Schools in Marshall County

Lewisburg Male Academy

The Lewisburg Male Academy was incorporated by an act of the Legislature January 18, 1838, by James C. Record, G. W. Haywood, William McClure, B. G. Blackwell, William Williams, H. B. Kelsey, Stephen C. Chitwood and David McGaughey. The house was a two-story brick building and stood on the lot now owned by Richard Warner. The lot on which the academy stood was donated by the town commissioners. This was the principal school for boys until the opening of the war. The Female Academy originated in about the same manner as the Male Academy. The first building was a one-story frame structure, of two rooms. This school supplied the wants of the county till it was closed by the war. Marshall Academy was established February 5, 1842, under the law providing for county seminaries. The trustees of Marshall Academy were J. C. Record, George W. Haywood, James Osborn, Levi Cochran, Thomas Ross, Benjamin Williams and John Paxton. The trustees were made perpetual by law, as in the above institutions. Marshall Academy never fulfilled the expectations of its friends.

The two academies at Lewisburg were sold and the Lewisburg Institute erected in their stead in 1875. The building erected was a three-story brick, but the walls threatening to give way, the upper story was taken down and a two-story building made of it. The first trustees were W. G. Loyd, R. A. Ogilvie, Joe McBride, James A. Woods and W. R. Kercheval. The school was managed as a Masonic institution. The building was purchased by Rev. C. R. Darnell, who conducted a school in the building until his death. The school next became a joint-stock concern, and a school was conducted in it till 1882, when the building was burned. In 1883 a new two-story frame building was erected.

This is also a stock concern and is managed by Prof. J. B. Haynes, county superintendent. This is managed as a consolidated school so long as the public funds hold out. The school is divided into three departments: literary, music and art. The faculty embraces J. B. Haynes, A. B., principal; W. W. McLean, B. S., Miss Emma Kercheval and Miss May F. Whitsitt, assistants in the literary department; Mrs. Fannie Brown, music; Miss Sallie Cayce, art. The curriculum embraces a course of ten years and includes the sciences and the ancient and modern languages.

The report of the scholastic population for that year shows the whites to amount to 3,874, the colored to 1,623; total 5,497. The number enrolled 3,000, the number in attendance 2,250. The total number of white teachers employed 46, the colored 11; total of both 57. The State fund for the same year was $2,564, county, $8,006.73; total, $10,570.73 The report for 1883 gives a male white population of 2,597; female, 2,597; total, 4,943 Colored male, 837; female, 1,615; grand total, 6,558. The last report shows a white male population of 2,861; female, 2,646; total, 5,507. Colored male, 979; female, 905; total, 1,884: grand total, 7,341. The same report shows an enrollment of 5,849, or over 787. The number of days of school is 97; the average compensation for teachers per month, $36.38. The total number of schoolhouses in the county is 38. The number of schools in the county is 85. In these are employed 84 white and 20 colored teachers. The estimated value of school property is $14,053. The expense for running the schools for 1885-86, including repairs on buildings, teachers' salaries, etc., was $12,503.18. Superintendent Haynes has prepared a manual of rules and regulations and a course of study for the public schools, which is a well-studied work and is destined to materially aid the county teachers in their work. The sentiment and the schools of Marshall have a tendency onward and upward.

Consolidated schools are found in most all the towns and villages of the county; in addition to these schools being consolidated schools, the most of them are incorporated under the "four mile law." Enough have been incorporated to drive saloons from the county except in Lewisburg and Cornersville, which are operating under charters. The Farmington school is both a consolidated and an incorporated school. It is divided into a literary and music department. The school is under the management of Prof. M. M. Gattis. A consolidated school at Cornersville consists of a literary and music course. The Cornersville schools are under the management of Prof. Bridges. The schools of Mooresville are also consolidated schools. The schools are divided into two departments, a literary and a music department. The literary department employs two teachers and the music one. The principal of the Mooresville schools is W. W. McLean. At both Verona and Belfast are consolidated schools, having the two usual courses and each requiring three teachers. The principal of the former is Prof. Luttelow and of the latter Prof. John Green. The public school system was first put into operation in 1874.

 Marshall County | AHGP Tennessee

Source: History of Tennessee, Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1886