History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 187

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992

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Dr. MeClellan's ideas had expanded with his suc- cess, and he determined to use his best endeavors toward the establishment of a new medical college. The project was bitterly opposed by numbers of members of the medical fraternity, who thought that a new college might work great injury to the medical department of the University of Pennsylva- nia. Nevertheless, on the 7th of April, 1826, the aet for its incorporation was passed by the Legislature.

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It received its corporate privileges under the charter of the Jefferson College, a literary institution located at Cannonsburg, in the western portion of the State, and was operated as a branch of that institution. In- struction, however, was begun on the first Monday of November, 1825, the faculty being constituted as follows : Dr. John Eberle, professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine; Dr. George Mcclellan, profes- sor of Surgery ; Dr. Jacob Green, professor of Chem- istry ; Dr. Benjamin Rush Rhees, professor of Materia Medica; Dr. Francis S. Beattie, professor of the In- stitutes of Medicine and Midwifery ; and Dr. Nathan Reyno Smith, professor of Anatomy and Physiology. Dr. Smith was dean of the faculty. The opposition to the college was very fierce for a while, and amounted almost to a social ban upon the faculty and students, but as the. healthful effects of the rivalry thius estab- lished became apparent it gradually died away.

The college continued to be operated as the branch of the Jefferson College at Cannonsburg until April 12, 1838, when the connection was severed by a special act of the Legislature, and the medical college received a separate charter, granting it the same rights and priv- ileges as other medical schools in the United States. The government of the institution was at first intrusted to a board of ten trustees, located in Philadelphia, of whom the Rev. Ashbel Green, D.D., LL.D., formerly president of Princeton College, was the first president. The number of trustees was increased to fifteen upon the separation, but is at present only fourteen.

The faculty were not harmonious among them- selves, and during the early history of the college resignations were annoyingly frequent, and sometimes one professor presided over two chairs. Until 1841, the time from which the reorganization of the college is usually dated, the succession in the different chairs, as nearly as can be ascertained, was as follows :

Chair of Surgery : 1825-39, George Mcclellan; 1839-41, Joseph Pan- coast.

Chair of Anatomy : 1825-27, Nathan Reyno Smith; 1827-30, George McClellan ; 1830-32, Samnel Mcclellan ; 1832-41, Granville Sharp Pat- tison.

Chair of the Theory and Practice of Medicine: 1825-30, John Eberle; 1830-31, Daniel Drake ; 1831-41, John Revere.

Chair of Materia Medica: 1825-26, Benjamin Rusb Rhees; 1826-29, William P. C. Barton; 1830-31, John Eberle; 1831-39, Samuel Colhoon ; 1839-41, Robley Dunglison.

Chair of the Institutes of Medicine: 1825-26, Francis S. Beattie; 1826 -31, Benjamin Ruab Rhees; 1831-36, appears to have been vacant ; 1836 -68, Rohley Dunglison,

Chair of Chemistry : 1825-41, Jacob Green.

Chair of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children: 1825-26, Francie Smith Beattie; 1826-27, John Barnes; 1827-29, John Eberle; 1829-3I, Benjamin Rush Rhees; 1831-32, Usher l'arsons, of Providence, R. I .; 1832-39, Samuel Mcclellan; 1838-41, Robert M. Huston.

Dr. George MeClellan occupied the chair of Surgery until 1839, when, owing to the internal dissensions, his resignation was given to the board of trustees. From 1827 to 1830 he was also professor of Anatomy, on account of the resignation of the first incumbent in that position. Immediately after the severance of his connection with the Jefferson Medical College

he obtained charter privileges for another college, under the title of the Medical Department of the Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg. This new en- terprise started in Philadelphia, with about one hun- dred students, in November, 1839, but financial diffi- culties terminated its career in the spring of 1843, much to MeClellan's disappointment. Afterward he devoted himself to the cares of his large private prac- tice, and died, suddenly, early on the morning of the 9th of May, 1847, after a few hours' illness only, of perforation of the bowel. He was at the time about fifty-one years of age.

Dr. McClellan was one of the most eminent sur- geons of his day, and even before he had been en- gaged in practice ten years he had placed himself in the front rank in his profession. He performed a number of original and daring feats of surgery, hav- ing repeatedly exsected the upper and lower jaws, several times extirpated the parotid gland, a feat long regarded as impracticable, ligated most of the great arteries, and performed numerous amputations. He was of a very energetic and enthusiastic disposition. As a lecturer, he did not possess much oratorical power, and lacked in system, but he attracted the at- tention of his hearers by his earnestness, his force of language, and his knowledge of his subject. He was constantly in motion. He thought rapidly, talked rapidly, worked rapidly, and, in fact, did everything in a high-pressure manner. This restlessness and dash incapacitated him, however, for being a first- class student or a thorough worker. His impulsive- ness was in a considerable degree instrumental in producing the troubles that marked the early career of the college. Nevertheless, when the vastness and beneficence of the work performed by him is consid- ered, his faults sink into insignificance, and he must be accorded the credit of having lived a highly hon- orable, useful, and successful life. He left behind him a son, whose name will live long in history as the distinguished leader of the Army of the Potomac during the Rebellion, Gen. George B. McClellan.

Nathan Reyno Smith, the original professor of An- atomy, was born in New Hampshire in 1797. He was a man of pleasant manners and thorough cultiva- tion, and was clear and accurate in his teaching and demonstrations. He held his chair until 1827, when he resigned to accept the same professorship in the University of Maryland, at Baltimore. He remained in this position until his voluntary resignation, in 1870. He died July 3, 1877.

Dr. John Eberle was descended from an obscure family in Pennsylvania. He was instructor in the Practice of Medicine in the college until 1830, after which he lectured for one year on Materia Medica. In 1831 he removed to Cincinnati, and became a pro- fessor in the Ohio Medical College. He died in the fiftieth year of his age, at Lexington, Ky., whither he had gone as professor of medicine shortly before. He was a very studious man, but did not have a large

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practice. His works on " Materia Medica" and " The this country in 1820 to take a chair in the University l'ractice of Medicine" were standard in their day.

Dr. Jacob Green, son of the Rev. Ashbel Green, D.D., and the first professor of Chemistry, was born in Philadelphia in 1790, and was professor of Experi- mental Philosophy, Natural History, and Chemistry in Prineeton College previous to coming to Jefferson College. He retained his professorship in Jefferson College until his death, in 1841. He was not a great man nor a profound chemist, but he was a capable teacher, a good lecturer, and a most estimable Chris- tian gentleman.

Dr. William P. C. Barton, the instructor in Materia Medica from 1826 to 1829, was a nephew of Dr. Ben- jamin Smith Barton, formerly a professor in the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania. He was a very learned man, and one of the best botanists in the country. His lectures were plain, conversational, didaetie, and often witty, and his success as a teacher was all that could be desired. He was very fastidious in the matter of dress, and rarely wore the same coat, vest, or eravat on two successive days. He excelled as a musician. lle remained with the college for three years, when, as he had joined the navy at an early age, he was ordered by the government to New York, and afterward to sea. Subsequently, for a short time, he was chief of the Medical Bureau in Washington. lle died at an advanced age, in the service of his country.

Dr. Benjamin Rush Rhees was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. He was the first profes- sor of Materia Medica in Jefferson Medical College, but in the second year became instructor in the Insti- tutes of Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence. Hle was of feeble appearance physically, but possessed qualities of mind and heart that endeared him to the students. He died of phthisis, to which he had an hereditary disposition, in October, 1831, in the thirty- fourth year of his age.

Dr. Samuel MeClellan was less noted than his brother tieorge, but was nevertheless one of Phila- delphia's eminent physicians in his time. At the instance of his brother he was made adjunct professor of Anatomy in 1829, and in 1830 became professor in full in this branch. In this position he lectured with faithfulness and success until the elose of the session of 1831-32, when he was succeeded by Dr. Granville Sharp Pattison, and was himself elected to the chair of Obstetrics, He became disconnected with the col- lege in 1-39, and devoted himself to the cares of his large private practice thereafter until his death, which occurred in 1854, from heart-disease. Ile was almost the opposite in disposition of his brother, George Met lellan, being diffident, quiet, and unpretending. He was particularly celebrated as a practitioner of midwifery.

Dr. Granville Sharp Pattison, successor to Dr. Samuel Mcclellan in the chair of Anatomy in 1832, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1792, and came to

of Baltimore. This position he held until his election as a teacher in Jefferson Medical College. He resigned from the college in 1841, and took the chair of Anat- omy in the University of New York, which he filled until his death, in 1851. Dr. Pattison occupies a high position among medical celebrities.

The first graduating class, in 1826, numbered 20 pupils. In 1827 there were 34 graduates, and in 1828, 25. In 1829 the attending class numbered 110, the graduating class, 26. In 1832 the number of students was 96; in 1834, 172; in 1×36, 364; but in 1840, owing to the intestine quarrels of the college, it had fallen off to 145. It appeared evident to the trustees that unless a radical change could be effected the college might be utterly ruined. Accordingly, at the close of the session of 1838-39 they declared all the chairs in the college vacant, and proceeded to eleet the follow- ing faculty : Dr. Jacob Green, professor of Chemistry ; Dr. Granville Sharp Pattison, professor of Anatomy; Dr. John Revere, professor of the Theory and Prac- tice of Medicine ; Dr. Robley Dunglison, professor of the Institutes of Medicine and Materia Medica; Dr. Robert M. Huston, professor of Obstetrics and Dis- eases of Women and Children ; and Dr. Joseph Pan- coast, professor of the Principles and Practice of Surgery. Dr. Revere was dean of the faculty. In 1841 the death of Professor Green and the resigna- tions of Professors Pattison and Revere necessitated another reorganization, which resulted in a faculty that will ever be famous in the annals of Jefferson College. It consisted of the following members: Dr. Robley Dunglison, professor of the Institutes of Medicine; Dr. Joseph Pancoast, professor of Anat- omy; Dr. Robert M. Huston, professor of Thera- peuties and Materia Medica; Dr. John K. Mitchell, professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine; Dr. Thomas D. Mütter, professor of Surgery; Dr. Charles D. Meigs, professor of Obstetrics and Dis- eases of Women and Children; and Dr. Franklin Bache. professor of Chemistry.

The new faculty remained unbroken until the with- drawal of Dr. Mütter, in 1856, and during that time they strove with united energy and zeal to promote the common interest and the welfare of the college. Their efforts met with gratifying success. Students began to flock to the college in annually-increasing numbers, and in 1846, when the number of the class had reached four hundred and sixty-nine, the friends of the college were enabled to point with proud satisfaction to the fact that this was the largest elass in attendance on any medical school in the United States. This superiority the college has maintained, with scarcely a break, up to the present time. During the war, the number of its students declined materially, as in every medical school in the land, falling from six hundred and thirty-one in 1859, which was as large as any class that ever attended the institution, to two hundred and thirty eight in 1861. Since the close of the war,

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the recovery in this respect has been gradual but steady, and in 1881 the number of matriculates was exactly the same as in 1859.

The members of the faculty of 1841 were all inen of eminence in their profession. Dr. Robley Dun- glison assumed, in June, 1836, the chair of the Insti- tutes of Medicine in Jefferson College, and continued to serve in that position until 1868, when he resigned and became emeritus professor of the same branch. He died in April of the following year. The experi- ments which he devised and carried out in the famous Alexis St. Martin case, reported by Dr. Beaumont, resulted in valuable discoveries.

The high standard of professional talent represented in the early professors of the college has been main- tained ever since, and they have been in almost every case men of national and in many cases of inter- national reputation. The successors of the faculty of 1841 have been as follows :

In the chair of Surgery, Dr. Mutter was succeeded in 1856 by the eminent Dr. Samuel D. Gross, who left the professorship of Surgery in the University of Louisville, Ky., to assume the same duties in Jeffer- son College. On his resignation, in 1882, the trustees constituted two chairs of Surgery, Dr. Samuel W. Gross, son of the preceding, being elected professor of the Principles of Surgery, and Dr. John H. Brinton, professor of the Practice of Surgery. The former gen- tleman was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was a grad- uate of Jefferson Medical College in 1857, since which he has been settled in Philadelphia. Previous to his election as professor he had been a lecturer in Jefferson Medical College on the Diseases of the Genito- urinary Organs, and was a surgeon in Jefferson Med- ical College Hospital. Dr. John H. Brinton is de- scended from an old Philadelphia family, was a graduate from Jefferson College in 1852, and was sur- geon in the Philadelphia Hospital in 1869.

In the chair of Anatomy, Dr. Joseph l'ancoast was succeeded in 1874 by his son, Dr. William H. Pan- coast, the present incumbent. Dr. William H. Pan- coast was the successor of Dr. Ellerslie Wallace as demonstrator of Anatomy in Jefferson College in 1863.

In the chair of Materia Medica, Dr. Robert M. Huston was succeeded in 1857 by Dr. Thomas D. Mitchell, who had been professor of the same branch of study in the Medical College of Ohio, at Cincin- nati, and at other schools. Dr. Mitchell died at the close of the session, in 1865, and was succeeded by Dr. John Barclay Biddle, who had formerly occupied the same chair in the Franklin Medical College, and later in the Pennsylvania Medical College, both of this city. Dr. Biddle died during the session of 1878-79, and was succeeded by Dr. Roberts Bartholow, the present incumbent. Dr. Bartholow was born in Howard County, Md., and was an instructor on Materia Medica in the Ohio Medical College, at Cincinnati, previous to coming to Philadelphia. IIe has a wide reputation as an author and teacher.

Dr. John K. Mitchell was followed in the chair of the Theory and Practice of Medicine, in 1858, by Dr. Samuel Henry Dickson, who had created for himself distinction as a teacher and anthority in the Medical College of the State of South Carolina. Dr. Dickson held his position until his death, on Easter Sunday, in 1872. His successor was Dr. Jacob M. Da Costa, the present incumbent. While possessing a large general practice, Dr. Da Costa's specialty has been diseases of the heart and lungs.

On the retirement of Dr. Robley Dunglison from the chair of the Institutes of Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence, Dr. James Aitken Meigs was elected to fill the vacancy. Dr. Meigs was professor of the Institutes of Medicine in the Philadelphia Medical College in 1857, and later held the same chair in the medical department of the Pennsylvania College, at Gettysburg. In 1866 he was elected as a lecturer in the spring course of lectures at Jefferson Medical College. Dr. Meigs wrote a number of important articles on craniology, and was a prolific contributor to medical magazines. He died during the session of 1879-80, and was succeeded by Dr. Henry C. Chap- man, who holds the position at present. Dr. Chap- man was born in Philadelphia, Aug. 17, 1845, and graduated from the medical department of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania in 1867. He became lecturer on the Physiology of the Nervous System in Jefferson Medical College in 1877. He is the author of " Evo- lution of Life," and numerous contributions to medi- cal journals.

Dr. Franklin Bache was followed in the chair of Chemistry by Dr. Benjamin Howard Rand, a Phila- delphian, born in 1827, and a graduate of Jefferson Medical College in 1848. He resigned the position of professor of Chemistry in the Franklin Institute to accept the chair in Jefferson College. He withdrew from this last position on account of ill health in 1877. He was the author of a book entitled "Chemistry for Students," and another called "Elements of Medical Chemistry." His successor was Dr. Robert E. Rogers, the present incumbent. Dr. Rogers was born in Baltimore, in 1814, and graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1836. He was professor of Chemistry in the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania for many years previous to his acceptance of the chair in Jefferson Medical College.

On the resignation of Dr. Charles D. Meigs from the chair of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children, in 1861, Dr. William V. Keating became his successor, but ill health compelled him to resign during the first session thereafter. Dr. Meigs again filled the chair for the remainder of the session. Dr. Ellerslie Wallace was the next incumbent, and held the place until 1883. Dr. Wallace was born in Philadelphia in 1819, and became a graduate of Jef- ferson College in 1843. He was appointed demon- strator of Anatomy in the college, and filled the posi-

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tion until his election to succeed Dr. Meigs. Dr. Wal- lace's successor is Dr. Theophilus Parvin, born at Buenos Ayres, South America, in 1829, and a teacher successively iu the Ohio Medical College in Cin- cinnati, in the medical department of the University of Louisville, and in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Indianapolis, from the last of which he was summoned to his present position.

The first president of the college was, of course, the president of Jefferson College at Cannonsburg, but his position was nominal, and the Rev. Ashbel Green, the first president of the Philadelphia board of trustees, was the actual head of the institution. On the separation of the Jefferson Medical College from the parent college, in 1838, Dr. Ashbel Green was still president of the board of trustees, and thus became the nominal executive also. Dr. Green had been president of Princeton College for a number of years subsequent to 1812, and was afterward editor of the Christian Advocate, published in Philadelphia. On his death, on May 19, 1848, he was succeeded by the Rev. C. C. Cuyler, who, in 1850, had been sue- eeeded by the Hon. Edward King. In 1873, the Hon. Jesse R. Burden was president. He was suc- ceeded, in 1875, by Dr. E. B. Gardette, the present incumbent.

In 1870 an alumni association was organized, of which Professor Samuel D. Gross was chosen the first president, and has retained the office up to the present time. The fee for membership is one dollar annually, but the payment of five dollars, or of one dollar annually for five years, secures a life member- ship, after which there are no dues. In the estab- lishment of the Jefferson Medical College Hospital, the Alumni Association played an important part, the first step in that direction being taken at an informal meeting of the association in December, 1872, when the subject was discussed, and fifteen thousand dollars were pledged for the enterprise upon the spot. The history of the hospital, which has been an important agent in securing facilities for clinical demonstrations to students, is given else- where.

The original location of Jefferson Medical College was at 518 Prune Street, now Locust Street, where the old Walnut Street prison was in full view on one side, and the paupers' burial-ground, now Washing- ton Square, on another. In 1829 the college was re- moved to its present location on Teuth Street, where a plain brick building, standing with its gable to the street, was erected. The front portion of the building contained two large lecture-rooms, each capable of seating four hundred and fifty students, with the private apartments of the professors and the janitor The rear of the building was mainly occupied by two large halls, each over fifty feet in length, the lower of which contained the museum and certain cabinets, while the upper was used for practical anatomy. On the Ist of May, 1845, the building having become too

small to accommodate the increasing number of stu- dents, alterations were commenced upon it, the plans being furnished by the architect, Le Brun. The build- ing as remodeled had a frontage on Tenth Street of fifty·nine feet. The adjoining lot on the north side, seventy by one hundred feet in area, was purchased, and students entered the building through a gate opening into the lot from Tenth Street. On the rear of the lot, sixty feet back from Tenth Street, was erected an addition, thirty-six feet deep, which con- tained spacious stairways, and afforded access to the various parts of the college. The front of the build- ing was made to represent a hexastyle, or six-columed portico, the portico being supported by a marble base- ment, seven feet high, and the whole being crowned with a handsome entablature and pediment. The exterior was theu covered with mastic, which was painted a light stone color. This building was an object that attracted the notice of passers-by for many years subsequently, and was represented in a wood-cut on the back of the pamphlets containing the annual announcements of the college. The continued growth of the institution rendered still more space necessary, and accordingly, in the summer of 1881, the main building was remodeled by an extension to the front, taking away the portico and adding a new story, and by constructing new laboratory-rooms. By this extension of the front the seating capacity of each lecture-room has been materially increased. By the addition of another story new and more commo- dious dissecting rooms, with every convenient appli- anee, have been constructed. Large and well-lighted rooms have been provided for practical obstetrics, and for the laboratory of experimental therapeutics and pharmacy, and another with special reference to microscopical work, and for a laboratory of patho- logical histology and morbid anatomy. In this building are also contained the extensive and valu- able Anatomical, Surgical, and Pathological Mu- seums, which are enriched annually by important additions.

The course of instruction extended originally from the beginning of November until the 1st of March. The trustees felt that four months' instruction in the year was not enough, and in 1832 they announced their intention to establish a spring course, to extend from April 1st to June 1st, which would be free to matriculates who should choose to remain after the winter course, but which would not be obligatory. In the establishment of this now general feature of medienl instruction Jefferson Medical College claims the precedence. In 1834 the trustees announced that a preliminary course of lectures would be given during the month of October, and that the dissecting-rooms would be kept open during October and March for the benefit of students, The winter term was grad- ually lengthened to include the month of October, the preliminary lectures being then delivered during the month of September, and in the winter of 1881-82

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the further extension of the term was made until the end of March.

It will be perceived that the course of instruction continues through nearly nine months of the year. The important part of the period of study is, of course, the winter session of six months, and this alone is obligatory. As the fees paid for the spring session are remitted to those taking the ensuing win- ter course, except the registration fee of five dollars, and as the preliminary or fall term is free, the fees paid for the regular term cover almost the whole cost of instruction for nine months.

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History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 187

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 992

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992