OHIO
Archaeological and Historical
QUARTERLY.
THE HIGHER
EDUCATION OF WOMEN
IN THE OHIO VALLEY
PREVIOUS TO 1840
BY JANE SHERZER.
The section of country investigated in
this paper under
the name of "The Ohio Valley"
includes Western Pennsylvania
and West Virginia; Southern Ohio,
Indiana, and Illinois; and
Kentucky and Tennessee. In West
Virginia, in Southern Indiana
and Illinois there were no schools for
the higher education of
women up to 1840. It is true,
early in 1840, in Indiana there were
two schools started for the higher
education of women, -the
Rockville Female Seminary on January 31,
1840,
and the Craw-
fordsville Female Institute on February
24, 1840, but they will
not be treated in this paper. Neither
will we discuss Jackson-
ville, Illinois, as it is outside of the
boundary set for this
treatise although it was a great
educational center, for the
Beechers had found their way thither. In
1830, or perhaps
even before that time, good female
academies had been started
in that city. Nor can we take the time
here to include the
female academies in Dayton, Ohio, or
that vicinity.
The term, "higher education for
women," in those early
years covered a course of study not
equal to that of good high
schools of the present day, but the same
may be said of colleges
for men, and it was higher in the sense
of giving young women
an education much beyond the common
branches of reading.
writing, and arithmetic. It differed
from the colleges for men
mainly in the substitution of French for
Greek, and in the
(1)
2 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
addition of music and art to the
curriculum. The first insti-
tutions for the higher education of
women were necessarily
private, for, although the states had
established colleges and
universities for their boys, they had
ignored the education of the
girls and excluded them from all their
schools.
MRS. WILLIAMS' SCHOOL, CINCINNATI.1
The first school for young ladies in the
Ohio Valley was
thus advertised in the Western Spy and
Hamilton Gazette, July,
1802:- "Mrs Williams
begs to inform the inhabitants of Cin-
cinnati that she intends opening a
school in the house of Mr.
Newman, sadler, for young ladies on the
following terms:-
Reading, 250 cents; Reading and Sewing,
$3.00; Reading, Sew-
ing, and Writing, 350 cents per
quarter." Nothing further is
known of the school. It may seem of too
primitive a character
to be here considered, but it was
evidently intended for young
ladies, not for children, and it
represents the first department
in all similar schools of that period.
REV. JOHN LYLE'S SCHOOL, KENTUCKY.2
In Kentucky the first of these schools
was opened in Paris,
in
1806, by the Rev. John Lyle, a Presbyterian clergyman. It
prospered with an attendance of about
two hundred pupils until
in 1810 the President resigned because
the trustees objected
to the public reading of the Bible in
the school, which seems to
have broken up the school.
FISK'S FEMALE ACADEMY, HILLMAN,
TENNESSEE.3
Fisk's Female Academy at Hillman,
Overton county,
Tennessee, was chartered September 11,
1806; a female academy
was chartered at Knoxville, Tennessee,
in 1811; and a female
academy at Maysville, Blount county,
Tennessee; in, 1813. No
further information is obtainable in
regard to these efforts.
1Ford, "History of
Cincinnati," p. 172.
2Lewis,
"History of Higher Education in Kentucky," p. 33 & f.
3 Blandin, "History of Higher
Education of Women in the South,"
p. 273.
The Higher Education of Women in the
Ohio Valley. 3
MRS. LOUISA FITZHERBERT KEATS SCHOOL,
WASHINGTON,
KENTUCKY.4
In 1807 in Washington, Mason county,
Kentucky, Mrs.
Louisa Fitzherbert Keats opened a school
for girls where many
of the prominent women of the state were
educated. But it
was closed for some unknown reason in 1812.
MRS. BECK'S SCHOOL, LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY.5
Cumings. in his "Tour of the
West", mentions also in
1807 "three good boarding schools
for girls in Lexington, Ken-
tucky, having over a hundred pupils in
attendance." We hear
nothing more of these, except the one of
Mrs. Beck, "an English
lady of high reputation." Her rates
were two hundred dollars
a year. The course offered reading,
spelling, writing, arithme-
tick, grammar, epistolary
correspondence, elocution and rhet-
orick, geography "with the use of
maps, globes and the armillary
sphere", astronomy "with the
advantages of an orrery", ancient
and modern history, chronology,
mythology, and natural
history, moral and natural philosophy,
musick,- vocal and
instrumental, drawing painting, and
embroidery, artificial
flowers, and any other fashionable fancy
work, plain sewing.
marketing, netting, etc. Cumings also
mentions that a regular
course of education was given,
proceeding through successive
branches.
LORETTO ACADEMY, LORETTO, KENTUKY.6
Under Catholic supervision the Loretto
Academy, Loretto,
Kentucky, one of the most famous of the
girls' schools in that
state, was founded in 1812 by Bishop
Flaget and a Belgian
priest, the Rev. Charles Nerinck. There
was one teacher, Miss
Anna Rhoades. Later she was assisted by
the Misses Christine
Stewart. Anna Haven, Mary Rhodes, and
Nellie Morgan. In
1816 Pope Pius VII organized them into a
religious order and in
1829 the school was chartered. In 1837,
July 16, Mary Jane
Lancaster was graduated, and upon her
diploma are the names
4 Lewis,
"History of Higher Education in Kentucky," p. 34.
5Thwaites, "Early Western
Travels," IV. p. 184-5.
6Blandin, ps. 41-3, Lewis, 226-7 f.
4 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
of the Directress, Mother Isabella
Clark; Secretary, Generose
Mattingly; Bridget Spaulding,
directress; and Bishop Flaget,
Ordinary of the Diocese. This school
still flourishes and has
forty-five branch schools, taught by
instructors, trained in the
normal department of the parent school
at Loretto.
NAZARETH ACADEMY, NAZARETH, KENTUCKY.7
Almost contemporary with Loretto in its
foundation was
Nazareth Academy. It was opened by three
ladies whose number
was soon increased to five to assist
Bishop Flaget. They came
December 1, 1812, to reside at
St. Thomas, Kentucky. Several
additions having been made to their
ranks and having been organ-
ized into a community of sisters of
charity, they founded the
school of Nazareth in August, 1814.
Although Bishop Flaget
originated the plan, yet upon Bishop
David, his co-worker, fell
the greater part of the care of looking
after the interests of the
sisters, and hence he is regarded as the
real founder. The most
prominent of the early members of the
order were Mother
Catherine Spaulding, the cousin of
Archbishop Spaulding, the
seventh archbishop of Baltimore. The
original school at St.
Thomas was both a day school and a
boarding school. But in
1812
the Academy was moved to its present
location seven miles
distant from the original one, and two
miles north of Bardstown,
the new site being called Nazareth. The
day school was dis-
continued at this time. On December 29, 1829, the
school was
chartered as Nazareth Academy under a
board of seven trustees.
Within six years after the change of
location twenty thousand
dollars was spent in improving the
place, and in 1824 there were
one hundred and twenty boarders. There
are 67 branch schools
in Kentucky and other states of the
South and West, teachers
being furnished for all these schools by
a normal school con-
ducted in Nazareth. The patronage of the
school has been large,
pupils coming from Kentucky and the
Southern states.
CINCINNATI LANCASTER SEMINARY,
CINCINNATI.8
Turning to Ohio again, it may be
permissible to mention in
this paper a school of a different
type,--the Cincinnati Lancaster
Lewis, "History of Higher Education
in Kentucky," p. 228 f.
8Drake, "Picture of
Cincinnati," p. 155-7.
The Higher Education of Women in the
Ohio Valley. 5
Seminary, founded by Rev. Dr. Wilson and
Dr. Daniel Drake,
opened in 1815 and chartered by an Act
of the General Assembly
of Ohio, February 4th of that
year under the name of Lancaster
Seminary.9 The school lots
were at Fourth and Walnut Streets
in Cincinnati, the Presbyterian church
executing a ninety-nine
year lease of these lots in return for
the privilege of selecting
twenty-eight poor children to be
educated. In 1814 a two-story
brick building was erected with two
oblong wings stretching 82
feet back from Fourth street. This
building was light and airy
and was considered the finest public
edifice west of the Alleghe-
nies. One wing was for males and one for
females, with no
passage between except by the portico.
It had sittings for 1400
pupils. It was composed of Junior and
Senior departments, sub-
divided into male and female schools.
They were taught in the
same room but sat on opposite sides,
according to Mr. Henry
Bradshaw Fearon, an Englishman, who traveled through the
United States in 1817. In his
"Sketches of America" he also
says that he saw 21 males and 19 females in the same room. It
is said that young women took diplomas
in some of the classes.
This Seminary was governed by a board of
seven trustees, of
which Jacob Burnett was the first
President. The school was
supported by stockholders who elected
the board. To share-
holders the price per quarter was eleven
shillings and three
pence; to all others thirteen shillings
and six pence. No infor-
mation is given in regard to the course
of study except that
higher branches of literature were
taught in the Senior depart-
ment, and that there were purchases of
philosophical apparatus.
General Lytle gave $10,000 worth of land
and much cash; Judge
Burnett $5,000 besides a quantity of
land; and others gave much
cash and land to the school, making the
endowment $50,000. It
was organized later on as the Cincinnati
College, but met with
reverses so that it was closed, and in
1845 the building burned
to the ground. The Lancaster method
consisted in using the
older pupils for tutors and even
instructors, and the system is
said to have worked well.
9Ford's "History of
Cincinnati," p. 179.
6 Ohio
Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
MR. WING'S SCHOOL, CINCINNATI.10
Ford's history of Cincinnati tells of a
school similar to the
Lancasterian, kept by Mr. William Wing
in 1829, who was suc-
ceeded by his son, Edward Wing. It was
at the corner of Sixth
and Vine streets with the entrance on
Sixth street. The floor
was like that of a theatre, rising from
the south end to the north
end. The teacher sat on a stage at the
south end and thus had
oversight of the entire room. The boys
occupied the east side
and the girls the west side, next to
Vine street.
REV. SLACK'S SCHOOL, CINCINNATI.11
There was also, in the north wing of the
College building,
kept by the Rev. Mr. Slack, a school
distinguished by a collec-
tion of valuable apparatus and courses
of lectures on various
branches of study.
NASHVILLE FEMALE ACADEMY, NASHVILLE,
TENNESSEE.12
In 1816 in Nashville, Tennessee, in
response to a desire of
the people for something in the way of
education of a higher
order for their girls, the Nashville
Female Academy was estab-
lished by a stock company of fifty
members. July 4, 1816,
Robert White and Thomas Claiborne bought
three acres of land
from David McGravack for $1,500, but it
was not until August
4, 1817, that the school was opened and
October 3 of the same
year that a charter was granted by the
legislature. The charter
appointed a board of seven
trustees,-Robert White. Robert
Searcy, Felix Grundy, John P. Erwin,
John Baird, Joseph T.
Elliston, and James Trimble, who were to
act until the first Mon-
day in January. Then they were to give
way to a new board
of seven trustees chosen by the
stock-holders of the Academy.
Every year thereafter a new board
appointed in the same way was
to supplant the old one. The Academy
grounds and buildings
occupied five acres in the center of the
city of Nashville, near
what is now the Tulane Hotel, extending
from Church to
10 Ford, p. 174-5.
11Ford, p. 174.
12 Merriam,
"Higher Education in Tennessee," ps. 245-6.
The Higher Education of Women in
the Ohio Valley. 7
McLemore and Cedar streets. The first
principals were, from
1817-19, Dr. Daniel Berry and Mrs Berry,
formerly of Salem,
Mass. The Rev. William Hume succeeded
Dr. Berry, but he
died from cholera in 1833."13 Then
came Dr. R. A. Lapsley, who
retired in 1838 on account of ill
health. Rev. W. A. Scott was
the next principal, remaining until 1840, when the Rev.
C. D.
Elliott and Dr. R. A. Lapsley became
joint principals. Dr.
Lapsley soon retired, and Dr. Elliott
became sole principal, con-
tinuing until the close of the school in
1861.
The course covered four years:
primary,two years; academic,
four years; collegiate, four years.
There were two sessions a
day, 9-12 A. M. and 2-4 P.
M., with one day vacation at Christ-
mas. The patronage was large.
The campus was very beautiful with its
grassy turf and
magnificent forest trees. "There
were three separate buildings
in front, the center one three stories
high, the others two stories.
They had a frontage of 180 feet, and
extended back 280 feet.
The center building was of grey brick,
with colonial doorways
and connecting galleries with paved
courts". It contained a
chapel, recreation hall, and other
attractive features. The recrea-
tion hall was 120 feet long and
40 feet wide, with a gallery at
one end and a platform at the other.
Besides the piano there was
what was called a "dancing
piano". The latter ground out polkas,
mazurkas, and reels by turning a crank.
In this hall the girls
danced three-quarters of an hour every
evening after supper.
Much stress was laid on dignity, and
grace of carriage, and awk-
wardness was carefully corrected. Courtesy was demanded
from everyone connected with the school
and honor was the at-
mosphere. A matron could not enter a
pupil's door without
knocking and waiting for
permission. Correspondence was
sacred. No teacher was permitted to
accept a gift with a money
value from a pupil nor to correct a
pupil in the presence of
others. The school was never endowed but
depended entirely
on tuition fees, yet annually there were
admitted five daughters
of Masons, five daughters of Odd
Fellows, and all the daughters
of ministers actively engaged in the
ministry. The discipline was
very strict. The girls were never
allowed to speak to acquaint-
13 Blandin, p. 275 ff.
8 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
ances when they took their daily walks
or attended church. But
one day in 1825, when General LaFayette
visited Nashville, he
was received at the Academy and the
girls were released from
restraint.
The annual May Day picnic was a great
event and com-
mencement a grand occasion, the
exercises continuing three or
four days, as every maiden read an
original essay. The di-
plomas bore curious Cupid devices with
curving wings in pen
and ink drawings, duly dated, signed,
and sealed by faculty and
trustees. The following is the quaint
form used in the inscrip-
tion:- "These presents shall
certify to all whom they may con-
cern
that .... .............. .....
has completed the course
of study prescribed by the Institution,
and that her diligence in
pursuit of knowledge and her uniform
good conduct whilst a
member of the Academy may receive their
appropriate reward,
we have granted unto and conferred upon
her this diploma as
a testimonial of our approbation of her
correct deportment and
of her literary attainments". In
1840 there was an enrollment
of 198, the pupils coming from distant
places by stage coach
and on horseback. Evidently the
Nashville Female Academy
was a typical boarding school.
LAFAYETTE SEMINARY, LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY.14
In 1821
Lafayette Seminary was founded in
Lexington,
Kentucky, In 1825, on the sixteenth day
of May, it was visited
by Lafayette. It then had nine
instructors and 135 pupils, and
in the four previous years had had a
total of 366 pupils from
thirteen different states. It claimed to
furnish every facility for
making thorough and accomplished
scholars. In 1826 it was
known as Lafayette Female Academy, and
had for its principal
Josiah Dunborn, A. M. The studies taught
were Grammar,
Rhetoric, Logic, Languages, Astronomy,
Natural and Moral
Philosophy, Composition, Arithmetic,
Geography, History,
Mathematics, Painting and Drawing,
Writing, and Dancing.
14Lewis, "History of Higher
Education in Kentucky," p. 34.
Blandin, p. 154.
The Higher Education of Women in the
Ohio Valley. 9
The tuition was $50.00 and board was
$150.00. Extra branches
were $40.00.15
CINCINNATI FEMALE ACADEMY, CINCINNATI.16
In 1823 John Locke, M. D., established
the Cincinnati Fe-
male Academy on Walnut street between
Third and Fourth
streets. There were teachers in the
French language, music,
penmanship, and needlework, and an
assistant in the prepara-
tory department. Twelve gentlemen formed
a Board of Visit-
ors who examined the pupils and
superintended the Academy.l7
The price of tuition, exclusive of music
and the French lan-
guage, was from four to ten dollars a
quarter. In August of
each year there was a public examination
at which medals and
honorary degrees of the Academy were
awarded. Following
the annual examination there was a
vacation of four weeks.
The Academy possessed competent
apparatus for illustrations
in Chemistry, Natural Philosophy,
Astronomy, and for teaching
the simple elements of the different
branches to the younger
pupils. The demonstrative method of
teaching was employed
by which a knowledge of things instead
of words alone was
imparted. In fact, it was Pestalozzi's
method of instruction.
Patrons were carefully informed that the
idea entertained by
some persons that the system of
Pestalozzi tends to infidelity
was unfounded.
About four years were required to pass
through the pre-
scribed course of study in order to
obtain the honorary degree
of the Academy. Mrs. Frances Trollope,
who in 1828 visited
Cincinnati, in her book on
"Domestic Manners of Americans,"
speaks with surprise of an exhibition
where the higher branches
of Science were among the studies . . .
and where "one
lovely girl of sixteen took her
degree in Mathematics
and another was examined in Moral
Philosophy".
15School Exercises of Lafayette Female
Academy, Lexington, Ky.,
1826," Caroline Clifford Nephew.
16Ford's "History of
Cincinnati," p. 174.
17 Drake & Mansfield,
"Cincinnati in 1826," p. 42 f.
10 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
PICKETT'S BOARDING SCHOOL, CINCINNATI.18
In 1823 the Cincinnati Female College or school, kept by
Albert and John W. Pickett from
New York State, seems to
have been especially popular. Their method of teaching was
the analytic or inductive. Their course of study embraced the
ordinary branches taught in a female
academy, including the
Latin, Greek, and French languages,
Music and Drawing. The
school occupied a suite of rooms in the
south wing of the Cin-
cinnati College edifice. Flint's Western Monthly Review of
April, 1830, gives an account of the
commencement exercises,
when eleven gold medals were
distributed for proficiency in
Latin, Greek, French, Mathematics, Music
and Painting.
I have in my possession a letter written
by one of the
pupils of Mr. Pickett's school, dated
September 29, 1837. This
quaint epistle gives such a vivid
description of the college life
of a girl in those early days that it is
here inserted:
"CINCINNATI, September 29th, Friday afternoon, 1837.
DEAR LIZZY:-
As I have finished my copy and as it is
some time until we are
called up with our writing, I will
commence a letter to you. I am sitting
in the third story of Pickett's Female
Institution, next Mary Starbuck,
amidst a number of girls who were all
entire strangers to me two
weeks ago, but Harriet Haven and Adelia
Goshorn. I am pleased quite
beyond my expectation, with my school,
and my schoolmates, and my
new home, and everything else in the
City, but I must confess I was
very homesick the first several days
that I attended school, in consequence
of seeing none but strange faces and Mr.
Pickett my teacher was strange
to me and the rules of the school were
so new, and very different from
Miss Havens, but now as I am acquainted
with all the young ladies in
the senior department I am very happy in my new situation. I will
now tell you about our journey down
here. Father and I started from
Hamilton at 5 o'clock Tuesday, September
12th in the packet Clarion,
the ladies' cabin was very crowded, Mrs.
Campbell was also going down,
we took tea at 8 o'clock on the boat. I
sat up all night with some of
the ladies among whom was a Mrs. Hunt,
newly married lady and her
husband from Connecticut with whom I
became acquainted, she pleased
me very much by telling me of her
travels over the United States, they
were very informing and interesting to
me. We arrived at Cincinnati
very early in the morning, Father and I
left the boat and went to Carters,
18 Drake & Mansfield,
"Cincinnati in 1826," p. 43 f.
The Higher Education of Women in the
Ohio Valley. 11
that afternoon we visited the different
schools accompanied by Mr.
Barnes, we were pleased with them all
but more with Picketts. On
Fryday evening father left me for
Hamilton. I felt I can't tell how
at being left alone twenty-five miles
from my nearest and dearest
relatives. I am boarding at Dr.
McGuire's on George Street, a private
family, they have but one child and that
a little boy. Mrs. McGuire
was formerly Louisa Walden, the lady who
painted that beautiful Gera-
nium in Georgetta Haven's Album, she is
a graduate of Dr. Lockes, her
sister Elizabeth is here spending some
time with her, she is a young
lady of my age and very mild and
pleasant, we have fine times together.
Next week we have no school on account
of the convention of teachers
which will be very great, gentlemen from
all parts of the Union are
coming to it some have already arrived,
our school was this morning
visited by a Mr. Scott of Tennessee, one
of the members. I promised
myself a great deal of pleasure in
expectation of some of the girls
coming to the convention, but I am
afraid I shall be disappointed for
Mr. McGuire speaks of taking us all to
Perrinsville a village about
twenty miles below Cincinnati to spend
the week. I attended the theater
one evening last week, the performance
was the "Robbers wife" and
"Soldiers Daughter." Mrs. Shaw
is the only theatrical star in the city
and she will leave in a few days, but
the whole Ravel family will be
here in a week or two, which consists of
eighteen persons, the great
french dancers, they will draw full
houses. The new theater is situated
on Sycamore Street, it is very richly
decorated with Chandaliers and
paintings and curtains part of which are
white satin.
Last Sunday I was out all afternoon in a
gig riding with a friend.
We went eight miles below Cincinnati
past the Hunting park, we past
some of the most splendid country seats.
I believe I have told you all I know of
any consequence and
school is very near out so I must finish
as soon as possible. Reply
soon, Direct your letter to me in care
of Dr. T. McGuire, Cincinnati,
it is immaterial about the street. Give
my love to all my acquaintances,
reserving a large share for your self.
Answer this by a long letter.
I am your loving
friend AMELIA C. HITTELL.
MISS ELIZABETH FISHER.
Adelia Goshorn attends school every day,
she in the first junior
class, she is in our room with her class
three forenoons in the week,
she is a very intelligent girl I
believe, I have but a few opportunities of
speaking to her.
A. C. H.
MISS ELIZABETH FISHER,
Rossville,
Ohio."
12 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
CINCINNATI BOARDING SCHOOLS.19
According to Drake and Mansfield the
oldest female board-
ing school in Cincinnati was kept by the
Misses Bailey, "women
well qualified and of high
respectability", assisted by Mr. F.
Eckstein. It was located on Broadway
between Market and
Columbia streets. The date of its
founding is unknown. All
the elementary, as well as the higher,
branches of female educa-
tion, including the French
language, Music, Painting, and Draw-
ing, were taught in this institution.20
There was also a school kept by Mrs.
Ryland, an English
woman of much culture.
In 1833 Mrs. Caroline Lee Heintz, the
celebrated novelist,
together with her husband, a cultured
Frenchman, had a popular
school for a short time.21 In the same year is mentioned one
on the site of St. John's Hospital, kept
by Miss Catherine Beecher
and her sister, Harriett. But Harriett
soon married Professor
Stowe and Catherine became a missionary
for female education
in the West. Miss Mary Duton, as
assistant, then took charge.
but after a time she gave up and went to
New Hampshire, where
she maintained a flourishing school for
many years.
SCIENCE HILL ACADEMY, SCIENCE HILL,
KENTUCKY.22
March 25, 1825, the Rev. John Tevis, a
Methodist clergy-
man, and Mrs. Tevis opened a school for
girls at Science Hill,
Shelbyville, Kentucky. This school is
still in existence, although
it has always been a private enterprise
without endowment.
Before the War many hundreds of girls
attended, often staying
four or five years without returning
home. During the War
many girls from the South remained two
or three years with
Mrs. Tevis at her own expense, some
never hearing from home
during that time. At first the school
enrolled but twenty pupils.
only four of whom were boarders. It is
known as "An English
and Classical school for Girls",
furnishing a thorough course of
19Drake & Mansfield, p. 43.
20Ford, 174-5.
21Ford,
p. 175.
22 Blandin,
p. 154 ff.
The Higher Education of Women in the
Ohio Valley. 13
first-class quality, which prepares for
the leading colleges for
women. "No sham" is the motto
of teachers and pupils.
STEUBENVILLE FEMALE SEMINARY.23
April 13, 1829, the Rev. Charles C.
Beatty and wife founded
the Steubenville Female Seminary at
Steubenville, Ohio. It had
a decidedly religious basis and was
successful. Quoting from
one of their announcements: The location
of the Seminary is
considered peculiarly eligible in
healthfulness of the surround-
ing country, and character of the place
for morality and intel-
ligence. The large and commodious
buildings stand in one edge
of the town, and in a commanding
situation on the Ohio river,
with sufficient ground adjoining to
admit of exercise and rec-
reation within its own limits. Besides
the large, imposing main
edifice there are contiguous buildings
165 feet in length. There
are fifty lodging rooms designed for two
pupils, each sufficiently
lighted and ventilated. But as the young
ladies study in the
General Hall and not in their rooms, it
is thought neither neces-
sary nor conducive to health to have
fire in the sleeping cham-
bers.
The seminary is divided into two
distinct departments. The
pupils occupy separate school rooms and
are subjected to a
somewhat different arrangement and
method of management and
instruction. Still, they are only
treated as older and younger
children of the same family. The
preparatory or girls' school
comprises none in general older than
twelve. In order to enter
the applicant must be able to read. It
consists of two classes:
Introductory, for those who are merely
reading and spelling,
together with receiving oral
instructions on various subjects;
Primary, who are in addition attending
to Writing, Arithmetic,
Geography, History, English, Grammar,
and first lessons in
Botany, Natural Philosophy, Geometry,
etc. The Principal
School, or Young Ladies' Department,
consists of all who enter
the seminary over ten years of age. For
admission to this a
pupil must either be that old or have
passed through all the
studies of the Preparatory school. It is
divided into three
23 "Outline
of Steubenville Female Seminary," in bound volume of
Addresses.
14 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
classes, Middle, Junior, and Senior.
Into the first all are ad-
mitted who have entered this school; and
they continue in it until
they are prepared to enter the higher
classes. The studies of
this class will be (for those who have
not previously attended
to them), Writing, Reading, Orthography,
Arithmetic, Geog-
raphy, Modern and Ancient, with drawing
maps, History, ancient
and modern, but especially of our
country, English Grammar,
Composition, Natural Philosophy, Natural
History, Biblical,
Roman and Grecian Antiquities, Watts
"On the Mind," Human
Physiology, Political Class Book, etc.
The studies of the Junior
and Senior classes are each designed to
occupy a year and pre-
pare the young lady for graduating with
honor to herself and the
institution. No one is admitted to them
who has not passed a
satisfactory examination on the subjects
which precede, nor in
ordinary cases until she shall have been
for some time a member
of the Seminary. The studies will be
Botany, Chemistry, As-
tronomy, Geometry, Algebra, Rhetoric,
Criticism, Intellectual
and Moral Philosophy, Logic, Evidences
of Christianity, Analogy
of Natural and Revealed Religion, etc.
In recitations these regu-
lar divisions are not kept separate, but
all the pupils are ar-
ranged in temporary classes as may best
promote the good of
individuals. Text books for the several
classes are carefully
selected and but rarely changed. Music,
Drawing, and Painting
are apart from the regular studies of
the classes. Ancient and
Modern languages may either be studied
with the regular classes
or omitted as is seen proper. A
liberally educated gentleman
from Europe is permanently engaged to
give lessons in French.
Vocal Music will be attended to as a
general exercise in both
departments, and particularly taught
when desired. The Prin-
cipal has the general care of the school
in regard to the methods
of instruction. In organizing at the
commencement of each term,
she, together with the Superintendent,
is chiefly occupied in ar-
ranging the various studies, forming
various classes, and at-
taching to them the respective teachers
in their appropriate de-
partments. Afterwards she instructs some
of the classes, and
also visits occasionally the several
teachers in their class rooms
to see that the same methods of
instruction and the same degree
of accuracy are maintained by all. The
duties devolving upon
The Higher Education of Women in the Ohio Valley. 15
the governess have reference principally
to regular school hours.
During these she is to preside in the
hall, to assemble and dismiss
the school, to attend to the sending out
and return of classes, and
to maintain order and quiet there during
the hours of the recita-
tion. She also instructs or superintends
the instruction in Pen-
manship. All permissions are sought
from, and excuses rendered
to the Governess, who also countersigns
the regular reports made
to the parents. The instruction of the
scholars in the various
branches is committed to the teachers,
who are selected with the
greatest care. So far as may be, each
teacher is confined to a
few branches of study.
In order that the undivided attention of
the class be most
effectively secured the recitations are
conducted in separate
rooms. In matters in which household
arrangements are con-
cerned, as the care of the lodging rooms
and table, and espe-
cially attendance on those who are sick,
the young ladies are
under the supervision of the matron, and
domestics are only ac-
cessible to their directions through her
express permission. The
equipment of the school consists of
maps, globes, and various
astronomical, philosophical, and
chemical apparatus, a cabinet,
and a library consisting of two
departments, one comprising about
four hundred volumes selected especially
for the pleasure read-
ing of the young ladies; the other
containing about the same
number of scientific and class books for
the use of the scholars
and teachers, and the explanation of the
various branches of
study. Besides these there is a library
commenced by the So-
ciety of Inquiry on Missions, and the
extensive private library of
the Superintendent is open to all the
school.
Health is regarded as a thing of the
first importance.
Pupils are required to take exercises of
various kinds in the open
air. School exercises are short that
they may frequently change
their posture. In the middle of every
morning and afternoon
session there is a recess, during which
they are encouraged to a
free use of their limbs and tongues, as
well as a free flow of the
animal spirits. Calisthenics is taught
as a regular part of the
course, and all the pupils practice in
them every day. The able
and excellent physician watches
constantly over the health of
the whole establishment, and has even
kindly delivered systematic
16 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
lectures of the most valuable character
to the school upon the
care of the physical frame, the
prevention of diseases. Human
physiology is also a subject of study.
The Bible is more or less studied every
day. The religious
principles inculcated are those common
to all Evangelical Protest-
ants. The government of the institution,
both as to the family
and school, should be understood as that
of authority entirely
parental and mild, but decided and firm.
Reports are sent to
parents and guardians every two months.
They are made from
daily memoranda kept by all the
teachers. The year is divided
into two sessions, with a vacation at
the close of each, in the
months of August and April. Each session
is divided into two
quarters.
Terms for boarders where only two are in
a room are, per
quarter, $35.00; where more than two are
in a room, or for mem-
bers of the preparatory school, $33.00.
No extra charge is made
for remaining during the vacations.
Extra charges are made for
instruction in instrumental music and
the use of the piano, -
$10.00. Lessons in drawing and painting,
- $4.00; French, $5.00;
Washing, per dozen, 36 cents; when fire
is required in sleeping
room
for the winter session, each,-$8.00.
Some articles of
stationery and the use of some books are
furnished without
charge. The winter session begins on the
last Monday of Octo-
ber, and the summer session on the last
Monday of April. Special
facilities will be afforded to those who
are desirous of qualifying
themselves as teachers. In the winter
session, regular lectures
and instruction will be given for this
purpose. For those attend-
ing this class who do not intend to be
teachers, there will be an
additional charge of $5.00.
The friends of the Seminary have
selected a number of
gentlemen in the place to act as
visitors of the school, and to
confer with the Superintendent. From
them valuable sugges-
tions and aid are received by the
Superintendent and Principal".
The above has been quoted in detail
because it gives the
most complete outline of such
institutions that the writer has
been able to find. The Steubenville
Female Seminary seems to
have been one of the most pretentious
and one of the best of the
The Higher Education of Women in the
Ohio Valley. 17
higher institutions of learning for
women in those early days.
It flourished for many years and was
only recently closed.
OXFORD FEMALE ACADEMY, OXFORD.
In Oxford, Ohio, in response to a demand
from the faculty
of Miami University that their daughters
might have an opportu-
nity of higher education such as their
sons were receiving in the
Miami University, there was opened a
school for girls in 1830.
Miss Bethania Crocker, the daughter of a
Congregational clergy-
man of Massachusetts, was put in charge.
This young girl, al-
though but sixteen years of age, had
been given a thorough educa-
tion by her father, including Greek,
Latin and Hebrew. She
was aided in her work by the counsel of
President Bishop of
Miami University, and Professors
McGuffey and John Winfield
Scott. After three or four years this
talented young woman
married the Rev. George Bishop, son of
President R. H. Bishop
of Miami University.24 The
Misses Smith and Clark from the
East then continued the school, one of
these women being the
sister-in-law of Henry Ward Beecher.
They soon were married
and gave place to other principals,
among them the Misses Lucy
and Ann North, all of whom married
professors from Miami or
clergymen.25
February 27, 1839, the school was
chartered as the Oxford
Female Academy by a special act of the
Legislature for a period
of thirty years, the incorporators being
John W. Scott, William
Graham, James E. Hughes, William W.
Robertson, Herman B.
Mayo, George G. White, and James Leach,
and the capital stock
was limited to $10,000. The corporate
concerns of the said
Academy were to be managed by a Board of
seven trustees, who
were to be elected annually by the stockholders.
This school
formed the nucleus of The Oxford College
for Women, at the
present time a prosperous, standard
college, the oldest Protest-
ant school for women in the United
States conferring the B. A.
degree.
24 Porter,
"History of First Presbyterian Church of Oxford,"
ps. 36-9.
25Upham, "Old Miami," ps.
136-53.
Vol. XXV - 2.
18 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
Only one catalog of those early days is
in existence,-a
catalog of the year 1838-9, in the
possession of Mrs. DeNise
DeNise (Mary E. Schenck of Franklin,
Ohio; of the class of
1839), now of Burlington, Iowa, the
oldest living graduate of
the Institution.26 The
teachers at the time were Miss Ann L.
North, Principal; Miss Marion Crume,
Assistant; Miss Sarah E.
Werz, Instructor in Vocal Music; and
Mrs. M. N. Scott, In-
structor in Instrumental Music. There
were fifty-four pupils in
attendance, the roll including Caroline
L. Scott, who was to
become the wife of President Benjamin
Harrison. The Academy
was divided into two departments, each
department divided into
two classes. In the first department
First Class, were taught
Reading, Writing, Spelling, Ray's
Eclectic Arithmetic, First Les-
sons of Philosophy for Children,
Parley's History of Geology
and History of Animals, First Book of
History, tuition per quar-
ter $3.00. In the second class were
Goldsmith's History of
Greece and Rome, Smith's Grammar,
Colburn's Mental Arith-
metic, Goodrich's History of the United
States, Malt Brun's
Geography, Human Physiology, Davies'
Arithmetic, and Com-
stock's Natural Philosophy, commenced;
tuition per quarter $3.75.
The Junior class (second department)
studied Davies' Arithmetic
and Comstock's Natural Philosophy,
(continued), Kirkham's
Grammar, Whelpley's Compend of Ancient
and Modern History,
Watts "On the Mind," Colburn's
Algebra, Mrs. Lincoln's Botany,
Paley's Natural Theology, Blair's
Lectures on Rhetoric, Jones'
Chemistry, Geography of the Heavens,
Geology, Legendre's
Geometry (commenced), tuition per
quarter $5.00. In the Senior
class the subjects were Legendre's
Geometry (continued),
Hedge's Logic; Paley's Evidences of
Christianity; Newman's
Political Economy; Kames' Criticism;
Mental Philosophy; But-
ler's Analogy; Wayland's Moral
Philosophy; and Davies' Algebra.
For instruction in the French language,
Drawing, Painting, and
Instrumental Music, additional charge
was made. The daily
study of the Holy Scriptures, Writing,
and Vocal Music were
continued through the whole course. A
weekly composition was
required of every pupil, to be read and
carefully criticized. A
paper edited and furnished with original
pieces by the young
28 "Catalog of the Oxford Female
Academy," 1838-9.
The Higher Education of Women in the
Ohio Valley. 19
ladies afforded an advantage to those
who wished to improve
their talent of writing. Every scholar,
on her entrance into
school, was examined in the fundamental
branches, as Spelling,
Reading, etc., and if found deficient,
was expected to devote
some time to their acquisition and, if
possible, to become well-
versed in them "as a thorough
acquaintance with the elementary
studies is indispensable to a correct
education". Particular care
was taken to have the young ladies
thorough in all they studied,
and "no one was permitted to pursue
such a variety of branches
at one time as to dissipate and weaken
rather than strengthen
the intellectual faculties."
"The year is divided into two terms
and vacations. The
winter term commences the first Monday
of October, and closes
the first Wednesday of March. It is
succeeded by a vacation of
two weeks. The summer term commences the
third Wednesday
of March and closes the third Wednesday
of August. It is suc-
ceeded by a vacation of about six weeks.
Those who pass a thor-
ough examination in the preparatory
studies will be admitted
into the Junior class. Those who pass a
similar examination in
the elementary branches and those of the
Junior class may be ad-
mitted into the Senior class. Those who,
in addition, are well
acquainted with the studies of the
Senior class, will, at the close
receive a testimonial of having
completed with honor the course
of study in this Institution. Pupils of
the Academy are favored
gratuitously with a course of weekly
lectures in Natural Science.
with an extensive apparatus and means of
illustration, by Prof.
Scott of Miami University."
Recently it was the privilege of the
writer to spend a few
hours with Mrs. DeNise DeNise of
Burlington, Iowa. Although
in her ninetieth year she has full
possession of all her faculties
and converses about her school days in
Oxford with the vivacity
of a young woman. With two other
prospective pupils she drove
to Oxford from Franklin, a distance of
28 miles, in a private
conveyance. With several of her
classmates she lived in the
home of Mr. Harry Lewis, one of the
family to which the hus-
band of Mrs. Phillip Moore belongs. The
pupils from a distance
were thus taken care of in the homes of
the people of Oxford,
and formed the first cottage system,
which has had in recent
20 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
years its fullest development at Smith
College. She described
the school room vividly, -a long
rectangular room, with a plat-
form at one end on which sat the
presiding teacher. Benches,
ranged around the walls, were occupied
by the students during
the day. The class reciting was summoned
to the seats imme-
diately in front of the instructor. The
curriculum was the one
above described.
Another one of the early graduates was
Mrs. William C.
Woods (Juliette Elmina Jameson of Eaton,
Ohio), who was
graduated as valedictorian about 1833.
She was the mother of
Mrs. W. T. Poynter, now the Principal of
the Science Hill Aca-
demy at Shelbyville, Kentucky.
THE SCHOOLS OF CLARKSVILLE, TENNESSEE.27
In Clarksville, Tennessee, the oldest
girls' school was "Mrs.
Killebrew's Boarding and Day School for
Young Ladies". "Many
most elegant women were educated at this
school which con-
tinued until 1835." In 1833 Dr. L.
D. Ring taught a high school
for girls at the Masonic Hall. It was
called "high" because he
taught the classics, including French.
In 1835 the Rev. Mr. Rus-
sell and wife taught successfully for a
year or two the Masonic
Female Institute in Masonic Hall. They
were succeeded by Mrs.
Whitman.
WASHINGTON FEMALE SEMINARY, WASHINGTON,
PA.
In Western Pennsylvania no efforts were
made for the
education of girls until November 26,
1835, when a meeting for
the organization of a female seminary
was held and the Washing-
ton Female Seminary was opened in the
spring of 1836.28 The
first principal was Mrs. Frances Biddle,
who was succeeded in
1840 by Miss Sarah B. Foster, afterwards
Mrs. Hanna. It has
continued until the present day without
assuming the rank of a
college, but preparing for the best of
our women's colleges.
27
Blandin, p. 285.
28 Letter from President J. D. Moffat,
Washington & Jefferson
College.
The Higher Education of Women in the
Ohio Valley. 21
COLUMBIA FEMALE INSTITUTE, COLUMBIA,
TENNESSEE.29
Under the auspices of the Protestant
Episcopal church the
Columbia Female Institute in the suburbs
of Columbia, Tenn.,
was founded in 1836 by the Bishops
Leonidas Polk and James
Harvey Otey. The castellated structure
stood on a hill sur-
rounded by forest trees. The Rev.
Franklin G. Smith was the
principal from 1838 until 1852. Bishop Otey wrote
in 1852:-"I
have spent the best energies of my soul
and passed the most
vigorous years of my life in its (the
Institute's) cause, or it
would have been hopelessly ruined by its
load of debt. For five
or six years I have labored incessantly,
being sometimes absent
for six months from my house and family,
in my efforts to raise
funds for its relief. I have worked hard
and worked long with-
out hope of fee or reward other than the
humble expectation of
being serviceable to the people among
whom Providence has cast
my lot". Nothing further is known
of its work in those early
days except that it was established with
a view to giving a col-
legiate course to girls under the
direction of the Episcopal church.
HOWARD COLLEGE, GALLATIN, TENNESSEE.30
Howard College was founded in 1837 at
Gallatin, Tennessee.
It later became the property of the Odd
Fellows, and was char-
tered in 1856.
Summarizing, we may say that Kentucky,
Tennessee, and
Ohio were the pioneers in the higher
education of women in
the Ohio Valley up to 1840. The schools
were, on the whole,
similar in type, varying in their
curriculums, in quantity and
quality. Ohio, with its modest beginning
in 1802,
was the first of
which we have record. Kentucky and
Tennessee were especially
active and popular in the boarding
school education for young
women, having large patronage from other
states. Two of the
schools in Ohio, the Lancaster and Wing
schools in Cincinnati.
were really co-educational, although
professing to separate the
females from the males. Ohio may claim
the distinction not only
of making the first step in the
education of women in the Ohio
29 Blandin, ps. 282-4.
30 Blandin, p. 284 f.
22 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
Valley, but also of having the only
school from that early date,
i. e., The Oxford College for Women,
continue its existence up
to the present time as a standard
college, all the other schools
for women in the Ohio Valley having
either closed their doors
after a brief existence or else having
continued as preparatory
schools or Junior colleges.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Blandin, "History of Higher
Education of Women in the South
Prior to 1860."
Lewis, "History of Higher Education
in Kentucky."
Merriam, "Higher Education in
Tennessee."
Drake & Mansfield, "Cincinnati
in 1826."
Whitehill, "History of Education in
West Virginia."
Knight & Commons, "The History
of Higher Education in Ohio."
Thwing, "A History of Higher
Education in America."
Woodburn, "Higher Education in
Indiana" (Bureau of Education,
No. 10). Bound Volume of Addresses.
Sprague, "Annals," IV.
Thwait, "Early Western
Travels," IV, XXVII, XXVIII.
*Crew, "History of Nashville."
Drake, "Picture of
Cincinnati."
Ford, "History of Cincinnati."
"School Exercises of Lafayette
Female Academy," 1826.
Catalog of Oxford Female Academy,
1838-9.
Catalog of Steubenville Female Seminary.
Ohio, "Historical Sketches of
Higher Education."
Porter, "The Presbyterian Church of
Oxford."
Upham, "Old Miami."
"History of Cincinnati and Hamilton
County."
Phelan, "Tennessee."
*Dexter, "History of Education in
United States."
*Not in library.
OHIO
Archaeological and Historical
QUARTERLY.
THE HIGHER
EDUCATION OF WOMEN
IN THE OHIO VALLEY
PREVIOUS TO 1840
BY JANE SHERZER.
The section of country investigated in
this paper under
the name of "The Ohio Valley"
includes Western Pennsylvania
and West Virginia; Southern Ohio,
Indiana, and Illinois; and
Kentucky and Tennessee. In West
Virginia, in Southern Indiana
and Illinois there were no schools for
the higher education of
women up to 1840. It is true,
early in 1840, in Indiana there were
two schools started for the higher
education of women, -the
Rockville Female Seminary on January 31,
1840,
and the Craw-
fordsville Female Institute on February
24, 1840, but they will
not be treated in this paper. Neither
will we discuss Jackson-
ville, Illinois, as it is outside of the
boundary set for this
treatise although it was a great
educational center, for the
Beechers had found their way thither. In
1830, or perhaps
even before that time, good female
academies had been started
in that city. Nor can we take the time
here to include the
female academies in Dayton, Ohio, or
that vicinity.
The term, "higher education for
women," in those early
years covered a course of study not
equal to that of good high
schools of the present day, but the same
may be said of colleges
for men, and it was higher in the sense
of giving young women
an education much beyond the common
branches of reading.
writing, and arithmetic. It differed
from the colleges for men
mainly in the substitution of French for
Greek, and in the
(1)