Freestone County, Texas School Fairfield Female College 1860-1889 [Photo of building provided by Joyce Bonner - 16 Mar 2006] The local Freemason lodge was first to feel a need to look after education for young men and ladies in Freestone County. The Masons built a large multi- purpose building prior to May 1856, but whose exterior was not fully finished in March 1857. *2* The original Mason structure served as a masonic hall, church (on Sundays), academy for the children, and a hog pin under the structure. *1* By March 1857, the Male academy had its own structure. There were vision of having a female seminary in Fairfield at the multi-purpose structure. Construction to finish the building apparently restarted by June 1858 *3*. By Sept. 1859, the academy was finished and underway with sixty ladies and forty-three boys. *4* Henry Lee Graves was selected president of the new academy and later for the Female College when it was chartered. Graves had previously served as president of Baylor University at Independence and of the Baptist State Convention. He taught ancient languages and moral and intellectual philosophy. The eighth Texas legislature expanded the Freestone School Association (established in Feb 1858) to establish the Fairfield Female College on Feb 8, 1860. *5* The school was chartered on February 8, 1860, along with a male academy that failed. A session at the college ran twenty weeks (roughly five months). There were typically two sessions a year. The advertisements for the August 1860 session mentions that this is the fourth session. *6* The college had about 90 students in 1860. *9* In 1861, the Fairfield Female College was one of only three female college in Texas. *7* The Fairfield Female College building stood on the prairie east of Fairfield. It was two stories with basement. It was 75x100 feet. Large porches were along the north and west and part of the south and east sides. The building was in the shape of an el ["L"]. The basement was used for the dining room. A chapel room was on the first floor. There were bedrooms, classrooms and living rooms. The storage and kitchen were in a separate building. This was connected to the basement and by an elevated covered staircase to the upstairs. *12* The campus covered several acres on a prairie facing the plantation home of David H. Love. Here and there and beyond the campus were single oak trees or oaks in clusters. *12* Soon after the opening, plans were made to have a bell cast for the college. All of the young ladies were asked to give some of their jewelry and money to give tone to the bell. Seven hundred dollars in silver was added to the jewelry by the citizens of Fairfield and sent to England where the bell was cast. It was shipped to Galveston and was handled by wagon overland freight. Mr. J. J. Stubbs with his eight to ten oxen was the freighter. When the bell arrived, it was too heavy to place on top of the college building so a frame was made and in 1860 or 1861 it was placed on the end of the front gallery, where it stayed until the college building was torn down in 1900. The bell was then presented to the First Methodist Church of Fairfield by Mrs. William Bradley, where it continues to call the town people to worship. The Fairfield Female College also featured a well by June 1860. *8* The local people who paid into a subscription failed to fully pay the contractors that constructed the physical building of the college and thus in 1861 the building was seized by the Sheriff and put on the auction block. In February 1861, the same week that the Secession Convention in Austin passed the Ordinance of Secession, the college property was put on sale at the public auction. Professor Henry Lee Graves bought all the property, including ten acres of land on which the buildings were situated, for $5,000. *10* Assisted by three women teachers, he operated the school until it closed. Attendance was good in 1861, and during the war a number of refugees descended on the area, bringing enrollment to its highest levels at about 200, but also causing a housing shortage. The war continued and attendance dropped. The war changed the composition of the staff, however some of the staff continued to be from Graves' family. *11* In December 1869 Graves and the other owners of the college and property sold their interest to Alice M. Adams for $1,500 and the assumption of $5,000 indebtedness against the school. In the following years the Fairfield Masons annually appointed a school committee to provide education for the children of deceased master Masons living in the jurisdiction of the lodge. The college was closed in 1889. The college building was torn down in 1900. Known pupils at Fairfield Female College were: Elizabeth Ponder Johnson (Mrs. William M. Hines), Elizabeth Browning Sessions (Mrs. William Edward Bonner), Zora Sessions (Mrs. Thomas Jacob Parker), Burta Elizabeth Sneed (Mrs. C. Peckham Daviss), Alice Virginia Johnson (Mrs. William Newton Sneed), Martha Elizabeth Daniel (Mrs. John Holland Fryer), ? Busby (Mrs. William Price), Annie Whitaker (Mrs. William Marcus Seely), Matilda Evans (Mrs. William Augustus McIlveen), Ethel Mae Womack (Mrs. Thomas Dennis McIlveen), Eliza Jane Davidson (Mrs. Angus Tyson McGilvary), Margaret Jane Busby (Mrs. William Thomas Price), Martha Bolton Harper (Mrs. Joseph Souls Missildine), Leatha Alice Pittman (Mrs. Walter Alvin Parker) Malinda Rutherford (Mrs. Thomas W. Sims) Laura Mahala Dunbar (Mrs. Fred E. Hill) Martha Mims (Mrs. Charles Franklin Robertson) ? (Mrs. Ross Bell) ? (Mrs. A. C. Anderson) ======================================================================= *1* = Dallas Weekly Herald - May 10, 1856 edition The editor of the Pioneer is descanting on an inspiring theme - Man's inhumanity to - hogs. According to the editor, all the hogs of the flourishing village of Fairfield are mercilessly left without any better shelter from sun or storm than afforded them underneath the Masonic Hall, where they are so crowded as to be uncomfortable, and he fears, unhealthy. In proof of their bad situation, the young ladies of the academy say they "squeal incessantly," and the inference is irresistable too, we think, that they are much bitten by fleas, and haven't room to scratch. The editor considers the changes of these fleas going off on the aforesaid young ladies and church-goers who assemble at the Hall on Sundays; and conclude that though a great his humane and kind-hearted article by recommending that sheds be built about the lodge, church, and other fit places for such things &c., for the neglected hogs. ======================================================================= *2* = The Freemasons of Fairfield started building a masonic hall and female seminary. In 1857, it was still unfinished. Texas State Gazette (published in Austin) - March 14, 1857 edition - Page 2 "We have the exterior of a fine building, originally designed for the two-fold purpose of a Masonic Hall and Female Seminary, but it has been standing for years in an unfinished condition, and we believe the building erected for a Male Academy stands in a like condition. ..." ======================================================================= *3* = State Gazette (published in Austin) - June 26, 1858 edition, Page 3 " FREESTONE - They are building a magnificent structure at Fairfield, for a female academy. We congratulate this young county on so valuable an acquistion. " ======================================================================= *4* = The Weekly Telegraph (published in Houston) - September 28, 1859 edition Page: 3 "...They have erected a splendid building, about three quarters of a mile East of town, for an Academy, which is in full and successful operation, under the supervision of Professor Graves, the school numbers some sixty young ladies, and forty-three boys, all residents of this county, save one. ..." ======================================================================= *5* = The eighth Texas legislature in Chapter 126 wrote: "An Act to amend the act to incorporate the Freestone School Association, approved February 13th, 1858. Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature, of the State of Texas, That the Freestone School Association shall have the power to establish in the town of Fairfield, an institution of learning for young females, to be called the Fairfield Female College. Also, an institution of learning for the education of boys, to be called the Fairfield Male Academy, both institutions to be under the control and direction, and for the management thereof, they are empow- ered to make all neccessary by-laws, rules and regulations. Section 2. That this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage, and the act of which is amendatory shall continue in force for twenty years and no longer. Approved Feb 8, 1860." ======================================================================= *6* = The advertisement for the college that ran in the Tri-Weekly [Houston] Telegraph from Sept. 11 to Nov. 29, 1860: " FAIRFIELD FEMALE COLLEGE FAIRFIELD,TEXAS The Fourth session of this Institution will commenced Third Monday of August, 1860. FACULTY REV. HENRY L. GRAVES, A.M., President; Ancient Languages, Moral and Intellectual Philosophy REV. JOHN C. AVERITT, A. M., Professor of Mathematics and English Literature MISS MOLLIE A. GRAVES. Assistant in Literary Department and Music MISS HELEN A. AVERITT. Music. MISS BETTIE W. GRAVES, Ornamental Department. Experience per session of Twenty weeks, payable in Advance: Lower Preparatory Department .............$15 Higher Preparatory Department ........... $20 Embroidery, Chenille, or Fancy Work ..... 15 Incidentals............................ 1 Collegiate Department ................... 25 Music on Piano........................... 25 Use of Instrument........................ 5 Grecian, Oriental, or Oil Painting........ 20 Board per Month, Washing included..........12 The President and his Lady have charge of the Steward's Department. Young ladies are required to furnish their own towels, lights, looking glasses. Pupils entering near the middle or close of the Session, are charge from the time of entrance to the end of the session. All letters should be directed to the care of the President. Every article of clothing must be marked with the owner's name in full. The manners, personal and social haits of those reading in the College, will be formed under the immediate supervision of their instructors. They never leave the College grounds without permission from the President. They never make or receive visits, to the neglect of their studies. They study a portion of every night, under the direction of their teachers. They make no purchases, except by the advice of a matron. Instructions relative to their correspondence, will be carefully observed. Address H. L. GRAVES, Fairfield, Freestone Co., Texas Aug 30, w3m " ======================================================================= *7* = In the "Southern Confederacy" newspaper of Atlanta, Georgia - July 26, 1861 edition on page 2, a letter from the special Texas correspondent writes from Huntsville, Texas saying "...The want and scarcity of female colleges in the State, are generally recognized as the most serious obstacles to the progress of Texas; and, although there may be more institutions of this kind than I am apprised of, yet I think there are only three places that can boast of female colleges, and they are Huntsville, Chapel Hill and Fairfield, which last place is in Freestone county, and adjoining Limestone. There are doubtless several excellent schools for ladies in the State; but, if my recollection serves me correctly, there are none of them, except those mentioned, that rise in dignity and importance sufficiently high to be called colleges..." ======================================================================= *8* = The Female College had a well in 1860 in which a man died.: San Antonio Ledger - June 16, 1860 edition "Negro Killed The Fairfield Pioneer says that a negro man, belonging to Rev. H. L. Graves, while descending a well at the Female College, at Fairfield on Monday last, loosed his hold and fell several feet to the bottom, which fractured his skull and produced death in a few minutes. It is said that he came in contact with the damp, (carbonic acid-gas) which caused him to release his hold and fall." ======================================================================= *9* = Weekly Standard newspaper [of Raleigh, North Carolina] March 07, 1860 edition [Travel account by Major John T. Gilmore, of Cumberland County, North Carolina.] ... It was there I was introduced to Mr. Henry L. Graves and his lady, both from our own State, and the latter a sister of the Hon. Calvin Graves, of Caswell. They have charge of a female college here, which is in a flourishing condition, with about ninety scholars, and possessing a reputation in advance of any similar institution I have yet heard of in the State. This of itself sufficiently proclaims for themselves character, talent and capacity. Having left Fairfield we arrived on the second day thereafter at the place from which we originally set out.... ======================================================================= *10* = Navarro Express [of Coriscana] - Mar. 20, 1861 edition ...The fine college built here [Fairfield] sometime ago by subscription, was sold recently by the sheriff for money due the contractors. It cost originally some $12,000. or $15,000. And brought $5,000. It was purchased by Rev. H. L. Graves, who has been conducting a female school in this building for some two or three years. ..." ======================================================================= *11* = Dallas Herald - Dec. 22, 1866 edition, Page 3 "FAIRFIELD FEMALE COLLEGE FAIRFIELD, TEXAS The next session of this Institution will commence on the first Monday of January, 1867. FACULTY REV. HENRY L. GRAVES, D.D., President Ancient Languages, Mathematics, Moral and Intellectual Philosophy MISS ARBY M. RANDOLPH Modern Languages and Belles Lettres MISS OPHELIA F. GRAVES English Literature MISS SALLIE M. FORT Music MISS BETTIE W. GRAVES Ornamental Department MICHAEL FARLEY, ESQ., Treasurer Experience per session of twenty weeks, payable in advance, in specie or its equivalent: Preparatory Department .................. $20.00 Collegiate Department ................... 25.00 Modern Languages, each................... 10.00 Music on Piano........................... 25.00 Use of Instrument........................ 5.00 Music on Guitar.......................... 25.00 Embroidery, Chenille, Wax & Fancy Work ... 20.00 Drawing & Painting in Water Colors ....... 20.00 Grecian or Oriental Painting.............. 20.00 Oil Painting.............................. 30.00 Incidental Fee............................ 1.00 Board per Month........................... 12.50 Washing per month......................... 2.50 Flour taken at market value Boarders furnish their towels, lights, looking glasses, one pair of sheets and pillow cases. Pupils are charged from the first of the month in which they enter, to the end of the session, with no deduction or the time lost, either in tuition or board. Every article of clothing must be marked with the owner's name in full. All letters should be directed to the care of the President. Instructions relative to correspondence will be carefully observed. HENRY L. GRAVES, President December 14, 1866-13:5mos " =============================================================== *12* = [Submitted by: Billie Bournais on 3 Sept 2007. Dallas newspaper - Clipping is from issue around 1958] Fairfield Female College in 1858 [Photo] DEDICATION SET FOR MARKER AT SCHOOL SITE Fairfield Female College's History To Be Perpetuated Special to the News WORTHAM, Texas, May 7 - Dedication of the centennial marker for the Fairfield Female College will be observed in program at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Fairfield on the original college site, a mile east of the courthouse on Highway No. 7. The program arrangements are under supervision of Mrs. K.W. Sneed, Wortham, Freestone county chairman of the centennial program, and P.D. Browne, Fairfield, member of the county committee and superintendent of Fairfield schools. The Teague Band will give a concert. J.P. Stubbs and Mr. Browne will speak and "Early College Day Recollections", will be discussed by Mrs. Ross Bell and Mrs. A. C. Anderson, former students. "It was in the early fifties, during the rapid development of Freestone County, that citizens became conscious of the urgent need of educational facilities for their daughters," Mr. Browne said. "The movement for the college began in earnest late in 1857 and took definite form in a legislative act, approved Feb. 13, 1858, incorporating the Freestone County School Association. S.C. Grayson, W.L. Moody, Joseph Moreland, T.R. Jefferson, John Karner, W.F. Daniel, Dunbar Bragg, L.D. Bradley, J.C. Walker, John F. Huckaby, David H. Love, J.C. Mayo, A.A. Owens, C.T. Echols and W.A. Milner were the incorporators. Property valuation was limited to $50,000. Shares in the corporation were sold at $50 each, and the stockholders entitled to one vote for each share. Election of Board "The board of directors was elected annually by a majority of the stockholders. This board had power to grant diplomas to all pupils deemed worthy and was given the right perform all acts necessary to put in operation and perpetuate a first-class female institution of learning. "Construction of a large building was begun in 1858. It was two stories with basement. It was 75x100 feet. Large porches were along the north and west and part of the south and east sides. The building was in the shape of an el ["L"]. The basement was used for the dining room. A chapel room was on the first floor. There were bedrooms, classrooms and living rooms. The storage and kitchen were in a separate building. This was connected to the basement and by an elevated covered staircase to the upstairs. "The campus covered several acres on a prairie facing the plantation home of David H. Love. Here and there and beyond the campus were single oak trees or oaks in clusters. "Within the el was a garden and beyond a flower plat with long rows of blooming roses acting as a boundary on the south and east sides. "The college opened for its first session in 1859 with Dr. Henry L. Graves, president. "A native of North Carolina, Dr. Graves graduated from the University of North Carolina and was a ministerial student at Madison (now Colgate) University in New York State. He had served as an instructor in Wake Forest College in North Carolina and at an academy in Georgia. He had been elected and had served as the first president of Baylor University throughout a four-an-one-half-year term. Joins Fairfield College "In 1851-9 he retired to his plantation near Breham and at the latter date accepted the presidency of Fairfield Female College, which, according to Dr. Frederick Eby of University of Texas, he conducted for nine years with marked success. "As a school for the daughters of well-to-do planters, lawyers and doctors, it grew in importance and in attendance from the date of its opening until near the close of the Civil War. During the Civil War daughters of many of the refugees were added to the enrollment. "The official date of closing of the college as such, is not known. However, we do know that the downfall of the Confederacy, with its attending financial ruin and social upheaval with the blight of reconstruction years, forced the college into a position of limited service. It is presumed that the college ceased to exist by 1870. "Following this date the building was used for a combination public and private school building over a period of about thirty years. The first decade of the twentieth century witnessed its gradual decay, resulting in the necessity of removing it as a public menace. Part of the remains of the old basement, and the large underground jug-shaped cistern which is in perfect condition are to be seen today in a cotton field about 300 feet south of Highway 7 within the city limits of Fairfield. It is on the northeast corner of the old college foundation, the Centennial marker stands today to mark the historical spot of Fairfield Female College."