Biographical and historical memoirs of Mississippi, embracing an authentic and comprehensive account of the chief events in the history of the state and a record of the lives of many of the most worthy and illustrious families and individuals, Vol. II, Part 47

Author: Goodspeed Brothers
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, Goodspeed
Number of Pages: 1314

USA > Mississippi > Biographical and historical memoirs of Mississippi, embracing an authentic and comprehensive account of the chief events in the history of the state and a record of the lives of many of the most worthy and illustrious families and individuals, Vol. II > Part 47

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The Sligo academy, of Wilkinson county was incorporated November 20, 1821; John B. Posey and seven others being incorporators and trustees.

Brevost's academy was established at Natchez in 1822. Mr. Brevost employed the cel - ebrated naturalist, John J. Audubon, to teach drawing.

The Lancastrian academy was in operation in Natchez in 1825.

Mr. A. Kinsey conducted an academy for young ladies in the same city at the same time.

Cicero Jefferson and Alva Farnsworth kept a classical school on Main street, in Natchez, in 1825, and it had an evening-school feature.

The Flower Hill academy was incorporated in 1825, but the statute does not name the location of the school

Fox academy, a boardingschool for girls, was opened near Woodville, in March, 1826, by the Rev. James A. Fox, an Episcopalian clergyman. His wife assisted. The school con- tinued a number of years.

Burroughs seminary was opened at Woodville in 1826, by three sisters: Hannah, Cor- nelia A., and Caroline M. Burroughs. It was a boardingschool for girls. Music and dancing were taught. A popular and useful school for, at the least, ten years.

The Port Gibson academy was incorporated in 1826, under the name of Clinton academy. The name was changed by an amendatory act in 1829. Who first had it in charge is not known. In 1835 the principals of the female branch were E. A. and S. Royce. In 1838 it was under the presidency of a Mr. Smith, who was "an experienced teacher and a graduate of Brown university." He was assisted by his wife and two others. The senior course embraced mineralogy, geology, trigonometry, mensuration, astronomy (including astronomical calculations), political economy, mental and moral philosophy, logic, elocution, analogy, sacred history, Latin, Greek, French and German. There were art and music depart- ments on a considerable scale. In 1840 Mr. Smith was succeeded by Prof. George P. Strong, just from Mississippi college. The school seems to have failed about the year 1844.

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The Mississippi college. The foundation of this institution was laid in 1826 by the incorporation of the Hampstead academy, located at Mt. Salus (now Clinton). It is note- worthy as being the first school of a successful character established in the territory acquired by the treaty at Doak's Stand, by which the Choctaws ceded the country lying, roughly speaking, between the south boundary of Hinds and the north boundary of Holmes, the east boundary of Rankin and the Mississippi river. The school was, at first, a village school, the fruit of private enterprise. It began work in January, 1827. In February its name was changed to the Mississippi academy, and the state granted to it for five years from February, 1825, the rents of the seminary lands. At this time Mr. G. F. Hopkins was principal, and there were over thirty pupils. Males and females had separate rooms. The classics, higher mathematics, with their practical applications, chemistry, astronomy, rhetoric, etc., were taught. In 1829, Daniel Comfort was president; there were about ninety pupils; and the state lent the institution $5,000 for the purpose of erecting buildings. In 1830 the name was changed to the Mississippi college; two handsome buildings were completed, one for boys and one for girls. In June, 1832, there was a grand commencement, and two young ladies, Miss Lucinda F. Bagley, of Covington, La., and Miss Caroline H. Couluer, of Vicks- burg, graduated, and received degrees. The president delivered a baccalaureate. The first degrees conferred in this state, therefore, were conferred on women. In 1834 the college was organized into two distinct departments, one for each sex; each with a distinct faculty, but under a common president. In 1835 and 1836, the male branch was under I. N. Shep- herd and E. W. F. Sloane. It was thriving. The teachers claimed their course of study to be of the best. They delivered public lectures on natural philosophy and chemistry every Friday evening. The female branch was under Mrs. Thayer (late of Elizabeth Female academy), and a Miss Parker. Until October, 1836, however, there was no president. Prof. E. N. Elliott, of the Indiana university, was then engaged, and there was a complete change of faculties. President Elliott took personal charge of the male department with two pro- fessors.

The female department was placed under Profs. Henry and George P. Strong and Mrs. Sarah K. P. Failes, as associate principals, with three assistants. At this time the institution became involved financially. Unable to meet its engagements to the professors of the male department, they resigned in November, 1837. Toward the end of 1839, Professor Strong gave up the female branch, and both departments were then placed under Prof. H. Dwight, then lately from the University of Louisiana, who was assisted by his wife and a Miss Potter. After an unsuccessful attempt, in 1841, to negotiate for the adoption of the college by the Methodists for their Centenary college (then in the process of establishment), it was placed, in 1842, under the fostering care of the Clinton presbytery. A strong faculty was then organized: Rev. Alexander Campbell, former president of Sharon academy, was president; assisted, in the male branch, by Rev. Robert McLain, Rev. C. Parish, Dr. E. Pickett and U. W. Moffit; in the female branch, by Miss H. E. Gillespie. For some years the college did well. Iu July, 1845, Mr. M. A. Foute, of Jackson, received the degree of bachelor of arts, and is therefore the first male graduate of this institution. At this time the Rev. A. Newton, an educator of high standing and great experience, was in charge of the female department with two assistants. In 1846 the Rev. P. Cotton was president. He was followed, in 1848, by the Rev. C. Parish. Again financial troubles arose and the college began to decline. Whereupon, in July, 1850, the presbytery surrendered their control over it. In the following November the property was transferred to the Mississippi Baptist state convention, and in the same fall, the first session under that management was opened. The female feature was

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dropped. It did not at first aspire to be considered a college. Mr. I. N. Urner was made principal. Eighty-four students were enrolled, and the session closed with three teachers. In 1851 a movement was inaugurated to secure au endowment of $100,000 by subscriptions. In 1853 college classes were organized, and in 1854 Mr. C. C. Granberry graduated, the first . under the Baptist management. In 1858 the subscription to the endowment had reached $102,800, and a special subscription was started for the building of a chapel, to be used also as a church. This building was completed in 1860 at a cost of about $30,000. In that year, also, Mr. Urner was formally made president. When the war broke out some of the students and three of the professors formed the company called the Mississippi College Rifles and joined the Confederate army. A small school was continued at a heavy expense. The war was very disastrous. Not only was the endowment fund practically annihilated, but, also, the owners of the scholarships which were purchased by such parts of it as had been paid up, called for their rights of free tuition, so that receipts from that quarter were very largely prevented. However, they struggled along. In September, 1867, Dr. Walter Hillman, a graduate of Brown university, was elected president. He began with one assistant and eleven pupils. The total enrollment for the year was twenty-nine. Year by year there was improve- ment. In 1872 Dr. Hillman resigned and was succeeded by the present incumbent, Dr. W. S. Webb, a graduate of Madison university. In that year, also, another endowment subscrip- tion was started. It soon grew to about $40,000, but the financial crash of 1873 rendered it almost worthless. In 1891 a third effort was made to this end, and at last success has crowned the so persistent labor, the sum of $60,000 having been secured. The convention furnishes, from year to year, a contribution to the running expenses. This institution, after all of its interesting vicissitudes, seems to be at last on an assured basis. There are in the faculty the president, five professors, a principal and an assistant for the preparatory depart- ment. There is a high collegiate curriculum, and about two hundred and fifty pupils attend annually, while the troublesome scholarships of the date prior to the war have been all, or nearly all, surrendered.

Fayette academy-Incorporated in 1827 and organized with distinct male and female departments at Fayette, in Jefferson county. Its earliest management is now unknown, but in 1831 the male department was under the charge of Messrs. J. J. Sanford and Charles Clarke, gentlemen of collegiate training, the female department being managed by Mr. Sanford and his wife. In 1837 a Mr. Scheling and his wife assumed charge of the academy, and they were followed, in November, 1838, by Mr. Thomas Brown, Jr., of Carlisle, Penn., his wife (a French lady) and her sister. In December, 1840, the Browns left and the academy passed into the hands of Miss Ann Jenkins. She was followed, in 1842, by Rev. Mr. Morris, son and daughter. They, in turn, in 1850, by Rev. William M. Curtiss, a Methodist clergyman, then of New Orleans, whose extensive personal influence brought the academy to a measure of success it had not before known. Mr. Curtiss resigned in 1855. In 1857 the charter was amended so as to authorize the transfer of the academy to the Mississippi presbytery. This being done, Rev. Mr. Tenney was made principal. Under this arrangement the school pros- pered. There was an average attendance of about eighty boarding pupils, with the usual complement of day scholars. After the Civil war a Mr. Hay conducted the school, but it languished and he resigned. The building became dilapidated, the property passed into the hands of the county and was used for free school purposes. In 1883 it was retransferred to the presbytery, and this body, in 1884, appointed Miss Kate Wharton principal. This lady, in the following year, purchased the property and it has prospered with her. There are about sixty scholars; property worth about $20,000. This is the oldest existing female school in the state.

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The Westville academy, of Simpson county, was incorporated in 1827.

The Spring Ridge academy, of Madison county, was established in the summer of 1828 under the charge of Rev. M. Marshall. In 1830 he associated with himself the Rev. A. Newton. Apparently the first high school north of Clinton, it was incorporated in 1833.

The Natchez academy seems to have been revived in the spring of 1829. The old charter and the same building were used. It was opened in September; Rev. Isaac S. Demund, principal. Latin, Greek, French, the higher mathematics, and the usual English branches were taught. Edward Turner and John A. Quitman were members of the board of trustees. In 1832, the academy was under N. Shotwell and S. H. B. Black, as coprin- cipals; in 1833, under Mr. Black alone. It seems to have become extinct about the year 1840.

Zion Hill aca lemy, in the northern portion of Amite county, was flourishing in 1829, and before. Messrs. Borden and Taylor, Northerners, founded it, and were credited with great industry and ability. In 1839, the school was still at work, under Mr. L. E. Davess.

Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence kept a high school in Natchez in 1829.

Nathaniel Hunt kept another in the same city, at the same time.

Baldwin's seminary, a boarding school for girls, was flourishing in the same city in 1829; M. W. Baldwin was principal, assisted by the Misses Rogers and Dunlap; Mrs. Richard Walsh music teacher.

Mrs Cornell's academy, another boarding school for girls, was also kept in Natchez in 1829, by Mrs. M. F. R. L. Cornell. This lady in 1832 had associated with herself as coprincipal Mr. John H. Black, A. M. There were teachers of modern languages and of music, and a scientific apparatus.

Elvah academy was established in 1829, at Brighton, on Second creek, in Adams county. It was a flourishing and noted school for a number of years. In 1841, a Mr. John S. Mosby was principal. He was much praised. In 1848, a Mr. Cykaski was instructor in French, music, fencing and gymnastics. In June, 1850, the Rev. Joseph Brown, of Memphis, Tenn., was engaged to take charge of the mathematics and the classics, and in November of that year Mr. Mosby added a department of natural sciences.

The Pearl River academy, at Brandon, in Rankin county, was incorporated in 1829. In the year 1834, the male branch was in successful operation, and efforts were making to estab- lish a female branch. A lottery was on foot for that purpose. In 1837 and 1838 the male department was under a Mr. Boynton, who gave great satisfaction. In 1836, 1837, and until July, 1838, the female department was under Miss Cynthia A. Lovell, of Vermont (afterward Mrs. Miller). She then died, greatly regretted, and the school passed into the hands of a second Miss Lovell. In 1846, the male department was under Mr. H. H. Horner.

The Benton academy, at Benton in Yazoo county, was incorporated in 1829. This school is remarkable as being the first to be incorporated north of what is now the Vicksburg and Meridian railroad.

Levin and Bynum's academy, with male and female departments, was opened in Wood- ville, May 10th 1830, by Lewis C. Levin, afterward a member of congress from Pennsylvania. In April, 1831, he associated Mr. Alfred Bynum, afterward editor of the Woodville Republican. Levin retired in August, and the school seems to have suspended for a period. It was revived in 1833, and was conducted through two years, perhaps longer.

The Brandon academy was flourishing in 1830, near Fort Adams in Wilkinson county. It was a noted and useful school. Mr. John J. Michie was principal; followed in July, 1832, by the Rev. Samuel R. Bertron. This was a sixteenth section school, named in honor of

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Governor Brandon; a boardingschool. In the years 1834 and 1835, James O. H. Van Vacter was principal; in 1836, the Rev. Dr. John Gibson.

The Hampden academy, of Raymond, Hinds county, was incorporated in 1830.

The Union academy, of Jefferson county, was incorporated in 1830.

The Marion academy, of Wilkinson county, was also incorporated in that year.

Oakland college, located in Claiborne county, was established in 1830, mainly through the efforts of the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Chamberlain. It was under the care of the Mississippi presbytery. Dr. Chamberlain was the first president. It opened May 14th as a mere grammar school, with three pupils; but at the end of the session there were sixty-five, two of whom were sophomores and five freshmen. Mr. John Chamberlain gave instruction in mathematics and English. In 1831 a charter was obtained, as the institution of learning, under the care of the Mississippi presbytery. The first commencement was held in 1883, and Mr. James M. Smiley, afterward vice chancellor of the state, received an A. B., being the first man to take a degree at any institution in this state. The principal object of Oakland col- lege was to educate young men for the ministry. Dr. John Ker, son of the Rev. David Ker, secretly denoted the sum of $25,000 for the endowment of a theological professorship; and in 1837 the Rev. Zebulon Butler was made temporary professor. In a short time the Rev. S. Beach Jones, of New Jersey, was elected to that chair. This professorship was continued only until 1841, but during that time many young men entered, by its aid, not only the Presby- terian ministry, but also that of other denominations. In 1839 the college was transferred to the synod of Mississippi, under which management it remained until the year 1871. At this time the college was very prosperous. It owned two hundred and fifty acres of land; there were three professors' houses, fifteen cottages, a main building of three stories in the course of erection, an apparatus which had cost $1,500, a library of one thousand volumes, two socie- ties' libraries of three thousand volumes more, and an endowment subscription of $100,000. Improvements were made from time to time, until it became one of the handsomest and most equipped institutions of its period in the South. In September, 1851, Dr. Chamberlain was killed. The Rev. R. L. Stanton, D. D., succeeded him. The faculty at this time was composed of five members; one thousand youths had attended the different sessions, and of them one hundred and twenty had graduated. The Rev. James Purviance followed Dr. Stanton as president; and he, in turn, was followed in 1860 by the Rev. William L. Breck- inridge, of Kentucky. The Civil war soon terminated his service. After the cessation of hostilities the institution resumed it labors. The Rev. Joseph Calvin, D. D., was made president, but he soon died, and on that event the doors of the college were virtually closed. In 1871, because of the destruction of its resources through the calamities of war, the property of the college was sold to the state, which used it for the establishment of the Alcorn uni- versity for colored youths. The funds remaining after the payment of debts were transferred by the synod to the presbytery of Mississippi for the establishment of an institution of learn- ing; and thereupon, in 1877, the presbytery established the Chamberlain-Hunt academy, at Port Gibson. Incorporated in 1877, it was named after Dr. Chamberlain and David Hunt, one of the most generous founders of Oakland college. The first session was that of 1879. The buildings are mainly of brick, and are large and well arranged. The library has about two thousand volumes. The endowment is about $40,000. In the academic department are taught Latin, Greek, French, English, English literature, natural sciences, bookkeeping, history, and mathematics as far as, and including trigonometry and surveying. Prof. W. C. Guthrie, A. B., of Washington and Lee, is principal, and has been from the beginning. There are four other teachers, and an annual attendance of about one hundred and twenty pupils.

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Mount Carmel academy was situated at Mount Carmel, in Covington county. Founded by John Ryan, Esq., at a date not exactly known, but prior to 1830, it is remarkable as the first school of the class established in southeast Mississippi. On Mr. Ryan's death, about 1832, there was a suspension of several years; but iu 1835 it was revived, aud three build- ings, designed for the male and female departments and music hall, were erected by subscrip- tion. About this time it was conducted by Rev. W. H. Taylor, a graduate of Brown univer- sity, recommended by Doctor Wayland. On the 13th of May, 1837, it was incorporated, Samuel Hemphill and eleven others being incorporators and trustees. For two years there were seventy to eighty students. After that, a suspension for a few months caused by want of suitable teachers. In 1840, Mr. Robert C. Cohean, an able teacher and accomplished scholar, was engaged, and he conducted several prosperous sessions. About 1842, the Rev. Azariah R. Graves, a Presbyterian minister, took charge. Mr. Graves did not long maintain this school. Having determined that another locality in the same county offered better advantages, about the year 1845 Mount Carmel was finally abandoned in favor of Zion seminary, also in Covington county. In this connection, Mr. Graves deserves more than a passing notice. His was one of those admirable souls filled with a deep and fruitful sympathy for the poor and the ignorant. He was a missionary in a remote extremity of the presbytery, where schools were almost unknown. The earliest history of him now obtain- able is that, in the early winter of 1837-8, he was employed, under strong recommendations from Rev. Dr. Chamberlain, president of Oakland college. and other distinguished gentle- men, a man of unblemished character, a ripe scholar and a skillful teacher, to conduct the Monticello academy. He remained at Monticello only one year, leaving in the autumn of 1838, under the highest commendations both as teacher and minister, for a better field in the neighborhood of Gallatin, in Copiah county. At Zion, seminary buildings were erected; teachers were brought from the North, who in several instances, being ministers, combined the work of an evangelist with that of a teacher; instruction was offered upon such easy terms that all who wished could avail themselves of it; and the expenses of the institution were pro- vided for by donations solicited by Mr. Graves from benevolent patrons in all parts of the presbytery. This process was kept up for a series of years, and the good effects of it were seen in the elevation of a generation of youth, and in the general diffusion through the commu- nity of a conviction of the value of mental and religious culture. It had been Mr. Graves' hope that the school he had begun would become ultimately self-sustaining, or so well endowed as to become permanent, but this hope was frustrated by the calamities attend- ing and following the war. The institution was suspended and finally was abandoned, and Mr. Graves himself did not long survive its extinction. From the outset, he had placed Zion seminary under the care and supervision of the presbytery.

Mrs. Dunlap's academy was at work in Woodville, in the year 1831.

The Meridian Springs academy, of Hinds county, was incorporated in 1831.

W. H. Bruner and wife were conducting an academy in Vicksburg, in and before the year 1832, probably the Vicksburg institute, incorporated in 1831. Prior to 1837, they re- moved to Natchez.

Mrs. Callan's female academy was opened in Vicksburg, March, 1832.

Leigh's classical school, in Vicksburg, was established by Junius E. Leigh, in March, 1832.

The Mount Hope seminary, one and one-half miles east of Woodville, a boarding-school for girls, was opened in January, 1832, by the Misses A. and L. Calder. It was moved into Woodville, nearly opposite Baptist church, in 1836, and was called the Wilkinson Female seminary. A solid and lasting school, it was still at work in 1849.

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Marshall's classical school for both sexes was opened in Wilkinson county, in 1832, by the Rev. Mr. M. Marshall, formerly of Spring Ridge academy, Madison county.

Mrs. Stark's boarding school for girls was at work in Woodville in 1832; probably continued into, or through 1835.

The Gallatin male and female academies at Gallatin in Copiah county. The female academy was incorporated in 1833; the male academy in 1836. In 1839, the female academy, taught in the Masonic hall, was prospering under the government of a Mrs. Speer, late from Natchez; the male academy, with a building of its own, under a Mr. Monfort.

The Oak Ridge academy, in Warren county, was opened, for girls exclusively, in 1833. Mr. and Miss Goddard opened a sixteenth section school of high grade, for both sexes, in Warren county, in 1833.

Bristol and Featherston were conducting a classical school in Vicksburg, in 1833.

The Pearl River academy, of Madison county, was incorporated in 1833. A good school, of a long career. It was at work in 1846, under the charge of J. W. Dana.

The Yazoo academy, of Benton, in Yazoo county, was incorporated in 1833. It had a long and chequered career. In 1842 the female department was under charge of Mrs. A. Goodrich and Miss Healy, Mr. Alfred Goodrich professor of music; the male department was under Mr. John Fulton, late of Kentucky. In the fall Mr. Fulton was succeeded by a Mr. Campbell; and a Mr. Keeparis appears as classical teacher and assistant in physical sciences. When the county seat was removed to Yazoo City, about 1850, the old courthouse was donated for school uses. In 1864 the schoolhouse and boardinghouse were destroyed by the Federal army; rebuilt since, by private enterprise, but on a reduced scale. Merged in the Benton high school, chartered in 1883 through efforts of Prof. J. G. Wooten, then principal. Present principal, C. D. Thompson; annual attendance about ninety ; and confers degrees.

The Judson institute was remarkable for two reasons: it was the first appearance of the Baptists in the educational work, and of the manual labor plan. The movement was inaug- urated by the Baptists of Hinds county, and perhaps of other counties, in March, 1835. In May, 1837, upward of $135,000 had been subscribed, and between $6,000 and $7,000 had been collected. A tract of land containing more than six hundred acres had been purchased a farm was going on, and the institution was ready for the reception of students. Provision was made for the education of pious young men for the ministry. The institute had been incorporated in the year previous, and the location was at Spring Ridge, near Palestine church, five miles south of Raymond, in Hinds county. It was not a convention school, but belonged to an independent society styled the Mississippi Baptist Education society. S. S. Lattimore was its first financial agent, and L. B. Holloway the first teacher and presi- dent. In November, 1838, Mr. Holloway had been succeeded by Rev. W. H. Taylor, a graduate of Brown university, who had taught successfully at Mt. Carmel. The farm, it seems, had been purchased in part on credit. 1839 efforts were making to sell residence lots to persons desirous of living at the institute to educate their children; the proceeds to be devoted to paying for the farm, and in part to the erection of suitable buildings. In 1839, the location in Hinds county was abandoned, and the institution moved to Middleton, in Carroll county, Mr. Taylor continuing a classical school at the old site, under the name of Taylor's institute. The move to Middleton did not produce the good results hoped for. There seems to have been an indifference to the institution which was fatal. The great financial disasters of 1837-40 apparently prevented the collection of any great part of the subscriptions which had been made. An attempt of the convention of 1842 to adopt the

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Biographical and historical memoirs of Mississippi, embracing an authentic and comprehensive account of the chief events in the history of the state and a record of the lives of many of the most worthy and illustrious families and individuals, Vol. II, Part 47

Author: Goodspeed Brothers Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Chicago, Goodspeed Number of Pages: 1314

Author: Goodspeed Brothers
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, Goodspeed
Number of Pages: 1314