ELIZABETH FEMALE ACADEMY—THE MOTHER OF FEMALE COLLEGES BY BISHOP CHAS. B. GALLOWAY, D. D.

I believe that Mississippi can justly lay claim to the honor of having established the first chartered institution for the higher education of young women in the South, if not in the United States. Though called an Academy, it did full collegiate work, had a high standard of scholarship, and conferred degrees. The institution was located at Washington, six miles east of Natchez. Washington had been the brilliant and busy little Territorial Capital, and was then the center of social and political influence.

A recent visit to the site of that venerable school enabled me to gather much valuable information about its work, and heightened my appreciation of its vast educative and spiritual influence upon the history and destiny of the Southwest. The walls of the spacious building still stand, but the merry voices that rang through its halls only live in the sweet echoes of a distant past. Borrowing a style of architecture from the Spanish of Colonial times, the structure was two and a half stories high, the first of brick, the others in frame. A fire consumed it twenty years ago, leaving only the solid masonry as a memorial of the educational ambition and spiritual consecration of Early Mississippi Methodism. Some of the grandest women of the Southwest received their well-earned diplomas within those now charred walls, and went out to preside over their own model and magnificent homes. The early catalogues contain the names of fair daughters who afterward became the accomplished matrons of historic families. For many years the Elizabeth Female Academy was the one institution of high grade in the entire South for the education of young women. All others have been followers and beneficiaries of this brave heroine of Mississippi.

The grounds and buildings were donated to the Mississippi Conference by Mrs. Elizabeth Roach in 1818, and in her honor the institution was called the Elizabeth Female Academy. The year following a charter was granted by the Legislature, of which this is a copy:

"An Act. To Incorporate the Elizabeth Female Academy.

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Mississippi in General Assembly convened, "That an Academy be, and is hereby established near the town of Washington, in the county of Adams, to be known by the name of the Elizabeth Female Academy, in honor of Mrs. Elizabeth Roach, the founder thereof, to be under the superintendence of John Menifee, Daniel Rawlings, Alexander Covington, John W. Briant, and Beverly R. Grayson, and their successors who are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, to be known by the name and style of 'The Trustees of the Elizabeth Female Academy' and they and their successors are hereby made capable of receiving real and personal estate, either by donation or purchase, for the benefit of the institution, not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars, of suing and being sued, and of doing and performing all other acts, and shall possess all other powers, incident to bodies corporate.

"Sec. 2.—And be it further enacted, That all vacancies that may happen in the said Board of Trustees, either by death, resignation, refusal to act, or removal from the State, shall be filled by the members of the Methodist Mississippi Annual Conference: provided however, that all such vacancies may be filled by the said Board of Trustees, to continue until the meeting of the said conference next ensuing such vacancy, or until they shall fill the same.

"Sec. 3.—And be it further enacted, That the said trustees and their successors shall have the power to appoint their president, vice-president, and other officers, to engage such teacher or teachers as may be necessary for conducting the literary concerns of the Academy, to hold stated meetings of the board and to make all by-laws and regulations for the government of the institution and promoting piety and virtue among the students, but no religious test or opinion shall be required by the by-laws of the institution of the pupils admitted or to be admitted into said Academy. The president, or in his absence, the vice-president, may at any time call special meetings of the board by giving to each member five days notice of such meeting: the ordinary meetings shall be held on their own adjournment; Three members shall constitute a quorum to do business: the president, or in his absence, the vice-president shall preside, or in case of the absence of both, any member chosen by a majority of the members present shall preside.

"E. TURNER,

"Speaker of the House of Representatives.

"D. STEWART,

"Lieut. Governor, President of the Senate.

"Approved the 17th day of Feb., 1918.

"DAVID HOLMES,

"Governor of the State of Mississippi."

The "announcement" for the initial term appeared in the Mississippi State Gazette, of Oct. 24th, 1818, a paper published in Natchez, and was signed by B. R. Grayson, Secretary of the Board of Trustees.

The Academy opened its doors to pupils November 12th, 1818, under the presidency of Chilion F. Stiles, and with Mrs. Jane B. Sanderson as "Governess." Of the first President, and the first Lady Principal of that first college for young ladies in all the Southwest, the distinguished Dr. William Winans thus writes most interestingly in his manuscript autobiography:

"Chilion F. Stiles was a man of high intellectual and moral character, and eminent for piety. The Governess was Mrs. Jane B. Sanderson, a Presbyterian lady of fine manners, and an excellent teacher, but subject to great and frequent depression of spirits. This resulted, no doubt, from the shock she had received from the murder of her husband a few years previously by a robber____Though a Presbyterian, and stanch to her sect, she acted her part with so much prudence and liberality as to give entire satisfaction to her Methodist employers and patrons. Some of the most improving, as well as most agreeable hours, of relaxation from my official duties were at the Academy in the society of Brother Stiles, who combined, in an eminent degree, sociability of disposition, good sense, extensive information on various subjects, and fervent piety, rendering him an agreeable and instructive companion. He was the only person I ever knew who owed his adoption of a religious course of life to the instrumentality of Free Masonry. He was awakened to a sense of his sinfulness in the process of initiation into that fraternity. Up to that time he had been a gay man of the world, and a skeptic, if not an infidel in regard to the Christian religion. But so powerful and effective was the influence upon him by somewhat in his initiation, that from that hour he turned to God with purpose of heart, soon entered into peace, and thenceforth walked before God in newness of life, till his pilgrimage terminated in a triumphant death."

Mr. Stiles was succeeded in the presidency by Rev. John C. Burruss of Virginia, an elegant gentleman, a finished scholar and an eloquent preacher. The school greatly prospered under his administration, as it continued to do under his immediate successor, Rev. Dr. B. M. Drake, a name that will ever live among us as the synonym for consecrated scholarship, perfect propriety, unaffected piety, and singular sincerity. In 1833 Dr. Drake resigned the presidency in order to devote himself entirely to pastoral work, and was succeeded by Rev. J. P. Thomas; and in 1836 he gave way to Rev. Bradford Frazee of Louisville, Ky. Rev. R. D. Smith, well known throughout the Southwest for his rare devotion, was called to the president's chair in 1839.

Some of the by-laws adopted by the Board of Trustees for the government and regulation of the Academy, recall in a measure the rigid and elaborate rules prescribed by John Wesley for the school at Kingswood. A few of these by-laws I here reproduce.

"The President of the Academy____shall be reputed for piety and learning, and for order and economy in the government of his family. If married he shall not be less than thirty, and if unmarried, not less than fifty years of age____.

"The Governess____shall be pious, learned, and of grave and dignified deportment____She shall have charge of the school, its order, discipline, and instructions, and the general deportment and behavior of the pupils who board in or out of commons____.

OF PATRONESSES.

"On the last day of every academic year, the Board of Trustees shall choose three respectable Matrons, who shall be acting patronesses of the Academy.

"It shall be the duty of the patronesses to visit the school as often as they think necessary, and inspect the sleeping rooms, dress, and deportment of the pupils, and generally the economy and management of the Academy, and report the same in writing to the Board of Trustees for correction, if needed____.

ON APPROPRIATION OF TIME.

"All pupils boarding in commons shall convene in the large school-room at sunrise in the morning, and at eight o'clock in the evening for prayers.

"The hours of teaching shall be from nine o'clock in the morning until noon; and from two o'clock in the afternoon until five; but in May, June and July, they shall begin one hour sooner in the morning and continue until noon; and from three o'clock in the afternoon until six, Friday evenings excepted, when the school shall be dismissed at five ____.

DISCIPLINE AND DRESS.

"No pupil shall be permitted to receive ceremonious visits.

"All boarders in commons shall wear a plain dress and uniform bonnets.

"No pupil shall be permitted to wear beads, jewelry, artificial flowers, curls, feathers, or any superfluous decoration.

"No pupil shall be allowed to attend balls, dancing parties, theatrical performances, or festive entertainments ____.

ACADEMIC DEPARTMENTS—COURSE OF STUDY

"____The studies of the Senior Class are:

"First Session.—Chemistry, natural philosophy, moral philosophy, botany; Latin, Aesop's Fables, Sacra Historia, Viri Romae illustres.

"Second Session.—Intellectual philosophy, Evidences of Christianity, Mythology, general history, Latin, Cæsar's Bella Gallica.

"Students who have completed the full course above, shall be entitled to the honors of the institution, with a diploma on parchment, for the degree of Domina Scientiarum____Those who have pursued with honor the whole course of studies, shall be entitled to remain one academic year, free of charge for tuition, and be associated in an honorary class, to be engaged in the pursuit of science and polite literature, and ornamental studies. After which they shall be entitled to an honorary diploma ____."

The spiritual culture of the students was the supreme concern of the faculty. The Bible was systematically taught and revivals of religion were enjoyed. A notable one occurred in 1826.

The coming of Mrs. Caroline M. Thayer in the fall of 1825 was an epoch in the history of the Academy, and her administration marked an era. She was a remarkably accomplished woman with a genius for administration. Of her Dr. Winans, President of the Board of Trustees thus speaks:

"Monday, Jan. 16, 1826.

"In the evening I returned to Brother Burruss's, where I met Sister C. M. Thayer, who has come to take charge of Elizabeth Female Academy. She is a woman of middle size, coarse features, some of the stiffness of Yankee manners, but of an intelligent and pleasant expression of countenance; free in conversation and various and abundant in information. Rev. John C. Burruss, the President of the Academy, said: 'Mrs. Thayer is a most extraordinary woman; I have never seen such a teacher.'"

Again, under date of March 2d, 1826, in a letter to Rev. John Lane, Dr. Winans says: "The Academy is in a very flourishing condition—Sister Thayer is a tutoress of superior abilities, both as teacher and governess. We are very sanguine of the future usefulness and respectability of the Academy."

Mrs. Thayer was a niece of Gen. Warren, the hero of Bunker Hill, educated in Boston, warmly recommended by Dr. Wilbur Fisk, and before coming to Mississippi had made great reputation as an author and teacher. She had taught for a while with Rev. Valentine Cook on Green River, Kentucky, and had published a volume of essays and poems that attracted wide attention.

The editor of the Southern Galaxy, a paper published in Natchez, attended the semi-annual examinations at Elizabeth Female Academy in the Spring of 1829, and highly commended the institution, especially "the unquestioned capacity and superior accomplishments of the Governess," Mrs. Caroline M. Thayer. The eloquent address delivered on the occasion by Duncan S. Walker Esq., is published in full. In the list of young ladies receiving special mention for scholarship is found the name of "Miss Martha D. Richardson of Washita, La." That fair daughter of the first college for young ladies in the South still lives in California as the widow of the late Bishop H. H. Kavanaugh.

In that same issue of the paper, March 26th, 1829, is this communication:

"TO THE EDITOR OF THE SOUTHERN GALAXY."

"Sir: The following lines are the production of a pupil in the Elizabeth Female Academy at Washington. If you think them worthy of a place in your paper, their insertion may aid the cause of female literature, by awakening emulation among your young readers, though their youthful author only intended them for the eyes of her preceptress.

"C. M. T."

WHAT IS BEAUTY?

—Margaret.

The annual commencement in the early summer was a great occasion. An elaborate notice of the same, which embraced Aug. 21st, 1829, was published in the papers of the young state—"the first detailed account of such an event in Mississippi." The essay of Miss Anna W. Boyd, who graduated with the honors of her class, appears in full. It will be interesting to many yet living for me to give the names of the graduates, and those distinguished in the several classes:

Miss Anna W. Boyd Ireland.

Miss Susan Smith Adams County

Miss Mary C. Hewett Washington, Miss.

Miss Mary J. Patterson Port Gibson, Miss.

Miss Sarah R. Chew Adams County

Miss Eliza A. Fox Natchez, Miss.

Honorary distinctions were conferred on the following pupils for proficiency in study and correct moral deportment:

First Class.

Miss Ellen V. Keavy Pinckneyville, La.

Miss Martha D. Richardson Washita, La.

Miss Mary A. Fretwell Natchez, Miss.

Miss Maria L. Newman Washington, Miss.

Second Class.

Miss Martha Cosby Wilkinson County

Miss Sarah M. Forman Washington, Miss.

Miss Catharine O. Newman Washington, Miss.

Miss Susan C. Robertson Port Gibson, Miss.

Third Class.

Miss Mary Scott Alexandria, La.

Miss Charlotte C. Scott Alexandria, La.

Miss Mary E. Gordon Alexandria, La.

Miss Emily Vick Vicksburg, Miss.

Miss Emily Smith Adams County

Fourth Class.

Miss Charlotte Walcott Vicksburg, Miss.

Miss Mary A. B. Chandler Pinckneyville, La.

Fifth Class.

Miss Mary E. Roberts Washington, Miss.

Miss Matilda J. Nevett Adams County

Sixth Class.

Miss Laura J. A. King Adams County

Miss Martha B. Brabston Washington, Miss.

In that list of young ladies will be recognized a few honored matrons in the Southwest yet living, and many others will recall their grandmothers who have long been among the redeemed in heaven.

A Board of Visitors, consisting of such distinguished men as Robert L. Walker, J. F. H. Caliborne and Dr. J. W. Monette, attended that commencement, and made report as follow:

"____The most unqualified praise would be no more than justice for the splendid evidence of their close attention and assiduity, as exhibited on this occasion; and we take pleasure in giving it as our opinion, that such honorable proof of female literary and scientific acquirements has seldom been exhibited in this or any other country. And while it proves the order and discipline with which science and literature are pursued by the pupils, it proves no less the flourishing condition and the merited patronage the institution enjoys. Nothing reflects more honor upon the present age than the liberality displayed in the education of females; nor can anything evince more clearly the justness with which female education is appreciated in the South than this exhibition, and the interest manifested by the large and respectable audience during the whole of the exercises. The literary and scientific character of the Governess, Mrs. Thayer, is too well known to admit of commendation from us ____."

On account of the removal of the Capitol to Jackson, the shifting of the center of population, several epidemics of yellow fever and other causes, after varying fortunes, the Academy suspended. Ex-Chancellor Edward Mayes says of this institution: "In the decade from 1819 to 1829 its boarders amounted in number annually from 28 to 63." Mrs. John Lane, Mrs. C. K. Marshall, Mrs. H. H. Kavanaugh, Mrs. B. M. Drake, the mother of the late Col. W. L. Nugent, the mother of the Rev. T. L. Mellen, and many other elect ladies were educated at that mother of female colleges.

The noble school continued its splendid work for more than twenty-five years, and laid broad and deep the foundations on which others have wisely builded.