Ci n ,
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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. , HISTORICAL CLUB PUBLICATIONS. 2.

Rutgers. (Queen's) College

Iedical Degrees

pape;'!^ read • be:fore the ;>jew -rrunswick
historical club

DAVID D. DEMAREST, D.D.- LL.D.

FINE ARTS BUILDING
RUTGERS COLLEGE

H^ffitfRSDAY EVp^iMa;2i December 1893 and 18 January 1894

JlttB J. -I,, M0BPSY PUB. CQ.-*BnsrJ', fBENTON.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N. J., HISTORICAL CLUB PUBLICATIONS. 2.

Rutgers (Queen's) College

Medical Degrees

A PAPER READ BEFORE THE NEW BRUNSWICK
HISTORICAL CLUB

DAVID D. DEMAREST, D.D., LL.D.

FINE ARTS BUILDING
RUTGERS COLLEGE

Thursday Evenings 21 December 1893 and 18 January 1894

In looking over' the General Catalogue of Rutgers College
that was prepared by Prof Lewis C. Beck, M.D., in the year
1835, one will find, perhaps to his surprise, that degrees in
medicine were conferred by the Trustees of the College very
.early in its history, when it was known as Queen's College ;
that in 1812 a medical department was created and medical
professors were appointed ; and that similar things were done
in 1826, after the name of the College had been changed to
Rutgers. Noticing these facts, he will be curious to learn
their origin and history, especially if he knows that profes-
;Sors of medical science have never taught in New Bruns
wick in connection with the College, either in the time when
it was known as Queen's or as Rutgers.
It is my aim in this paper to endeavor to throw some
light on this history, obtained from the records of the Trus
tees, from documents in their Archives, from Dr. David
Hosack's inaugural discourse, delivered at the opening of
Rutgers Medical College in New York City, November 6th,
1826, and from valuable papers printed in the appendix to
the inaugural referred to.
I. The Arrangement with Dr. Romaynb* and his
Associates.
On the 10th day of April, 1792, the Trustees of Queen's
-College received the following memorial from Nicholas
Jlomayne, M.D., of the city of New York :
* Dr. E. spelled his name differently from others of the family.

"To the Trustees of Queen's Collcrjc in the State of New Jersey,.
"The ^[emorial of Nicholas Romayne, Doctor of Physic.-:
Respectfully represent.s,
" That your memorialist having for several years past-
been engaged in teaching in the city of New York the^
various branches of the medical science, has by his labours-
brought together a considerable number of gentlemen en
gaged in these studies, insomuch that during the year 1791
they amounted to fifty-six.
" Your memorialist conceives that it will add much to the
respectability of the gentlemen engaged so in the study of
medicine to be connected and under the patronage of some
seminary of education, where they may give proofs of the-
proficiency they make in their several studies, and obtairL
the customary testimonials ; and for this purpose your
memorialist solicits the attention of the Trustees of Queen's-
College. " Your memorialist is fully persuaded -that some advan
tages may arise to Queen's College by the Trustees patron
izing medical education, as it may extend the influence of
the College and also add to its revenues ; he therefore begs-
leave to submit the same to their serious consideration.
" Nic' Romayne:
"April 10th, 1792."
Dr. Romayne must have come personally to New Bruns
wick with his memorial, for a committee consisting of CoL
Frederick Frelinghuysen, Rev. Peter Studdiford and Dr.
Lewis Dunham having been appointed to confer with him,
they retired for this purpose and made their report to the^
Trustees at the same session as follows :
" The committee who were appointed to confer with Dr..
Nicholas Romeyn,
" Beg leave to report,
" That they have agreeably to order conversed with Dr,
Romeyn on the subject of his memorial.

"That the objects of Dr. Romeyn's proposals appear to
to your committee to be :
"1. That a temporary Professor of Physic be appointed
•to this institution until circumstances will admit of the
establishment of a regular professorship in that science, the
¦said temporary professor not to be confined as to his resi-
¦dence to tbe city of New Brunswick.
" 2. That two or more physicians be joined with such
professor by the Board of Trustees to form a faculty for the
examination of all applicants for degrees in physic.
" 3. That upon a certificate from the said faculty, signed
by the said professor of the qualification and good character
¦of any candidate, this College will confer on such candidate
either the degree of Batchelor or Doctor of Physic, accord
ing to the terms of recommendation contained in said cer
tificate. " 4. That the institution shall receive from the persons
graduated a stipulated price, to wit, the sum of five pounds
from a person receiving the degree of Batchelor of Physic,
and the sum of ten pounds from a person receiving the
degree of Doctor of Physic.
" Your committee beg leave farther to report that by the
laws of New Jersey a degree from any college will not
¦admit a person to the practice of physic, but from the
information of Dr. Romeyn they believe such degree will
operate as a service in the State of New York and other
¦States of the Union. " By order of the committee,
" Fred. Frelinghuysen."
The following action was taken on this report :
" The first paragraph, viz., that a temporary Professor in
Medicine be now appointed, was negatived."
¦ On the remainder of the report it was

" Resolved, That the board will at their next meeting take
into consideration the propriety of appointing a medical
faculty for the purpose of examining applicants to this-
institution for degrees in physic."
It does not appear from the minutes of the Trustees sub
sequently convened that they ever acted on the remainder
of the report. It is very certain that they did not appoint-
a temporary professor or examining faculty, or a medical
faculty at all until the year 1812. Nevertheless, the Trus
tees did confer the degrees of M.B. and M.D. the same year
chiefly on the recommendation of Dr. Romayne.
Before we trace this history further it may be well to stop
and inquire who was this Dr. Nicholas Romayne, and how
did it happen that he came to New Brunswick to ask the
Trustees of Queen's College to confer medical degrees on his-
students who had studied in New York City. We therefore-
go back, for a little, to colonial times.
It is said that the first attempt in this country to impart
instruction in medical science by dissection was made by
Drs. Bard and Middleton in New York in 1750, and that
the first course of lectures on medical subjects was delivered
by Dr. Hunter, a Scotch physician, at, Newport, R. I., 1754-6.
The first medical school was established in Philadelphia in
connection with the University of Pennsylvania in the year
1765. In 1767 a completely organized medical school was^
founded by the Governors of King's College, New York.
They appointed Professors of Anatomy, Pathology and
Physiology, Surgery, Chemistry and Materia Medica, Theory
and Practice, and Midwifery. Eleven degrees were con
ferred before the year 1777. The occupation of New York
by the British virtually broke up the school.
This was the state of things when Dr. Nicholas Romayne
appeared upon the scene. He belonged to the Romeyn
family of Hackensack, N. J., and was a nephew of Rev. Dr,

Theodoric Romeyn, who was Professor of Theology in con
nection with Dr. Livingston ; was invited to the presidency
of Queen's College, after the death of President Harden-
bergh, which he declined, and who is known as the founder
of Union College. Dr. Nicholas Romayne received his
classical training at the famous academy of Dr. Peter Wil
son, at Hackensack, and completed his medical education
in Europe, at Edinburgh, Paris and Leyden. Dr. Alex.
McLeod says that he was " a man of strong mind, well cul
tivated and much improved by reading, by the society of
learned men and by traveling." While he was engaged in
practice in New York he also devoted himself to teaching,
for which he had great aptitude and fondness. He gave
private lectures in anatomy, which were highly appreciated.
After the close of the Revolutionary war, a new Board of
Trustees was appointed for King's, now named Columbia,
College, . and Dr. Romayne was one of the number. A
Faculty of Physic was constituted by them in 1784. Dr.
Romayne was not given a place in it because his position as
Trustee was deemed to be incompatible with that of pro
fessor. His trusteeship soon became irksome to him. He
had views and plans which he was unable to carry into
effect. It is intimated that he showed contempt for doctors
who had not enjoyed his advantages, and of course he lost
their good will. He was probably ahead of the times in
New York on the subject of medical education. This
attempt of Columbia College in 1784 to revive its medical
department was a complete failure.
Dr. Romayne resigned his trusteeship and gave himself
to lecturing on Anatomy, the Practice of Physic, Chemistry
and Botany. Students from all quarters attended his lec
tures, some coming from Canada. Encouraged by his great
success, and desirous of securing every advantage for his
school and students, as well as elevating medical science in
general, he addressed a memorial to the "Regents of the
University of the State of New York," dated January 11th,

1791, a year and three months before he appeared before
the Trustees of Queen's College.
In this memorial he set forth that he had instituted a
Medical College in New York City in 1787 ; that it was now
in full and successful operation ; that to promote the insti
tution the city authorities had committed to his charge the
sick in the almshouse and Bridewell ; that the cases were
reported and clinical lectures delivered for the benefit of the
students. He concluded his memorial by "praying that
the Regents of the University will be pleased to take the
said College under their protection, and direct such meas
ures with respect to it as in their wisdom may tend to the
important end of its institution."
This memorial was favorably received by the Regents,
who declared that " this institution merits the protection of
the University, and that it is well calculated to promote the
general good so far as it depends on this important branch
of science." A committee of six was appointed to visit the
school. About a fortnight later, February 13th, 1791, another
memorial was addressed to the Chancellor, Vice Chancellor
and Regents of the University of the State of New York,
signed by Sir James Jay Knight, Samuel Nicoll, William
Moore, Nicholas Romayne, Benjamin Kissam, Samuel L.
Mitchell and Richard S. Kissam, doctors of physic.
In this memorial the signers stated that they had "agreed
among themselves that a certain number of their members
shall severally give a regular course of lectures on the re
spective branches of the science allotted to them, so that
every branch of the science which the circumstances of
things will admit of teaching shall be regularly taught."
They declared that they asked for no salaries or emolu
ments, nor for an exclusive right to teach, but for such
countenance and favor as might inspire confidence and so
help toward obtaining a library, laboratory, botanic garden
and collections in anatomy.

They concluded with the "request that they together
with Samuel Bard, John R. B. Rodgers and William Ham-
mersley, doctors of physic, may be incorporated agreeably
to the seventh section of the act of the Legislature entitled,
¦'An act to institute an university in this State, and for other
purposes therein mentioned,' passed the 13th day of April,
1787, 'with the powers in respect to government and prop-
-erty, usually granted to any collegiate society ; and with the
privilege of recommending to the University for medical
¦degrees', such of their students as, in the presence of the
Regents, shall pass with credit the several examinations
¦which are appointed in the most celebrated universities in
Europe to ascertain the proficiency and merit of the can
didates.' "
The memorialists were chiefly young physicians who had
•studied at Edinburgh and who wished to establish in New
York a college like the one whose privileges they had en
joyed on the other side of the water. This awakened the
jealousy of the older physicians, who very promptly, on the
15th of Febiiiary, sent a counter-memorial to the Regents.
They said, " that as yet we are unable to conceive of any
¦solid basis upon which these gentlemen applicants could
found an elevating distinction in their own favor, which
may perhaps prove invidious — a preference which operates
to the exclusion of other medical characters who might rest
their claims either upon seniority, or upon an extensive and
established reputation. " They, at the same time, disclaimed
¦all intention of discountenancing a medical school, but
clearly intimated that Columbia College should supply the
-want rather than an institution specially organized for the
purpose. The Regents at their meeting March 3d, 1791, re-affirmed
their belief that the establishment of a College of Physicians
¦was desirable, but holding that they were not authorized to
incorporate colleges or academies " for the teaching exclu-

10
sively of any particular branches of science," tlicy resolved
to submit the matter to the Legislature.
The Legislature, March 24th, 1791, passed an act empower
ing the Regents to establish a College of Physicians and
Surgeons, and accordingly they resolved to do so, and they
directed a charter to be drawn.
By this time the Trustees of Columbia College were
awakened to a sense of the situation, and were considerably
stirred up. They sent a committee to confer with a com
mittee of the Regents, whom they informed "that the
Trustees of said College not only had it in contemplation to
institute a medical school, agreeably to their charter, as
appears by the official papers on the subject, delivered into
your board at their last meeting, but that they had the
business much at heart, and were actually proceeding in it
as fast as possible, and that they did not doubt but that they
would be able, very shortly, to effect it in such a manner as ¦
fully to answer all the important ends designed by the Legis
lature in the law passed at their last session empowering
the Regents to erect such an institution. They, therefore,.
request the Regents would suspend for the present any
farther operation on the subject until they shall see the-
effect of the measures Columbia College are taking on it,,
which they hoped would be to their entire satisfaction."
The Regents adopted the following resolution :
"Resolved, That this board, agreeably to the request of
the Trustees of Columbia College by their committee, sus
pend for the present any farther operations respecting a
medical institution till they shall see the issue of that insti
tuted by said College; and that the committee appointed
last spring for preparing a charter for a medical school,
under the law passed at the last session of the Legislature
for this purpose, be dismissed."
So the ambitions of the young Edinburgh doctors were
disappointed. This final action was taken by the Regents February

11
15th, 1792, and on the 10th of April following Dr. Romayne-
appeared at New Brunswick with his memorial to the Trus
tees of Queen's College.
I have given the report of the committee to whom this
memorial was referred, and the disposition that was made
of it by the Trustees by negativing the first part, which
recommended the appointment of a Professor of Medicine,
and postponing action on the remainder, which recommended
the appointment of an examining corps of professors and the
conferring of degrees on their recommendation. The board
did not convene until the 12th of September of the same
year. But from letters found in the Archives of the Trus
tees of the date of May 7th, it appears that several persons
were recommended to the Trustees for medical degrees by
Dr. Romayne, who wrote in their behalf He had unques
tionably, been encouraged at the meeting of the board in
April to expect a favorable action on his application, and
also by expressions of opinion on the part of individual
members afterward. That he was fully justified in this
expectation is evident from the facts that at the meeting in
September they did actually confer the degrees sought, and
also conferred medical degrees at subsequent meetings.
He wrote to Col. Schuurman as follows :
" New York, May 7th, 1792.
" Deak Sir,
" Dr. Beach has informed, me that the Trustees of Queen's-
College have forwarded to him and Dr. Linn some of the
papers respecting the candidates recommended to the Trus
tees of Queen's College for degrees. I have requested Mr.
Addoms, an ingenious physician who is one of the candi
dates, to attend you in person to clear up any difficulties
which may occur. Allow me to recommend him to your
attention and civilities. I am informed by Dr. Van Bun-
schooten of the friendly attention of the Trustees, and I beg^
leave to assure them that the interest which they take in.

12
patronizing merit will be attended with very happy effects,
in my opinion, to the institution under their charge.
"When I am somewhat more at leisure, I will commu
nicate some sentiments to you, which I presume will have
a tendency to promote the College. In the meantime let
me assure you of the respect with which I am,
" Your very obliged servt.,
" Nic° Romayne.
"Col. Schuurman."
The allusion in this letter to the clearing up of difficulties
by Mr. Addoms is explained by Dr. Beach in a letter
.addressed to Frederick Frelinghuysen, Esq., of the same
date :
" New York, 7th May, 1792.
" Dear Sir,
" I have just been favored with your letter addressed to
Dr. Linn and myself on the subject of Dr. Romaine's appU-
- cation to Queen's College in favour of his pupils :
" In answer to which I beg leave to observe that the
Board of Trustees are fully adequate to determine whether
it will be for the interest of the College to grant his request
or not ; but as it is necessary they should be acquainted
with every circumstance relating to the subject, I think it
my dut}^ to inform them that several of the young gentle
men Dr. Romaine proposes to bring forward for degrees,
were regularly admitted students in physic in Columbia
College in this city, and after continuing as such for some
considerable time wrote a letter to the President which gave
great disgust to the Trustees, and their names were erased
from the College books. They then, through Dr. Romaine,
applied to the Regents of the University for a separate insti
tution and were rejected. "With respect to their present
application to Queen's College, it is my opinion it is en
tirely inadmissible on any other terms than their giving

t>

13
full satisfaction to the Trustees of Columbia College for their -
unbecoming behavior to them. After that, I shall not, for
my part, object to gratify Dr. Romaine in any reasonable-
request, having a very high opinion of him as a man of '
science ; I have the same opinion of the other two gentle
men who joined in the recommendation of the candidates,
viz.. Dr. William Moore and Dr. Mitchell.
" I am sorry my business will not permit me to attend
the next meeting of the Trustees of Queen's College ; you
will please, however, to make my best respects to them, .
assuring them of my good wishes for the honor and pros
perity of the institution over which they preside.
" I am, dear sir, your affectionate
" friend and very humble servant,
"Abrm. Beach.
" P. S. — I have just now seen Dr. Romaine, who assures-
me the young gentlemen will comply with the terms men
tioned above, and that he is only solicitous that two of them,
at present, should be admitted to degrees, who live in
Canada and wish to return to their friends.
" He suggested that it might be proper if the Trustees
should grant any degrees to lodge the diplomas in the
hands of some person in this city till they shall have given
the satisfaction required."
The Rev. Elias Van Bunschooten, himself a Trustee,.
wrote a note of the same date to the Trustees, which is as
follows :
" Gentlemen,
" I agree with Dr. Beach's opinion, and that the degrees-.
of the two gentlemen who are going to Canada to be
granted and sent to Mr. Beach aforesaid, who will not de
liver them till proper satisfaction is made. Moreover,..

14
that three proper physicians be appointed to examine the
candidates which Mr. Romeyn may offer for the future;
respecting said examinations some farther regulations to be
made ; done in great haste by your most obedient
" Elias V. Bunschooten."
It will be noted here that Rev. Drs. Beach and Linn were
Trustees of both Colleges. Dr. Beach had removed from
New Brunswick in 1784, where he had been a missionary,
sent by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in
Foreign Parts, in 1767, to New York to be an assistant
minister of Trinity Church. Dr. Linn was one of the
ministers of the Collegiate Reformed Dutch Church of New
York, which church is, by the charter of Columbia College,
entitled always to have one of its pastors a Trustee of that
institution. Dr. Chambers, at the present time, occupies
that place. The papers in the cases of these applicants for
medical degrees were therefore very properly sent to Drs.
Beach and Linn before they were acted on by the Trustees.
It was thus shown that Queen's intended to act honorably
to-w^rd Columbia, and to do nothing to weaken its dis
cipline. This was the position of affairs in May, 1792, and it so
remained until the next meeting of the Trustees of Queen's,
which was held September 12th of the same year. It
seems that by that time all difficulties had been removed,
and that the Trustees of Columbia had been satisfied. Yet
medical degrees were conferred on only a few of the appli
cants. Why more were not conferred is explained by a
letter of Dr. Romayne, dated September 7th, in which letter
he also claims that the men with whom the Trustees of
Columbia were disgusted had after all not acted badly, nor
done anything deserving severe censure.
He wrote as follows to Col. Schuurman :

15
" New York, September 7th, 1792.
'"Dear Sir,
"As the Trustees of Queen's College will meet soon, I
must again take the liberty to address you in behalf of
.some of the gentlemen who were recommended to the notice
of the Trustees at their meeting last spring.
" Mr. Van Solingen, who has practiced physic in this city
with much success and respect, will make a personal appli
cation to the Trustees, and I trust that as he has obtained
some degree of eminence in his profession he will produce
such other satisfaptory proofs of his merit as to entitle him
to the notice of the Trustees.
" Mr. Addoms will also make a personal application to
the Trustees ; he is now in considerable practice here, and
has every prospect of being eminent in his profession ; he
likewise, I am persuaded, will give other proofs of his merit
to the Trustees.
" Mr. Carrol has removed to the Island of Jamaica and
established himself there. No person is here responsible
to the Trustees of Queen's College for the fees of graduation ;
and hence, I presume any proceedings on his certificate will
be suspended.
"Mr. Vandervoort, whose certificates are also before the
board, is establishing himself in the northern part of the
State, and has left no money nor directions with me.
"Mr. Hicks has requested that his certificates may be
withdrawn from the board.
" The two Rientords are in Canada ; they have left in my
hands ten pounds, to be paid to the order of the Trustees of
Queen's College. Before they left this, they had assurances
.from some of the Trustees that their requests would be
granted. I feel myself highly interested that these two
strangers may be gratified. The degrees they are recom
mended for give them by our laws no permission to practice
and are only complimentary, yet would be highly gratifying
to their friends. And I will consider myself under the

16
greatest obligations if you can obtain a vote from the Trus
tees for their degrees of Bachelor in INIcdicine.
" There are twelve other gentlemen who have made appli
cations to me, but I have requested them to wait to know
what order the Trustees of Queen's College may take in this
business. " I am told that some insinuations have been made to the
Trustees respecting an improper behavior of some of the
candidates at Columbia College. Dr. Moore and I are
Trustees of Columbia College, and Dr. Mitchell is a public
professor there. We know of no claim the Trustees have
on the medical students. The students requested their
names to be taken from the College Register, and the request
was, in my opinion, respectfully made. The Trustees by a.
vote accorded the request, which could not be dispensed
with. It was at my instance that several- gentlemen placed
their names on the College books as students, who were.
practitioners of physic at the time, that an appearance might
be made in numbers to obtain monej's from the Legislature-
of the State to promote the institution of which I was a.
Trustee, but these gentlemen did not conceive they were to
remain as students on the books when eight medical pro
fessors were appointed who, from the well-known cordiality
which prevails in the Faculty of Physic, would make use
of such a circumstance to injure them in their business.
"With respect to the diplomas, you will please to send
them as may be most agreeable to the Trustees ; the form.
which I send, I presumed would be the least exceptionable.
" I beg leave to be respectfully presented to Mr. Schuur
man, Mr. and Mrs. Van Deursen and family, having the
honor to be with the most perfect consideration,
" Your ob' sev',
" Nic' Romayne.
"Col. Schuurman, New Brunswick."

17
Among the papers in the Archives of the Trustees is the
form of a diploma for M.D., to which the names of Nic'
Romayne and Jabez Canfield are attached, and also a cer
tificate beautifully engrossed on parchment and addressed
to the President and Trustees of Queen's, commending James
Livingston Van Kleeck for the degree of Doctor in Medi
cine, dated June 23d, 1793. These documents are, of course,
in Latin. The certificate is signed by Richard S. Kissam,
M.D., Nic= Romayne, M.D., Gul: Moore, M.D.
Dr. Addoms wrote in his own behalf to James Schuur
man as follows :
" Sir, " Being informed that the Trustees of Queen's College
have not come to any resolution relative to the certificate
in favor of myself, laid before them last spring by Doctor
Romayne, since I had the pleasure of waiting on you at
Brunswick, " I shall now take the liberty of troubling you with a few
lines requesting your further assistance, and to inform the
Trustees that the fee for graduation will be paid at sight on
an order from their Treasurer drawn on me.
" I am very anxious to have them come to a determina
tion at this meeting, as I expect in a short time to leave the
city for the West Indies, where it will be entirely out of my
power to attend to such business, and have placed my de
pendence so much on Queen's College conferring the accus-
tomary medical honors that should I b^ disappointed at this-
time probably should be obliged to be without them during
my life. " I am, sir, your most obed' serv',
"Jonas S. Addoms.
" New York, Sept. 10th, 1792."

18
Dr. Linn wrote in behalf of Dr. ^^an Solingen :
" New York, Sept. 6th, 1792.
"Dear Sir,
" I am informed that application will be made to the
Trustees of Queen's College to confer the degree of Doctor
of Physic on Dr. Henry Y'dn Solingen, of this city, and that
the proper documents will be laid before them for that pur
pose. He being a member in full communion in the Dutch
•Church, it is with pleasure that I can certify that he main
tains an unblamable moral character, and if his documents
be sufficient, as I presume they are, the degree may be well
and safely conferred.
"As I cannot attend the first meeting of the board, I
have taken the liberty to write you this much in favor of
the Doctor's moral and religious character, and am with
great respect and affection,
" Your sincere friend and humble servant,
"Wm. Linn."
The Trustees accordingly on the 12th of September, 1793,
conferred the degree of M.D. od Drs. Henry Van Solingen
and Jonas Smith Addoms ; and that of M.B. on John Bap
tist Rientord and Francis Rientord. Consideration of the
applications of Messrs. Carrol and Vandervoort was post
poned, and Mr. Hicks, at his own request, was granted leave
to withdraw his application.
On the 25th of September following the honorary degree
of M.D. was conferred on Dr. Nicholas Romayne, who had
before received it at Edinburgh, and on Dr. Jabez Canfield.
The degree of M.B. was at the same time conferred on
Charles Smith, who became a leading practitioner in New
Brunswick, where he died in 1848.
On the 24th of September, 1793, in accordance with the
recommendation of Dr. Romayne, and on the production
of certificates of their examinations and qualifications, the

19
.degree of M.D. was conferred on Charles Buxton, Abraham
Brower, Abraham Cornelison, John Clark, Samuel Watkins
and Gardner Jones.
Drs. William Moore and Richard S. Kissam, who had
received the degree of M.D. from the University of Edin
burgh, were admitted ad eundem in this College.
Here ends the first chapter of the history of the conferring
.of medical degrees by Queen's College. Fifteen of these
degrees had been conferred, some of which were honorary.
No more were conferred by the College from this time until
the year 1812, a period of nineteen years. There were two
reasons for this cessation. First, the exercises of the College
were entirely suspended during fourteen or more years of
this period; and secondly. Dr. Romayne soon after 1793
ceased to lecture on medical subjects. He was for some
reason under the ban of the profession. He visited Europe ;
he became involved in the William Blount scheme for
inciting the Creeks and Choctaws to aid the British in an
attempt to wrest Louisiana from the Spaniards, and he was
for a time imprisoned. But the tide of his fortunes turned.
In 1806 an act was passed by the Legislature of New York
for the incorporation of State and county medical societies,
and Dr. Romayne was called from his retirement to the
Presidency of the Medical Society of the City and County
of New York. He was also made President of the State
.Society. He now saw and improved his opportunity for obtaining
that which he had so narrowly missed in 1792. You will
recall to mind that the Regents had favored the establish
ment of a College of Physicians and Surgeons, had procured
an act of the Legislature for the incorporation of such col
lege and were actually engaged in framing a charter for
-one, when influenced by a remonstrance and appeal from
the Trustees of Columbia College, they had suspended all
proceedings in that direction. Now, through the efforts of
Dr. Romayne and his numerous and powerful supporters.

20
the Regents were induced to carry their action of 1791 intc
effect, and in 1807 they chartered the College of Physicians
and Surgeons, of which Dr. Romayne was made the first
President and also a professor.
This movement was no doubt greatly aided by the fact
that the medical department of Columbia College was far
from a success. The number of students was small com
pared with the number of those who attended the Medical
College in Philadelphia. Usually only two or three in a
class remained to the end of the course to obtain a degree ;,
in some years none remained.
The history of medical instruction in New York City
from that time on for some years, is a history of wars and
rumors of wars among the knights of the scalpel. The new
institution had for a Board of Trustees one hundred and
one physicians, comprising all who were in regular practice
in the city. ¦ " The fact of one hundred and one practi
tioners of medicine being constituted a Board of Trustees-
is," said Dr. Hosack, " one of those adventurous experi
ments that are sometimes made for the purpose of accom
plishing ends seemingly not attainable by sound and whole
some means. A more pernicious measure could not have
been devised, and the occurrences marking the history of
the College fully prove it such." A hundred and one
doctors would no more agree on plans and policies in gov
erning an institution than they would on the diagnosis and-
treatment of any particular case of disease. So we must
not be surprised to find that they were not satisfied with-
dissecting the cadavers that were brought to them, but that-
they practiced vivisection of one another. Dr. Romayne-
soon disappeared from the presidency and from the Faculty,.
for he disagreed with some of the professors. The issue,
finally, was a secession, the forming of a new medical insti
tution and a second resort to the Trustees of Queen's-
College.

21

II. The Medical Institution op the State op
New York.
As before, so now. Dr. Romayne comes to the front as a
leader of the movement. The purpose and plans of Dr.
Romayne will be learned from a letter addressed by him,
October 8th, 1811, to the Rev. Dr. Livingston, President of
the College : " New York, Oct. 8th, 1811.
¦" Dear and Rev* Sir,
"I regret that my engagements in town have been so
pressing for some time past as to have placed it entirely out
of my power to pay my respects to you as I had intended.
Dr. Van Solingen encouraged me to hope that I might ex
pect the pleasure of seeing you in New York.
"After reflecting, as well as we have been able, on the
nature of the medical establishment contemplated to be
founded in this city, as well as from the favorable senti
ments with which we have been honored by you, it has
been considered most prudent, and at the same time most
respectful to you, to organize provisionally the institution
and to engage in our professional labours as soon as the
season would permit. It was presumed it would only be
determined by experience what would be the probable suc
cess of the institution, and how far it would be entitled to
your consideration and patronage.
"The provisional organization of the institution has been
arranged, but no appointments are intended to be made
except that of a Recorder until the end of the ensuing ses
sions and when we hope we shall be indulged with your
advice on that subject.
" I have now the honor to transmit you copies of our
circular communications, to be disposed of as you may
deem proper. Our prospects are flattering, and before the

22
end of November next, I shall hope to be able to present.
you with an account of our success.
" I beg you, dear and Rev'' sir, to receive from me the most-
perfect assurances of consideration and respect.
" NicH' Romayne.
"The Rev'' Dr. Livingston,
" President of Queen's College, New Jersey."
In the circular it was announced that the " Medical Insti
tution of the State of New York " would commence its first
session "at the apartments No. 204 Duane St., near the
Hospital," on the 4th of November, at ten o'clock a. m., and
that introductory discourses would he given on successive-
days by Drs. Romayne, Bruce, Cock, Watts and Bayard ;.
also that Mr. Griscom would lecture on Chemistry and
Natural Philosophy, and that clinical lectures on medical
and surgical cases would be delivered in the New York
Hospital by Drs. Seaman, Hamersley and Miller.
The circular was dated October 4th, 1811, and signed by
Archibald Bruce, Recorder.
On the 28th of November Dr. Romayne wrote again te
Dr. Livingston, reporting the success of their endeavor thus-
far. He informed Dr. L. that they had procured a three-
story brick house near the hospital ; that the introductory
discourses of the medical lectures had been attended by
many physicians and medical students, and he sums up by
saying, " I may confidently state the number of students-
attending the institution to be near 100, which is more
than has ever been known to attend a place of medical in
struction in this State or in any part of the United States-
excepting Philadelphia. The success of the institution has-
thus exceeded our sanguine expectations, the students are
satisfied and the lecturers are animated in affording in
struction. "A committee has been appointed to draft a constitution

23
for the institution, to be submitted to you and the respective
medical societies of the State. It will be highly gratifying
to the members of the institution that the arrangements be
such as may render it agreeable to you to accept the chan
cellorship of the establishment, to insure farther success in
favoring the progress of medical science in this and the
neighboring States.
"The privileges extended to the medical societies of this
State of designating students to attend the institution free
of expense will also be vested in the Chancellor as far as
relates to students of divinity, who may incline to attend
chemistry, anatomy, or any other branch of medical
science." The time had now come for these medical gentlemen to
take the step they had contemplated from the beginning,
and before they had opened their institution. They pre
pared the following memorial, dated December 14th, 1811 :
"To the Rev. John H. Livingston, D.D., President, and
the Trustees of Queen's College,
"The memorial of the underwritten members of the
medical institution of the State of New York,
" Respectfully showeth,
" That your memorialists, animated with an ardent desire
to favour the progress of medical knowledge, and to employ
their talents and exertions to promote education in the arts
and sciences connected therewith, have associated themselves
in an institution for such purposes, as may be seen by the
document A hereunto annexed.
" Your memorialists, to further the objects contemplated
by their association, did commence their courses of instruc
tion on the 4th day of November last, pursuant to pubhc
notice as stated in the document B hereunto also annexed.
" That the students now attending the professional instruc
tion of the institution are more numerous than have been

24
known at any time to attend any medical school in the
United States, excepting that established in Philadelphia.
" Your memorialists have also formed a connection, which
will be supported, between them and the New York Hospital
and the incorporated medical societies of the State, which
societies now amount to about forty. Your memorialists
transmit to the Trustees a copj^ of the law for incorporating
those medical societies, and some of the proceedings of the
Central Medical Society of the State.
" Your memorialists thus encouraged in their exertions,
not only by the attendance of students at the opening of
the institution, but also by the connections above stated,
feel confident under the smiles of Divine Providence of the
success and increasing usefulness of their establishment.
Influenced by these considerations, they approach the Presi
dent and Trustees of Queen's College respectfully, soliciting
such an academic connection as may best tend to encourage
the interests of science and favor the diffusion of knowledge.
" New York, December 14th, 1811.
"Archibald Bruce,
" NicH' Romayne,
"John Watts, Jr.,
"Robert Bayard,
"Jno. Griscom,
"Thomas Cock,
"Valentine Seaman."
Nearly six weeks after the date of this memorial, viz., on
the 21st of January, 1812, the Trustees convened. The
memorial -ivas laid before them, and at the same meeting a
full and elaborate plan for co-operation with the medical
institution was presented and adopted. This plan had evi
dently been carefully prepared beforehand. Dr. Romayne'
had, on the 2d of December, sent Dr. Watts to President
Livingston, with a letter of introduction, as a deputy from
the medical professors, to make such explanations of their

25
views and plans as might be necessary or desirable. The
professors also wrote a letter of the same date as their memo
rial, and they furthermore signed a bond, drawn up in legal
form, in which they engaged to agree to whatever Dr.
Watts might assent to in conference with the President and
Trustees. On the 30th of December, Dr. Watts reported to President
Livingston that the professors were satisfied with the reso
lutions which they two had agreed upon. It is clear from
these circumstances that the plan had been completed in
all its particulars by Drs. Livingston and Watts before the
memorial was presented to the Trustees. Doubtless consul
tation was had -with such of the Trustees as were at hand as
well as with the medical professors.
The letter of the medical professors that accompanied
their memorial is of great interest, and is as follows :
" New York, Dec. 14th, 1811.
"Reverend Sir,
" We have presumed to address you and the Trustees of
Queen's College by a memorial which we transmit to be
laid before them in such manner as you may deem ex
pedient and proper.
" The object of the memorial is to state to the Trustees
that an institution for the purposes of favoring the progress
of medical instruction and investigation has been estab
lished in this city, and that an earnest desire is entertained
by us to support an academic connection with the seminary
under their care and direction.
"The motives which influence us to those expressions of
-our wishes arise from a conviction that the objects we have
in view in promoting education can only be effectual and
successful when shaded by peace and tranquillity, uncon
nected with political men or their views and intentions. In
Europe men of science and letters have long formed a dis
tinct corps or independent body of men, and as such have

26
been respected and valued by its sovereigns and people ;
directed by these existing examples, the members of the
medical institution of the State of New York assume to-
themselves an independent existence, as men who are lovers
of learning and possess zeal for the promotion and diffusion
of knowledge.
" The model of the medical institution is that which is
most simple, in imitation of the modern institutions of
Paris and London, neither of which have any academic
powers or privileges. But the custom of our European
ancestors has been to allow each of the learned professions
to ascertain the proficiency of those who have devoted their
time and studies to acquire knowledge in any such profes
sion and to confer on them literary distinctions connected
with academic testimonials.
" That academic honors have contributed to encourage
young men to studious exertions has been generally admit
ted, and the members of the medical institution think it a
duty they owe to their establishment not to dispense with
precedents which established custom has sanctioned, but
which, from their views, can at no time form advantageously
any part of the character of their seminary.
" The choice of situation for medical schools is unavoid
ably confined to populous cities, as in them alone can be
found facilities for pursuing anatomical and chemical
inquiries, and opportunities of attending the public practice
of hospitals, advantages which are essential to a course of
medical education, so much so that the medical school of
Leyden has long supported a connection with the lecturers
in the London hospitals ; and of late the students of Oxford
and C^ambridge, in England, receive their education in
medicine altogether in the London hospitals, while they
obtain their academic credentials from the Dutch and Eng
lish universities. The medical school at Boston is also
connected with the University of Cambridge, which is some

27
miles distant, for the attempts which have been made to
establish a medical school at Cambridge have failed of
success. " Under these views and impressions it is the desire of
the members of the medical institution to have a perma
nent connection with the Trustees of Queen's College, so
that medical degrees may be granted to students when
sanctioned by them in such manner as may be prescribed
and agreed on with the Trustees.
" The basis of the proposed connection may be founded
on the principles and understanding which existed some
years ago between the Trustees and Drs. Romayne, Moore
and Kissam, particularly as professional men view the
Trustees with consideration on account of some valualDle
dissertations published under their authority, as that of Dr.
Addoms on Fever, it being the first publication respecting
those fevers which have been of late years so fatal to many
of the inhabitants of the United States, and also that of
Dr. Van Solingen on Worms, which is one of the best works
extant on that subject.
" We are, reverend sir,
" with perfect consideration and respect,
" your obedient servants,
" Archibald Bruce,
" NicH° Romayne,
"John Watts, Jr.,
"Robert Bayard,
"John Griscom, i "as membprs of the
I Society of Friends, we
"ValexNtine Seaman, >l^^\rZA^,Zr
"Thomas Cock. J agreemsubsmnce.

a

To the Rev'* John H. Livingston, D.D.,
" President of Queen's College, &c., &c., Brunswick."

28
The following is the bond to which reference has been
made :
"Be it knoivn by these presents. That we, the undersigned
professors of the several branches of medical science in the
medical institution of the State of New York, have by our
memorial to the President and Trustees of Queen's College,
dated the 14th day of December, 1811, and signed by us
severally, respectfully solicited an academic connection with
the said President and Trustees ; and whereas, we, the under
signed, deem it expedient to appoint a commissioner with
full powers on our part to treat and adjust with the said
President and Trustees respecting all matters relative to the
said academic union or connection so solicited and requested
by us.
" We, the undersigned, reposing full faith and confidence
in our friend and colleague. Doctor John Watts, Professor
of the Practice of Physic in said institution, have appointed
and do by these presents appoint him commissioner on our
part to arrange all matters relative to the said connection
with the President and Trustees of Queen's College as may
be deemed proper between them and him, hereby promising
to ratify and confirm all matters and acts which he may
agree to on our part and behalf
" In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and
seals this twenty-seventh day of December, in the year of
our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eleven.
"Archibald Bruce, M.D., Recorder,
" Valentine Seaman, M.D.,
"Thomas Cock, M.D.,
"Jno. Griscom,
"Nicholas Romayne, M.D.,
"Robert Bayard, M.D."
Three days after this bond had been signed the commis
sioner had successfully completed his work, as appears from
the following letter addressed to Dr. Livingston :

29
" Brunswick, Dec. 30th, 1811.
" Rev. Sir,
" I am happy to inform you that on showing the resolu
tions, which I had the pleasure of handing to you this
evening, to the several gentlemen composing the medical
institution of the State of New York, they were satisfactorily
Teceiyed and highly approved of
"At a meeting of these gentlemen afterwards, specially
convened for the purpose, they were unanimously acceded
to and adopted. The alterations which I took the liberty
of suggesting to you relate rather to the form than to the
substance of these resolutions. They are in themselves so •
small that no difficulty will attend the introduction of them
into the original resolutions, and it is with satisfaction to
myself that you have given your assent to them.
" I shall be extremely happy to hear that they have met
with the approbation also of the Trustees of Queen's Col
lege, and that the academic connection solicited on the
part of the institution for which I have the honor to act has
been granted and confirmed for the interests of a branch of
learning rapidly increasing in respectability and importance
throughout the United States of America. I have the honor
to be with consideration and respect,
" Your obed' and humble servant,
"John Watts, Jr.
"The Rev" Doc*' Livingston."
So the way was prepared for the Trustees of Queen's
College to adopt a plan of union with the medical institu
tion of New York on the same day that the memorial
praying for such union was presented.
What were the provisions of this plan of union and
co-operation ?
In the minutes of the Trustees of January 21st, 1812, we
find the following :

30
"The Board of Trustees taking the memorial and appli
cation into deliberate consideration, have unanimousl)^ re
solved, " 1. That as it is the express object of all literary insti
tutions to aid the progress of science, this board is willing
to accede to the proposals suggested in the memorial, and
deem it honorable and expedient to meet with approbation
the request and solicitation of so many learned gentlemen
who are eminent in their respective professions and appear
zealous and indefatigable in promoting medical science.
"2. That the connection, heretofore formed in the year
1792, between this board and Dr. Kissam, Dr. Mitchell,
Dr. Romayne and Dr. Moore having bj' a train of un
avoidable events been long interrupted is now, and shall be
considered to be terminated. But that a similar connection
better explained and more fully confirmed between this
board and the applicants in the present memorial, shall be
established instead of the former.
" 3. That in order to render this connection well under
stood, to fix it upon a dignified and permanent basis, and
prevent all objections of irregular or unprecedented alliance,
it is judged necessary that a relation or union should sub
sist between this College and the medical institution ; and
that the best and only advisable expedient which the board
can devise for forming and constituting such relation or
union, is for the professors in the institution to accept of an
appointment from this board also, and be created professors
in their respective branches by the Trustees of Queen's
College. " 4. That the professors thus created and constituted by
this board shall be considered as appertaining to this Col
lege, and shall form and be of right and in fact the Medical
Faculty of Queen's College.
" 5. That it shall be the duty of the professors, as the
Medical Faculty of Queen's College, well and faithfully to
teach the students in medicine ; and it is declared hereby

31
to be mutually and unanimously agreed that every person
who shall be recommended for a degree shall have pre
viously studied in medicine for the space of three years,
and that five of the professors at least shall certify this fact
under their respective signatures, as well as their opinion
respecting the competency of the candidate. And it is
hereby resolved that whenever any five of the said pro
fessors shall give such a certificate and recommend as com
petent and worthy a degree in medicine, and also that he is
¦of good moral conduct, that then the Trustees of Queen's
¦College will upon application, at either of their semi-annual
meetings, confer the degree requested and furnish him with
a diploma accordingly ; but it is expressly understood and
resolved that every diploma granted to a medical student
shall be signed not only by the President of the College and
a competent number of the Trustees, but also by at least
five of the professors in medicine, as an evidence that in
every medical degree the Faculty are expressly recognized
as parties. It will also be expected by the Trustees that
the candidate for a degree in medicine shall publish or
produce in manuscript a dissertation or a number of theses
written by himself upon some medical subject previous to
his obtaining a degree.
" 6. That the Board of Trustees do not by these resolutions,
nor by the appointment of a Medical Faculty, subject them
selves to any expense or charges which may accrue, or be
annexed to the teaching of medicine ; nor are the respective
professors authorized hereby to expect or demand any salary
-or remuneration whatever for their instruction or lectures,
from the Board of Trustees.
" 7. That upon their part the Board of Trustees renounce
all emoluments from the Medical Faculty, excepting only
that the board agreeably to a request suggested by the
medical institution will permit the students, upon receiving
their degrees to make to the President of the College such
honorary acknowledgments as the Medical Faculty may

signify to the President to be consonant to their wishes,
and desire him to receive as his own individual fee for a
diploma. " 8. That to carry these resolutions into effect and organize
without delay the Medical Faculty now created and estab
lished, the nomination and appointment of the respective
professors shall be immediately made, and the Board of
Trustees have accordingly nominated and appointed, and
they do unanimously now nominate and appoint,
" Archibald Bruce, M.D., Professor of Materia Medica and
Mineralogy, " Nicholas Romayne, M.D., Professor of the Institutes of
Medicine and Forensic Medicine,
"Valentine Seaman, M.D., Professor of Anatomy, Physi
ology and Surgery, and
" Thomas Cock, M.D., also Professor of Anatomy, Physi
ology and Surgery,
" Mr. John Griscom, Professor of Chemistry and Natural
Philosophy, "Robert Bayard, M.D., Professor of Midwifery and the
Diseases of Women and Children,
"John Watts, Jr., M.D., Professor of the Practice of
Physic." " 9. That Doctors Archibald Bruce, Nicholas Romayne,
Valentine Seaman, Thomas Cock, John Griscom, Robert
Bayard and John Watts, Jr., and their successors in office
shall be constituted and they are hereby constituted and
declared to be the Faculty of Medicine of Queen's College
in New Jersey, and are now, and shall continue to be recog
nized to be such by the Board of Trustees ; upon the express
condition, however, that the Board of Trustees will never
interfere, superintend, or in any measure control, or do any
thing that can be considered as an attempt to control the
proceedings of the Medical Faculty, but will leave the whole
department of governing, teaching, directing and proceed
ing without any responsibility, exclusively to the said

38
medical institution, as fully and completely as if they had
no relation or union with Queen's College.
" 10. That an official certificate of these appointments,
under the seal of the corporation of the College, and signed
by the President, shall be executed and sent to each of the
professors before mentioned, requesting an answer from
them, announcing respectively their acceptance, agreeably
to the terms specified in these resolutions.
" 11. That in any event which, from any cause whatever,
may hereafter happen, whereby the place and office of any
of the said professors may become vacant, the same shall
always be filled by such person as the said medical institu
tion, agreeably to the constitution by which they are formed
and governed, may elect ; and upon certifying to the Board
of Trustees such election, the Trustees will always appoint
him so elected and recognize him as their professorj and
will constitute him a member of the Medical Faculty.
" 12. That the Board of Trustees, reposing the highest
confidence in the abilities, integrity and honor of the gen
tlemen composing the medical institution, and leaving un
reservedly, as before expressed, the entire management of
the same to them, will request and enjoin nothing from the
Medical Faculty excepting only an annual report of their
proceedings, which, when received, shall be recorded in the
minutes of the board.
" 13. That the Board of Trustees, in constituting and
forming this relation with the medical institution, have
solely in view the promotion of medical science. That,
therefore, the connection now formed must be considered to
be merely of a literary nature, without implicating any in
terest, infiuence or concern in the smallest degree on the
part of the Trustees, with any questions relative to the
medical institution. The gentlemen concerned must sup
port and vindicate their own establishment; while the
Board of Trustees will persevere in wishing prosperity and

peace to all the schools of science, and be happy especially
to witness the progress and usefulness of the institution now
adopted and made the Medical Faculty of Queen's College
" 14. Finally, that an attested copy of these resolutions
shall be transmitted to Doctor John A^^atts, to be by him
communicated to the gentlemen composing the medical
institution of the State of New York."
It will be noticed here that a connection similar to that
of 1792 was to be formed, but "better explained and more
fully confirmed," and that in order to that " and to fix it
upon a dignified and permanent basis, and prevent all
objections of irregular or unprecedented alliance, the pro
fessors in the medical institution should accept of an ap
pointment from this board also and be created professors in
their respective branches by the Trustees of Queen's Col
lege ; and that the professors thus created and constituted
by this board shall be considered as appertaining, to this
College and shall form and be of right and in fact the
Medical Faculty of Queen's College."
So particular were they to have it understood that under
the previous arrangement, the physicians giving certificates
on which the Trustees granted medical degrees were a
voluntary corps of self-constituted lecturers on medical
science, and not a duly-appointed Faculty of Medicine.
Believing that to have been a disadvantage, they desired
this new feature in the proposed arrangement.
The physicians appointed as professors under this arrange
ment, seven in number, promptly signified their acceptance,
declaring that they "do hereby respectfully and unani
mously express their collective and individual acceptance
of the appointments as received from the President and
Trustees of Queen's College, agreeably to the terms specified
in the resolutions accompanying the same."
Together with this acceptance, dated April 14th, 1812,
they sent a report setting forth the favorable auspices under

35
Tvhich their work had been begun, and expressing their
hopes for the future.
They said in this report, " That pursuant to public notice
the professors forming the Faculty of Physic of Queen's
College commenced their respective courses of lectures on
the 4th day of November last, in the building of the medi
cal institution in the city of New York, to a respectable
number of students who sought the instruction which was
afforded. " Fifty-one students attended the lectures of the Professors
-of Anatomy, Surgery and Physiology. One hundred at
tended the Professor of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy.
" Thirty-seven students attended the lectures on the Insti
tutes of Medicine, Forensic Medicine, Materia Medica, Min
eralogy, Obstetrics and the Diseases of Women and Children
and the Practice of Physic.
" The Faculty of Physic beg leave to represent in a special
manner to the Rev'' the President and the Trustees of
Queen's College the important advantages which they have
been able to afford the medical students in pursuing their
studies in the different branches of medicine, and especially
in furtherance of their anatomical investigations.
" The recently-imported and extensive apparatus of the
Professor of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy has enabled
him to exhibit a complete course of experiments in his
-department of science.
"The valuable cabinet of minerals and objects of the
materia medica belonging to the professor of these branches
-of science have been devoted to the use of the students, who
have thereby had ample opportunities of instruction.
" The Professor of Obstetrics has given to the students an
.extensive and illustrative course of lectures on that branch
-of medicine.
"The extensive hospital in the city of New York has
.afforded the students opportunities of attending a greater
number of patients than any similar establishment in the

36
United States, where they have not only had the privilege
of visiting the sick, but also the advantage of receiving of
practical information at the bedside from the clinical lec
tures of Professor Seaman.
" To diffuse the advantages of instruction, the Faculty of
Medicine have admitted a student from each incorporated
medical society in the State to attend the lectures free of
expense, providing they were designated as possessing good.
moral characters, promising talents and diligent habits.
" The Faculty of Physic appertaining to Queen '^s College
confidently hope that the advantages of their scientific-
establishment will contribute to favor the progress of medi
cal literature, and under the smiles of Divine Providence
in conjunction with the Rev'' President and the Trustees of
Queen's College become the humble instruments of awaken
ing sentiments favorable to the progress of knowledge and
the interests of humanity. "Archibald Bruce, M.D., Recorder.
"New York, 9th March, 1812."
The Faculty of Physic at the same time recommended
that the degree of M.D. be conferred on James Livingston.
A^an Kleeck, which was accordingly done.
Among the documents in the Archives of the Trustees is-
a certificate in the Latin language, beautifully engrossed on
parchment, signed by Drs. Kissam, Romayne and Moore,
dated -June 23d, 1793, commending Mr. Van Kleeck as
most worthy of this degree. Why this certificate was not
presented and acted upon at the time does not appear.
Nineteen years had now elapsed, during which time Dr.
Van Kleeck had been practicing medicine in Poughkeepsie.
Dr. Romayne, his old instructor, now took interest in the
revival of this application. He induced the Faculty of
Physic to recommend that the degree be conferred as under
the old arrangement of 1792. He wrote to Dr. Livingston
urging this. Dr. Van Kleeck, in writing to Dr. Romayne,

37
April 10th, 1812, says : " I want to inclose to you what you
¦call my certificate by a sloop which is to sail this afternoon,
in the hope that possibly it will be of service to me on
Tuesday next. This instrument speaking for itself, you can
judge whether anything can be accomplished for me better
itlian I can. I should like it mightily if it could, as I have a
particular reason for desiring the degree before September."
From this time annual reports were received from the
Medical Faculty, and medical degrees were conferred in
accordance with their recommendations until September
.23d, 1816. Among the first persons who received the
-degree of M.D. in 1812 was Joannes C. Cheeseman, who
presented what is called an inaugural on the "medical
properties of gold." There were four students who at that
lime received the degree. Their certificate, signed by all
ihe members of the Medical Faculty, was in Latin, and
accompanied by a document also in Latin, headed " Affir-
matio," in which the candidates pledged themselves to
honestly and faithfully practice the healing art and promote
medical science for the benefit of mankind.
On the 23d of September, 1816, the Trustees of the Col
lege adopted the following resolutions :
"Resolved, That the exercises of this College being sus
pended this board deem it inexpedient hereafter to confer
medical degrees.
"Resolved, That the clerk of this board be instructed to
communicate the above resolution to the President of the
medical institution in the State of New York."
The Faculty of Physic then sent a communication to the
Trustees, dated October 6th, 1816, but which was not pre
sented to the board until September 29th, 1817, there not
having been a meeting of the Trustees during the inter
vening period. That communication was not entered on

the minutes, nor can I find it in the Archives of the board.
But it was evidently of the nature of a complaint, for the
board "Resolved, That the clerk be directed to answer the com
munication explaining the views of the board in passing
the resolution complained of"
The clerk presented to the same meeting a draft of a letter
to the late Faculty of Physic, which was approved by the
Trustees and directed to be sent to that Faculty. It is as.
follows :
" Gentlemen, "Your communication to the President of the Board of
Trustees of Queen's College, under date of October 6th, was
this day laid before the board, being their first meeting
since its date.
" The board in September last, finding their funds-
altogether insufficient for the support of their institution,
resolved to suspend the exercises, and as a necessary con
sequence of their determination they declared it inexpedient-
thereafter to confer medical degrees. The Trustees were of
opinion that the contract made with you terminated either
on the expiration of the charter, or a suspension of the
exercises of the College, and upon reconsideration are yet-
of the same opinion.
" The board have directed me to make known to you the
impression under which they acted, and to express their
regret that an event beyond their control should occasion.
any inconvenience to the Faculty of Physic or the students-
attending them.
" They avail themselves of the occasion also to assure you
that the informality of the address was a mere clerical mis
take, and not intended as any disrespect to the Faculty of
Physic, whom they have always held in high estimation."

39
And so the arrangement made in 1812 came to its end in
1816. Under it twenty-one students had received the de
gree of M.D.
The sole reason for terminating it, given by the Trustees,
was the fact that they were obliged to suspend the exercises
of the College, and so judged it expedient to cease conferring
medical degrees. The fact ' that the Faculty of Medicine
complained of this action corroborates this view.
But Dr Stephen Wickes, in his " History of Medicine in
New Jersey," intimates that there was another reason for
this act of the Trustees. He seems not to have been aware
that the contract made with the "medical institution of
New York " had no connection whatever with the arrange
ment made in 1792 with Dr. Romayne and his associates.
Having stated that these gentlemen had failed in their
efforts to obtain a charter from the Regents, he goes on to
say that "the petitioners thereupon applied to Queen's
College, in New Jersey, and in 1792 received therefrom the
necessary authority under its charter for the completion of
their organization. Their connection with Queen's College
was continued with varying degrees of success in the process
of medical instruction from 1792 to 1816, when the op
ponents of the school obtained an act from the Legislature
of the State of New York, declaring all degrees conferred by
any college out of the State on students studying within the
State null and void as licenses to practice medicine. Thirty-
six medical degrees were conferred between 1792 and 1816,
when the Trustees deemed it inexpedient thereafter to con
fer medical degrees. Upon this the school availed itself of
the chartered privileges of Geneva College, which had been
about that time organized in western New York. This in
stitution agreed for a pecuniary consideration to confer the
degree of M.D. upon such as the Faculty of the school in
the city of New York should recommend. It had no other
connection with it. This arrangement was soon dissolved
by a law declaring that no college should ' have or institute

40
a Medical Faculty to teach the science of medicine in any
other place than where the charter locates the college' "
' Dr. Wickes is, I think, mistaken in attributing the with
drawal of the Trustees in 1816 from their arrangement to
such a legislative act ; for in their proceedings they give no
hint of this, nor do the complaining medical professors seem
to have referred to it. Besides, such an act was passed by
the Legislature of New York in 1826, for which there would
have been no occasion if one was already in existence.
Dr. Wickes adds, " The students who, upon examination,
were deemed worthy did not betake themselves to the
academic groves of New Jersey or western New York, there
to be crowned with laureate honors, nor did the groves go
to them. The diplomas were prepared by the Medical
Faculty and were by them returned duly signed. They
were then delivered with some ceremonial by the Faculty
to the accepted candidates." Pages 39, 40.
What became of this medical institution, which we can
well believe was regarded with limited favor, we do not
know. It must have gone out of existence very soon after
1816, certainly long before 1826, in which year a new
medical college was organized, of which Dr. David Hosack
was President, and from which came a third application to
¦Queen's, now Rutgers, College for the conferring of medical
degrees on its students. Dr. Hosack, in his inaugural,
while giving the history of medical education in New York
with considerable minuteness, dismisses the medical insti
tution of 1812 with this one sentence: "I shall take no
notice of the inefficient and unsuccessful attempts at the
formation of another medical institution in this city about
this period ; its duration was short and it fell in its own
weakness." Page 34.
Dr. Romayne, who had been so prominent as a leader in
both the movements we have considered, died in 1817.
Concerning him Dr. John W. Francis said : " He was un
wearied in toil and of mighty energy ; dexterous in legis-

41
lative bodies, and at one period of his career was vested with
almost all the honors the medical profession can bestow."
Says Dr. Dalton, in his " History of the College of Physi
cians and Surgeons : " " Foremost among these [members of
its first Faculty] was Nicholas Romayne, the most active
man in the organization of the College and its first Presi
dent. He was the delegate who obtained its charter from
the Regents of the University ; he pledged his personal
credit to provide it with funds, and he delivered for three
years the lectures on the Institutes of Medicine. He was a
little over 50 years of age and already a successful teacher
of private pupils in nearly all the departments of medicine.
He was elected President of the Medical Society of the
County of New York at its organization in 1806, and was
President of the State Medical Society 1809-1|, and he had
been zealous in procuring from the Legislature a variety of
laws for the benefit of the profession. He was a man of
large stature but easy and graceful motion ; of vigorous and
cultivated mind, active ambition and persistent energy ;
and of a disposition always ready to accept the responsi
bilities of the occasion. If the College [Physicians and
.Surgeons] can be said to have been established through the
.special exertion and influence of any one man. Dr. Romayne
must undoubtedly be regarded as its founder." Page 21.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons at first occupied
a building in Robinson street, now Park Place, until 1813,
when the institution was removed to Pearl street, then to No.
3 Barclay street, whence it was removed in 1837 to Crosby
^street, and finally to Twenty-third street and Fourth avenue.
In 1814 the medical department of Columbia College, which
had not proved successful, having graduated only thirty-five
istudents in twenty years, was abandoned, and its professors
were transferred to the College of Physicians and Surgeons,
which made a Faculty strong in numbers (12) and in abihty
.as well. Dr. Samuel Bard was President. This coalition

42
gave it a great advantage over the medical institution of
Dr. Romayne and his colleagues.
Difficulties very soon arose between the Medical Society
of New York and the professors in the College of Physicians
and Surgeons, who were at the same time Trustees, and
naturally dominant in the management of the College.
There were complaints and replies, charges and counter
charges, committees of investigation, hearings before the
Board of Regents and appeals to the Legislature. Person
alities added bitterness to the disputes. This state of things
culminated in 1826 in the withdrawal of all the professors,
reduced by deaths and other causes to six in number, and
the appointment of others in their stead.

III. Rutgers Medical College.
These so retired professors came knocking at the door of
Rutgers College September 14th, 1826. On that day the
following communication was received from them :
" To the President and Trustees of Rutgers College,
" Gentlemen, "The persons undersigned, who have now the honor of
addressing you, were for several years (as you perhaps
already know) Professors of Medicine and Surgery in the
College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. We beg
leave to acquaint you that we have lately resigned these
situations, and that being unwilling to abandon the useful
occupation in which we labored so long, we immediately
after organized another medical college in which, as we
hope, former evils will be avoided, and the system of in
struction much improved.
" While seeking the patronage of an established scientific
body that would confer the accustomed academic honours
on such of our candidates as proved themselves worthy

43
upon an examination, we turned our eyes to the rising
reputation and increasing stability of your College, and
earnestly desire to form a connection with it that shall prove
advantageous and honorable to both. To this we see no
objection. We are sufficiently contiguous for every purpose -
of convenience. The republic of letters too, no less than
the republic of politics, should be one throughout our-
whole country, and if the tree of knowledge should oftener
extend its branches from State to State the effect would be
to harmonize more effectually all our institutions.
" We respectfully refer to the President and Trustees of
Rutgers College to propose all such arrangements as they
shall desire on their part ; and wish to make known on ours
that we have an ample and valuable estate, including a new
and handsome College edifice, which we invest in this
undertaking. In these circumstances we are ambitious of
forming a Medical Faculty to Rutgers College, and that our
diplomas shall be signed by its President and professors as
well as by ourselves.
" The following is the form in this case which subsisted
heretofore between us and the Regents of the University of
New York : We certified to them under seal the candidates
whom we had duly examined and found deserving of
degrees, and provided at -the same time an equal number of
diplomas printed on parchment. The Chancellor filled the
blanks with the names that were to receive the doctorate
and signed the diplomas. They were then returned to us.
After this the President and professors of our College signed
them, and the former, or in his absence, the Vice President
conferred them at our public commencement in our own
hall. We wish to retain this form, to which the whole
medical pubhc are accustomed, with no other difference -
than such a substitute in place of the Chancellor as you
shall think proper.
" Our graduates may be from thirty to forty annually.
They have been sometimes more, but say thirty next season..

44
In that case we would remit along with our parchments
$150, being five dollars for each, which sum we deem
naturally to belong to these gentlemen of Rutgers College
who sign the diplomas.
" Further than this, we take the opportunity of assuring
you that we will always deem it a matter of duty to pro
mote by every exertion within the sphere of our influence
the prosperity of your College.
" All which is respectfully submitted,
"David Hosack, M.D.,
"Sept. 12th, 1826, "Sam^ L. Mitchell, M.D.,
" New York. " Wm. J. McNevin, M.D.,
" Valentine Mott, M.D.,
"John W Francis, M.D."
A letter from Wm. J. McNevin was also presented to the
board explanatory of the above communication, which,
together with said communication, was referred to Drs.
Cannon and Dewitt and J. R. Hardenbergh, with instruc
tions to report in the afternoon on the expediency of enter
ing into the proposed connection.
This committee reported in the afternoon " that in con
sideration of certain difficulties with which the subject is
connected and the want of full information respecting the
consequences and details of the proposed alliance, they
recommend the following resolution, viz. :
"Resolved, That this board deem it inexpedient to decide
on the question at the present meeting and that your com
mittee be continued to investigate the subject-matter pro
posed and report at the next meeting of the board."
It is not mentioned what difficulties were in the way, but
it is quite clear that the Trustees desired information con
cerning the relations of these professors to the Board of
Regents and the action of that body in their case. The
committee reported October 16th, that having understood

45
that further communications had been addressed by the
Society of Physicians to the Trustees, they had suspended
further consideration of the subject until the nature of those
communications was known.
The following communication from Dr. Hosack, addressed
to President Milledoler, was laid before the board :
" New York, October 12th, 1826.
" Dear Sir,
"I have obtained for your use and that of the Board of
Trustees of Rutgers College the accompanying documents
relative to the subject of our conversation last evening.
You have the two reports of the committee of the Regents,
subscribed by Col. Troup ; you have the report of the com- ¦
mittee consisting of Lieut. Gov. Talmage, Gen. Van Rens
selaer and Mr. Marcy, Comptroller ; and you have inclosed
the vote of thanks given to the late professors by the Regents
after the resignation of the professors had been accepted.
You will perceive, upon reading these reports and the vote
of thanks, "1st. That the Board of Regents, after a careful investi
gation of the causes of difference between the professors and
Trustees, entirely approved of the conduct of the professors.
" 2d. That they disapproved of the conduct of the
Trustees. " 3d. That the Regents came to the resolution of remov
ing the whole Board of Medical Trustees and to fill up their
places with laymen, believing that a spirit of rivalry and
jealousy had been the first cause of the schism.
"4th. That the Regents, when prepared to remove the
medical Trustees, found that the charter did not give them
that power; whereupon the professors withdrew from their-
connection with the College as the only honorable course to
be pursued.
" The Board of Professors having so withdrawn have re
solved to continue their labors as teachers of medicine, and

46
for this purpose have added to their number Dr. Godman,
of Philadelphia, a distinguished teacher of anatomy, and
John Griscom, LL.D., at present a professor in your College,
to be the Professor of Chemistry.
" A\'ith this view we have also purchased ground and
erected a building in the vicinity of the hospital, which, in
a few days, will be completed, and when finished will cost
us a sum of $20,000.
" A\''e now solicit the connection proposed between us as a
Medical Faculty and Rutgers College, believing that such
connection will prove mutually beneficial, enabling you to
extend the benefits and fame of your institution by adding
to it a Medical Faculty, and us to teach under more favor
able auspices than we have ever hitherto done.
" It is certainly desirable that New Jersey should have a
medical school for the education of her youth in the science
of medicine and surgery. Such school has never yet existed
in that State. Wliere can it be established in New Jersey ?
A medical school possessing all the benefits of a system of
practical education can only exist in a great city. There
only are the accidents and diseases falling under the notice
of the surgeon to be found. In like manner the varied dis
eases of our country are seen in the greatest number and
variety in the dense population of a great city. New Jer
sey does not possess a city of sufficient extent and number
of its inhabitants to afford those advantages for medical in
struction. New York affords all these benefits for such
school, and may be rendered tributary to the interest and
reputation of Rutgers College.
"It is proposed that the students educated by the Medi
cal Faculty so constituted, when they shall have attended
two full courses, and may be found quahfied by age, time
of study, and upon examination shall have satisfied the
Faculty as to their abihties and attainments, be recom
mended to the President and Trustees for the degree of
Doctor of Medicine ; the said degree to be announced at the

47
pubhc commencement upon those admitted by the Medical
Faculty of the College, in the manner done at Cambridge,
Massachusetts, upon the pupils educated by the Medical
Faculty of that university resident in the city of Boston ;
that each pupil so admitted pay a sum not less than five
nor more than ten dollars for his diploma ; that the Medical
Faculty and such of the pupils as reside in New York and
New Jersey attend the commencement.
. " I am happy to add that since my return to town I have
ascertained that the Trustees resident in New York are
friendly to the alliance proposed, believing that it will be
mutually beneficial. Such, too, as I have conversed with
consider it a duty on the part of Rutgers College to extend
her influence and usefulness by forming a school of medi
cine and by selecting the best Medical Faculty she can
obtain without consulting any other State or any other body
of men than those composing her own board. Further
more, that no other body of men, or incorporation or State
have any right to say aught upon that subject. I have the
pleasure to add that many of the Regents will be gratified
to know that we receive the patronage of so respectable a
board, and that an honorable competition will thereby be
promoted between the two medical schools of New York
which cannot fail to prove beneficial to the pupils and
advance the interests of medical science.
"Hoping, dear sir, that your board will think favorably
of the association proposed,
" I am, very truly and respectfully yours,
"David Hosack.
"The Rev. Dr. Milledoler."
These New York physicians were so intent on succeeding
in forming this alliance that two of them, Drs. Hosack and
Francis, made it convenient to be in New Brunswick on the
day of the meeting of the Trustees, and they brought with
them Gen. Stephen Van Rensselaer, who was one of the

48
Regents. The communication of Dr. Plosack and the ac
companying documents were referred to a committee con
sisting of Messrs. Sharpe, Van Nest, Boggs and Drs. Cannon
and Knox, who were also instructed "to meet the above-
named gentlemen and obtain from them all necessary in
formation on the subject and report to the board as soon as
convenient." The committee made their report in the evening of the
same day, as follows :
" The committee to whom was referred the application of
Dr. David Hosack, accompanied with sundry documents in
behalf of himself and others, requesting that a connection
be formed between this board and certain gentlemen asso
ciated for the purpose of communicating medical instruc
tion, upon a careful examination of said application and
documents, beg leave to report in favor of meeting the
wishes of said applicants. They do, therefore, recommend
to the board the adoption of the following resolutions :
" 1. Resolved, That the foUoMing gentlemen be and hereby
are constituted and declared to be the Medical Faculty of
Rutgers College, viz. :
"David Hosack, M.D., F.R.S., Professor of the Institutes
and Practice of Physic and Clinical Medicine.
" William James McNevin, M.D., Professor of Therapeutics
and Materia Medica.
" Valentine Mott, M.D., Professor of Surgery.
"John W. Francis, M.D., Professor of Obstetrics and
Forensic Medicine.
"John D. Godman, M.D., Professor of Anatomy and
Physiology. " John Griscom, LL.D., Professor of Chemistry.
" 2. Resolved, That each person educated by the Medical
Faculty above named, who shall have attended two full
courses of lectures, and may be found qualified by age, time
of study, and upon examination shall satisfy the Faculty

49
as to his abilities and attainments, and shall be regularly
recommended for the purpose to the President and Trustees
of Rutgers College, shall receive the degree of Doctor of
Medicine, the said degree to be announced at the public
commencement of the College, and a diploma granted
accordingly. " 3. Resolved, That each person so admitted to the degree
of Doctor of Medicine shall be required to pay to the
Treasurer of this board the sum of ten dollars — a receipt
for which payment to be exhibited previously to his obtain
ing a diploma.
" 4. Resolved, That this board do not by these arrange
ments subject themselves to any expense or charges which
may accrue or be annexed to the teaching of medicine.
Nor are the respective professors authorized hereby to expect
or demand any salary or remuneration whatever for their
instructions or lectures from the Board of Trustees.
" 5. Resolved, That this board, reposing the fullest confi
dence in the abilities, integrity and honor of the gentlemen
composing their Medical Faculty, do unreservedly commit
the instruction and government of the medical department
in Rutgers College to their hands ; and when the place and
office of any of the said professors may become vacant the
same shall be filled only by such person as the Medical
Faculty shall recommend.
" 6. Resolved, That the members of the Medical Faculty,
together with their pupils, be requested to attend the com
mencement in Rutgers College.
'¦'7. Resolved, That a certificate of their appointment,
under the seal of this corporation, and signed by the Presi
dent and Clerk, shall be executed and forwarded to each of
the professors before mentioned requesting answers from
them respectively, announcing their acceptance agreeably
to the terms above specified.

50
" 8. Resolved, That all former appointments made by this
board be and hereby are annulled. " John Knox, Chairman."
The above report was accepted, and its recommendations
were unanimously adopted.
Three weeks after this (Nov. 6th), Dr. Hosack, as Presi
dent of the Medical Faculty, delivered the inaugural dis
course at the opening of Rutgers Medical College in their
large and commodious building in Duane street, which was
erected by the professors themselves at a cost of $20,000.
This discourse was published, and is valuable not only for
its presentation of the case of the professors from their
point of view, but for appendices containing reprints of
valuable documents, such as reports from the Board of
Regents, biographical sketches of distinguished professors
and physicians in New York, and extracts from the intro
ductory discourses of the different professors, who vied with
each other in their laudations of Rutgers College, its Presi
dent, Faculty and Trustees. Dr. Plosack said, in his inaug
ural, " it affords us the highest gratification to inform you
that we have also succeeded in obtaining the patronage and
protection of a neighboring seat of learning, Rutgers Col
lege, by an alliance constituting us the Medical Faculty of
that institution, which under the care of its pious, learned
and distinguished President, its able professors, a munificent
founder, aided by liberal patrons, and a vigilant board of
governors, is rapidly rising to an eminent station among
the older institutions of our country, and promises import
ant accessions to the cause of religion, science and letters."
At a numerous meeting of the students of medicine held
the next day several resolutions were adopted, among which
were the following :
"Resolved, That the organization of this new institution,
unfettered by discordant controlling powers, is in our

51
estimation calculated to extend the means of medical edu
cation, and to advance the honor and respectability of the
profession. "Resolved, That we avail ourselves of this occasion to
express our grateful acknowledgments to the learned Presi
dent and enlightened Trustees of Rutgers College, New
Brunswick, for the opportunity they have afforded us of
still profiting by the experience and learning of the able
professors they have selected as their Medical Faculty."
Thus was the institution opened with considerable eclat,
and with fair promise that it would be a permanent success.
At the next meeting of the Trustees, held November 13th,
a communication was received from Dr. Hosack informing
them that the medical professors had begun their work of
instruction, and "suggesting to the board the propriety of
an application to the Legislature of this State for an act
constituting a diploma from Rutgers College a license to
practice physic and surgery throughout this State [New
Jersey] without subjecting the graduate to an examination
before the State Medical Society."
Whereupon, it was ordered that Messrs. J. R. Harden
bergh, C. L. Hardenbergh, Van Deursen and Nevius be a
committee to draft a memorial to the Legislature for that
purpose, and present the same to the President for his
examination and approval.
The minutes contain no report on that subject, and it is
certain that the Legislature did not pass such an act.
On the 3d of April, 1827, a check for $1,000 was received
from Dr. Hosack, which was a " donation from the Medical
Faculty of the College to the parent institution." In an
accompanying note it was stated that it was their intention
to add an electrical machine to the philosophical apparatus
of the College.
The Medical Faculty also sent a certificate of recom
mendation of twenty-seven of their students for the degree

52
of M.D., who had, after a careful investigation of their
qualifications, been adjudged worthy of the highest honors
of the profession. The degree was conferred accordingly
by the Trustees. The thousand dollars contributed by the
Medical Faculty was spent in the purchase of articles for
the philosophical apparatus of the College.
As to succeeding classes of medical students recommended
for degrees of M.D., I find nothing after March 4th of the
next year, 1828. At that time " the President laid before
the board a communication from the Medical Faculty of
Rutgers College relative to granting diplomas to James T.
Gibert and Jacob I. Gilford, upon which the board deemed
it inexpedient at present to take any order." We are left
entirely in the dark about the reasons for this action of the
Trustees. So far as we can gather from the minutes of the
Trustees, these two persons were the last recommended by
the Medical Faculty fo:i;' the degree of M.D. The degree was
conferred on two persons in 1832, but by whose recom
mendation we are not informed.
The institution which had been started with such prom
ising prospects seems to have suddenly declined, collapsed
and to have speedily gone entirely out of existence. The
minutes of the Trustees, after March 4th, 1828, only one
year and a half after the alliance was made, contain not the
slightest allusion to Rutgers Medical College, no more than
if it had never existed. It seems to have vanished hke a
ghost and left no trace behind, so far at least as our records
are concerned.
Dr. Dalton, in his " History of the College of Physicians
and Surgeons," referring to the Rutgers Medical College,
says : " But the new enterprise undertaken with such per
sistent energy failed to meet with the desired success. The
resignation of professors from a medical school, whatever
their superiority of talent, does not always result in its in
jury or downfall. It is apt to turn out that there are others
who are able to fill the chairs they have left and who can

53
still maintain the credit and prosperity of the institution.
That is what happened in the present case. The Regents
of the University, at a special meeting in July, 1826, ap
pointed for the College of Physicians and Surgeons a new
corps of professors, who long held their places with distin
guished honor, and of whom three became afterward Presi
dents of the institution. The Rutgers Medical College had
an existence of only four annual sessions." Page 53.
, What were the causes of this sudden and complete fail
ure, when the men who composed the Faculty had, while
occupying their chairs in the College of Physicians and Sur
geons, proved their ability and had attained great eminence
and had ample accommodations and everything needed in
the way of apparatus and appurtenances? Dr. Moore, in
his " History of Columbia College," says the " original
Faculty, soon after their resignation, revived the medical
institution under auspices of Rutgers (formerly Queen's)
College, New Brunswick, N. J. ; but by legislative enactment
the diplomas were afterwards rendered so manifestly illegal
that the Faculty abandoned the contest and the school
ceased to exist." Page 148.
The enemies of this new medical college were not idle
and they were very influential. They promptly procured
the passage of the following act by the Legislature of New
York in 1827 :
" No diploma granted by any authority out of this State
to an individual who shall have pursued his studies in any
medical school within this State, not incorporated and
organized under its laws, shall confer on such individual
the right of practicing physic or surgery within this State."
Section 18.
This, of course, was a fatal blow. But it may well be
doubted whether, if such legislative action had not been
taken, this medical college could have competed success-

54
fully with the College of Physicians and Surgeons. The
latter certainly had great advantages over the new institu
tion, and the objectionable features in its charter were re
moved ; and so it followed that the obtaining of the legisla
tive act quoted and the zealous cultivation of prejudice
against the Rutgers Medical College on account of its con
nection with what was called a foreign institution, insured
its death.
How well the professors who inaugurated this movement
with such liberality, courage and energy understood the
influences that would be arrayed against them, and which
proved to be successful, appears from the following closing
sentences of the inaugural of Prof. Griscom :
" The threats and clamors about foreign infiuence, with a
view, if possible, to prevent a competition of talent, are so
entirely ignoble, so far from the course which men of gen
erous emulation should pursue, so utterly repugnant to the
constitution of our country and the spirit of the people, that
we can scarcely imagine anything more absurd unless it be
that the Legislature should grant the monopoly desired,
and proclaim that henceforward votaries of science and men
emulous of fame should neither dare to seek for reputation
nor subsistence within our borders, but depart to other
regions where mind is free, talent at liberty to develop its
strength and usefulness, and where the dominion of dull
ness cannot by any possibility be rendered legitimate.
"But in the rectitude and wisdom of, our fellow-citizens
who preside with so much advantage over the interests of
the State we feel the fullest confidence, recollecting the
beautiful maxim of Cicero, ' Justis autem et fidis hominihus
{id est bonis) ita fides habetur, ut nulla sit in his fraudis
injuriasque suspicio; itaque, his salutem nostram, his fortunas,
his liber OS, rectissime committi arbitramur.' "

DEGREES CONFERRED.

(Honorary Degrees are Indicated by (H).

i

M.D. J
Henby M. -Van SoMNoiN. (H) ¦ ,
JSICHOLAS EOMAYNE (H), Coliiinbia»
M.B.
John Baptist BientobS.

1798. M.D.
JONAB Smith Addoms. (H)'-

mm

M.D.
Charles Buxton. %
Gardner Jones. jr.
EiCHAED S. Kissam. (H) "S

of Edinburgh University ad eumfem,

M.B.
^i J^Anois Rientord.
,;¦'•;¦¦¦ -1:3^3.
;¦ '¦¦¦*' M.IJ,.'-./
¦- John Clark.'
; Abraham Cornelison.
;. William MOoee. fH) '

¦«.! M.D.
JABEZ CaNEIELD. (H)
M.B.
Charles Smith.

M.D.
J— tRAHAM BrO-WER.
jAMUEL Watkins.

M^

of 3Edinbiit^ Bnivejisity aa eundem.

M.D.
David E. Abnelt,
Samuel McAuley.

''C'-A»f.9. : -¦i<-iiwa«J''''
M^D. ¦ l.'J^S. M.D.
JOANNlte C. CHEESEMAN.-ini^Sfe SAMUEL JAOKSON.
James liiviNGSTON VAN Kleeck.

1813.

M.D.

Jesse Coe.
M.D.
1814.
M.D.
Pardon Brownell.
1815.
Jacob I. Db Lamateb.
M.D.
M.D.
M.D.
Lewis Carlisle.
Chaeles H. Pickett.
Jonathan Johnson.
John Meeker.
Isaac Coe.
1816.
Ebenezer Coe, Je.
Hugh Sweeny.
M.D.
M.D.
M.D.
BLKANAH M. BECRVflTH.
Samuel Jj. Ward.
Joseph E. Drake. Richmond Brownell.
Been W. Budd. Isaac Wood.
M.D.
Solomon Andrews.
CONYNGHAM CBAWFOBD.
Samuel G. Dimmick.
Alexander Dunham.
Charles Dupont.
John F. Ellis.
Samuel C. Ellis.
Joseph W. Fearing.
John T. Tebguson.
Lewis Belden. (H)
John Cobnelison. (H)
Thomas Fearn. (H)
1837. M.D.
William L. Graham.
ezekiel lovejoy.
Charles S. Lucas.
Hamilton Morton.
ALEXANDER H. NeIL.
John D. Ogam.
Horatio "W. Orcutt.
Peter Pratt.
Washington Ritter.
Lucius Heermans. (H)
Thomas P. Jones. (H)
Samuei^ S. Kuypers. CH)
Stephen S. Rapalje. (H)
U. S. Navy.
M.D.
Thomas B. Gautier. (H)
1830.
1831.
183 !f.
M.D.
William Seaman.
William Stevenson.
Eliphalet St. John.
Gaeeit Terhune.
Samuel Treadwell.
Richard A. Vakick.
Peter D. Vroom.
GE]fiG0RY Weems.
Joseph M. Wood,
Samuel Osborn. (H)
David Rogers. (HI
Henby Schenck. (H)
M.D.
Edgar F. Peck.
M.D.
John Bosekrantz. (H)
M.D.
Xavier Tessiee. (H)
M.D.
Alexander Robinson.
1835. M.D.
John S. Congab. (H)