“William Lomax, M.D., and his wife Maria Lomax, of the city of Marion, County of Grant, State of Indiana, do and have made a bequest to said college [Medical College of Indiana] of the following real estate….one hundred and sixty acres of land lying adjacent to the city of Marion, in Grant County, State of Indiana….An annuity to be paid while we are both living and to the survivor, of twelve hundred dollars ‘$1200’ per annum to be paid in monthly or quarterly installments, on account of the 160 acres of land, and a life estate to be run as long as we or either of us may live, in the real estate described in the city of Marion aforesaid, and an annuity of $100 for repairs and taxes on the same.”

“The annuity herein before referred to shall be a lien upon all the property or the proceeds of the property herein before described, for the payment of the same.”

The instructions of the Articles of Association required that the Medical College of Indiana shall be established in Indianapolis, Indiana. If possible the Medical College should be consolidated with De Pauw University, Indiana University, or Wabash College. This part of the instructions is very puzzling, because there there was already a Medical College of Indiana established in Indianapolis in 1869, and the College did not affiliate with Indiana University until 1908 to form the Indiana University School of Medicine.

Maybe Dr. Lomax and his wife wanted to set up a rival Medical College of Indiana, but his obituary dated 27 April 1893 stated:

So,if they had made the donation to the existing Medical College of Indiana, the other instructions of the Association must have not been honored. Maria Lomax did not die until 1910, but it is not known if the annuity continued up to that time. Nevertheless, many conspicuous Indiana doctors signed these Articles of Association:

Photos of some of these doctors from the Wishard Scrapbook:

Dr. Elijah W. Elder

Dr. Edward Francis Hodges

Dr. Albert W. Brayton

Dr. William N. Wishard

Dr.James H. Taylor

Dr. Joseph W. Marsee

Dr. John H. Oliver

Dr. Lehman H. Dunning

Dr. Henry Jameson

Written by Robert F. Gilyeat, volunteer at the Indiana State Archives