Both Staunton and Chambersburg had several schools for local children. Traditionally, public education was better established in the North: our towns run true to this pattern.
The girls schools, as was typical for the mid-nineteenth century, were
each associated with a particular religious denomination. In 1842, New
Englander Rev. Rufus Bailey moved to Staunton with the express
intention of founding a school "of high grade for the education of
girls and young women, distinctively under Presbyterian control." His
Augusta Female Seminary was built on land adjacent to the Presbyterian
church. Former student Mary Julia Baldwin took over as principal in
1863 and revitalized the school in her thirty-four year tenure, receiving help in curriculum
development from University of Virginia's Reverend Dr. McGuffey. In 1895,
the school was renamed Mary Baldwin Seminary, and it exists today as
Mary Baldwin College.
Virginia Female Institute opened on January 1, 1844,
an outgrowth of a school founded in Mrs. Maria Sheffy's home thirteen
years earlier. The Sheffy school was combined with a new Episcopal girls
seminary, and its building was constructed in 1846. One student,
Sarah Wright, left a diary of
her time at the school in 1853 and 1854. During the Civil
War it was taken over by the Virginia Institute
for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind, while its facilities were used as a
Confederate hospital, but it continued to exist after the war. In
1880, Confederate General J. E. B. Stuart's widow, Flora Stuart,
became the VFI's principal.
In 1846, the Methodists in town also decided to form a school, and
Wesleyan Female Institute was born, with
approxiamately thirty day studenta and a few boarders. First housed
in the basement of the Methodist Church, the school late moved into
its own building on Beverley street, next door to the church. the
school moved again, in 1870, into the building depicted in the
illustration. Education contiuned to flourish in Staunton after the Civil War.
The Lutherans founded Staunton Female Seminary in 1870, the same year
that Staunton's public schools were established. The schools first
met in local homes and churches, but by the 1890s two substantial
buildings had been erected, one for blacks and one for whites, as the
illustration below indicates.
While the white school went through high school, blacks in Staunton
did not get a high school until 1926.
Newspaper articles about
education in Augusta county.
The first public school in Chambersburg was founded in 1834, in
response to the Pennsylvania Free School law of the same year. Local
residents initially opposed the law, believing "the people are taxed
too much already." The first high school seemes to have opened in the
mid-1850s. There was, however, a long tradition of private education
in the county. The Chambersburg Academy was founded
in 1797, and
appears to have remained open throughout the nineteenth century.
According to an 1858 report, Franklin county had 135 brick, 17
stone, 24 log and 14 frame schoolhouses, for a total of 190. The
average salary (monthly? yearly?) was $22.10 for male teachers and
$20.17 for females. One of these schools was proably Mercersburg
college, founded in 1856.
As for higher education, Wilson Female College
opened its doors in
1869. Several Franklin residents served on its board, including I. N.
Hays, William M'Lellan, J. A. Crawford, J. W. Wightman, T. B. Kennedy,
W. G. Reed, W. S. Fletcher, Thomas Creigh, W. A. West, W. D.
M'Kinstry, J. C. M'lannahan, and W. S. Amberson. The college, a
Presbyterian school, was
first located in the former home of Col. Alexander McClure, and was
named for Miss Sarah Wilson, whose generous donation of $30,000
allowed the school to open. The college's mission, according to its
act of incorporation, was "to promote the education of young women in
literature, science and the arts. Its first faculty was as follows:
In 1873, Miss Alice E. Rendall recieieved the first Bachelor of
Arts degree from the school.
Newspaper articles about
education in Franklin County.
Franklin
Rev. J. W. Wightman: Natural Science and Biblical
Instruction Rev. H. A. Crawford: English Rev. J. F. Kennedy: Ancient Languauges Rev. C. R. Lane: Mathematics, Astronomy, Natural
Philosophy Miss Plympton: Lady Principal and French Miss Allen: Belle Lettres Miss Williams: ass't. in English and Latin Prof. E. C. King and
Miss E. C. Smead:
Music
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