1799

Lexington Medical Society Founded

• The founding of the Lexington Medical Society in 1799 preceded the establishment of the Medical Department of Transylvania University, also in 1799.
• The two institutions grew side by side for almost thirty-five years.
• There were 10-12 physicians in Lexington in 1799.
• The 1799 Lexington Medical Society constitution and bylaws are lost.
• The founder of the Lexington Medical society, Dr. Samuel Brown (brother of John Brown, Kentucky’s first United States Senator), was the first professor of medicine appointed by Transylvania University.
• Dr. Brown helped establish the first national medical society in American, Kappa Lambda of Hippocrates, which later influenced the structure of the American Medical Association.

Mayo, W. Porter, Medicine in the Athens of the West, Princeton, McClanahan Publishing House, 1999, Print, page 11