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The University did not thrive under Dr. Woods, who, though a most learned scholar and cultured gentleman, failed to check the disorder of young students reared in this borderland of civilization.
1821
Apr. 18, 1831
1
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ALABAMA HISTORY
1836
By his efforts was chartered the first female semi- nary of high order within the bounds of Alabama. It was then known as the Alabama Athenaeum; it is now the Tuskaloosa Female College.
Dr. Basil Manly, who succeeded Dr. Woods in office, brought new life to the University. Disorder among the students was punished so promptly and thoroughly that the new president was soon mas- ter of the situation. He lifted the standard of scholarship and made the University respected everywhere for its strong courses of study and for its able faculty. Dr. Manly lived for thirteen years after failing health closed Dr. Basil Manly his services with the Uni- versity, dying in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1869.
The war period found Dr. Landon C. Garland at the head of the University. He was elected presi- dent in 1855. The military department was estab- lished in 1860, and the president and all other officers of the department formed a part of the military of the State. Colonel Caleb Huse, of the United States army, was the first commandant of cadets. He was succeeded by Colonel James T. Murfee.
Apr. 4, 1865
On April 4, 1865, General Croxton with Federal cavalry captured Tuskaloosa and burnt the Univer- sity. The four hundred cadets had attempted to
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THE HISTORY OF ALABAMA SCHOOLS
defend the city; but Dr. Garland and Colonel Murfee, learning that fourteen hundred Federals were in the command, destroyed the large quantities of ammuni- tion at the University, and marched the cadets toward Marion.
The first general assembly held after the war loaned the University seventy thousand dollars to rebuild .* Colonel James T. Murfee offered accept- able plans for the proposed new building, and was appointed architect and superintendent. George M. Figh and Dr. William S. Wyman were awarded the contract for rebuilding. Alva Woods Hall, at a cost of ninety thousand dollars, was thus erected. Gov- ernor Robert M. Patton pledged his personal credit and the credit of the State to protect contractors and creditors. Dr. James H. Fitts used all the resources of his bank to keep at par the "Patton Certificates," by which the work of rebuilding was carried for- ward.
The State constitution of 1868 gave to the radicals control of the University. A board of regents, com- posed of radicals, elected as president Judge William R. Smith. He was a gentleman of wide reputation, a scholar, and the personal friend of many distin-
*The Board of Trustees was composed of Porter King, Francis Bugbee, William S. Mudd, James H. Fitts, Robert Jemison, Benjamin F. Peters, A. M. Gibson, Z. F. Freeman, Willis G. Clark, John T. Foster, Alfred N. Worthy, John C. Meadors, George S. Walden, Walter H. Crenshaw, and the ex-officio members, Governor Robert I. Patton, Chief-Justice Abram J. Walker, Associate-Justices William M. Byrd and Thomas J. Judge, and Dr. Landon C. Garland, the president of the University.
1868
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guished men of the State and of the Union. Being a member of the class of 1831, he had been identified. with the University from its first opening. It was thought that he would restore confidence, but as he had joined the radicals, many of the best citizens would not commit their boys to him. These were dark days for the University and for the State.
Under Dr. N. T. Lupton, the chairman of the faculty and successor of Judge Smith, confidence and patronage began to return. His excellent work was continued by Dr. Carlos G. Smith, the president next in charge. Dr. Smith enjoyed the entire con- fidence of the public and filled the University with young men who held him in high esteem.
During the succeeding twenty years the presi- dency* of the University was held by gentlemen of the old school. They were broad-minded, able, the ideal leaders of youth, and in every sense worthy of great trusts. Under them vast improvements were made in the material equipment of the University.
1884
The United States Congress gave forty-six thou- sand and eighty acres of land as payment for the buildings burned by Federal troops. A large por- tion of these lands was sold, and the proceeds were used for erecting new buildings and adding to the equipment.
Despite these improvements, the University failed to gain the confidence of the people. The evils of politics were working a hurtful influence. Nearly
*The presidents were General Josiah Gorgas, 1878-79; Colonel Burwell B. Lewis, 1879-85; General Henry D. Clayton, 1885-89; General Richard C. Jones, 1890-97.
1874 to
1878
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THE HISTORY OF ALABAMA SCHOOLS
twenty years had passed since a trained teacher had filled the president's chair, and the people began to demand a change. To meet this demand, Dr. James K. Powers, who had been successful both as a teacher and as the head of the Alabama Normal College in Florence, was elected president. In his efforts to raise the standard of the University, he brought to
1897 to 1901
University of Alabama
his assistance graduates of Johns Hopkins, Prince- ton, and the universities of the Old World. He was succeeded by Dr. Willam Stokes Wyman.
Dr. John W. Abercrombie, the president next in charge, has added annually to the number of stu- dents enrolled, multiplied the courses of study, secured large legislative appropriations, united the Medical College at Mobile with the University, and established the annual Summer School for Teachers.
1902
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ALABAMA HISTORY
Crippled in its infancy through the mismanage- ment of its funds by its agents and the State Bank, and embarrassed always by lack of sufficient income, the University has nevertheless made a deep impres- sion upon the history of the State. Students from its halls that have attended the great universities of this continent and the Old World have ranked among the first in studies and in success in life.
11. Alabama Girls' Industrial School .- The Ala- bama Girls' Industrial School is located at Monte- vallo. The bill for its establishment was introduced into the legislature by Honorable Sol Bloch, of Wil- cox county. The school was opened in October, 1896, and it soon became so popular that hundreds of girls have been denied admittance because there were not sufficient buildings. It is a great school, and every year it grows greater.
12. Denominational Schools .- Church schools and colleges have done a great deal for education. The Catholics founded St. Joseph's College in 1830, and some of the most distinguished men of the world were educated there. The Baptists founded Howard College, 1833-41, and the Judson Institute in 1839, placing both schools in Marion. Many notable men and cultured women have been graduated in these two schools. In 1887, Howard College was removed to East Lake near Birmingham. In 1856, the Metho- dists founded the Southern University* at Greens-
*The success of the Methodists in founding the Southern Uni- versity is largely due to Rev. Christopher C. Calloway, who was the first field agent to secure cash and subscriptions for the school.
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THIE HISTORY OF ALABAMA SCHOOLS
boro and the Alabama Conference Female College at Tuskegee; they also control Athens Female College, the Birmingham College, and the Woman's College in Montgomery. The Alabama Central College, in the splendid old State house at Tuskaloosa, is a noted school for girls; it is under Baptist control. The Presbyterians have their Alabama Presbyterian College for Men in Anniston and their Synodical College for Women in Talladega. All of these insti- tutions are doing excellent work.
13. Dr. Henry Tutwiler .- Henry Tutwiler was Nov. 16, born November 16, 1807, in Harrisonburg, Virginia. 1507 He was among the first students* enrolled in the University of Virginia, and was graduated from that institution.
He accepted the chair of ancient languages in the University of Alabama upon its opening, and from that time devoted his life to the education of the young men of Alabama. He resigned the chair in the University in 1837, and taught mathematics in Marion College and in LaGrange College.
He organized Greene Springs School, the most noted and influential private school in the State. He was said to be a whole faculty in himself. He had a thorough knowledge of both literature and sei-
*R. M. T. Hunter, Robert Toombs, Gessner Harrison, Edgar Allan Poe, Alexander H. H. Stuart, and others known to fame were Mr. Tutwiler's fellow-students. Thomas Jefferson often had him as a welcome guest at Monticello. George Long, the English educator and historian, John P. Emmet, a nephew of the Irish patriot, and other "masters in the University chairs, were his friends.
1831 10 1837
1842 to 1851
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ALABAMA HISTORY
ence .* He kept abreast with the progress of the world. Several times he refused the presidency of the University of Alabama, preferring to give his labors to the independent work of his own school. No college in the South furnished more delightful or more inspiring courses of study than were given in his school at Greene Springs.
Simple in habits and nature, Dr. Tutwiler was too great to be ambitious. Never but once did he con- sent to lend his name for nomination to a State office. This was for State superintendent of educa- tion in 1878. He was shocked and astonished when he learned that to win he would have to travel over the State and make speeches. He thought the office of super- intendent of education Dr. Henry Tutwiler ought to be above poli- tics. He would not make speeches in his own behalf, and he was not elected. Great as was his learning, Dr. Tutwiler was yet
*In 1866, Dr. Tutwiler discovered the new star, Coronae Borealis, and reported his discovery to Professor Joseph Henry, of the Smithsonian Institution, to Professor Stephen Alexander, of Princeton, and to other gentlemen connected with scientific institutions; but as the star was discovered on the same night by another American, a Northerner, and by two Europeans, the records have never given Dr. Tutwiler due credit for his discovery.
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THE HISTORY OF ALABAMA SCHOOLS
greater in character, and through it has left the deeper impressions upon the age. Everybody loved him, and even to this day many prominent men throughout the Southern States speak reverently and affectionately of his influence over them both in the days when they attended his school and in all the years that have since followed. He died September 22, 1884.
14. Miss Julia Tutwiler .- Dr. Tutwiler's spirit lives in his family. His daughter, Miss Julia Strud- wick Tutwiler, who is president of the Alabama Normal School at Livingston, has done more than any one else for the education of the girls of Alabama. She has used every possible influence to have the legislature appro- priate money for the benefit of boys and girls alike. She has helped to open the doors of the University and the Polytechnic Institute for the admission of women. She has given to Miss Julia Strudwick Tutwiler scores of girls the opportuni- ties of education, often lending the necessary money to worthy girls whose parents could not afford the expense of their education.
14. Other Distinguished Teachers .- Among the teachers who have nobly assisted in the cause of education in Alabame may be mentioned Bishop Robert Paine, of LaGrange College; Mrs. Stafford and her scholarly husband, who made the Alabama
Sept. 22, 1884
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ALABAMA HISTORY
Female Institute, of Tuskaloosa, a real seminary of learning; Colonel James T. Murfee, for many years the able president of Howard College; Dr. John Massey, who, after spending a few years of his young manhood in preparing students for college, became the president of Alabama Conference Female College at Tuskegee; and Dr. Thomas J. Dill, who after years of work in private and public schools, filled with much success the chair of Latin and Greek in IToward College.
SUMMARY
In the early times there were in Alabama a numer of private schools. A system of public schools organized in Mobile pro- duced such good results that by an act of the legislature in 1854 the system was extended throughout the State. To meet the demand for better teachers, normal schools have been established. In each congressional district there is an agri- cultural school. The work of the public schools is supplemented by excellent courses of study at the Polytechnic Institute, the University, the Girls' Industrial School, and at the denomina- tional schools.
QUESTIONS
1. In what ways was interest in schools shown by early set- tlers ? 2. Name some of the first private schools that were established. 3. Give an account of the beginning of the public school system. 4. What caused the establishment of normal schools, and where are they located? 5. How many agricultural schools are there, and what work are they doing? 6. Describe the improvement in the public school system. 7. Sketch the history of the Polytechnic Institute; the Medical College; the University. 8. Name some of the principal denominational schools. 9. Give a sketch of Dr. Tutwiler; of Miss Julia Tutwiler. 10. Name other distinguished teachers that have assisted the cause of education in Alabama.
Seth Smith Mellen
CHAPTER XXVII*
PROFESSOR SETH SMITH MELLEN (1821-1893)
1. Influence of Great Teachers .- In all ages great teachers have been very influential in moulding national character. Socrates taught Plato, Plato taught Aristotle, Aristotle taught Alexander, and Alexander conquered the world.
This country has been peculiarly blessed by having the learned scholars of the older States to educate its boys and girls. These in turn have passed into
*The author gives this chapter as a typical illustration and description of the old private academies, as well as a tribute to the memory of a distinguished teacher.
[245]
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newer sections, where they have implanted lessons of truth and morality, and guided the youth to knowledge and success.
Feb. 7, 1321
2. Early Life .- Professor Seth Smith Mellen was born in Pelham, Massachusetts, and was graduated from Williams College in 1843 during the presidency of Dr. Mark Hopkins. He was deeply impressed by the sentiments and spirit of that remarkable edu- cator. Leaving the home of his birth, he began teaching in Georgia. Hle afterward removed to Pierce's Springs in Mississippi, where he taught for many years, and won a reputation as a scholar, a Christian gentleman, and a successful instructor and guide of youth.
3. Pierce's Springs School .- His Pierce's Springs School was established on the English boarding- plan. The boys were taken into his home, and formed a part of his family. They gathered about him after the lessons and sports of the day to share in social conversation, to receive his advice and blessings at evening prayers, and to devote at least two hours to the preparation of the lessons for the next day.
Pupils committed to his care had the advantage of the boundless woods for hunting, the clear streams for swimming and fishing, the quietude of country for study, native fruits of woods and orchards, plenty of wholesome food, pure drinking water, a scholarly teacher, and his devoted Christian wife. All of these things contributed to "the harmonious development of the body, soul, and brain" of his pupils. The boys loved him, and when they returned
247
1869
PROFESSOR SETH SMITH MELLEN
to their homes after a session in the school, their homefolks and friends could understand that a great master had been forming their habits and training their minds.
4. Removal to Mount Sterling .- During the sum- mer season of 1869, Professor Mellen arranged to open the fall session of his school in Mount Sterling, a village in Choctaw county, Alabama. Mount Ster- ling had been noted for its excellent schools. Pro- fessor George F. Mellen, Dr. John Massey, Miss O. C. DuBose, and other prominent teachers had given it reputation as a center of learning. It was not so quiet then as now, but it was far from the madding noise of large cities. The people in it were intel- ligent and most of them were prosperous. The pretty homes, the good society, the active churches, the wide-awake merchants, the business enterprise, and the thriving farms surrounding it invited schools.
The coming of Professor Mellen, with his inter- esting family, into the Alabama village was attended with more than courteous welcome. Many of his former pupils were there, and they greeted him with affection akin to that with which children greet a father. The public joined in their joyous gladness. Congratulations poured from near and far upon fortunate Mount Sterling.
The school opened in September. It filled rap- idly. Both boys and girls were admitted. They came from Mobile, from Choctaw, Sumter, Marengo, Washington, and Clarke counties, from Mississippi and Arkansas. Life and laughter, study and fun,
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ALABAMA HISTORY
such as come only in school days, were there in abundance.
5. Respect and Admiration of His Pupils .- Pro- fessor Mellen had long experience in leading the young into culture and learning. He commanded their unbounded respect, while his agreeable manner and delightful conversation won their confidence. ITe possessed fine common sense to balance his learn- ing, a manly way of acting that infused its charm into others, and a confidence in boys that cultivated their highest self-respect. They strove to be what they supposed he thought them. They played pranks that often gave him annoyance and pain, but he never failed to pass over the unpleasant places with dignity and firmness, and at the same time he left the impression that he believed in the better nature of boys. This made him dear to them. It falls but seldom to the lot of a teacher to be so admired and loved by his pupils.
6. Success as Business Man and Teacher .- In pri- vate business Dr. Mellen was successful. He loved the company of his friends and often had them to enjoy with him and his family the comforts and luxuries of his home. He gave liberally for charity. His interest in politics and the country's welfare was in sympathy with that of his neighbors, and he enjoyed their full respect and cordial esteem.
As an educator he must be considered with mas- ters whose great services in teaching have helped to encourage young men to act nobly and live for good to the world. His pupils have striven to acquire knowledge and to rise to high positions. Among
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PROFESSOR SETH SMITH MELLEN
them may be found preachers, teachers, college presi- dents, lawyers, legislators, doctors, merchants, and farmers. Whatever they have engaged to do, they have done it the better for having been taught and trained by him.
7. School at Mount Sterling .- Not long after set- tling in Mount Sterling, Professor Mellen bought near the town a beautiful home, known as the Wiley Coleman Place. He continued the boarding regula- tions as at Pierce's Springs. The boarders occupied cabins which stood in a grove in the rear of his dwelling. A one-room cabin with a large, old-time fireplace, and separated by twenty or thirty feet from adjacent cabins, held from two to four boys, according to its size and fitness. There was one double cabin. Back of these cabins was a large body of woods that afforded comfort and freedom. A small farm furnished field products, and a large garden and orchard supplied vegetables and fruits.
Professor Mellen had travelled a great deal, and he knew many distinguished people. He was him- self a most entertaining host. His conversations were learned and wise, witty and humorous. His manners were cordial and sincere. Good company, music, and books constantly aided him and his family in contributing to the uplifting of his board- ers.
The author, who has had many years of experience and observation in schools, has never seen another teacher who could get as much work out of boys with as little effort as did Professor Mellen. He knew them well and sympathized with them. His
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ALABAMA HISTORY
management of them was such that there was rarely any serious friction in his school. Ambition and honor were inducements to study and the guides to conduct. The spirit of honor and sympathy among his pupils was admirable.
8. Courses of Study .- In the courses of study* especial attention was given to English, the mathe- matics, Latin, and Greek. The lighter courses had but little sympathy. The study of a few subjects enabled pupils to be very thorough, and aroused interest that could not be secured by other systems. Indifferent students attended the school, but they were at a discount. All grades were admitted, but the hard study and the thorough work *required tended to keep out the very elementary courses. Young men usually came to take up advanced studies and to prepare for business or college.
Great stress was put on grammar, rhetoric, and declamation. Grammar and rhetoric were dili-
*The principal text-books in English were Brown's Grammar and Quackenbos's Rhetoric.
The Latin course embraced Andrews' & Stoddard's Grammar, Andrews' Reader, four books of Caesar's Gallic War, six books of Vergil's Aeneid and all the Bucolics and Georgies, six Orations of Cicero, Horace entire, Juvenal's Satires, Sallust, and more if there was time for it.
The course in Greek embraced Harkness' First Book, Bullion's and Goodwin's Grammars, Arnold's Reader, four books of . Xeno- phon's Anabasis, three books of Homer's Iliad, portions of Herodotus, Cyropaedia, De Corona, and other works if time allowed.
Mathematics included Robinson's Progressive Higher Arith- metic and University Algebra, Davies' Legendre, and Robinson's Surveying and Navigation.
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PROFESSOR SETH SMITH MELLEN
gently studied year in and year out. The afternoon of every other Friday was devoted to the reading of compositions and to "speaking." The public was invited on these days, and the presence of visiting ladies and gentlemen was a stimulant to make the pupils do their best.
The instruction in Latin did not embody the drill of to-day in translating English into Latin, but it gave a taste for the literature which made the study a pleasure. The students could take a Latin author and change his language into pure English; and they did it, not with groans and sighs and protests, but with a gladness springing from love of the litera- ture and its contained thought. Latin was to them a mine of rich mental treasures, from which they gathered information regarding the history, the habits, the thoughts, the religion, and the senti- ments of the Romans and the other nations living in the same time with them. .
The methods and purposes of the course in Greek were similar to those in Latin. In mathematics a very thorough drill in arithmetic and algebra was given.
9. Close of the Session .- About the first of July the session closed with two or three days of public examinations, a big public dinner, compositions, and speeches. The girls were as smart and pretty as could be found anywhere, and read their composi- tions as sweetly as girls ever could read them. They of course swept the whole range of poetry, music, philosophy, science, and nature.
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ALABAMA HISTORY
The speeches formed an important part of the clos- ing exercises. Demosthenes practiced speaking on the seashore; Cicero practiced in his quiet home in Tus' cu lum; but the boys in this school practiced in the woods and in the Academy. Two or more would go together over the hills and declaim and criticise pieces that had been selected. When a youthful orator appeared on the stage before the public, he was inspired by the sentiments and spirit of the author from whose writings his selection had been taken. It seemed to him as if the walls and ceiling lifted away, and that his discussion of the mightiest problems of State and nation commanded the breathless attention of a distinguished company . of noted statesmen. He uttered the eloquent argu- ments of some great orator of the past as if the words were born in his own brains.
10. Later Life .- Professor Mellen spent a few years in college work as co-president of Tuskaloosa Female College, but he rightly concluded that his best work was with young men who wished to make . studies the stepping-stones to higher things.
In recognition of his abilities and scholarship the University of Alabama conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws.
May 30, 1893
He died on May 30, 1893, and is buried in Liv- ingston, where he spent the last ten years of his life. Beside him sleep the remains of his devoted wife, whom the boys loved for her tender kindnesses and gentle courtesies.
11. The Old Schools and the New .- The restless spirit of the present age has questioned the merits
1882
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PROFESSOR SETH SMITH MELLEN
of education acquired in the old academies, and has substituted a new order in the courses of study. Many changes are still being demanded, and only through the test of years will be discovered the proper system of education. Regardless of these facts, it cannot be denied that, in order to establish the highest standard of excellence in our schools, they must be guided by men whose hearts and brains and habits are such as to lead them in the footsteps of such friends and counsellors of youth as was Dr. Seth Smith Mellen.
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