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the meantime the trustees had decided, with the concurrence of the
Indiana Conference of the Methodist Church, to establish a medical
department in Indianapolis and appointed eight persons to its faculty
in 1848. All were physicians except Charles G. Downey, who was transferred
from the professorship of natural science in Greencastle. Known
as the Indiana Central Medical College, the school opened in December
1849 but closed after only three years, having graduated 40 of the
more than 100 students who attended its classes, including Joshua
T. Belles, the grandfather of British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan.
Reasons for its demise are hazy, but probably most important was
a feeling that the university was overextending itself in view of
its modest financial resources. Some
idea of college costs may be obtained from a letter written by student
Aden G. Cavins in 1847 to his father: The
number of students in attendance during this term is about 175 which
exceeds that of any previous term, and of course renders the lower
departments of study too much crowded for convenience, or thorough
drilling, or rapid improvement. There is some probability that this
will be remedied by the creation of another teacher.... |
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