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 51

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 51

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Madison college was established at Sharon, in Madison county, in 1851, by Dr. Thomas C. Thornton and Professor Pugh, in response to an invitation extended by the citizens of that village. It was conducted at first in a frame building formerly used for a hotel; but soon a good brick house was built at an outlay of $5,000. The faculty was shortly after the opening enlarged, and was composed of Dr. Thornton, president and professor of moral and intellectual science and sacred literature; Rev. J. M. Pugh, vice president and professor of mathematics, natural philosophy and astronomy; H. W. Pierce, professor of English litera- ture; Rev. W. L. C. Hunnicutt, professor of ancient languages; J. C. Pitchford, principal of the preparatory department; Wm. H. Hartwell, professor of music. During the most pros- perous period, from 1852 to 1859, the annual attendance of pupils was about one hundred and fifty, of whom about two-thirds were usually in the college proper. In March, 1860, President Thornton died. He was succeeded by Professor Pugh, but in December he re- signed to take the presidency of Centenary college, and was followed by Professor Pierce. After the interruption of the late Civil war, the college was reopned in 1866, Rev. Harvey W. Johnson president. In 1867 President Johnson left to take charge of Whitworth college, and was followed, in 1868, by Dr. Hunnicutt. At this time Rev. Charles B. Galloway was a professor there. In 1870 Dr. Hunnicutt was succeeded by Dr. Pugh again. In 1872 the institution suspended finally, for want of endowment and patronage.

The Yalobusha Baptist Female institute was founded in 1851, by the Yalobusha Baptist association. For its accommodation the existing edifice was erected at a cost of $30,000. The Rev. Dr. W. S. Webb, now president of Mississippi college, was its president. He con- ducted it successfully for six years, when he was followed by Mr. George Granberry. It continued to prosper until the outbreak of the war, when it met the common fate of suspen- sion. After the war ceased the property was sold for debt and was purchased by Geo. W. Ragsdale, who refitted it and leased it to Mrs. Holcombe in 1867. She opened then the Emma Mercer institute. After several years she failed and was followed by Prof. R. A. Irwin. He did well, having about eighty pupils. In 1875 the property was again sold for the debts of its owner, and it was purchased by a joint-stock company of citizens, who changed its name to the Grenada female college. Rev. D. D. Moore was made president. In 1879 he was followed by Dr. N. T. Scruggs, and he, in 1881, by Rev. Dr. T. C. Weir. In 1882 the property was purchased at a low price by the North Mississippi conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and the Rev. Thomas J. Newell made president. He has filled that place ever since. A charter was obtained in 1884 as the Grenada Collegiate insti- tute. The faculty embraces eight teachers in addition to the president. The annual at- tendance is about one hundred and seventy-five. The alumni number to date is twenty-two.

The Hernando Male seminary was incorporated under the general laws of the state about the year 1852. Stock to the amount of $6,000 or $7,000 was subscribed, and a suit- able building of six or seven rooms, including two large study halls, erected. A good school was maintained until 1861, patronized by the surrounding counties. In 1866 the building was burned, but the school was continued under Rev. S. I. Reid, and in 1867 the house was rebuilt. The Rev. J. W. Tipsey then took charge, under a lease. He was followed in 1869 by R. N. J. Wilson. The school was finally displaced by the free-schools, under the system of 1870.

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The Coffeeville academy was established in 1852, chartered under the general laws of the state. Miss Margaret Stein conducted it until 1854, when she was succeeded by the Rev. R. S. Thomas, of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, with Misses Ingles and Patton assistants. In 1856 Mr. Thomas retired, and the ladies conducted the school until 1857, when Prof. Eli G. Burney, A. B. of the university, took it. He was followed by Miss Bettie Martin, who kept it until the war broke it up entirely.

Enon high school, located in the central-western portion of Perry county, was incorpo- rated in 1852. It was in operation about ten years, with a yearly attendance of about one hundred, and did great good for that portion of the state.

The Kosciusko Masonic Female college, at Kosciusko, Attala county, was incorporated in 1852. Mrs. Tilton, from New York, was principal; succeeded by Prof. Hatfield. Assist- ants were employed as needed. Attendance about seventy-five, mostly local. No endow- ment, but occasionally aided by the Masons. During the war, and later, it was presided over by the Rev. J. H. Alexander, assisted by Mrs. West and Mrs. Thompson, daughters of Rev. John N. Waddel. Situated on a desirable lot, and with three good houses (one of brick), in 1870 the Masonic fraternity sold it to the public school officials for $4,000, and it became, and now is, one of the separate district schools.

Newton college, located in Wilkinson county, was about one-fourth of a mile from New- ton institute. It was established in 1852, for youngmen; incorporated in 1854. Dr. Phares was president until 1859, and then Prof. Alexander Ellett, who continued until the school ceased to exist, which was in 1861. William Baxter, F. H. Rislay, J. H. McKay, H. Kirk Baxter, and others, served as professors. A number of gentlemen were educated at this col- lege, some becoming distinguished in the learned professions.

The Central Female institute, located at Clinton, in Hinds county, was founded in 1853, under the patronage of the Baptist church. Its first president was Prof. William Duncan. He was soon followed by the Rev. Walter Hillman, who has remained in charge until the present time. The attendance of pupils has averaged about one hundred and twenty per annum, and it is now completing its thirty-seventh year of uninterrupted work; the late Civil war causing no suspension. President Hillman has six assistants in his faculty. There are two large dormitories, a variety of smaller buildings detached, and a very handsome main building completed within the year. The equipment of apparatus and specimens for illus- tration of the sciences is exceptionally fine.

The Summerville institute, located at Summerville, in Noxubee county, was established in 1853, as a private enterprise, by Thomas S. Gathright, from Alabama. With two or three assistants each year, Professor Gathright maintained an unusually fine school for many years. The yearly attendance was about eighty, the expenses about $200. About 1877 Professor Gathright moved to Texas, and the school was abandoned. Many of the best men in the state received education there.

The St. Stanislaus Commercial college, located at Bay St. Louis, in Hancock county, was established in 1855, by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, of the Catholic church. Pleasantly located on the shore of Mississippi sound, and the buildings spacious. The special object of the institution is to prepare young men for a mercantile life. At first the attendance was small, but soon it grew large, and students came from the surrounding states. During the late war, efforts were made to continue the work, but a suspension was forced by the drift of events. Labor was resumed when peace came. There was no endowment. The members of the society contributed the means ueeded to erect buildings, etc. At first, there were three professors for the commercial department, but it soon became necessary to appoint

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two others. Incorporated in 1870. The course of study is divided into four grades. The highest includes geometry, with applications to drawing and mensuration, trigonometry, sur- veying, navigation, astronomy, conic sections, calculus, physics, chemistry and commercial law. There are nine professors. The attendance has averaged about one hundred and fifty per annum.

The Warren Female institute, located at Oxford, Lafayette county, was founded about 1855, by Mrs. Harper, wife of the professor of agriculture and geology in the university. She was followed by Miss Sallie Giles; and she by Miss Hull, now Mrs. Smither, of Oxford; and she, by Miss Lewis, in whose hands it was well attended, and tided over the criti- cal period of the Civil war. During all this time it made but little pretension beyond that of a good grammar school, but about 1870, a Mrs. Hays took charge, elevated the course and did much toward its improvement. She was succeeded by the Misses Miller. In 1880 Mrs. C. A. Lancaster, the present owner and principal, from Virginia, took the school. She still further elevated the grade, gave it the present name, and it was incorporated in 1882. An excellent school; buildings, a two-story framed structure, with accommodations for twenty-five lodgers.

The Odd Fellows' Female college, located at Carrollton, in Carroll county, was opened under the auspices of the Odd Fellows in 1857. The first principal was J. Smith Colmery. Provided with a fine lot of about three acres and a commodious framed building of three stories. The school was at once successful. In 1859 there were one hundred and thirty pupils. After varying fortunes of prosperity, decadence and suspension, and several changes of ownership, it is now flourishing in the hands of the Rev. Z. T. Leavell, a Baptist minister.

The Vernal Springs Male and Female academy, located in the south central part of Greene county, was founded and incorporated in 1860; J. B. Smith, principal; Kate Smith, assistant. Its career, though brief, was prosperous. Average attendance, about fifty; about one-fifth boarders. There was a small patronage from Alabama and Texas.

The Woodville Female academy, located at Woodville, Wilkinson county, was founded in 1860, by the liberality of Hon. Edward McGehee, who donated the land and erected the buildings at his own cost. The building was not completed when the war broke out, but a small school was taught in it, Professor Holcombe, principal. In October, 1865, the academy proper was opened. It was a Methodist church school, and the Rev. W. T. J. Sullivan was principal, with eight lady assistants. The academy was quite prosperous at first, drawing patronage from Louisiana as well as from Mississippi; but in the fall of 1867 an epidemic of yellow fever caused a back-set from which it never entirely recovered. Dr. Sullivan retired in 1870. Since then the school has led a rather precarions existence. Its name has recently been changed to Edward McGehee college, and under the presidency of the Rev. H. Walter Featherston a larger future is promising. The buildings cost about $10,000; and the property is now worth about that amount.

The following additional academies, many of them of great merit, were incorporated at this time:

1856. Oak Bowery academy, unknown; Byhalia Male academy, Marshall county ; Oko- lona Male academy, Chickasaw county; Canaan Male and Female academy, Tippah county; Mississippi Masonic Female college, Claiborne county; Calhoun institute (Macon), Noxubee county; Eastport Female institute, Tishomingo county; Okolona Female institute, Chicka- saw county; Amite Female seminary, Amite county.

1858. Semple Broadus college (Baptist), De Soto county.

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MEMOIRS OF MISSISSIPPI.

1860. Brandon State Military institution, Rankin county; Aberdeen Masonic Male high school, Monroe county; Amite County Female academy (Liberty), Amite county; Will- ard Male and Female academies, De Soto county; Masonic Female seminary (Mount Pleasant), Marshall county; Yazoo Educational association, Yazoo county.

Whitworth female college, located at Brookhaven, in Lincoln county, was founded in 1859, by Rev. M. J. Whitworth, a Methodist preacher. It was incorporated in 1860, and opened in the spring of that year, under Rev. J. P. Lee as president. A frame building was erected, at a cost of about $15,000. In June, 1861. President Lee because of the war, resigned, and the school was suspended until April, 1862. It was then reopened, with Rev. E. L. Crosby president. In the following July, however, Mr. Crosby died, and the buildings were then used for a hospital until the close of the war. In January, 1865, the Rev. George F. Thompson was elected, and conducted the school with moderate success until 1867. In April, of this year, Rev. Harvey W. Johnson, then president of Madison college, was elected, and under him the college had extraordinary success. He repaired the property, paid off a debt of $2,800 and built the chapel and music hall, at a cost of $8,500. In 1878 a handsome brick dormitory, valued at $15,000, was erected, and in 1883 a commodious brick main build- ing, worth about $20,000. This valuable property, erected from the earnings of the school, with some generous assistance from others, was by President Johnson donated to the confer- ence. In August, 1886, Dr. Johnson died, and Prof. Lewis T. Fitzhugh, principal of the high school of the university, was elected to succeed him. Under this gentleman the school has greatly prospered. The annual attendance is about two hundred and fifty pupils. There is a conservatory of music. organized on a large scale, with about two hundred pupils. The faculty in the college embraces seven teachers, besides the president. That in the conserva- tory embraces six others. There is also an art department. The alumni are three hundred and fifty-five in number.

The suspension of hostilities at the close of the late Civil war was immediately followed by a resumption of labor in the field of education.

Cooper Normal college, located at Daleville, in Lauderdale county, was established in 1865, under the name of the Spring Hill Male and Female academy, by the Rev. J. L. Cooper. It was a private enterprise. The property was worth about $5,000; there was no endow- ment. The library contained about two thousand volumes. Mr. Cooper was assisted by three able teachers. In 1873 the institution was chartered as the Cooper institute. There were then seven assistants, three thousand volumes in the library and about one hundred and sixty pupils, coming from four states. The museum contained about three thousand speci- mens, and there was a fine illustrative apparatus. A three-months' commercial course had been organized. In 1SS5 the institute passed into the hands of Prof. Thomas T. McBeath, and in 1886 was incorporated anew, as the Cooper Normal college. There are five assistants. There are five courses of study: The literary, the scientific, the classic, the languages and literature, the commercial and technical. The last includes bookkeeping and business forms, shorthand, typewriting, telegraphy and engineering. There is also a department of peda- gogics; also one of music and fine arts; average attendance about one hundred and seventy- five per annum; that for the year 1888-9 was two hundred and fifty; total graduates, about two hundred and fifty; property, one hundred and ninety-two acres of land, three large two- story frame buildings and six cottages; library. about forty-five hundred volumes.

The Meridian Female college was established in 1865, and ran a successful career of many years, and the Newton female academy, of Crystal Springs, was founded at the same time and incorporated.

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In 1866 were incorporated the following academies: St. Joseph's School for Females at Natchez (Catholic); Pass Christian college, in Harrison county; East Mississippi Female college, at Aberdeen, and the Franklin Masonie high school, at Meadville.

The University of Columbus, located at Columbus, was established in 1867, by Profs. Thaddeus C. Belsher and George B. McClelland, under the name of the Columbus Male high- school. An effort was made to raise the standard of scholarship above that of the schools of the country then in existence. In 1873 a charter was obtained under the present name. This was the most prosperous period of the school. In 1875 there were one hundred and twenty-two students, from four different states, five professors, a collegiate department and a commercial course. Since that time there has been a shrinkage in patronage. There is now only one teacher. The library contains two thousand volumes, and the building is the old Methodist church, a handsome brick structure;

The State Teachers' association was organized at Jackson in January, 1867. An earlier organization had been effected in the year 1838, which continued during four years. The association of 1867 was, therefore, the second. Its second meeting was in July, 1867, also at Jackson. Forty-two teachers were present. There was discussion of the educational funds, of a system of common schools, on music in education, on the education of the negro. This organization, however, dissolved in the anxieties and troubles of the reconstruction. The meeting appointed for 1868 was never held. On Wednesday, August 8, 1877, a third organization was effected at a meeting held in Jackson for that purpose, thirty-four teachers being present, of whom four were colored. This association has continued until the present time, meeting in Jackson every year during the Christmas holidays, and discussing all sub- jects of interest to the profession. Besides the state association, three minor associations, known respectively as the East Mississippi, the Northwestern and the South Central Teach- ers' associations, have been formed.

The Stonewall institute, at Arkabutla, in De Soto county, was at work in 1867 under Prof. R. L. McElree, with two assistants.

The Oak Hill academy, in De Soto county, was flourishing at the same time, under Prof. S. S. Robinson, as also were the Horn Lake academy, under E. R. Gill; the Sylvarena insti- tute, in Smith county, under Prof. Lewis T. Fitzhugh, incorporated; the Hebron academy, in Rankin county, under R. A. Whitfield; the Union high school, at Pleasant Hill, under D. W. Bristol; the Anna Lee institute, under W. D. Howze; the Charleston seminary, in Talla- hatchie county, under W. J. Blanks, and the Fair Lawn institute, at Jackson, under the Misses Moseley, incorporated in 1871, and a most useful school for many years, besides the schools and colleges described in the chapter in Volume I of this work, and in addition, of course, to many others, the names of which have not reached the writer. In this year were incorporated, also, the Ripley institute, of Tippah county; the Live Oak academy, of Jackson county; the Bluff Spring academy, of Tippah county; the Russell institute, at Hickory, in Newton county; the Zion Hill high school, of Jefferson county; the Verona Male academy (under Prof. Richard M. Leavell, now of the state university), and the Shubuta Female institute, of Clarke county.

The Peabody public school, located at Summit, in Pike county, was established in 1868 by the joint agreement of Dr. B. Sears, general agent of the Peabody fund, and the town. The former agreed to contribute $1,000 per annum from the fund, and the latter $2,000 per annum from taxation. Rev. Charles H. Otken was elected principal; Mrs. Josephine Newton, assistant. Pupils registered the first year, one hundred and forty-two; in the second, two hundred and twenty-nine pupils and three assistants. In 1870 a charter was obtained for

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the Peabody Educational association, which erected a good building, with capacity for five hundred pupils, at a cost of $7,000. A high school feature was adopted. Students of the third session, three hundred and forty-seven, of which forty-seven were in the high school; six teachers. A full collegiate curriculum was offered. The school was adopted as a part of the general free-school system of the state, and drew some revenue from that fund. Enroll- ment for 1871-2 (fourth session), three hundred and thirty-eight, of which sixty-two were high school. A large immigration was drawn to the town by the school. Factions arose, however, and led in 1875 to the abolition of tuition fees in the high school, and a still fur- ther reduction of income. The allowance from the Peabody fund was thereupon reduced to $500. The high school was then abolished in June, 1876, and from that date the school has been conducted as an ordinary grammar school. In June, 1877, the principal's salary having been reduced from $1,200 to $800, Dr Otken resigned and established Lea Female college.

The Starkville Female institute, in Oktibbeha county, was founded in 1869 by Mr. W. B. Montgomery and the Rev. T. G. Sellers. Dr. Sellers, a Baptist minister of high cult- ure, has remained at the head of the institute from that time until now. Incorporated in 1873. Average attendance about one hundred and eighty; number of graduates, eighty- eight; value of property, about $10,000; library, about ten hundred volumes; eight assistant teachers.

The Blue Mountain Female college, at Blue Mountain, in Tippah county, was founded in 1869, by Gen. M. P. Lowrey, a prominent member of the Baptist church. It was opened in 1873; General Lowrey, principal, with two assistants. Fifty students were enrolled. From that time the school, being a favorite of the Baptists, and generously patronized by them, has steadily grown. In 1877 it was incorporated. In 1885 General Lowrey died, and was succeeded by his son, the Rev. W. T. Lowrey. The annual enrollment is now about two hundred and twenty-five, two-thirds of whom are boarders. The faculty num- ber seventeen, prominent among whom is Rev. W. E. Berry, A. M., who became at the opening of the fourth session one of the proprietors, and professor of Latin and Greek, and has done much toward the success of the school. The school property has been enlarged and improved until it is valued at $25,000. The alumni number seventy-five. Instruction is given in music, art, and various industries; and there is a library of about six hundred volumes.

The Bethlehem academy, at Holly Springs, a Catholic institution, was established as a female school in 1869, by the Sisters of Charity, from Nazareth, Ky., and has been a pros- perous and useful school until now.

The Tougaloo university, for colored youths, was founded in Madison county, on the co-educational plan, in 1869, by the American Missionary association. Designed to be an agri- cultural and mechanical school, five hundred acres of land, with buildings, were purchased and improved at an outlay of $25,000. In May, 1871, it was incorporated, and a normal depart- ment was organized. In January, 1872, this normal department was taken under the pat- ronage of the state, the annual sum of $4,000 being appropriated for the support of it. This appropriation has been continued ever since that date (reduced in amount, however), except that none was made for the years 1878 and 1879. In 1873 a theological school was added. There is a music department, a library and readingroom, and a quarterly journal is published. The graduates have been thirty-seven, of whom eleven were women. The institution has received valuable aid from the Slater fund. Its property is valued at $60,000. The present faculty consists of the Rev. Frank G. Woodworth, president, and eleven teachers.

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The common schools: At the teachers' meeting of January, 1867, resolutions were adopted, looking toward the establishment of a common school system, and of normal schools for the education of colored teachers, but the reconstruction measures interfered and stopped all action of a public character. The constitution of 1869 made it the duty of the legislature to establish a uniform system of free public schools, to be supported by taxation, or otherwise, for all children between the ages of five and twenty-one years. This injunction was obeyed by the act of July 4, 1870. Schools were ordered to be maintained for four months in each year, a state board of education was provided for, and a state superintendent of public education and a county superintendent in each county. At first there was much opposition to the system; more in some localities than in others. It was regarded as a system of taxation without representation, imposed by adventurers and plun- derers, rather for the purpose of riveting their fetters on the people of the state than for any humanitarian object. However, that opposition gradually died away. The system, with some minor alterations and adjustments of details, has been not only preserved, but even enlarged, since the democratic party regained control of the state affairs. The new constitution of 1890 devotes to the common schools all the poll taxes collected in the respect- ive counties, and such additional sum from the general funds in the state treasury as shall be necessary in order to maintain the schools for at least four months. Any county or separate school district is authorized to levy such further local taxes as may be desired for the purpose of continuing the schools beyond the four months. It is estimated that the amount needed to carry on the four months' term will be $800,000 per annum, to which must be added the further local levies for the prolonged terms. The expenditures for . common schools for the year 1888-9 aggregated $1,117,110.82. The children enrolled were: whites, one hundred and forty-eight thousand four hundred and thirty-five; colored, one hundred and seventy-three thousand five hundred and fifty-two. The teachers employed were: whites, four thousand and eighteen; colored, three thousand and ninety-seven.

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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 51

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