[3] In the early years of the 20th century, Sawyer expanded his practice with the construction of the White Oaks Sanatorium immediately south of Marion, Ohio.

Buildings ringing the outside of the cloister included a Nurses dormitory, administrative offices, dining hall for patients who were ambulatory, sterile surgery, physical rehabilitation building, facilities for dental work and doctors offices.

It was here, in Rose Cottage, that former First Lady Florence Kling Harding spent time near the end of her life.

Sawyer stepped forward to validate Phoebe Harding’s diagnosis and treatment, thus saving her career.

He never accepted payment from them for his services; in doing so he felt that he provided himself a level of protection in the event that either died while under his care.

Sawyer diagnosed and successfully treated Mrs. Harding’s "floating kidney" condition, the first doctor to do so, and thus gained her loyalty.

Joel Boone, M.D., the Vice Admiral in the United States Naval Medical Corps,[4] had diagnosed the condition while Harding was on tour in Alaska.

Sawyer died within a month of the announcement that a location had been secured, which delayed completion of the marble memorial until December 1927.