History of Nashville, Tenn., Part 46

Author: Wooldridge, John, ed; Hoss, Elijah Embree, bp., 1849-1919; Reese, William B
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Nashville, Tenn., Pub. for H. W. Crew, by the Publishing house of the Methodist Episcopal church, South
Number of Pages: 806


USA > Tennessee > Davidson County > Nashville > History of Nashville, Tenn. > Part 46


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In addition to "Jubilee Hall" there has been erected what is known as " Livingstone Missionary Hall." The corner-stone of this building was laid, in connection with Commencement exercises, in 1881. It is five stories in height, including the basement; is 203 feet in length and 52 feet in width, the central part projecting 8 feet. It contains a chapel, 72x50 feet; a cabinet and a museum, 19x36 feet; a library, 27x40 feet ; a scientific lecture-room, 26x36 feet; three rooms adjoining for labora- tory and work-rooms; fourteen class and lecture rooms; offices for Pres- ident and Treasurer, and sixty-seven dormitory and living rooms. There are other rooms, for steam heating apparatus, bath-rooms, etc. This building was the gift of Mrs. Valeria G. Stone, in memory of her de- ceased husband, Daniel P. Stone, and its cost was $60,000. It was dedicated October 30, 1882. A large number of prominent educators and others were present on this occasion. Bishop H. N. McTyeire, of Vanderbilt University, delivered the address of welcome; Professor Cy- rus Northrup, of Yale College, delivered the dedicatory address; Rev. Atticus G. Haygood, of Emory College (Georgia), followed Professor Northrup; and General Clinton B. Fisk made the closing address.


A library of seven hundred volumes was established in 1871. By 1875 it contained one thousand volumes; and about two hundred volumes were added during that year, one hundred and fifty of which were col- lected in Great Britain and America by the "Jubilee Singers." Thirteen hundred dollars was contributed toward a Library Fund by Sunday- schools in Great Britain, through the agency of J. P. Dickerson, of the "Jubilee Singers," one thousand dollars of which was permanently in-


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vested, and was named the " Dickerson Library Fund." The library has grown steadily, though slowly, and now contains about four thousand volumes. The income of the library consists of the interest on a small endowment and a fee of fifty cents a year for the use of the library.


Arrangements have been completed for the erection of a building for the new Theological Department, which is to be erected during the sum- mer of 1890.


Central Tennessee College was established first as a primary school for freedmen in the winter of 1864-65, in Andrew Chapel, located on Chest- nut Street, between Cherry and College Streets, by Bishop D. W. Clark, D.D., with Rev. John Seys in charge; Rev. Otis O. Knight, Principal; and Mrs. Tennessee North and Miss O. A. Barber, assistant teachers. In the fall of 1866 the school was removed to the gun factory, on South College Street, and Rev. William B. Critchlow was appointed Principal, Rev. Otis O. Knight having been appointed to a mission district. Rev. Mr. Critchlow's assistants were: Miss Emily E. Preston, Mrs. Sarah L. Larned, Mrs. Mary Murphy, Miss Julia Evans, and Misses Nettie and Mary Mann.


The charter of Central Tennessee College was passed May 24, 1866, the incorporators named in the act being: William G. Brownlow, Thom- as H. Pearne, W. J. Smith, T. R. Stanley, John Seys, William Bosson, Joseph S. Carels, A. A. Gee, James R. Farris, Thomas H. Coldwell, R. G. Jamison, G. Ogden, and Daniel J. Holmes. This Board of Trustees was organized in July following, and the school was placed by them in care of the Freedmen's Aid Society. During the year 1866-67 there were nearly eight hundred scholars in attendance. The school was relieved of a large number of small children in the fall of 1867, because of the opening of the public schools to colored pupils, and afterward a tuition fee was charged of one dollar per month. This fall Rev. John Braden, A.M., was appointed Principal of the school. The trustees of the school received from the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church $10,000, for the purpose of aiding in the purchase of a site, and the erec- tion thereupon of suitable buildings for the school. An eligible site near the Medical College was purchased, but as there was considerable oppo- sition to the location of a school for colored pupils in that neighborhood, the Chancery Court granted a decree annulling the sale, and the money was refunded. The school opened in the gun factory in the fall of 1867, for the second year, with over two hundred pupils. The next year prop- erty was purchased on Maple Street, just south of Lafayette Street, on which there was a large brick family residence. The school was removed to this building in the fall of that year, under the supervision of Rev.


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George W. Hartupee, A.M., who succeeded Rev. Mr. Braden, re- signed.


During the winter and spring of 1869 there were erected two brick buildings, one containing a chapel and dormitories, and the other school- rooms and dormitories, capable of accommodating two hundred pupils. Toward the cost of erecting these buildings the Freedmen's Bureau con- tributed $18,000. At the close of the school year Rev. Mr. Hartupee resigned, and Rev. John Braden was re-elected President of the college, a position which he has filled to the present time. The attendance this year was 192; for the year 1870-71, the attendance was 226; and for the next year, 241. In 1870-71 the departments intermediate, academic, nor- mal, preparatory, and theological had been organized; and in 1871-72 classes were formed in algebra, geometry, Latin, Greek, natural science, and Biblical studies. For 1872-73 the number of students was 270; and the next year, about the same. In 1875 there were 240; in 1876, 210; in 1877, 227; in 1878, 295; in 1879, 287; in 1880, 331; in 1881, 433; in 1882, 455; in 1883, 493; in 1884, 475; in 1885, 241; in 1886, 543; in 1887, 482; in 1888, 541 ; in 1889, 545; in 1890, 557.


In 1874 the grounds on the hill south of the original location were pur- chased for the Meharry Medical Department, which is at the north-east corner of Maple and Chestnut Streets. At the north-west corner of the same two streets is the Dental Department of the college, purchased in 1883.


Directly across the street from the residence of the President lies the Dortch property, purchased in 1887 for the African Training-school. The buildings of this college are now as follows: Tennessee Hall, a four- story structure, the two lower stories of which are used for school-rooms, library, and museum, and the upper for boys' dormitories; the boarding hall, for dining purposes, and the upper part for lady teachers and girls; Thompson Chapel, the lower part of which is used for chapel purposes, and the upper part for girls' dormitories; Dr. Braden's residence, which is also used for the Musical Department ; the Meharry Medical Building, on the hill at the corner of Maple and Chestnut Streets; the Dental and Pharmaceutical Department, on the opposite corner of these two streets; the Model School, opposite Dr. Braden's residence; the African Train- ing School, north of the Model School. In the rear of Tennessee Hall and the boarding hall is a carpenter shop, a wagon shop, and a black- smith shop; and just north of the Meharry Medical Building there is now in process of erection a building for the Mechanical Art Department, which is to be completed during the summer of 1890; and which, togeth- er with its equipment, will cost from $15,000 to $20,000. In this depart-


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ment it is designed to manufacture every thing from a steam-engine to a microscope. The building is to be ninety-six by forty-eight feet in size, and one story high. The equipment is to be brought here from Daven- port, Ia., by Prof. H. G. Sedgwick, M.S., the original inventor of the time lock. The departments of this college are now the Normal, Theo- logical, Medical, Law, Dental, Pharmaceutical, and Industrial.


In the arrangement of studies and faculty there have of course been numerous changes, so much so that to give all the combinations would be very tedious; hence only the professors in the principal departments are here presented. As elsewhere stated, Rev. John Braden, A.M., has been President of the faculty since 1869; and he was also in charge of the Theological Department until 1885, when Rev. R. W. Keeler, D.D., became Dean of this department, and Rev. Mr. Braden became Profess- or of Mental and Moral Science. Of the Academic Department Miss M. C. Owen was Principal until 1872, and again in 1874. She also had charge of the Normal Department at the same time. D. Moury had charge of the Normal Department from 1882 to 1884, since when it has been in charge of Miss Lucy H. Hitchcock. Miss C. Braden has most of the time been teacher of instrumental music. Rev. W. Patterson, A.B., was Professor of Ancient Languages and Literature from 1874 to 1884, when he was succeeded by Rev. T. M. Dart, A.M. G. W. Hub- bard, M.D., has been Professor of Natural Science since 1875. Of mathematics and languages there have been several professors: Rev. John Deal, A.M., M.D., Miss E. E. Plotner, Rev. J. W. E. Bowen, A.B., C. T. Simpson, A.B., Henry B. Fry, R. R. Green, A.B., and H. B. Story, A.B. The present Professor of Mathematics is G. S. Thom- son, A.M .; and of Languages, R. R. Green, A.B. Miss M. E. Young has been in charge of the Model School since 1884.


The Dental College, which is so far the latest addition to this institu- tion, was dedicated November 20, 1889. Ex-president R. B. Hayes was present, and speeches were made by Rev. John Braden, President of the college ; Judge D. M. Key; Rev. C. S. Smith, of the A. M. E. Publish- ing House ; Dr. J. Berrien Lindsley ; W. H. Morgan, D.D.S .; and Dr. G. W. Hubbard, Dean of the Medical Faculty. The building dedicated cost $6,500, $1,742 of which was donated by the Meharry family. The rest was raised by subscriptions from various sources.


The Tennessee Industrial School is an institution for the benefit of or- phan, helpless, and wayward children. It is situated about three miles from the court-house in Nashville, on the Murfreesboro pike. It was es- tablished mainly through the efforts of Judge J. C. Ferris, of Nashville. The property consists of a farm of ninety-two acres, upon which have


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been erected, from time to time as needed, buildings of different kinds. This property was the gift of Colonel E. W. Cole, and was when given valued at $60,000. The school was at first named the " Randall Cole Industrial School," for the son of Colonel Cole, as mentioned in the bi- ographical sketch of that gentleman in another chapter.


An act of the Legislature, creating this school, was passed February 17, 1885, and approved by Governor W. B. Bate February 20, 1885. This act, after reciting the fact that the school had been organized and incorporated, provides that any Judge or Chairman of a County Court in this State may cause to be brought to this school any child between six and sixteen years of age, that comes within certain descriptions-as beg- ging or receiving alms, if found wandering and not having any home, nor having proper or sufficient guardianship, etc. Under this act each county that had children in the school was required to pay its pro rata share of the expenses of the school; but it was provided that no county should be required to pay more than fifty dollars per capita for such children.


An act was passed by the Legislature, March 22, 1887, and approved four days afterward by Governor Robert L. Taylor, accepting the sur- render of the charter and the donation to the State of the property of the Randall Cole Industrial School, and providing for its management as a State institution. By this act the name of the institution was changed to the "Tennessee Industrial School." This act created a Board of seven directors-three from the middle division, and two from each of the oth- er divisions of the State; and also constituting the Governor and Secre- tary of State ex officio directors. An appropriation of $12,500 was made for the erection of additional buildings and making any needed improve- ments.


According to the first biennial report of the Board of Directors of this school, the cost of maintaining each boy in the institution is $150 per annum. Of this sum the county from which the boy comes pays $50; the boy himself earns $50 on the farm, in the garden, and in the mechanical shops, leaving $50 for the State to pay. But as the institution grows older each boy will be able to earn more, thus relieving the State to that extent ; and in time the State may be entirely relieved of expense for the main- tenance of the school. The number of scholars admitted to the school up to December 1, 1888, was 97-73 white, and 24 colored. The num- ber at the school at the present time (May 3, 1890) is 132-115 white. and 17 colored.


The work carried on consists of farming and gardening, and the making of clothes, shoes, brooms, and chairs. The ex officio mem-


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bers of the Board of Directors are Governor Robert L. Taylor, John Allison, and J. W. Allen. The other members are S. J. Kirkpatrick, William Sanford, P. P. Pickard, T. J. Latham, L. T. Baxter, J. M. Head, and William Geddis. The officers are: T. J. Latham, President ; L. T. Baxter, Vice-president; J. M. Head, Secretary; and P. P. Pick- ard, Treasurer. W. C. Kilvington has been in charge of the institu- tion as Superintendent ever since its establishment. Mrs. A. L. Kilving- ton has been the Matron. The teachers in the school are: Miss Susie Y. Lyle, of the first division; Miss Cora Pearl, second division; Miss Eliza S. Lyle, third division. J. W. Campbell is foreman of the chair department; E. H. Doak, teacher of book-keeping; A. W. Sliger, farm- er; William Beals, night watch; H. Hagan, teacher of elocution; and Mr. and Mrs. Davis, teachers in the colored department. The chair- factory was established June 6, 1889; a brass band was organized July 19, 1889; the broom-factory was started March 20, 1890; and a green- house was built in April, 1890. The Boys' Lantern is published every Saturday by the boys of the school. There are to be four departments in this school, only two of which are as yet opened. These are the de- partments for white boys who have committed no crime and for colored boys who have committed no crime. The other departments are the girls' department and the reformatory department. Each is separate and apart from the others about one-fourth of a mile.


Roger Williams University is situated on the Hillsboro turnpike, two miles from the city of Nashville. It originated in 1864, being established by the American Baptist Home Mission Society. This Society sent out Rev. D. W. Phillips, D.D., to locate a school for the education of col- ored youth, and he began his work in his own private residence. He afterward moved to the basement of the First Colored Baptist Church, and remained there while he was looking around for a permanent loca- tion. He soon purchased a lot near Fort Gillem, to which a govern- ment building, one hundred and twenty by forty feet in size, was re- moved. This, when ready for use, was a two-story structure above the basement.


The entire property, when ready for occupancy, cost between seven and eight thousand dollars. In this building the Nashville Normal and Collegi- ate Theological Institute was organized. The design of this institute was to educate young men to preach the gospel, and both young men and women to teach school. At that time, however, there was little or no demand for an educated ministry among the colored people, they not being able to understand that a preacher needed any thing as an equipment for his calling but a strong pair of lungs and plenty of emotion. This miscon-


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ception has been gradually disappearing, and now the institute is doing an immensely valuable work.


In 1874, after several attempts to secure a more advantageous location, the Godon property, located as described at the beginning of this sketch, was purchased. There were thirty acres of land and a large brick dwell- ing; and to this place, after suitable preparation, the school was removed in 1876. The buildings here consist of the Mansion House, forty-eight by eighty feet, and four stories high, with apartments for some of the teachers and dormitories for young women. Centennial Hall is forty-nine by one hundred and eighty-five feet, and is occupied for the boarding- house department. It is also four stories high, the main story being de- voted to public rooms, and the three upper ones being occupied as dor- mitories by young men. For this building the university is indebted to the late Dr. Nathan Bishop and wife, of New York City.


In 1883 this school was chartered, under the name of the "Roger Williams University," to commemorate the name of one of the greatest leaders in securing civil and religious liberty to the people of this coun- try. It is the object of this school to secure thoroughness of scholarship, both because of its intrinsic value and its influence on the character. For several years the school has been very prosperous, and is now full to its capacity, and it looks confidently forward to a prosperous future. The heads of departments at the present time are as follows: Rev. A. Owen, D.D., President; Rev. D. W. Phillips, D.D., Principal of the Theolog- ical Department; Prof. D. R. Leland, A.M., Principal of the Normal Department; and L. J. Neville, Superintendent of Industrial Work. Rev. D. W. Phillips is President of the Board of Trustees; and J. D. Ander- son, Secretary.


Mrs. M. E. Clark's Select School for Young Ladies was established by Mrs. Clark in 1885. It is situated one mile east of the city limits, in the midst of fourteen acres of ground, covered with blue-grass and shad- ed by magnificent forest-trees. This property is owned by Mrs. Clark, who has a Board of Advisers who take a deep interest in the work, al- though serving the cause of education in this capacity without compensa- tion. This Board now consists of Dr. Charles F. Smith, President ; Major T. P. Weakley, Secretary; Hon. J. M. Dickinson, Edgar Jones, J. S. Bransford, Rev. G. W. Wilson, John P. White, Hon. J. M. Head, Hon. S. A. Champion, and Prof. W. A. Webb. Mrs. Clark has for years been identified with the cause of education in Tennessee, and deter- mined to establish a school of her own for the education of young women, which would at the same time be a quiet retreat. The house is a four-story structure, and is admirably arranged with reference to convenience, com-


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fort, and health. The institution is ample in its provisions for education and graduation, and no pains have been spared to furnish instruction by the best scholars that could be secured. Mrs. Clark is at present trav- eling in Europe for rest, and for the purpose of investigating methods of education there, with the view of increasing, so far as practicable, the usefulness of her own institution of learning.


The Woolwine School is now situated near Glendale Park, about six miles south of the city of Nashville, and on the Overland Dummy railroad line. It is now in its fifth year, having been established by Prof. S. S. Woolwine in 1885. It is a literary, classical, and scientific institution, and has always been successful and popular. Until 1889 it was located on Cherry Street, in Nashville, between Church and Broad Streets; but that year Prof. Woolwine considered the country a better place for his school, bought the grounds where it is now located, and removed there. The school has recently been chartered, and hereafter graduates will re- ceive certificates of distinction and diplomas.


The University School was established in the fall of 1886, at the sug- gestion of a prominent citizen of Nashville who had sons to educate. It was established by Clarence B. Wallace, a graduate of the University of Virginia, and a teacher of experience and ability. The promoters of the enterprise proceeded on the theory that it is the duty of educators to first make Christians; second, gentlemen; and third, scholars. A school was therefore established instead of a college, in which boys are prepared for business and for college, and branches are taught that lie at the basis of a sound education, instead of those which comprise a liberal education, and in which attention is given to the development of the moral character as well as to the cultivation of the mental faculties. The enrollment the first session was twenty-eight; the second, fifty-one; the third, sixty-nine ; and the present session the attendance is still larger. In October, 1887, the school was incorporated by the following gentlemen: A. G. Adams, J. P. Drouillard, J. H. Ecker, J. H. Falls, J. B. O'Bryan, Robert L. Morris, R. G. Throne, C. B. Wallace, and James C. Warren. The building used by this institution of learning is situated at No. 206 South High Street, and is admirably adapted to the purposes of a school.


The Nashville Short-hand Institute is situated at the corner of Church and Summer Streets. It was established in 1883, and furnishes excellent facilities for discipline in short-hand, type-writing, book-keeping, and pen- manship. The present proprietor and principal is Alexander Fall.


Brennan's Select Male School for twenty-five students is situated at the south-west corner of Broad and Spruce Streets. Pupils are admit- ted at any time upon the occurrence of a vacancy, for the remainder of


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the ten months. Miss Anna Brennan's School of Oratory and Dramatic Art is also in the same building.


St. Cecilia Academy for Young Ladies was founded in 1860 by six ladies, members of St. Mary's Institute, Perry County, O. It is located on an eminence in the northern part of Nashville, and commands a fine view of the valley of the Cumberland. The building is a three-story structure besides the basement, and is large and well fitted with halls for study, recitation, rehearsals, and dormitories. The course of instruction embraces all the requisites of a thorough and accomplished education, and a library of choice books is provided for the use of the students. This school is non-sectarian, and has always been patronized by all de- nominations. It is in charge of the Dominican Sisters.


St. Mary's Parochial School is situated on Vine Street, facing the west front of the Capitol. It was built in 1866-67, at a cost of $47,000, is three stories high, and one hundred and forty feet by forty feet. This school is under the charge of the Sisters of Mercy.


St. Bernard's Academy, and the residence of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, is on Cedar Street, facing the south end of the Capitol. The property is one hundred and seventy feet by one hundred and ten feet in size, and the building is a large three-story structure. The academy is well conducted and is in a prosperous condition.


Ward's Seminary for Young Ladies was established in 1865, bý Rev. W. E. Ward, a native of Alabama, who graduated at Cumberland Uni- versity, Tennessee, in 1851. For a short time it was situated at the south-west corner of Summer and Cedar Streets, but in 1866 it was re- moved to what was then No. 15 South Spruce Street, where it has been ever since, though since the recent change in the plan of numbering in the city it has been 143 North Spruce Street. The building at this place was used for the purposes of the seminary until 1879, when an ad- dition was erected. The seminary is four stories high above the base- ment, and contains seventy rooms, a large practice hall, a chapel one hundred and four feet by forty feet, well lighted and ventilated, and handsomely furnished with modern school furniture; and recitation, art, and music rooms. The entire cost of buildings and grounds has been $125,000. This is a school exclusively for young ladies, and has no con- nection whatever with any school for boys. In the twenty-five years of its existence it has given instruction to more than three thousand and five hundred young ladies, about nine hundred of whom have graduated. Many of these graduates are teachers in leading schools of the South and West, and others have won distinction in literature. It is a non-sec- tarian school, and its Board of Trustees are selected from all Protestant


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denominations. The school was incorporated under the general incor- poration law of the State, in 1858, and is a permanent institution of learning, and is owned by a corporation of business men. Rev. Mr. Ward remained Principal of the seminary until his death in 1887, when he was succeeded by Professor J. B. Hancock, A.M., a graduate of Cumberland University. The course of instruction is full and thorough, embracing academic and collegiate work. Under the same management are well-organized music and art schools, with a German professor as di- rector. The music school the present year numbers one hundred and eighty-seven. A well-equipped gymnasium is now being added. The school library is supplied with about two thousand volumes, and new books are constantly being added. This library is free to all students of the seminary. The school is at present in a prosperous condition. It has a faculty of nineteen teachers and eighteen officers. The present enrollment is four hundred and fifty-seven, with a total matriculation of six hundred and eleven, the largest in its history. The officers of the Board of Directors are as follows: President, Colonel F. E. Williams; Secretary, T. P. Bridges; Treasurer, J. B. Hancock. The other mem- bers of the Board are: C. A. R. Thompson, Walker Hopkins, P. Man- love, Joe W. Warren, and Robert Hopkins. The faculty is as follows: Principal, J. B. Hancock, A.M .; Mrs. M. H. Robertson, M.A., Presid- ing Teacher; Miss M. E. Watson, M.A., Sciences; Mrs. H. E. Stone, M.A., English Literature and Belles-lettres; Miss Jennie Mckenzie, M.A., Mathematics; Miss Tommie Buchanan, M.A., Latin and Classic- al History; Miss A. B. Webb, Elocution ; Miss Julia Bloomstein, M.A., Primary Department; Miss D. K. Mooring, French and German; Miss M. E. Ford, Logic and Psychology; Miss Mattie Wiley, M.A., Aca- demic Department; Mlle. Marguerite Selvi, Vocal Music; Professor August Schemmell, Vocal Music; Miss S. W. Butler, Vocal and Instru- mental Music; Mrs. Loulie Randle, Instrumental Music; Miss L. Avi- rett, Instrumental Music; Miss Nannie Seawell, Art Teacher; Miss Mollie Winford, Assistant Art Teacher. This seminary was started by Dr. Ward without pecuniary assistance from any source, and it has al- ways been self-sustaining.




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