So, I think I’m just going to continue a series of short successive posts on this information for this go round of Russell Holman.

Brown University

So, brown had no medical school in the 1830’s. The medical department was completely shut down in 1827, and the medical faculty joined other organizations such as the Rhode Island Medical Society. They did continue to educate, mentor and teach students, but not in a formal setting.

I have found and read the University Catalog for Brown for every year from 1834-1842, and Russell Holman is only mentioned in one catalog: the 1836-1837 shows him as being a Junior, but notates that he was dismissed. Upon closer inspection, the journal previously referencing his class from Brown does, in fact, record that he did NOT graduate from Brown!

There is no doubt in my mind that from his lifelong demonstrated clerical abilities he was certianly capable of completing school, but he was also not listed as having ever been a Freshman or a Sophomore there. It begs the question then, where did he get the rest of his education? How is it that so many assumed and recorded that he graduated from Brown in 1838? Why is it there is little to no record or mention of any part of his young adult life before he left Rhode Island to go to Kentucky?

As so often happens, more research has only lead to more questions…