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BEXAR
HISTORY

The first recorded attempt locally to reestablish a county organi- The Charter of the Western Texas Medical Association, signed in 1877.
zation was in 1873 with the formation of the West Texas Medical
Association by some of the physicians who had initially been in- Library, it appears the West Texas Medical Association continued its
volved in the formation of the Bexar Medical Society (including such contact with the Texas State Medical Association. There were occa-
notables a George Cupples, Ferdinand Herff, John Herff, Rudolph sional disagreements between the two organizations, but Bexar
Menger, and others.) County hosted the state meetings in 1878 and 1889. In 1903 the
American Medical Association reorganized, and the state associations
The exact reason behind the formation of a different local organ- followed suit. The charter of the West Texas Medical Association had
ization is not entirely clear. A number of factors may have come into expired, and the basis of the system was once again the local societies.
play, including the following: 1. The extended absence of meetings The state became the Texas Medical Association and locally, the
of the state organization. 2. Once meetings of the state were resumed, Bexar County Medical Society. Great strides were to be made in or-
to attend required long transport by horseback or buggy through ganized medicine during the next century, but the frontier physicians
still hostile and hazardous country. 3. The adjustments to recon- of the 19th century forged the real basis of the county medical or-
struction were still progressing slowly. 4. Problems of unavailability ganizations. It was orchestrated by a group of honest, intense, tal-
of hard currency. 5. The economic panic of 1873 was nationwide, ented, dedicated and tough physicians. We should all be proud of
and bankruptcy was common in many commercial ventures, includ- this heritage.
ing the large ranchers of South Texas. This may have induced the
county physicians to form a different organization over which they J.J.Waller Jr., MD, is a member of the
had more control. BCMS Communications/Publications Committee.

The West Texas Medical Association was chartered by the State of
Texas to last 25 years, commencing in 1873. (A copy is in the
archives in the P.I. Nixon Library, and the original in the lobby of
the Bexar County offices.) According to a summary by Dr. Frank
Paschal (located in the archives), about 1900 he stated it had been a
very active and well-organized association through the years. It con-
tinued with monthly meetings with increasing membership as the
town grew (1877 population 19,278 — number of physicians 13;
1890 population 37,173 — number of physicians 41; 1900 popu-
lation 53,321 — number of physicians 60). It later added clinical
discussions of local cases and autopsy reports and discussions of local
health problems, fees and ethics.

In the beginning, the Association met in the county courthouse,
and later meetings were held in various settings throughout the
county, including the Pulling’s Hall which after a while the group
was asked to move; various doctors’ offices; the Hall of the Broth-
ers of Locomotive Engineers; the Elks Hall; next to a local dance
hall (however the noise of the music drowned out the discussions);
and in the dance hall of the St. Anthony Hotel until all the chairs
were broken and they were requested to move; and then other var-
ious places. During the 25 years, the total rent paid amounted to
50 dollars. By 1900, it was obvious that the organization needed
a home of its own. This would not occur until 20 years later. More
detailed information about the meetings of the Association is not
available.

From the Bexar County Medical Society archives in the P.I. Nixon

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