Friday's Photo: Span Regan's Medical Diploma - 1846

This photo of the diploma from the Southern Botanico Medical College of Macon, Georgia
was shared by a Regan (Ragan) descendant several years ago.

Span Regan and his wife, 
Julius Leurany Speight

Span Regan was the son of Elizabeth Span Regan and her first husband Joseph Regan.  

When the blended Regan/Bryan family left Georgia for Louisiana in 1838, it is said by many that Span remained in Georgia. 

However, in a brief biography about Span Regan's son, Joseph Thomas Ragan, it is said that Span accompanied his family to Louisiana where he was employed as a school teacher before medical school. It was also written that Span attended medical lectures in New Orleans before attending Georgia Medical College in Augusta. 

Descendant of Span Regan and genealogical researcher, E. Ragan Pruitt, stated Span studied medicine under the instruction of a doctor in Bienville Parish before attending Augusta Medical College where he graduated in 1850. 

Southern Botanico-Medical College was established in Forsyth, Georgia in 1839. One source indicated that it moved to Macon, GA where it became the Reformed Medical College of Georgia.  This medical college was considered a botanicomedical college. To learn more about the botanicomedical movement, look at The Botanico Medical Reference Book: Comprising the Fundamental Principles by A. Biggs. 

The above diploma makes it obvious that Span Regan attended the Southern Botanico-Medical College. Did he also attend a second medical college in Augusta?  

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Diana

© 2020

Sources

Family photographs and documents from the collection E. Ragan Pruitt. Used with permission. 

"List of defunct medical schools in the United States."  Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_medical_schools_in_the_United_States. Accessed 15 Mar. 2020.

"A History of Savannah and South Georgia - William Harden."  Google Books https://books.google.com/books/about/A_History_of_Savannah_and_South_Georgia.html?id=zv9HAQAAMAAJ. Accessed 15 Mar. 2020.

Robert G. Slawson  Medical Training in the United States Prior
to the Civil War*  Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine
17(1) 11-27.