she found it useless in sandy soil or snow and went instead on horseback. She later purchased a 1935 Ford Coupe.

“Perhaps her most challenging day travelling was in the spring of 1923 when Dr. Bertha received two calls for sick patients, one across the Wisconsin River in Clyde and one in the Village of Plain. She would recount the tale with unassuming relish. The river was swollen with floodwater over the bridge making it foolhardy to cross by boat, but she heard about a barnstorming young pilot that had landed his plane near Lone Rock.

“She sent someone ahead to make arrangements with the pilot so when she arrived, he helped her into the plane, and she asked: ‘What’s your name young man?’ ‘Charles Lindberg,’ the pilot replied. ‘Well, Charles, I’m in a hurry. Let’s be off.’ And off they went.

“They landed in a farm field near Clyde and while Dr. Bertha treated her patient, Mrs. Gilbertson, Lindbergh kept the plane engine revved up ready to take off. When finished there they flew across the river to Plain and, while attempting to land, the priest at St. Luke’s School detected that the plane wanted to land and directed Lindbergh where to land. It was 4 years later, in 1927, that Charles Lindbergh made his famous flight across the Atlantic in his plane The Spirit of St. Louis.

“Throughout the years there were many challenges for Dr. Bertha, but probably none more so than the tragic events that happened the evening of May 21, 1918. Around 5 p.m. she was called to go see Mr. Kraemer who was ill at his daughter’s house in West Spring Green. Fortunately, that took her just far enough to be out of the path of what became known as the 1918 Cyclone.

“Dr. Bertha saw that it was stormy when she left Lone Rock and had not been at their home long before the men ran in from the barn. The cyclone veered off and missed the Cass house and the neighboring place, however it took other buildings to the east, including the Price and Peck homes, then headed for Plain where it destroyed the Catholic Church.

“Dr. Bertha jumped into her car and started out for Lone Rock. Going past the Dyke farm she saw that their barn was gone, but the cows were standing chewing their cuds seeming not to notice. But when she got back to Lone Rock nearly half the village had been destroyed and nine freight cars were blown off the tracks. People worked throughout the night digging victims out of the wreckage and taking them to Dr. Bertha for treatment.

“Four people had died, and many more had injuries. A doctor from Richland Center came to help and they worked through the night and all of the next day taking care of the injured.

“The cyclone had touched down near Denison, Iowa, crossed the Wisconsin River going through the communities of Lone Rock, Plain, Leland, Denzer, and passed by Baraboo in the Leach Lake area. It had stayed on the ground for 80 miles.

“In 1932, when the government offered trees to farmers for windbreaks, Dr. Bertha asked them to send some trees to Lone Rock before it blew away. The trees were planted and in 1952 the Sauk County Board took action to name the 20 acres of trees at the edge of Lone Rock, The Dr. Bertha Reynolds Memorial Forest.

“Dr. Bertha was the Health Officer for the Town of Buena Vista for ten years and for the Village of Spring Green for two. In 1931 she was president of the Richland County Medical Society. She received many honors from medical societies, the State Historical Society, and a Distinguished Service Award from the U.W. Madison.

“Being busy, Dr. Bertha did not take the time to keep good records of what people owed her, and it did not seem to bother her that they did not pay. Many times, especially during the Great Depression, she was paid with farm produce. Unfortunately, this left her impoverished at the end of her life.

“Dr. Bertha died at the age of 85 on October 31, 1961. She is buried in the Bear Valley Cemetery on the family lot of her close and dear friends Nathaniel “Nat” and Elizabeth “Libbie” Carswell. Her medicine bag, some of

her instruments and her saddle were sent to the Museum of Medical Progress in Prairie du Chien.”

Julie Carswell Zajicek lives in Baraboo, Wisconsin.  Zajicek worked for 22 years at the International Crane Foundation where she was the personal assistant to the co-founder, George Archibald. She currently is an officer on the board of the Friends of The Little Brown Church, a non-profit organization that was founded in 1999 to restore and maintain the Brown Church in Bear Valley, Wisconsin, and promote local history. The restoration of the building was completed in 2006 with the help of a matching grant from the Jeffris Family Foundation of Janesville, Wisconsin. Zajicek is the author of articles in the newsletter for the Friends of the Little Brown Church, which is sent to around 400 families throughout the United States who are either descedents or relatives of the founding families of the church.

The Rev. John Sumwalt is a retired United Methodist pastor and the author of “Shining Moments: Visions of the Holy in Ordinary Lives.” He preached at the annual Spring Service of The Little Brown Church in Bear Valley, Wisconsin on May 18, 2025.