Jefferson Medical College - Clinic Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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In january, 1830, Dr. George McClellan was relieved of anatomical teaching by the appointment of his brother, Dr. Samuel McClellan, to the chair. In the hope of securing a more satisfactory assignment of labors in 1830, Dr. Barton having resigned, Dr. Eberle was transferred to the chair of ,materia medica, while undertaking to teach midwifery. and Dr. Daniel Drake, of Cincinnati, was appointed to the chair of practice of medicine. The session of 1830-31 opened with every profes- sorship occupied by a man of proved ability as a writer and teacher. At the end of the session a disaster was experienced in the resignation of two of the most eminent professors. Daniel Drake and John Eberle. This loss and other changes made in the personnel from various causes had an unfortunate influence upon the prosperity of the institution. For the session of 1831-32 Dr. Usher Parsons, of Providence, R. I., held the chair of midwifery, Dr. Granville Sharp Pattison of anatomy, vice Dr. Samuel McClellan resigned. At the end of the session Dr. Parsons resigned and Dr. Samuel McClellan was appointed professor of mid- wifery, medical jurisprudence and diseases of women and children. By 1834 Dr. John Revere had been appointed professor of medicine and a mutually acceptable organization was effected, which persisted for six prosperous years. The teaching corps was much strengthened by the election of Dr. Robley Dunglison to the chair of institutes in June, 1836. In 1838 the larger classes called for .more eommodious quarters, and it was decided that the old building must be altered and enlarged. To do this it was desirable that the title to the property, hitherto vested in Rev. E. S. lily, should be transferred to the Board of Trustees. As these Trustees in Philadelphia were subordinate to the parent Board and could hold property in their name only, a necessity arose for a distinct charter, which would enable the Philadelphia Trustees to hold and modify' the medical college property as a separate institution. At the session of the Legislature held in the spring of 1838, a charter was obtained creating The Jefferson Medical College of Phila- delphia, an independent corporation with the same powers and re- strictions as the University of Pennsylvania, and the Trustees then holding ofiicc were reappointed with power to increase their number to fifteen, and to be self-elective. At the meeting which accepted the new charter the Board of Trustees closed the old connection xcry gracefully by passing unanimously the following resolution: lfl?S0f1'f l. That the President be directed to communicate to the mother Board at Canonsburg, that in accepting the charter which separates them from the Jefferson College at Canonsburg, the additional Trustees are influenced by the conviction that such a separation is for tl1e mutual benefit and convenience of both bodies, and desired it for no other reasong and that this Board will retain a grateful sense of the 1 22

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1826 an act of the Legislature enlarged the charter, giving the right to grant the medical degree. Two years after, the Philadelphia Board was authorized to have almost entire management of the affairs of the medical college, the parent Board retaining the right to reverse the proceedings when, in their judgment, the interest of the college required this action. This relationship survived until the winter of 1837-38, when it terminated hy the medical college obtaining a separate charter. In organizing the first faculty, Dr. Joseph Klapp resigned, and in 1825 the chairs were filled as follows: John Eberle, M.D.,iTheory and Practice of Medicineg B. Rush Rhees, M.D., Materia Medica and In- stitutes, Jacob Green, Chemistry, Nathan R. Smith, M.D., Anatomyg Francis S. Beattie, M.D., Midwifery, George McClellan, M.D., Surgery. Having no endowment wherewith to build, they rented the old Tivoli Theatre, now 518 Locust street, altered its interior to suit their pur- pose, and announced a course of lectures for the winter of 1825-26. The first class numbered one hundred and seven, and the degree was con- ferred upon twenty in May by a writ of mandamus obtained from court, as the charter of the college at Canonsburg had not yet been amended so as to enable it to confer the medical degree. In the summer of 1826 Dr. NV. P. C. Barton was appointed to a new chair of materia medica. Litigation and discord between two of the professors affected unfavorably the class of 1826-27. The old theatre building proving entirely inadequate, a member of the Board of Trustees, Rev. Ezra Styles Ely, D.D.. offered to advance the money to erect a suitable building, the College to take a lease upon it for five years. This building was constructed upon a lot situated on Tenth street, between what are now called Sansom and Moravian streets. By August, 1828, it was ready for the tenant, which has been in continuous possession ever since. The chair of midwifery having been declared vacant, Dr. John Barnes was appointed lecturer IW flvlllmrc for one session, and in April, 1827, he was elected professor. At the opening of the session of 1827- 28, Dr. N. R. Smith resigned tl1e chair of anatomy. The juncture was critical, but Dr. George McClellan undertook the course on anatomy as well as his own on surgery. The Trustees being dissatisfied with the teaching in midwifery, on June 19th, 1828, all the chairs were vacated and on the 26th of the same month the faculty was reconstructed as fol- lows: Surgery, George McClellan, M.D.: Medicine, John Eberle, M.D.g Materia Medica, W. P. C. Barton, M.D., Institutes,'B. Rush Rhees, M.D.g Chemistry, Jacob Green, M.D. As the chairs of -midwifery and anatomy were vacant, Dr. Eberle took the extra work in midwifery, and anatomy was taught by Dr. George McClellan, assisted by the demonstrator, Dr. Samuel McClellan. 2I I

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kind and fostering care ever exhibited towards the-m by the parent institution, and. will in their new capacity be always ready to acknowl- edge their past obligations and to exchange, in every way in their power, kind offices with jetterson College at Canonsburgf' The Trustees executed a lease on the college premises for twenty years, which gave them the privilege of paying off the principal at any time before the lease expired. In time they came into full ownership of the property, having made from time to time the alterations called for by the growth of the school. The happy outlook was soon be- clouded by the personal difficulties of the faculty. These dissensions became so urgent that on the Ioth of June, 1839. the Trustees dissolved the faculty, and organized another out of the more congenial members of the previous body, with some new appoint- ments. The name of Dr. George McClellan does not appear in the reorganized faculty. In his place was put Dr. Joseph Pancoast, and Dr. R. M. Huston replaced Dr. Samuel McClellan. As Dr. George McClellan is conceded to have been the master spirit in founding the school, it is proper in this history to give some account of his career. He had shown a marked aptitude for surgery before he studied medicine. In ten years after beginning practice he was among the foremost surgeons of the world, showing in his opera- tions consummate skill joined to an alertness of mind which made him ready for the most trying emergency. His lectures evinced enthusiasm, clearness and thoroughness. His methods were characterized by brilliancy and dash rather than by cool calculation. It was very hard for him to snlbmit to authority or to control the impulses of his ardent te-mperanient. In 1841 new dilliculties came to a crisis, and. on the 2d of April, all the chairs were again vacated. and the faculty reconstituted as follows: Robley Dunglison, M.D., Institutesg J. K. Mitchell, M.D., Practice of Medicineg joseph Pancoast, M.D., Anatomyg R. M. Huston, M.D.. Materia Medica: T. D. Miitter. M.D.. Surgery, Charles D. Meigs, M.D.. Obstetricsg Franklin Bache, M.D., Chemistry, succeeding to the chair on the death of Dr. Jacobi Green. At last was brought together a group of teachers of approved merit who would work in harmony. Under their I'Ci!lflll0 the college throve apace. During the first seventeen years there had been many disagreements ending in withdrawals, some of them involuntary. In that time there had been eight incumbents to the chair of midwifery. At different times vacancies had been filled for short periods by men of unusual ability. Their stay was so short as to pretigure the early decline which seemed to be the 'fate of an institution whose history was marked by such extraordinary vicissitudes, due in the main to internal discords. Having lived through bitter opposition. 23