The history of education in North Carolina

Front matter

(lass L#3¥0 i

BUREAU OF EDUCATION

CIRCULAR OF INFORMATION" NO. 2, 188s

Chapter II.— Education during the Provincial and State Governments

before 1800.

General survey 20

First efforts for governmental aid 20

First school legislation „ 21

Scotch-Irish immigration — Marked educational advancement 22

The influence of the College of New Jersey 23

Early classical schools — Tate's Academy and Crowfield Academy 26

Dr. David Caldwell's School — Its influence upon North Carolina and the South. 27

David Caldwell — his life and his work 28

Queen's College 32

Rev. Henry Patillo's School 36

Granville Hall * 36

Clio's Nursery and the Academy of the Sciences 37

Science Hall 38

Zion Parnassus 38

Other Presbyterian schools 39

Appropriations for education 40

Incorporated schools — Newbern Academy 40

Edenton Academy . 42

Innis Academy *. 42

Martin Academy — now Washington College, Tennessee 43

Morgan Academy 44

Other incorporated institutions 44

Lotteries for schools 45

German immigration — The Moravians 46

The Lutherans 47

State of education in 1795 47

Two accounts of the state of education and society before 1810—

In Caswell County 48

In Edgecombe County... 5,0

Chapter III.— The University of North Carolina. Page

The Constitution and the University 52

The University chartered 54

A site chosen 54

Location and buildings 55

Endowment and income 58

The land-scrip fund 60

Plan of education 61

Election of a Professor of Humanity 61

Opening of the University 62

First regulations, 1795 62

The first professors 64

An interesting letter 64

First purchase of books and apparatus. 66

The curriculum, 1796 66

The first graduates 67

The first president — Rev. Joseph Caldwell, D. D 68

The curriculum during Caldwell's administration „ 71

The influence of Yale — Mitchell, Olmsted, and Andaews 72

The second president — Rev. Robert Hett Chapman, D. D 75

The third president — David Lowry Swain, LL. D . _ . 75

Requirements and courses during Swain's administration 78

School for the Application of Science to the Arts 80

Law School 81

The Civil War _ 82

A romance of the War „ 82

Last years of Swain's administration 83

Reconstruction 84

The fourth president — Rev. Solomon Pool, D. D 85

The re-opening 86

The fifth president — Kemp Plummer Battle, LL. D 86

Present requirements and courses . 87

Equipment for teaching '. 91

Scholarship and loan funds 91

Present system of government 92

Literary societies 92

Greek letter fraternities 93

Influence of the University upon the South 94

Student attendance by States— 1795-1887. 97

A tribute to the University 97

Members of the Faculty— 1795-1887 98

The Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 99

Chapter IV. — Leading Denominational Colleges. WAKE FOREST COLLEGE

First prospects of the establishment of a Baptist college r 101

Wake Forest Institute 102

The charter 103

Opening of the Institute * 103

The manual labor system 103

Charges and expenses 104

Buildings and equipments ., - 104

CONTENTS. O

Page

Wake Forest College 105

Schools and degrees 107

Literary societies 108

Influence of the College . . 109

DAVIDSON COLLEGE.

Presbyterian influence - - 109

Western College - 110

Davidson College „ - 110

Present status of the institution 112

TRINITY COLLEGE.

The beginnings and history of the institution - 113

Chapter V.— The Higher Female Education. Female schools 117

Salem Female Academy 118

St. Mary's School .' ..... 120

Greensborough Female College 120

Chowan Baptist Female Institute ,. 121

Thomasville Female College , 122

Peace Institute 123

Oxford Female Seminary 124

General characteristics > 124

Chapter VL— Secondary Instruction.

General critical survey 128

Graded schools 129

Co-educational institutions 130

Preparatory male schools — The Bingham School 131

The Horner School, Oxford 133

Other schools of merit — The Raleigh Male Academy and the Davis School 135

ANTE-BELLUM MALE SCHOOLS.

Caldwell Institute 137

Hillsborough Military Academy.... 138

The North Carolina Military Institute 138

Rev. John Chavis, a distinguished colored educator 138

Chapter VII.— Educational efforts of the Friends. First settlers _, 142

Friends' boarding school 143

Belvidere Academy 149

Baltimore Friends ., 150

The model farm p a 153

Philadelphia Friends „. 154

New York Friends „ 155

Chapter VIII.— History and Status of Education among the Colored People

Paper prepared by S. G. Atkins. ; „ 157

Chapter IX.— The Public Schools, Provision for public schools «. „*.**» 166*

6 HISTORY OP EDUCATION IN NORTH CAROLINA.

Page

Public schools established , 168

Public schools since the War 170

IVabodyFund 173

Present public school system 173

Normal instruction 174 .

Federal aid „ 175

Chapter X.— The North Carolina Teachers' Assembly. History and influence of the organization 177

In Conclusion 179

Aipendix. — List of the Principal Works Consulted . 180

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page

University of North Carolina — Section of Library 52

Old East Building r - 54

Plan of Campus and Buildings 57

South Building 62

Old West Building 68

Gerrard Hall 70

Smith Hall— Library 74

New East Building 80

New West Building 82

Biological Laboratory „ 88

Philanthropic Society Hall - 92

MemorialHall 94

Wake Forest College— Bird's-Eye View 100

Heck- Williams Building « 104

Lea Building — Chemical Laboratory 108

Davidson College — Main Building 110

Trinity College 114

Peace Institute „ 116

St. Mary's School 120

Chowan Baptist Female Institute 122

Oxford Female Seminary 124

Livingstone College — Main Building 156

Men's Dormitory 158

Women's Dormitory 158

North Carolina Teachers' Assembly Building. .. 177

LETTER.

Department of the Interior,

Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C, December 9, 1887.

Hlne Honorable the Secretary of the Interior,

Washington, D. C.

Sir : In pursuance of the plan already approved by you for a systematic inquiry by the Bureau of Education into the educational history of the United States, I beg to recommend for publication the second of the series of State monographs in this direction edited by Dr. Herbert B. Adams, whose studies upon the College of William and Mary, and Thomas Jefferson and the University of Virginia, with the monograph upon the Study of History in American Colleges and Universities, formed the introduction to this new line of inquiry.

The subject of the present monograph is the history of education in North Carolina. It is an original and valuable contribution, and deserves to be widely read. In this monograph Mr. Charles Lee Smith, who has been trained in historical methods at the Johns Hopkins University and now holds a fellowship in history and politics at that institution, gives the results of a thorough and careful study of the educational history of his native State.

For North Carolina this is pioneer work. The history of education in that State has hitherto remained unwritten. That the Old North State has failed to receive just recognition at the hands of some historians is due in great measure to the fact that many important phases of her early history have remained undeveloped by her own sons, to whom they were known, and who have allowed the prejudiced statements of early chroniclers, ignorant of the facts, to be accepted without contradiction as authoritative.

The writer has traced the genesis and development of education in North Carolina from the first settlement of that State to the present time. For this purpose he is the first to exploit the colonial records, the publication of which was begun last year, and the early laws of the State. He has also utilized early newspaper files, and all the published biographical and historical works relating to his State to be found in the public libraries of Ealeigh, Washington, and Baltimore, besides certain private collections and personal correspondence.

In the study of education as a growth North Carolina affords peculiar advantages. The character of the early settlers, the objects of their coming, and the results achieved by them in their struggle against oppressive government give the history of that State unusual interest. Bancroft says, "North Carolina was settled by the freest of the free," and the records of the colony show that a constant warfare was waged against oppression until freedom was won. This fact was emphasized and is illustrated in the proceedings of that meeting of patriots at Mecklenburg in 1775, which, without doubt, is one of the most memorable events of our Eevolutionary period. This struggle was for civil and religious liberty, and Mr. Smith demonstrates how intimate was the connection between the liberties and the educational history of the people. The government is, perhaps, to be censured that schools were not earlier provided. It is an error, however, to suppose, as has been stated by some writers, that there were no good schools in the State previous to the Kevolution, for it is shown that there were many creditable institutions, several having a wide reputation.

The higher education has been principally treated in this sketch, although the history of primary and secondary instruction has not been neglected. The influence of certain classes of immigration and of institutions outside the State, especially of Princeton, which previous to the establishment of the University of North Carolina was largely patronized by the young men of that State, is clearly shown. Many interesting facts concerning noted educators of the State are brought out. The sketch which is given of the University of North Carolina is the first full account of that institution which has ever been written. The writer thinks no institution of this country has a more honorable record, and it is claimed that in proportion to the number of its alumni it stands second to none in the number of the distinguished public men it has given to the State and nation.

The account which is given of its "influence upon the South" makes an admirable showing. As indicative of its wide-spread influence upon the country, a President, a Vice-President, many Cabinet officers, ministers to foreign countries, Senators, Governors, and other distinguished men are mentioned among its alumni.

President Andrew D. White said of this institution: " I remember in my young manhood the University of North Carolina was always spoken of with the greatest respect among men who knew anything about an American collegiate education. While the Universities of Virginia and Johns Hopkins have to some extent drawn attention away from it, I see no reason why its present Faculty should not give it a commanding position in the South-east of our Republic."

The subjects taught in the institutions for the secondary and the higher education are noted from time to time, thus showing the general educational development. The present status of education in North Carolina is well pictured. The work, while strictly historical, is both practical and suggestive. Hon. Henry Barnard, the first Commissioner of Education, once said that " no subject now interesting or im«

LETTER OF THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION. 11

portant can be adequately understood or further investigated unless proper pains be first bestowed upon its history. * * * There is no department of human exertion, however, in which this preliminary historical knowledge is so necessary as in education. For this there is both a general and a special reason. The education of a people bears a constant and most pre-eminently influential relation to its attainments and excellencies — physical, mental, and moral. The national education is at once a cause and an effect of the national character; and, accordingly, the history of education affords the only ready and perfect key to the history of the human race and of each nation in it— an unfailing standard for estimating its advance or retreat upon the line of human progress.

u But the special reason just alluded to is yet more in point at this time. It is, that there is no department of human exertion whose annals are more brilliant with displays of industry, talent, and genius, whether successful or unsuccessful, and consequently none in which a reference to the past will afford such abundant materials for improvement in the present."

Urging, therefore, the publication of this monograph and the encouragement of this new line of educational inquiry to be continued by the Bureau of Education, not only in the South but in the North-west and South-west and beyond the Mississippi, where such inquiries are most needed,

1 have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Commissioner,

Approved :

L. Q. C. Lamar,

Secretary.

EDUCATION IN NORTH CAROLINA.

Chapter I. Education During The Proprietary Government

1663-1729.

Introduction

During the first sixty-five years of the colonial history of North Carolina there were but few schools, and these were ill-attended. Compared with the New England colonies, a great difference is observed in the attention given to education during this period, and historians, without considering all the facts in the case, have reproached North Carolina with want of zeal in this direction. For this difference there are several causes. New England was peopled by colonies, and the establishment of towns was coeval with the settlements. The people were forced by circumstances to live together, and this tended to strengthen the bonds of union between them and to unite them in all objects relating to the common welfare. Then, too, the people of each community were generally of the same religious faith, and their preachers were at the same time the teachers of their schools.

Let us now see how it was with North Carolina. This province was occupied by individual families, and although the first permanent settlement was made about 1660, there was no town until Bath was located in 1704. The population was chiefly confined to the territory north of Albemarle Sound, west of the Chowan River, and the territory between the two sounds, Albemarle and Currituck. The people were scattered sparsely here and there along the shores of the sounds and on the banks of the water-courses. Bancroft says : " Here was a colony of men from civilized life, scattered among the forests, hermits with wives and children, resting on the bosom of nature, in perfect harmony with the wilderness of their gentle clime. With absolute freedom of conscience, benevolent reason was the simple rule of their conduct." x

As late as 1709 the Rev. William Gordon, writing to the secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, referring

1 Bancroft's United States (1843), Vol. II, p. 154.

to the settlement on the Pamlico Eiver, has this to say of the only town in the province: "Here is no church, though they have begun to build a town called Bath. It consists of about twelve houses, being the only town in the whole province. They have a small collection of books for a library, which were carried over by the Kev. Dr. Bray, and some land is laid out for a glebe." x About this time Beaufort was laid out for a town, and a little later Newbern was settled by the Swiss. There were many differences in religious belief among the people, and sectarian disputes often led to serious difficulties. " The population of the colony in 1703," says Martin, " was composed of individuals of different nations, and consequently of various sects: Scotch Presbyterians, Dutch Lutherans, French Calvinists, Irish Catholics, English Churchmen, Quakers, and Dissenters; emigrants from Bermuda and the West Indies, which, from their late settlements, could not be places remarkable for the education of young people in Christianity and morality." 2

North Carolina's best known historian says : " Under these circumstances, with families far removed from each other, with religious disputes flagrant, and indeed all the politics of the colony turning on religious dissensions, it is easy to see why there was but little progress made in establishing schools." 3 We thus see from the very nature of things that the village schools of New England were an impossibility here.

Schools were for a long time neglected, no provision for their maintenance being made by the Government. But it must not be understood that the inhabitants were in dense ignorance and wholly devoid of educational facilities. We are told that " there were many highly educated citizens scattered throughout the province, who lived with considerable style and refinement. Sturdy, honest, and hospitable agriculturists gathered around themselves elements of large future development, and their premises showed wealth, industry, and care." 4 Yet, notwithstanding this, it must be confessed that among the poorer classes there was a vast amount of ignorance. Wheeler says that there were not only men of learning, culture, and refinement in the colony, but also u men of means who contributed to found libraries, to erect churches, and to promote the welfare of the people. Moseley, Hyde, Swann, Porter, Lillington, Harvey, Sanderson, Pollock, Lowe, the son-in-law of Governor Archdale, and others too numerous to mention, were men who were not indifferent to education. If the facts could be unearthed, it would probably appear that there were many good schools in the province." 5

Dr. Brickell, in his account of the Present State of North Carolina, written about 1730, after giving an account of the government, courts,

1 North Carolina Colonial Records, Vol. 3 Wheeler's Reminiscences, p. 258.

I, p. 717. 4 Vass's Eastern North Carolina, p. 21.

2 Martin's North Carolina, Vol. I, p. 218. 6 Wheeler's Reminiscences, p. 259,

EDUCATION DURING THE PROPKIETvlKY GOVERNMENT. 15

and the speedy manner of securing justice, enumerates some of the laws, and adds: " These, and many other good laws that are to be met with in this province, make it one of the best and mildest governments to live under in all America." 1

The inhabitants are characterized as " good economists, remarkably kind to strangers and those in distress." Such a people could not have constituted the lawless, irreligious, apathetic, and ignorant community described by Mr. John Fiske in Harper's Magazine for February, 1883, in an article entitled " Maryland and the Far South in the Colonial Period," 2 and by Lodge in his History of the English Colonies in America. Professor Fiske, in the article referred to, shows an ignorance of his subject which is inexcusable, and after other misrepresentations adds that, " Until just before the war for Independence there was not a single school, good or bad, in the whole colony. It need not be added that the people were densely ignorant." Lodge says : " There was scarcely any means of education, and no literature whatever. Printing was not introduced until 1764, 3 and at the time of the Ee volution there were only two schools, lately incorporated at ]S"ewbern and Edenton, in the whole province. An act of the year 1770, to endow Queen's College at Charlotte, was repealed by proclamation, and even after the war for Independence, with the exception of a feeble academy at Hillsborough, in all relating to education North Carolina was far behind the other States." In this connection he adds that " The people were very lawless, and averse to order and government, although they had a keen perception of their own rights, as is shown by the passage of an act to secure the habeas corpus as early as the year 1715. They fell in eagerly with the movement against England, etc. * * * But it is a strong proof of the vigor and soundness of the English race that this lawless, apathetic people finally raised themselves in the scale of civilization, and built up a strong and prosperous State." 4

To see how a greater historian views this same period of the history of North Carolina it is only necessary to add the following quotation from Bancroft : "Are there any who doubt man's capacity for self-government, let them study the history of North Carolina ; its inhabitants were restless and turbulent in their imperfect submission to a government imposed on them from abroad ; the administration of the colony was firm, humane, and tranquil when they were left to take care of themselves. Any government but one of their own institution was oppressive." 5

1 Brickell's North Carolina, p. 29.

2 For reply to this article see the Introduction to Part III of Wheeler's Eeminiscences : " North Carolina in the Colonial Period," by Daniel R. Goodloe, to which the writer is indebted for valuable suggestions.

3 The first printing press was brought to the province in 1749, and the laws were printed at Newbern in 1752.

4 Lodge's English Colonies, p. 157.

5 Bancroft's United States (1843), Vol. II, p. 158,

A careful reading of the following pages will prove conclusively that the above statements of Fiske and Lodge are not warranted by the facts, and that North Carolina in her educational as in her .Revolutionary history has reason to be proud of her record.

EDUCATIONAL BEGINNINGS— THE FIRST SCHOOLS.

In 1692 Dr. Compton, Bishop of London, determined to know more of the church in the colonies, and appointed Dr. Bray to be his commissary in Maryland. Dr. Bray gave North Carolina her first public library, established at Bath. On receiving the report of Dr. Bray, Bishop Compton went to the King and obtained from him a bounty of twenty pounds to every minister who would go over to America ; but Carolina profited but little from this. 1

The earliest account that we have of teachers in North Carolina is the report of Dr. John Blair, who came as a missionary to the colony in 1704. He states that the settlers had built small churches in three precincts, and had appointed a lay reader in each, who were supplied by him with sermons. 2 We know that these lay readers were school-masters, from the evidence of Dr. John Brickell, a naturalist of note who had travelled through the settlements in North Carolina in the early part of the eighteenth century, and published in Dublin, in 1737, the Natural History of North Carolina, with an Account of the Trade, Manners, and Customs of the Christian and Indian Inhabitants. He says : u The religion by law established is the Protestant, as it is professed in England, and though they seldom have orthodox clergymen [he means those of the Church of England] among them, yet there are not only glebe lands laid out for that use commodious to each town, but likewise for building churches. The want of these Protestant clergy is generally supplied by some school-masters who read the Liturgy, and then a sermon out of Dr. Tillotson or some good practical divine every Sunday. These are the most numerous and are dispersed through the whole province.' 7 3

About 1705 Mr. Charles Griffin came from some part of the West Indies to Pasquotank, and opened a school which was patronized by all classes. Bev. William Gordon, who came from England as a missionary in 1708, in a letter to the secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, written in 1709, alludes to the fact that the Quakers in Pasquotank were sending their children to the school of a lay reader of the church, named Griffin. 4

Bev. Mr. Gordon established a church in Chowan Precinct, at the head of Albemarle Sound, in the settlement which afterwards became

1 Hawks's North Carolina, Vol. XI, p. 338 ; North Carolina Colonial Records, Vol, I, p. 571 et seq.

2 North Carolina Colonial Records, Vol. I, p. 601. 3 Brickell's North Carolina, p. 35.

4 North Carolina Colonial Records, Vol. I, p. 716,

EDUCATION DURING THE PROPRIETARY GOVERNMENT. 17

Edenton. Eev. James Adams having settled in Pasquotank, the school , in that settlement was transferred to him, and Mr. Griffin, at the instance of Mr. Gordon, was elected lay-reader of the church and clerk of the Chowan vestry, and opened a school in that parish, text-books for the pupils being furnished by the rector, Mr. Gordon. 1

In a letter to John Ohamberlaine, Esq., of the Society for the Propagation ot the Gospel, dated " Chowan, in North Carolina, July 25, 1712," the Rev. G. Rainsford, a missionary to the colony, says : "I had several conferences with one Thomas Hoyle, king of the Chowan Indians, who seems very inclinable to embrace Christianity and proposes to send his son to school to Sarum to have him taught to read and write by way of foundation in order to a farther proficiency for the reception of Christianity. I readily offeredmy service to instruct him myself, and having the opportunity of sending him to Mr. Garratt's, where I lodge, being but three miles distance from his town. But he modestly declined it for the present till a general peace was concluded between the Indians and Christians. I found he had some notion of Noah's flood, which he came to the knowledge of and expressed himself after this manner, 'My father told me, I tell my son.' But I hope in a little time to give the society a better account of him as well as of those peaceable Indians under his command. There's one Mr. Washburn who keeps a school at Sarum, on the frontiers of Virginia, between the two governments, and neighboring upon two Indian towns who, I find by him, highly deserve encouragement, and could heartily wish the society would take it into consideration and be pleased to allow him a salary for the good services he has done and may do for the future. What children he has under his care can both write and read very distinctly and gave before me such an account of the grounds and principles of the Christian religion that strangely surprised me to hear it. The man upon a small income would teach the Indian children gratis (whose parents are willing to send them could they but pay for their schooling) as he would those of our English families had he but a fixed dependency for so doing, and what advantage would this be to private families in particular and the whole colony in general is easy to determine." 2

The above account represents the state of education under the rule of the Lords Proprietors. It is probable that there were other schools, but certainly none of higher grade. We are told by the Rev. Francis L. Hawks, D. D., in his excellent history of this period, that among the higher classes many were educated in England. Governors, judges, councillors, lawyers, and clergy furnish evidence from their letters and other documents that there was no deficiency of education among the higher classes. Libraries at Bath and Edenton possessed many valuable books, showing that those who read them had cultivated minds. Gale, Little, Moseley, and Swann were fit associates for the most intelli-

1 North Carolina Colonial Records, Vol. I, pp. 684, 714, 716. Ubid., p. 859. 17037— No. 2 -2 gent men in any of the English provinces of their day. In determining the boundary between North Carolina and Virginia, Swann and Moseley proved themselves better mathematicians than the members of the commission from Virginia. The only author in the colony during this period, so far as is known, was the Surveyor-General Lawson, who wrote a history of the colony, which was published after his death in 1714. 1

A careful examination of the records of the colony while under proprietary government shows only one instance in which help was af. forded to literature. This was an act 2 for the preservation of the library given by Dr. Bray, to which reference has been made. This act provided that a librarian should be appointed, that catalogues should be prepared, and that, under certain conditions, books might be taken from the library. It was provided that if the books were not returned within a specified time fines should be paid. No further thought seems to have been given by the Government for the promotion of education.

EDENTON PUBLIC LIBRARY.

As an evidence of the culture of some of the inhabitants, a catalogue of books presented to the public library at Eden ton about 1725 is given. Their character, and it is to be supposed that they were suited to the comprehension of at least a portion of the inhabitants, is an evidence of higher education.

[From North Carolina Letter-Book of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel*]

"A catalogue of books humbly presented by Edward Mosely, Esq., to the Honorable and most August Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, towards a Provincial Library to be kept in Edenton, the Metropolis of North Carolina."

FOLIOS.

T. Augustine Opera, 10 vols., Col. Agrip,,

1616.

Tanti in quartour Libros Regurn, etc.

Tanti in Jeremiam.

Tanti in Ezechuelem.

Tyntagma Theologia Christianas.

Leigh's Body of Divinity.

Deodati's Annotations on the Holy Bible.

and Evagrius.

Jimson's History of the Church.

QUARTOS.

Answer to a Challenge made by a Jesuite.

Cartwright's Harmonica Evangelica.

History of the Church of Great Britain.

Billson's True Difference between Christian Subjection, etc.

Ball's Answer to Canns's two Treatises.

Brickluck's Protestant Evidence.

1 Hawks's North Carolina, Vol. II, p. 370.

2 Laws of North Carolina, Davis's Revisal (Newbern, 1752), p. 203.

3 North Carolina Colonial Records, Vol. II, pp. 583, 584. The list has been copied as it appears in the records, though many mistakes may be noticed in the spelling of the names of titles and authors.

EDUCATION DURING THE PROPRIETARY GOVERNMENT.

Pieres Sunier Impleaded.

tum.

tates.

Ball's Friendly Trial of the grounds of

Separation.

OCTAVOS.

Tertia pars Sum Philos aud quarta.

Baronij Metaphysica Generalis.

Salij Ethica.

Buxtoy's Lexicon.

Dialogue in Answer to a Papish Catechism.

Greek Grammar.

Eustachio a Sancto Paulo Sum Philos.

quadripsertitae.

Schickard's Hist. Hebreum.

Melanchoris Cronicon Curionis.

Aristotle's Organon.

Hyselbein's Thearia Logica.

Baronius Annales Ecclesiastico.

Augustini Confessionum.

Amesij medulla Theologica.

chorij.

Amesij Tech no m atria.

Wendelini Christianae Thedogia.

Lactantij Divinarum Institutionem.

Hebrew Psalter.