University of Maryland School of Medicine - Terrae Mariae Medicus (Baltimore, MD)

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Doctors Create a University . . . John Beale Davidge, the true founder of the University of Maryland, came to Baltimore in 1797. Born in Annapolis, the son of a British naval officer, Davidge received his A.B. from St. John ' s College. Making his way to Europe, he attended lectures at renowned Edinburgh University but received his M.D. and M.A. degrees from Glas- gow. After arriving in Baltimore, Davidge began offering classes in midwifery and by 1807 added lectures in surgery and anatomy. Two young doctors were to join Davidge in Baltimore in 1807, namely James Cocke of Vir- ginia who lectured in physiology and anatomy and James Shaw, also a graduate of St. John ' s and a former naval surgeon, who taught chemistry. The three doctors at their own expense, built a building at the rear of Dr. Davidge ' s house on Saratoga Street to serve as a medical laboratory. In October of 1807 modest announcements appeared in Baltimore papers stating that classes in anat- omy would commence when the building was completed. In the awkward language of the announce- ment, students caught the implication that instruction would include more than lectures. Gossip had it that anyone could collect up to $20 by robbing a fresh grave, and that even murderers ' victims were unrecognizable after the students had finished with them. Unfortunately other people saw the announcements. Classes began on schedule and one late night while Cocke was alone in his laboratory, he was approached by a man with a corpse. The price demanded was paid, Dr. Cocke was quoted later as saying. The incident occurred on a Tuesday in November and the classes were plagued by boys clim- bing on the roof and by impertinent men asking questions. On Saturday, November 21, 1807 Cocke was again alone in his lab when he was startled by a woman peering in the skylight. When confronted, she demanded to see the corpse of her dead husband. Cocke described the darkness of the room and denied that the body was that of her late husband. The women declined (to enter the lab) and left. Soon a small crowd gathered, jeering and throwing stones. Cocke decided to leave in search of the police. The mob grew and the arrival of the police seemed to excite the ruffians. Suddenly the crowd stormed the building and demolished the interior, ripping the frames from the windows. Shouting, cursing, they bore the corpse through the streets and deposited it on the steps of Davidge ' s house. Certainly they had not treated it reverently. Shortly thereafter the medical society con- vened to offer its unanimous support for an act of incorporation which would provide legal rec- ognition and official approval of the school. Colonel John Eager Howard, Revolutionary hero and former governor of the state, offered a plot Dr. John Davidge