USA > Ohio > Butler County > Oxford > Old Miami, the Yale of the early West > Part 5
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By 1830, at any rate, there was an academy which measured up to the name. That is, it did if the traditions regarding its preceptress may be trusted. She was Miss Bethania Crocker, marvelously mature child of sixteen, who came over from Indiana and set up her little school. Her own training had come from her father, a pioneer preacher who never quite knew whether he was Congrega- tionalist or Presbyterian. But the daugh- ter-mercy me! As a baby she swal- lowed Greek and Latin with her corn- meal porridge, and pounded on the table with her spoon for more. She read all the Hebrew she could find and did higher mathematics for pastime. No cup-and- saucer courses in accomplishment for her. Her fame spread and her pro- ject flourished, drawing girls from at least three states. Then the strangest thing happened. The erudite Bethania
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smoothed the vertical wrinkles from her brow, blushed and giggled and consented like an ordinary creature, and became the wife of the Reverend George Bishop, a son of the Miami president.
A whole string of private schools fol- lowed, most of them probably of the sampler and harpsichord variety. Of preceptresses there were Miss Smith and Miss Clark, the North sisters, Miss May- hew and another Miss Clark; and good- ness knows how many more. But no one of them lasted very long. How could she? Hardly did she collect her little flock and parade with them once or twice to village worship, when some young preacher or professor, smitten to the core of his poor lonely heart, would urge her so pathet- ically to bless his life and help spend his $200 salary, that she simply could not refuse him. Finally, in the early 40's, the supply of marriageable Oxford
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schoolmistresses was for once exhausted, and the citizens realized that something desperate must be done.
At length they contributed of their humble means and put up an academy building on a small scale. By this time Doctor Scott, who had once been an im- portant factor in Miami affairs, but had retired with President Bishop to College Hill, was having notable success there with the Female Institute he was con- ducting in connection with the new Farmer's College. Being a man and married, he would run no particular risk of falling a prey to ministerial suitors. Having served his apprenticeship in the University faculty, he could be counted on to give to the girls a college training that came in men's sizes and involved some good hard work. So the citizens of Oxford invited the Scotts to return to the classic village, occupy the new build-
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ing, and create therein the Oxford Fe- male Institute. The doctor promptly complied, bringing his previous charge along with him in an omnibus, and in 1849 the new institution opened its doors. One hundred and thirty-nine students were enrolled during the first year, and the numbers continued to grow for some time thereafter.
You may be sure that none of this was lost on the keen-eyed young fellows at the other end of town. They were glad to have Doctor Scott back home again. Tradition said he was the right sort, and they welcomed him. But the welcoming process, when applied to seven score demure and rosy lassies, was a matter for careful, if not prayerful, consideration. On one point Adam was certain. He was immensely pleased with Eve on first inspection, and found no fault with the alliance. Then every fel-
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low proceeded to supply himself with giddier waistcoats and tighter boots, to toss the long locks back from his fore- head in a Byronic fashion, and to prac- tice fetching postures and languishing glances before the broken mirror when his room-mate was not in. Courage grew with familiarity, as acquaintance ripened into friendship. Soon the shrewd and wiry doctor was kept busy directing his charges where their little feet should travel; and many a time his ready walk- ing-stick did service tapping some over- gallant swain back to a crushed and sheepish state of self-consciousness.
In all this searching of young souls, Doctor Scott's attractive daughter Caro- line was by no means left in the back- ground. Plump and petite, with a jolly twinkle in her sharp eyes, and a bitter little tongue in her head, Carrie more than divided honors with her father's
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charming pupils. There were boys a-plenty angling for her smiles; and, being wise beyond her seventeen years, she distributed those smiles impartially. But the suitors grudgingly confessed that her real preference was the chap who was reported to have followed her all the way from College Hill, a quiet, studious young fellow named Ben Harri- son. Word had passed about the town, - almost before his credentials were in from Farmer's College, that this was a grandson of the late president, William Henry Harrison, and now to find such a celebrity in love added greatly to his interest.
Ben wasn't much to look at in those days; neither was he a dashing leader in boyish pranks or an adept in the social graces. He was short and flat-chested, with colorless hair and a complexion very much like tallow. There were good
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eyes beneath his high forehead, and they lighted up with interest and sympathy in literary meeting or Greek conclave. But generally he was silent and reserved and meditative. David Swing, some- time before his death, graphically re- called his campus impression of this solemn-visaged youth, his classmate and fraternity-brother. "He was an earnest, grave fellow," said Swing, "and had no time or taste for any form of mischief or for joining in a moonlight serenade. I was out with a dozen or so many a night, singing Nellie Bly or Annie Laurie under the window of sour professor or sweet school-girl, without distinction of person. But Ben was never along. He was reading the speeches of Edmund Burke or the essays of Macaulay, or was making the weekly call on Carrie Scott."
The new Institute building was en- tirely taken up with class rooms, society
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halls, and the like, so that accommoda- tions and abundant provender for this horde of rosy cheeked damsels offered no small problem to the Scotts. They themselves attempted to live in a moder- ate-sized frame cottage across the street, packing the place full of girls and mak- ing a frenzied effort to satisfy those deli- cate young appetites. Beau-time was limited and private sparking-spots were at a premium in such close quarters, even for a daughter of the household. But luckily for Miss Caroline, the Scott cottage was adorned with a queer little old-fashioned front stoop, forbidden to the boarders. At each side of this stoop, flanking the front door like the high- backed settles beside an ancient fire- place, were simple wooden benches bare- ly large enough for two. This arrange- ment must have had a fascination for Ben, especially in those long, balmy,
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drowsy nights of early summer, when young hearts yearn and the lazy moon smiles slyly down through the dense and silent foliage of the maples. It was a regular thing, at least, to find the couple there side by side-one bench was enough, forsooth-braving the dread night-air that mothers talk about, and . planning the airy structure of shimmer- ing castles in the land of make-believe. Blood of heroes flowed beneath the boy's pale skin, and ambition gleamed in his . eye. But it is doubtful if anywhere in those brain-creations a place was made for presidential dignity and the honors of "the first lady."
Two years sped by before the lovers knew it. Young Harrison had found op- portunity for many things besides doing time on the Scott doorstep. His was one of the strongest classes in Miami history, but he kept well at the top of it. Soon
ALICE - ROBINSON.
"BRAVING THE DREAD NIGHT-AIR THAT MOBILES TALK ABOUT."
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after he arrived he signed the bond of the Phi Delts, and they had some troub- lous times about then for a fellow of his . principles. The literary hall almost di- vided his heart with his lady, and he never failed in his performance there. On the commencement program for 1852, in a rather obscure position, appear these words:
"Poor of England," ... Benjamin Harris, North Bend.
Alas, for the irony of fate, and of printer's proof! The only presi- dent and grandson of a president ever turned out from Miami's halls, and his name bungled as if he were an obscure freshman! Anyhow those who know assure us that this was really Ben, and the oration he delivered was sincere and eloquent. A burst of ap- plause swept through the grove as he finished, and all the little maidens cooed
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to their neighbors: "Isn't he just splen- did? Such serious eyes!" Tradition is silent as to whether Miss Scott said any- thing, but we can guess what she thought. Her graduation essay, some weeks before, was on "Ideality," but she would much have preferred the real when Ben departed to try his 'prentice hand at life. He was not long away, however. Very soon a few selected guests were summoned to a sweet and quiet ceremony one morning just inside the old Scott doorway. A bridal pair was whisked away some dozen miles by stage to the nearest railway station, accom- : panied by a visiting minister who wished there were any other way on earth to reach that train. Since then how many generations of college girls have gazed lingeringly upon that quaint front stoop, . and wondered-and wondered!
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Maybe the example of Ben and Caro- ' line was contagious. Maybe the trouble came from a germ in the air, like every- thing else we catch. At any rate there has scarcely been a year from 1852 to date, while both the schools were run- ning with a full head of youthful steam, that there has not been a college girl who placed her little pink fingers in a big Miami fist and promised to be his for life. Why, in that very class of '52 there were four of them; and there is more than one instance on record where a son of Miami turned from mourning for his first college bride to seek solace in the affection of a second from the same place. Run your eye down the alumnae list of this female institution some time, just for the fun of it. Smother your curiosity about the apparent ages of your lady friends, and concentrate on the column headed "Husband's Name."
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Check off the Miami people there re- corded, and then figure on the girls who didn't graduate, but found their fate in Oxford just the same. Then you will appreciate the importance of this chap- ter.
Some people and some institutions cannot stand success. The remarkable growth of the Institute fairly turned the heads of certain Oxford citizens of the Old School Presbyterian faith. They clamored to co-operate with Doctor Scott in the erection of a fine new build- ing and the institution of a real high- grade college for young women, with all its opportunities and privileges equal to those enjoyed by the boys at Miami. The pioneer quality and deep significance of this project will be realized when we consider that twelve years were then to elapse before Matthew Vassar should even conceive of the college that bears
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his name. A company was formed, and very soon subscriptions amounted to $60,000, an enormous sum for that time. But the outlay was more enormous still, -ruinously enormous, as events proved. A beautiful plot of ground was secured north-east of the village, and a structure reared which was a marvel of its kind, and involved a debt almost equal to the original stock.
Not all the friends of the old Institute were favorable to all this, and many were the annoying difficulties thrown in the Doctor's none too practical way. One party determined that the Institute was to continue in an unbroken career; and before he could anticipate it, he found himself ousted from his old quarters while the new ones were still at the mercy of the carpenters, and right in the middle of winter, at that. For over a year Doctor Scott's girls continued to
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live about the village as before, and ap- propriated the old Girard Hotel for col- lege purposes. Perhaps that accounts for the cold, academic air it still retains. Feeling was high in the village, with the interesting paradox that everybody of the Old School faith was pulling for the new school, while adherents of New School doctrines, with representatives of various other denominations, were for once unshaken in their allegiance to the old school.
Such conditions nearly always pro- duce a few farce-comedy features. This time it was the episode of a case of books. The Female Institute, in emula- tion of its masculine neighbor, had es- tablished two literary societies, with long, pretty Greek names: Calliopean and Philalethian. It was Doctor Scott's idea that these should be transferred bodily-charters, charming members,
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and furniture-to his new temple of learning. But a few of these members, possibly encouraged in secret by the op- position, declared that these societies with their equipment belonged to the In- stitute and there they should remain. Perhaps by accident, perhaps because his own ginger was a little up, the Doctor in his hurried moving from the Institute took with him the book-cases and dust- covered library belonging to the Philale- thians. It was some time before the In- stitute party in the sisterhood dis- covered their loss, and then how they did sputter! Their former beloved presi- dent suddenly became "a nasty mean old thing,"' "a low-down stealer" and a hun- dred other lady-like terms that really don't sound half-bad from a dozen pairs of winsome lips. Certain aggrieved townspeople got hold of the affair, and then they proceeded to talk about it. So
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much was hinted regarding criminal prosecution that Doctor Scott secured the best legal talent in Hamilton to defend him.
All this was royal sport for the Miami contingent. Somehow the word was spread concerning the counsellor-at-law, and the boys, spoiling for the fun, in- sisted that the Institute girls begin their suit without delay. The more they talked, the more urgent it seemed, until at last a crowd of excited fellows got a rig and drove madly to Hamilton by night to employ an attorney for the prosecu- tion. No one was found to satisfy them, and the case finally went to an Oxford lawyer, who really did just as well. After all the boys had talked themselves hoarse, and all the girls had run the gamut of acute hysteria, and they had all enjoyed about seven times as many hours of each other's company as would have
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been permitted in a time of slothful peace, the two attorneys got together one fine afternoon, winked knowingly three long, mutual and impressive winks, and agreed that their clients would do well to compromise, the attorney's fees on either side being appropriate to so momentous a case. Amid such difficulties arose the massive structure of the Female College, which was finally dedicated in Septem- ber, 1856. The Female Institute passed into the control of the United Presbyter- ians and was continued under the direc- tion of the Reverend J. H. Buchanan. In 1867 it was absorbed by the College.
It has been noted that from the first these "female institutions" purposed real education, scorning the tinsel of mere social accomplishments. Their model was found in Miami University, which was just then turning out preach- ers, soldiers and statesmen by the score.
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Erodelphian, Eccritean and Miami Union Halls were putting finishing touches on this product: accordingly both Institute and College argued and declaimed in Calliopean and Philalethian. Like their big brothers, these latter gave literary exhibitions during the winter, and at commencement held public exercises in which appeared some noted orator from abroad, and some recent graduate who presented the diplomas. The Miami missionary spirit found vent in a Society of Religious Inquiry; the College also supported its Society of Inquiry. Like the University too, these schools had a rigidly prescribed curriculum, packed full of Greek and mathematics and philoso- phy. Worst of all, they borrowed the custom of public oral examinations in all these subjects at the end of the year, with the one feminine concession that they had instrumental music between sessions of
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torture. The extremity of this unsexing process may be appreciated by this cau- tion, which ran for years in the cata- logues of the Female College:
"Every judicious parent will see the importance of discouraging extravagance and fondness for display. Plain, neat, modest apparel only should be furnished. Jewelry, except in a very limited extent, will not be allowed, and ought not to be brought."
Such consideration as is given to the eternal feminine seems stingy enough, as we glance through the accurately se- lected catalogue phrases:
"The social manners and habits of the students, as well as their moral and re- ligious feelings, are carefully and zeal- ously guarded and cultivated."
"No respectable male college now pretends to graduate a class under four years. Young ladies need more time;
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for, in addition to the regular college course, they are expected to devote con- siderable time to those branches termed ornamental."
Boarding students are promised :- "the watchful care and counsel of the lady teachers in all the details of general deportment and social etiquette."
Special courses and advantages are offered in the various ornamental sub- jects, but with this reservation :- "Music is taught for the mental and moral ad- vancement of the student, and not merely as an outward acomplishment."
Now you need not proceed, on the strength of this, to picture to yourself a serious and bespectacled conclave of an- gular spinsters in Puritanic garb, cruci- fying the flesh and absorbing cambric tea and abstruse "ologies." Those were real girls, full of energy and mischief, and not particularly concerned whether
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woman had a sphere or not. Just remem- ber, please, that all those intercollegiate marriages grew out of intercollegiate ro- mance, with all the usual accessories of tender missives and clandestine trysts and midnight serenades. Of course sometimes the boys varied the serenade program by appropriating the local stage-coach in the dark of the moon, and leaving it amid Doctor Scott's choice flower-beds as a votive offering to some lady fair. What the Doctor said next morning to his posies, or the remarks made by the distinguished visitor delayed in his trip to Hamilton, really have no bearing on the situation.
"There were all sorts of plausible pre- . texts in operation to bring the boys and girls together. Lectures, receptions, and literary exhibitions reached a total sadly at variance with the rigid spirit of the College catalogue. That artful tickler of
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man's purse-strings, the bazar, was then a novelty; and time and again the youngsters of Miami would ransack the village for useless trinkets for which they would gaily squander papa's money that night in the castle of the maidens. The presence of these maidens was a neces- sity every time Miami let loose the stop- cock of her oratory, which happened about twice a session. Excitement didn't begin until the demure line of uncon- scious beauty came tripping in, esquired by some local Brummel with expanded chest. Sam. Hunt is said to have monop- olized this performance during his entire Oxford career. Usually these visits pro- duced only tremor of the speaking voice and pounding of the male heart. Once at least they remade a program. Among the speakers that night was Minor Milli- kin, who was much the ladies' man, but had unfortunately differed with Doctor
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Scott on some rather important particu- lars. As the line filed in, he saw his chance to tie the score. When his turn came he completely ignored his an- nounced subject and prepared address, launching forth in a dissertation on pre- vailing systems of "female education," and soundly berating the particular hob- bies which the worthy Doctor was fond- est of bestriding. For a full hour he made perfectly courteous but all the more delicious fun of college methods, un- til girls and boys alike were in convul- sions and the helpless victim much in- censed. There was some trouble for awhile in drawing female attendance at University functions.
One of the rare privileges for both sexes arose from Doctor Scott's devotion to the sciences and his consequent ad- miration for Professor Stoddard of the University. Every year the arrangement
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was renewed that an advanced class of the girls should regularly attend the lec- tures and experiments in little old "Egypt," their goings-in and comings- out being properly directed by the Doctor himself, who sat in rapt at- tention through the familiar demon- strations. Needless to say, this course was popular with the boys, and all the pent-up mischief of the day was likely to burst forth there. Furni- ture would collapse in the most unac- countable manner. Horrid mice would appear from nowhere in particular. Once a large sheet descended suddenly before the class, displaying sentiments none too complimentary to the distinguished guest. The class of '61 was the last to enjoy this refining privilege. When it finally ceased, a Miami poet sang its elegy, in tuneful verses.
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To the Young Ladies Who Attended the Course in Chemistry.
"Farewell, farewell, ye lovely friends,
No more we'll meet you there; The sunlight has departed now, Our hearts are filled with care.
"But still on memory's page are stamped- Forever to remain- Those pleasant meetings, which alas! No more we'll have again.
"May peace and joy attend your lives, So hopefully begun; When absent, may you ne'er forget The Class of '61."
The real cause for the cessation of these delightful amenities was the de- parture of Doctor Scott, who retired in 1860 in favor of President Robert D. Morris.
. Several years before this, the Female College had been called on to acknowl- edge a very serious and ambitious young rival. It was only a potential rival, so far as University hearts were concerned, for a fellow doesn't conceive a very speci- fic yearning after a girl he gets to see
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just once in a year, and then finds her passing a public examination in integral calculus. But this new female institu- tion appealed wonderfully to thoughtful parents who had daughters to educate and wanted them assisted up the narrow, thorny pathway at the least possible out- put. Little cared they if the sweet seclu- sion of the cloister palled sometimes upon the fair inhabitants, and made even the. much-advised missionary career seem an attractive vista. There was satisfaction in knowing that Miranda Jane and Eliza- beth Ann would for a while at least be made to learn their catechism and dust their room and cease flirtation with those shiftless Jones boys from across the creek.
In the summer of 1844, Daniel Tenney had come to Oxford as the first pastor of the young Second Presbyterian Church, representing the New School branch of
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that denomination. He was an eastern man, and had married him an eastern wife, an enthusiastic graduate of Miss Mary Lyons' famous seminary, Mount Holyoke. It was not long until these two had caught the educational fever then so prevalent in Oxford, and were all aglow with the project of another college in the community, this one to be built upon the Mount Holyoke principle and fostered by the adherents of the New School doc- trines. Rev. Tenney put all his best energy into the enterprise, and gave no rest to church or individual until he had a fine plot of land donated and sufficient funds subscribed to assure his pet insti- tution. So there was incorporated in 1853 the governing board of The Western Female Seminary, virgin daughter of Mount Holyoke, forever consecrated to the maternal ideals and practices. Mr. Tenney resigned his pastorate to become
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president of the trustees, and in Septem- ber, 1855, the seminary opened with one hundred and fifty pupils. The faculty was selected by Mount Holyoke from her own alumnae.
Oxford was fast assuming the airs of a first-class university center, and the Miami boys, at first, were wildly enthu- siastic. Placidly relying on prospects, a new Miami periodical, The Oxonian, next year set aside a portion of its valauble space for a "Ladies' Department," and guaranteed to its readers the co-opera- tion of the fair sex in numerous literary offerings. With this promise came an editorial urging that there be less separa- tion of the local institutions anyhow. "Because," declared the editor, "The Miami University, The Western Female Seminary, The Oxford Female College, The Oxford Female Institute, The The- ological Seminary, and the various
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