F A LAGGARD IN EDUCATION. North Carolina has little reason to be proud of her early history in the cause of education. For years there was greater illiteracy in this State than in any other, and the improvement of late years has not been any greater than it should have been. In 1816 the legislature appointed a committee with Archibald D. Murphey at its head to suggest a plan for State education. The plan suggested in 1817 provided for primary schools in each county and for ten academies in different parts of the State, with the State University at the head. A school for deaf, dumb and blind was provided for and the children of the poor were to be supported while at school. But this benevolent scheme to provide for the children of the poor defeated the entire plan.[1]
THE LITERARY FUND. In 1825 the legislature created a literary fund which was to come from the sale of swamp lands and other sources. In 1837 part of a large sum derived from the United States was added, making the entire fund about $2,000,000.[2]
PUBLIC SCHOOLS BEGIN. With the income from this and a tax voted by most of the counties public schools were begun in 1840. In 1852 Calvin H. Wiley was elected superintendent of public instruction, which office he held till 1865. The schools grew from 777 in 1840 to 4,369 in 1860. The number of all students in colleges, academies and primary schools increased from 18,681 in 1840 to 177,400 in 1860. This applies to the entire State.
LOSS OF THE LITERARY FUND. The State kept the literary fund intact during the entire period of the Civil War, keeping the schools open and conducting them with such books as could be provided. It needed the literary fund for the soldiers in the field, but it would not touch a penny except to educate its children. But this fund was held by the banks of the State, and when the Reconstruction legislature voted not to pay the Confederate debt, the banks were ruined, for the State owed them large sums. Thus one million dollars of the fund was lost.
THE EDUCATIONAL GOVERNOR. Gov. Aycock did much for education during his term from 1900 to 1904. Rural libraries were started and a loan fund provided.
PIONEER TEACHERS AND PREACHERS. In 1778 or 1779 Samuel Doak, who was educated at Princeton College, N. J., came to Washington county and soon after his arrival opened a good school in a log cabin on his own farm. This is said to have been the first real institution of learning in the Mississippi valley. In 1788 Doak's school was incorporated by North Carolina as Martin Academy. In 1795 the territorial legislature incorporated Martin Academy as Washington College, located at Salem, and Doak was made its president.[3] In 1785 the legislature of North Carolina incorporated Davidson Academy, near Nashville.
THE FIRST SCHOOLMASTER OF BUNCOMBE. Soon after the Swannanoa settlement was established in 1782, a school was started in accordance with the principles of the Presbyterians. "Robert Henry taught the first school in North Carolina west of the Blue Ridge."[4]
OLD-FIELD SCHOOLS. Col. J. M. Ray gives the following description of these antiquated methods of teaching the young idea how not to shoot In lieu of kindergarten, graded and normal schools "was the Old-Field school, of which there were generally only one or two in a county, and they were in session only when it was not 'crop-time.' They were attended by little and big, old and young, sometimes by as many as a hundred, and all jammed into one room-a log-cabin with a fire-place at each end-puncheon floor, slab benches, and no windows, except an opening made in the wall by cutting out a section of one of the logs, here and there. The pedagogue in charge (and no matter how large the school there was but one) prided himself upon his knowledge of and efficiency in teaching the 'three R's'-readin', 'ritin' and 'rithmetic-and upon his ability to use effectively the rod, of which a good supply was always kept in stock; He must know, too, how to make a quill pen from the wing-feather of goose or turkey, steel and gold pens not having come into general use. The ink used was made from 'ink-balls'- sometimes from poke-berries and was kept in little slim vials partly filled with cotton. These vials not having base enough to stand alone, were suspended on nails near the writer. The schools were paid for from a public fund, the teacher boarding with the scholars. The common plan was for all to study aloud, and this was universally so when getting the spelling lesson, which was the concluding exercise and most exciting part of the inside program. Two of the good spellers of the school were appointed by the teacher as captains, and they made selections alternately from the scholars for their respective sides in the spelling match. The first choice was determined by spitting on a chip and tossing it up, the captain tossing it asking the other 'Wet or dry?' and the other stating his choice. If the chip fell with the side up as designated, he had 'first pick' of the spellers, and of course selected the one thought best. If he lost, his opponent had first pick. Another plan was 'Cross or pile?' when a knife was used the same way, the side of the handle with the ornament being the cross. Some of these old pedagogues were very rigid in discipline-almost tyrants-a day without several fioggings being unusual. They sometimes resorted to queer plans to catch up with mischievous scholars; one I distinctly remember-it is not necessary to say why I so distinctly remember it-was to put the school on its behavior and leave the building, cut around to some crack or opening and watch inside movements. This watching generally resulted in something.
OLD SCHOOL GAMES. "The outside sports made bearable all inside oppression, however. 'Base,' 'cat,' 'bull-pen,' and 'marbles,' were the leading popular games, and were entered into with a zest and enthusiasm unknown in these times. The sensational occurrence of the session was, however, the chase given some party who, in passing, should holler 'school butter!' But such party always took the precaution to be at a safe distance and to have a good start, and stood not upon the order of his going, but went for all that was in him; for to be taken was to be roughly handled-soused in some creek, pond or mud-hole. The pursuers were eager and determined, sometimes following for miles and miles, and having but small fear of being punished for neglect of studies. On the contrary, the offence was of so high an order (and I never understood just why) that sometimes the teacher would join in the race.''[5]
A PRIMITIVE SPELLING BOOK. Col. Allen T. Davidson gives this picture of a time earlier than any Col. Ray can remember: "The first schoolmaster I remember (on Jonathan's creek) was an old man by the name of Hayes. He was a good old man, and had a nice family, and had come to that back-country to 'learn' the young idea how to shoot. I was about six years old (1825). We could not then get spelling-books readily. I had none, and was more inclined to fun than study. The old man or his daughters dressed a board as broad as a shingle, printed the alphabet on it, bored a hole through the top, put a string in it, tied it around my neck and told me to get my lesson. I did not make much progress; but was greatly indulged by the old man, and 'went out' without the 'stick,' which was the passport for the others. The old man wore a pair of black steel-rim spectacles, with the largest eyes I ever saw, and was a great smoker. There were no matches in those days, and no way to get fire except by punk and steel; hence, he had to keep fire covered up in the ashes in the fire-place to light his pipe… When I would bring in the sticks with which to replenish the fire, I would usually bring in two or three buckeyes, which I slipped into the ashes as I covered the wood. The wood would smolder to a coal and the buckeyes would get hot, but they would not explode until the air reached them, when they would explode like the report of a musket, scattering the hulls, ashes and embers all over the house, in the old man's face and against his spectacles. This always happened whenever he uncovered the coals to light his pipe. The good old man never did discover the cause of the explosions. He has long since gone to his reward, and I remember him with tenderest affection."[6]
THE BLAB SCHOOL. At the earliest period of the most isolated schools, there were but few books, and spelling was usually taught and learned by a sort of chant or sing-song, iri which all, teacher and scholars, joined. Young and old joined in this exercise, and children often learned to spell who did not readily distinguish the letters of the alphabet. These were often chalked or written with charcoal against the walls.
NEWTON ACADEMY. From 1797 to 1814 the Rev. George Newton taught a classical school at this place [Newton Academy] which was famous throughout several States.[7] Mr. Newton was a Presbyterian minister, reported to the Synod at Bethel Church, South Carolina, October 18,1798, as having been received by ordination by the Presbytery of Concord (Foote's Sketches on North Carolina, 297). He lived on Swannanoa until 1814, when he removed to Bedford county, Tennessee. There for many years he was principal of Dickson Academy and pastor of the Presbyterian church in Shelbyville, and there he died about 1841.[7] "At that time there was a building which had been used for church and school purposes, known as Union Hill Academy. The house, which was a log one, was removed and in 1809 a brick house took its place. In the same year its name was changed to that of Newton Academy."[8] Here for many years the people resorted to preaching and sent their children to school, and buried their dead. In 1857 or 1858 the brick building between the present academy and the grave yard was removed and the brick academy now there was erected. (See Clayton v. Trustees, 95 N. C., 298.)
DR. ERASTUS ROWLEY. "The old Newton Academy was the only institution in the county which, up to 1840, had ever been dignified with as big a name as that of Academy. This was a very old structure when I first entered it in 1844. Dr. Erastus Rowley taught here that year. The house was a very long one and rather wide-one story, divided into two rooms-one very long room and one small one. It was built of brick and stood on the top of the knoll some distance above where the present one stands. Many of the older men of this section received their education at this widely known institution and its fame has always been almost co-extensive with that of Asheville."[9]
DR. SAMUEL DICKSON. "In 1835 Dr. Samuel Dickson, a Presbyterian minister, established here a seminary for young ladies, which was most successfully carried on for many years. It was a school which even in this day of improved educational methods would stand in the highest rank. Miss Marguerite Smith of Rhode Island also taught in this building at the same time. At it were educated all the girls in this section of the country. Dr. Dickson lived and carried on this school in the first brick house put up in Asheville. It was a handsome colonial residence, known afterwards as the 'Pulham place,' on South Main street. The first woman who ever became a regular practitioner of medicine in America was a member of this school, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell."[10]
COLONEL STEPHEN LEE, SOLDIER AND SCHOOLMASTER. "Dr. Frastus Rowley also taught the male school at the old Newton Academy for quite a while. He was a 'Yankee' but a most excellent teacher, as well as a fine preacher. Col. Stephen Lee, about this time, established a school for boys on the Swannanoa four miles from Asheville, which had a wide reputation and he did good in all this mountain section. It may be said without intended disparagement to others that Col. Lee's equal as a teacher has scarcely been found in this country; his memory lingers with and is blessed by many of the 'old boys' of today.
"Col. Lee's school for boys was far famed and many of the best citizens of this country and South Carolina remembered with gratitude, not only the drilling in Latin and Greek received from this most successful educator, but also the lessons in high toned honor and manhood imparted by this knight 'without fear and without reproach.' Col. Lee came from South Carolina and opened his school first in a large brick house built by himself on Swannanoa, known as 'The Lodge'- afterwards famous as the hospitable summer residence of Mr. William Patton. Colonel Lee afterwards moved to Chunn's Cove, where he taught until, at the call of his country, he and his sons and his pupils enlisted in the cause which they believed to be right. He was a graduate of West Point and distantly related to Gen. R. E. Lee."[11]
Col. Stephen Lee, son of Judge Thomas Lee of Charleston, S. C., was born in Charleston, June 7, 1801, was educated at West Point and for some years after taught in the Charleston College. In September, 1825, he was married to his cousin, Caroline Lee, also of Charleston; they had fifteen children, nine boys and six girls. Some years after he was married he moved to Spartanburg, S. C., where he lived only a few years, moving with his family to Buncombe county, N.C. In Chunn's Cove he started his school for boys, which he kept up as long as he lived, except for two or three years in the sixties, a part of which time he was in, command of the 16th N. C. Regiment, serving his country in West Virginia and the rest of the time drilling new recruits and preparing them for service. Besides serving himself, he sent eight boys into the Confederate army, four of whom gave their lives to the cause. At the close of the war he returned to his school duties and prepared many young men for their life work. He died in 1879, and is buried in the Asheville cemetery.
MRS. MORRISON AND MISS COUSINS' SCHOOL. Another school now long passed away, and existing only in the tender memories of its pupils, was taught for girls by Mrs. Morrison and Miss Cousins, on Haywood street, the present residence of Dr. H. H. Briggs.
SAND HILL SCHOOL. Captain Charles Moore, son of Captain Wm. Moore, was a man of ability and learning, a strict Presbyterian and a most useful citizen, who early realized the importance of education to a people so isolated as were the men of his time. Consequently, early in the nineteenth century he erected a small frame building on his farm, since famous as Sand Hill School. It was a school house and church for ministers sent out by the Mecklenburg Presbytery, and later became the most useful institution of learning west of the Blue Ridge, to which boys from all the surrounding counties came as long as Captain Moore lived. Among them were the late James L. Henry, Superior court judge; J. C. L. Gudger, Superior court judge; the late Riley H. Cannon, Superior court judge, and Judge George A. Jones of Macon, who held the position of judge by appointment for nearly two years. Among those living, are Captain James M. Gudger, Sr., solicitor; J. M. Gudger, Jr., member of Congress; H. A. Gudger, chief justice of the Panama Canal Zone; Superior Court Judge Geo. A. Shuford, Judge Charles A. Moore, the late Hirschel S. Harkins, former internal revenue collector for this district; the late Fred Moore, Superior court judge; the late James Cooper, a prominent lawyer of Murphy; Hon. W. G. Candler, member of the legislature; Thomas J. Candler, Dr. James Candler, and Dr. David M. Gudger. Captain Charles Moore is said to have been largely instrumental in erecting the first Presbyterian church in Asheville. He insisted on employing only the most competent teachers for Sand Hill School, among them being Prof. Hood and W. H. Graves, both highly educated teachers. He died about the close of the Civil War. Professor S. F. Venable, a graduate of the University of Virginia, also taught at Sand Hill.
ANOTHER EARLY SCHOOL. Bishop Asbury records the fact that in September, 1806, he and Moses Lawrence lost their way in Buncombe county when within a mile of Killion' s on Beaverdam creek, and spent the night in a school house, without a fire. The floor of this school room was of dirt, on which Moses slept, while the Bishop had a "bed wherever I could find a bench." This was not Newton Academy, for he had already recorded the fact that he knew the Rev. George Newton in November, 1800. Besides, Newton Academy was more than three miles from Killion's. Just where this school house was seems to have escaped the knowledge of all our local historians.
SILAS MCDOWELL. He was born in York District, S. C., in 1795, and for three sessions was a student at Newton Academy, near Asheville. He was apprenticed to learn the tailor's trade at Charleston, S. C., and worked as such at Morganton and Asheville. He married a niece of Governor Swain, and moved to Macon county in 1830, where for sixteen years he was clerk of Superior court. He was a practical mineralogist and geologist, botanist and a scientist of ongizial views. His descriptions of mountain peaks attracted much attention; but his "Theory of the Thermal Zone" gave him great reputation and was published in the Agricultural Reports of the United States. He died in Macon county, July 14, 1879.
A BENEVOLENT "SQUEERS."[12] A most unique character among the teachers of that day was Robert Woods or "Uncle Baldy," as he was generally called, for his head was bald as a door knob with the exception of a light fringe at the base of his cranium. Although a finished classical scholar and perfect in mathematics as well as all the higher branches taught in that day, he would not teach in the higher schools, but preferred to labor in what was then known as the "old field," where there was seldom anything taught but the elementary branches--such as spelling, reading, writing "ciphering." Occasionally he would have a boy who wanted to take a little Latin or Greek, or the higher mathematics, which he was thoroughly competent to teach. He was singular and very economical in his notions of dress. He made one suit last him for many years. I can see him now in imagination, with a long tail blue jeans coat that came down to his knees and which had seen service so long that the threads of white filling were showing plainly. The collar was large and when turned up came nearly to the top of his head. His pants were of heavy "linsey woolsey" of deep brown color and very baggy. His vest was of the same material and buttoned up to his chin, with a good flap at the top, his shirts were of heavy red or purple flannel, his shoes were of a style of heavy home made comfortable brogan that were very generally worn in that day. This was his dress and the only one I ever saw him wear. When he was not hearing recitations he constantly walked the floor of the school room from end to end with a swinging walk with his hands crossed upon his back and in one of them a six foot birch "tidivator," and when he would catch a boy with his eyes wandering or at meanness he would give him a keen rap across the shoulders and say in a savage tone, "mind your book." In the summer time when the flies were bad he would tie a large red bandanna handkerchief over his head which he could arrange something after the fashion of a woman's sunbonnet and thus he could save fighting the flies, but with all his queer ways and habits he was a most excellent, useful and successful teacher and a good old gentleman. For many years he taught acceptably in various parts of this county.
FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE IN ASHE. The first school house in Jefferson was of logs and stood on a branch in the eastern end of Jefferson in a lot owned by Felix Barr, just left of the blacksmith shop. He removed it in 1873 or 1874. A fine spring is near the former site.
BURNSVILLE ACADEMY. In 1851 Rev. Stephen B. Adams, now deceased, of the Methodist Church, established the Burnsville Academy and taught there several years. He was the father of Judge Joseph S. Adams, also now deceased. Out of this grew:
MARS HILL COLLEGE, which was established by the most prominent members of the Baptist denomination in 1857, after realizing the necessity for such a college. Thomas Ray, John Radford, E. D. Carter, Daniel Carter, Stephen Ammons, Shepard Deaver, Rev. J. W. Anderson and Rev. Humphrey Deweese were prominent in establishing this institution. During part of the Civil War the buildings were used by the soldiers, but after the close of that struggle the buildings were repaired and others added. It has done and still is doing great good.
WEAVERVILLE COLLEGE was established by the Methodist Church, South, about the year 1856. It is situated on land where formerly camp meetings were held. It has been greatly enlarged and improved of late years. It is co-educational. It has done excellent work in the past and continues to do the same now.
ASHEVILLE MALE ACADEMY. In 1847-48 the citizens of Asheville erected a brick building on the north side of what is now College street about a hundred yards east of Oak. It stood till August, 1912, when it was removed. In it Prof. James H. Norwood taught till about 1850, when he removed to Waynesville, where he remained till shortly before the Civil War, when, having been appointed Indian agent in the Northwest, he removed there and was afterwards killed by the Indians. During part of the time he taught at this academy Col. Stephen Lee also taught there, but soon removed to Chunn's cove.
ASHEVILLE FEMALE COLLEGE. About 1850 or 1851 this college was established on the land now bounded on the north by Woodfin, on the east by Locust, on the south by College and on the west by Oak streets. Part of it is used as a hotel and the remainder is now the high school's property. At first it was Holston Conference Female College, but was afterwards known as the Asheville Female College, and subsequently as the Asheville College for Women. It prospered and had a large patronage from the start under the presidency of Dr. John M. Carlisle, Dr. Anson W. Cummings, Dr. James S. Kennedy, Dr. R. N. Price, Dr. James Atkins, Mr. Archibald Jones.
ASHEVILLE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS. This was begun in 1911, with Miss Ford as principal, assisted by several competent teachers. It occupies the handsome and commodious residence built by Col. N. W. Woodfin at the corner of North Main and Woodfin streets, Asheville, and enlarged by the late Dr. J. H. Burroughs.
SULPHUR SPRINGS SCHOOL. William Hawkins taught in the school house on the hill above Sulphur Springs from 1838 till long after 1845. A school had been maintained at that place by Robert Henry's influence and largely at his expense since 1836. The grave yard still there is just back of the place where the old school house stood. The late Riley Cannon, the Jones, Hawkins and Moore children attended school there in the old days.
MRS. HUTSELL'S GIRLS' SCHOOL. Mrs. Hutsell, the wife of the Rev. Mr. Hutsell, a Methodist preacher, taught a school for girls about four miles west of Sulphur Springs from 1840 to 1853, and took some of the scholars to board at her house. Her husband and Francis Marion Wells of Grassy Creek, Madison county, were brothers-in-law.
"ORDER OF THE HOLY CROSS" AT VALLE CRUCIS.[13] In 1840 a gentleman from New York, in search of rare wild flowers, wandered into Valle Crucis. He called this beautiful vale to the attention of Bishop Levi S. Ives of the Protestant Episcopal Church, who, on July 20, 1842, held services there and promised to send a missionary. In December, 1842, Rev. Henry H. Prout arrived and began work in the Lower Settlement, near the Tennessee line. In August, 1843, Bishop Ives returned and purchased 125 acres of land which was subsequently increased to 2,000 acres. His first intention was to "make this valley an important center of work for the entire diocese, to include a missionary station, a training school for the ministry, and a classical and agricultural school for boys." The necessary buildings having been constructed in 1844, school was opened early in 1845, with thirty boys which number increased to fifty during that summer. Rev. Mr. Thurston was at the head of the mission and of the school. There were seven candidates for the ministry, several of whom were assistant teachers. Upon the death of Mr. Thurston the Rev. Jarvis Buxton, then a candidate for holy orders, took charge of the school and Mr. Prout carried on the missionary work. But Dr. Buxton removed to Asheville in 1847, where he became rector of Trinity church, resigning that position in March, 1890. This withdrawal from Valle Crucis was in consequence of the introduction into the mission of Valle Crucis by Bishop Ives, in June 1847, of the "Order of the Holy Cross," planned by himself and which he intended, it was said, to develop into a monastic institution. The Bishop was the General of the Order, the members of which were divided into three classes: those in the abbey at Valle Crucis only taking the mediaeval vows of chastity, poverty and obedience; others taking lighter vows; and some taking lighter vows still.
Both the clergy and laity might belong to either class. The Rev. Mr. French was appointed Superior, Mr. Buxton having declined the appointment. Many divinity students became connected with the order, but none of them abandoned the church. The chapel having been destroyed by fire, the little band rebuilt it by themselves, locating it in a little grove at the foot of a hill. Instead of bells a bugle was used to summon them to worship, and to work. Rev. William West Skyles of Hertford county, had joined the mission in 1844 as a farmer, and was ordained a deacon in August, 1847. He was now called "Brother William," while the Rev. Mr. French was addressed as "Father William." All were required to work the farm two hours every day. But reports of the new order had spread through the diocese, funds had failed to arrive, but the committee on the State of the church at the convention held at Wilmington in 1848, favored the mission, saying that its importance is immense as the nursery of a future ministry because of its retirement,… its hardy and useful discipline and great economy." At the convention held at Salisbury in May, 1849, Bishop Ives gave assurance that "at this religious house no doctrine will be taught or practice allowed" not in accord with the principles and usages of the church, "the property of the establishment having been secured to the church for the use of the mission on the specified conditions." At a later day the Bishop declared that from the date of the convention at Salisbury the order had been dissolved. Its regular existence, therefore, scarcely covered two years. The committee on the state of the church having reported in 1849 that they had assurances on which they could rely that "no society whose character, rules and practices are at variance with the spirit if not with the laws of this church is at present in existence in this diocese," the convention ordered 1,000 Copies of the report distributed throughout the diocese. In July, 1849, Bishop Ives visited Valle Crucis, however, and addressed a pastoral letter to the diocese which was considered a defiance and a partial retraction of the assurances he had given the convention during the previous May. Consequently, funds for the mission almost entirely ceased, and some of the students sought work elsewhere. Mr. French left the mission in the winter of 1850 and Bishop Ives appointed the Rev. George Wetmore to take charge of Valle Crucis. At the convention of 1850, held at Elizabeth City in May, Bishop Ives alluded to his assurances of 1849, in which he had denied private confession, absolution and Christ's real presence in the Eucharist, etc., and still claimed that there had been no heresy or schism. A committee in 1851 investigated Valle Crucis and reported that the Bishop's explanation was satisfactory.
Bishop Ives visited Valle Crucis in the summer of 1852 and consecrated Easter chapel above Shull's Mills. In September, 1852, he asked for $1,000 and six months' leave of absence. He sailed for Europe and on the 22d of December, 1852, he resigned as bishop and declared his "intention to make his submission to the church of Rome." He had been bishop over twenty years. Dr. Thomas Atkinson, who had been rector of Grace church, Baltimore, was elected to succeed him May 22, 1853. The title of the Vaile Crucis property was never in the Episcopal church. It was sold by Dr. Ives' legal representatives to Robert Miller who worked the mission grounds as a farm.
The little chapel which Rev. Mr. Skiles had succeeded in having built on Lower Watauga at a cost of $700, was consecrated by Bishop Atkinson August 22, 1862. Mr. Skiles, who had done many deeds of charity and love, died at the home of Col. J. B. Palmer near what is now Altamont, in Avery county, December 8, 1862. His remains were interred in the churchyard of St. John the Baptist, December 18, 1862. This chapel was removed in 1882 to a spot higher up the Watauga river, near St. Jude post office, and in 1889 Mr. Skiles' remains were reinterred in the new churchyard under the direction of Rev. George Bell of Asheville.
The Episcopal church has purchased a large part of the original mission property and now maintains a flourishing school for girls there. The buildings are large, handsome and modern, the orchards and farms are well cultivated and the work accomplished is uplifting and enduring. The principal credit for this work is due Right Reverend Junius M. Homer, Bishop of Asheville, who since his consecration in 1900 has been untiring in building up at this favored spot a useful and elevating school for girls. An investigation of this work and the success which is already evident will convince the most skeptical of its value and importance.
VALLE CRUCIS SCHOOL FOR GIRLS. "The school property consists of a farm of 500 acres, woodlands, apple orchards, dairy farm, vegetable garden and poultry yard. It is in Watauga county. There are two fine buildings, Auxiliary Hall and Auchmuty Hall. Auxiliary Hall was built with that portion of money given the Bishop of Asheville, Rt. Rev. Junius M. Homer, from the united offerings of 1901, added to other smaller gifts. It is a frame building of handsome proportions, and contains the assembly hall for the school and six class rooms on the first floor; the dining room and kitchen on the second floor; and a dormitory for two teachers and twelve girls, on the third floor, with linen closets and bath rooms adjoining.
"Auchmuty Hall is the regular dormitory building for the school. It is built of concrete blocks, and has thirty rooms with capacity for six teachers and sixty girls. The ground floor has office for the principal, a living room, and a prayer room, where daily morning and evening prayers are said. This building was put up at a cost of $15,000, the gift of friends personally interested in the school and missionary work. These buildings are well designed for school purposes and those in authority are diligent in carrying out the deliberately planned policy of the school, viz.: that of making this a model school industry, that shall be sufficiently economic to be self-supporting after the equipment of $50,000 is completed and an endowment of $50,000 is added to insure the salaries of the necessary teachers in the school. It is the policy of the Bishop of Asheville to have here an industrial school which will educate women, home makers, so that the growing generation of men and women from the Appalachian mountains shall be the type known as 'faithful unto death.'
"Half a century ago a school for boys was opened at Valle Crucis by Bishop Ives who named the place because of the natural formation of the valleys, Valle Crucis, or the Vale of the Cross.
"The property of the school, however, was lost to the church until a few years ago when sufficient interest in the mountain region was awakened to enable the church to buy back the best portions of the old school farm and commence the erection of the present industrial school."
SKYLAND INSTITUTE at Blowing Rock was established about twenty-five years ago (1891) by Miss E. C. Prudden, and is supported by the American Missionary Association. It is a girls' school with industrial training.
MAST SEMINARY. This is at Mast post office on Cove creek, Watauga, and is the gift of Mr. N. L. Mast to the Presbyterian Church. It is only a little over two years old, but will flourish. Both sexes taught.
WATAUGA ACADEMY. This was established in the summer of 1899 by Messers D. D. and B. B. Daugherty at Boone, their childhood home. They are brothers.[14] The Dougherty family, both men and women, not only in Ashe and Watauga, but in Johnson county, Tenn., also, have for years been zeal- ous in the work of education, religion and the uplift of their States. This was the beginning of the Appalachian Training School.
COVE CREEK ACADEMY. Twenty years ago (1893) this useful and successful school in the western part of Watauga county, was presided over by Mr. Julius C. Martin, now a distinguished lawyer of Asheville. It flourished under his management as principal, and has continued on the road to success.
ASHEVILLE FREE KINDERGARTEN. Miss Sara Garrison was a teacher in 1889 in a kindergarten school in the factory district. In the same year an association was formed and two kindergartens established and placed in charge of Miss Garrison and Miss Slack of Baltimore. They were so successful that a training school was established for fitting women to teach such schools, and Mrs. Orpha Quale of Indianapolis taught a class of eight young ladies. Four kindergartens were in operation. Mr. George W. Pack having donated a school building necessitated the incorporation of the association in 1892. He met most of the expenses of one of the teachers who worked at half rates rather than have the school suspend. In 1894 only two kindergartens were in operation and Mr. George W. Vanderbilt opened another for colored children in the Young Men's Institute at his own expense. A New England lady secured $200 from friends in Boston and the Asheville board of aldermen gave $150 for a kindergarten to be re-established in the factory district. The public kindergartens were suspended for want of funds in the year 1912, but arrangements have been made to reopen them.
BURNSVILLE BAPTIST COLLEGE. About the time the Presbyterians established their college at Burnsville the Baptists erected a large and handsome set of college buildings, which have done a great work ever since.
BINGHAM SCHOOL was founded in 1793, at Mebaneville, N. C., by Rev. Wm. Bingham, who was succeeded by the late W. J. Bingham, and he by the late Col. Wm. Bingham. After the death of the last named, in 1873, Major Robert Bingham became superintendent. The military feature, introduced during the Civil War, has been retained. This school was removed to Asheville under Col. Robert Bingham's superintendence in the fall of 1891; though the original Bingham School, as it is claimed, continues to flourish at Mebaneville. Both schools are doing well.
RURAL LIBRARIES. Small but carefully chosen libraries have been placed in our country schools. This means that six hundred thousand country children have such opportunities of enriching their lives by reading as were never before offered to the young people of North Carolina.
ALLEGHANY SCHOOLS. Sparta has had a high school almost from the beginning of the town, Prof. Brown having located there in 1870, and with the exception of short intervals, has had charge of it ever since. There are also a good many academy buildings at Whitehead, Laurel Springs, Scottville, Piney Creek, Elk Creek and Turkey Knob. In 1909 the Orange Presbytery established a high school at Glade Valley, there being four buildings, all steam-heated and modernly equipped.
BAPTIST MOUNTAIN MISSIONS AND SCHOOLS. Mr. A. E. Brown has furnished a list of schools which are maintained by the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Church. A tract gives the following information.
"Some Mountain Mission School work in this region is being done by Northern Methodists, the Congregationalists, the Disciples and the Southern Presbyterians. Aside from the work done by Southern Baptists, however, the Northern Presbyterians are doing the largest Mountain Mission School work in the South. Here and there in the mountain region Baptists have tried to operate schools all along during the past, but not until the Home Mission Board put the denomination behind the educational efforts in the mountains was there any permanency in the work. The people have responded nobly to the leadership and backing furnished by the Home Board. Southern Baptists are probably better equipped for this work than any other denomination. This is ground on which to base a deepened sense of responsibility and not ground for any unworthy pride.
"To sum up: There are more white people per square mile in the mountains than in any region of equal size in the South. The isolation of the mountains is for lack of means for inter-communication, and not for lack of people.
"There are more native born American whites ready to be trained and to profit by training in this district than in any other."
The schools in the mountains of North Carolina follow:
"Mars Hill College, Mars Hill. Five buildings, nine teachers, 360 students; territory, Madison county and part of Buncombe; draws students from every section of the South.
"Yancey Institute, Burnsville. Four buildings, five teachers, 261 students; territory, Yancey county.
"Mitchell Institute, Bakersville. Two buildings (with the third to be erected in the near future), four teachers, 140 students; territory, Mitchell and Avery counties.
"Fruitland Institute, Hendersonville. Four buildings, seven teachers, 221 students; territory, Hendersonville, Transylvania and Polk counties.
"Round Hill Academy, Union Mills. Three buildings, six teachers, 169 students; territory, Rutherford and McDowell counties.
"Haywood Institute, Clyde, N. C. Two buildings, four teachers, 80 students; territory, Haywood county.
"Sylva Institute, Sylva. Four buildings, three teachers, 87 students; territory, Jackson and Macon counties.
"Murphy Institute, Murphy. Three buildings, three teachers, 96 students; territory, Cherokee and Clay counties, N. C., and Polk county, Tennessee."
JOHN O. HICKS, PEDAGOGUE.[15] John O. Hicks, originally from Tennessee, built a school at Hayesville just at the close of the Civil War that has been a noted high-school ever since. Hicks, after some thirty years of successful teaching, turned the school over to N. A. Fessenden of Boston, Mass., and went to Walhalla, South Carolina, and after a few years teaching at that place moved to Texas, where he died in 1910.
The same school that John O. Hicks organized and built up at Hayesville is still in operation with an enrollment of over two hundred. The influence that has gone out from this school has permeated the whole county until the public schools of the county are unsurpassed. From this school have gone out hundreds of men and women who are prominent over the United States. Among them are the Revs. Ferd. McConnell, Geo. W. Truett and T. F. Marr; the Doctors W. S., M. H., and W. E. Sanderson of Texas and Oklahoma; lawyers, O. L. Anderson, J. H. and Luther Truett and the lamented Judge Fred Moore.
APPALACHIAN TRAINING SCHOOL was incorporated in 1903, succeeding the private school of Professors B. B. and D. D. Dougherty, at Boone. It began in 1899 when $1,500 was appropriated on condition that an equal sum should be provided from private sources. In addition, $2,000 per annum was appropriated for maintenance. With the first $3,000 appropriated the present brick administration build ing was started. Other appropriations followed and other buildings were erected until in 1911 the maintenance fund was increased to $10,000 per annum for all succeeding years. There have been contributions from people in every State east of the Mississippi river except from New England. There are now 500 acres of valuable land, six large buildings, farm houses and barns, two dormitories and a mess hall. There are three sessions annually of four and a half months in the fall and spring, and two and a half months in summer. Average attendance is 200, while over 400 were taught in 1911. There is a full faculty. Board for women is $6.50 and for boys $7.50 per month. In 1913 the legislature appropriated $15,000 to erect a brick dormitory for girls capable of holding 200 students. It is in course of erection.
A CAMP SCHOOL. There is a summer camp which comes to Bryson City every summer, and is situated on the left bank of the Tuckaseegee river about half a mile below the town. It is composed of boys from various colleges who thus pursue their studies through the summer. They live in tents, but the kitchen and mess hall are of wood. The professors have their families with them and live in the same camps.
SOLITUDE, OR ASHLAND. Toward the close of the nineteenth century Professor F. M. Wautenpaugh of Omaha, Neb., succeeded in having a large and convenient building erected on a high hill overlooking Solitude, and for four or five years conducted a business college and high school most satisfactorily. But the stockholders grew impatient for a dividend on the money they had invested in the enterprise and the school closed. It is now owned by a religious society popularly known as the Holiness People. A religious paper called The Sword of the Lord, is published monthly at Solitude by Rev. E. L. Stewart. There is also a public school house, neat and attractive, which is attended by about 140 children.
BAPTIST HIGH SCHOOL, MURPHY. The Baptist high school occupying the site of the former residence of the late Ben Posey, Esq., a distinguished lawyer, was b'iilt in 1906-7, and afterwards enlarged. There are dormitories and other buildings. It is in the southern part of town, about half a mile from the court house.
THE MURPHY GRADED SCHOOL. The Murphy graded school cost $30,000 and stands on Valley River avenue in the eastern part of the town, midway between Murphy and East Murphy. It is built after the colonial style and overlooks Valley river from its site on a splendid elevation. It has twelve class rooms, a library, an auditorium, a principal's office, closets, electric lights and water. It was built in 1909 and is a credit to the community.
CULLOWHEE NORMAL AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL. "In 1888, a number of the leading citizens of Cullowhee, desirous of a better school than the ordinary public school of that day, organized themselves into a board of trustees for the establishment of what was to be known as the Cullowhee High School. They procured the services of Prof. Robert L. Madison as principal, and under his leadership and supervision the school began to flourish and make rapid progress. In 1893, the institution was recognized by the State, and through the efforts of Hon. Walter E. Moore, representative from Jackson, an appropriation was secured for the purpose of establishing a Normal department of the school for the training of teachers. At the session of the General Assembly, in 1905, through the efforts of Hon. Felix E. Alley, representative from Jackson, the appropriations were still further increased and the name of the school was changed to Cullowhee Normal and Industrial School, the institution then becoming a State school for the training of teachers.
"The State has recently erected a large and commodious home for young ladies. The building was designed by a competent architect, is well furnished, and is equipped with water works, steam heat and electric lights. The administration building is furnished with patent desks and chairs, is lighted by electricity and heated by steam. The handsome auditorium is seated with opera chairs and will accommodate six hundred persons. The institution has a newly installed sewerage system and is supplied with an abundance of pure water from distant mountain springs. The electric light and steam heating plants are both located on the school grounds and owned and operated by the institution.
"The supreme purpose of the school is the development and training of teachers. It proposes not only to give the student training in the fundamental and cultural branches of study, but so to train him or her as to prepare them to teach."
MISSION WORK OF NORTHERN PRESBYTERIANS. In the summer of 1884 Dr. Thomas Lawrence was a guest of Rev. L. M. Pease, originally of New York city, who, with his wife, had founded the famous Five Points mission in New York city, but who had removed to Asheville in the seventies, and had started and was then conducting a school for girls. On a drive into the country Dr. Lawrence was impressed with the fine looks and intelligence of some boys he saw at a school, and Mr. Pease offered to devote all his landed property near Asheville for a training school for girls of the vicinage. At that time the Home Mission Board was seeking a location for some such training school. The result of this conversation was the transfer of this property to the Home Mission Board. The late Mrs. D. Stuart Dodge was active and influential in effecting this. The terms were satisfactory to all concerned, and a life annuity from the private purse of the Rev. D. Stuart Dodge, D. D., of New York, having been secured to Mr. and Mrs. Pease, the Home Industrial school was soon thereafter organized, in 1887, with Mr. Pease as superintendent and Miss Florence Stephenson as principal, a position she still holds. The success of this school encouraged the evangelization of the mountain region and the Normal and Collegiate Institute was opened in September, 1892, with Dr. Lawrence as president and Mrs. Lawrence as principal, with a faculty of fourteen expert teachers and officers, on part of the Pease property. Dr. Lawrence retired when he reached seventy-five years of age in 1907, and Prof. E. P. Childs succeeded him. Thereafter five other boarding schools have been established in this section, it being the policy of the Presbyterian Church to hand these flourishing schools to their respective communities just as soon as they are able to assume the expense and responsibility of their support and management. Of the twenty-two elementary day schools planted during the last quarter of a century in the more sequestered and needy communities seven have been successfully transferred to local public school authorities. The remaining fifteen are still doing good work; while in four other centers additional social, kindergarten and Sabbath school work is being done under the management of the board. Miss Florence Stephenson, Miss Mary Johns, Miss Julia Phillips, Miss Frances Goodrich, Dr. J. P. Roger, a Christian physician, have done a great work for our people and their names are house-hold words in many a mountain cabin. Dr. G. S. Baskerville made a success of the farm school on the Swannanoa river, after the school had been organized by Prof. Samuel Jeffries, a graduate of the agricultural department of Cornell University, in 1893. Dr. J. P. Roger is in charge of the farm school now.
The following is a list of the schools and churches established in Western North Carolina, exclusive of those established elsewhere in the South:
Normal and Collegiate Institute, 1902. Prof. E. P. Childs, president. Miss Mary F. Hickok, principal. Fifteen teachers and officers. Average enrollment, 304.
Home Industrial School (preparatory to the Normal and Collegiate Institute), 1887. Miss Florence Stephenson, principal. Teachers and officers, ten. Average enrollment, 140.
Pease Home (for little girls), 1908. Miss Edith P. Thorpe, matron. Adjunct to Home Industrial School, and furnishing school of practice for Normal and Collegiate Institute.
These three boarding schools for girls occupy, with the chapel, manse, and superintendent's home, the beautiful suburb of Asheville, ceded by Mr. Pease. The whole plant is valued at $200,000.
Farm School, nine miles from Asheville, on the Swannanoa river, 1895, J. P. Rogers, superintendent. Sixteen teachers and officers. Spacious school and farm buildings and 650 acres of fertile land.
These four flourishing boarding schools form the Asheville group. Their success has been largely possible through the wlse counsel and constant beneficence of Dr. D. Stuart Dodge, New York City, who inherits a name which has, for three generations, been synonymous with philanthropy.
Bell Institute, Walnut, Madison county, 1908. Miss Margaret E. Griffith, principal. Five teachers and officers. Average attendance, 284; 65 boarders. Value of school property, $12,000.
Dorland Institute, Hot Springs, Madison county, 1887. Established by the late Dr. Luke Dorland, in his old age, after a long life of eminent usefulness in other fields. Miss Julia E. Phillips, principal. Eleven teachers and officers. The plant is valued at $40,000, and provides school room and dormitory accommodations for 70 girls, farm and home for 30 boys, having, in addition, an attendance of 60 day pupils.
Stanly McCormick Academy, Burnsville, Yancey county. Prof. Lowrie Corry, principal. Seven teachers and officers. Six buildings, including school building, principal's home, separate dormitories for boys and girls. Average attendance, 206; 50 boarders. Building and grounds valued at $46,000. This prosperous academy has a magnificent patron in Miss Nettie McCormick, Chicago, Ill.
Besides the schools of higher grade, above mentioned, a successful academy was maintained more than ten years at Marshall, which prepared for and subsequently gave place to the excellent graded school now being maintained by the public authorities.
In addition to these boarding schools, 21 elementary day schools were meanwhile being planted in the remotest and most inaccessible regions, under carefully trained Christian teacher--fourteen in Madison, four in Buncombe, and three in Yancey county, with an average attendance of 1,200 pupils, under 41 teachers. The moneys invested in school buildings and teachers' homes, the people contributing as they were able, would aggregate $30,000.
In accordance with their policy, as already remarked, the board, in the more recent years, has been gradually retiring from these fields as the local authorities became able and willing to take over the work. The value of properties in buildings and lands, held for educational purposes, including the seven boarding and 21 day schools, aggregates $400,000, not to make mention of the salaries of, on an average, more than 100 efficiently trained teachers necessarily employed.
Col. Robert Bingham, one of the most experienced and eminent educators of the commonwealth, in an article published in the North American Review, refers to the prudence and wisdom which has characterized the administration of this mission school work, and says, in substance: "Of all the moneys donated by northern philanthropists for the betterment of education in the South, those contributed by the Northern Presbyterian Church has been most judiciously and wisely expended."
The list of the organized churches is as follows: Oakland Heights, Asheville, Buncombe county; College Hill, Riceville, Buncombe county; Reems Creek, Reems Creek, Buncombe county; Brittain's Cove, Brittain's Cove, Buncombe county; Jupiter, Jupiter, Buncombe county; Cooper's Memorial, Marshall, Madison county; Barnard, Barnard, Madison county; Allanstand, Allanstand, Madison county; Big Laurel, Big Laurel, Madison county; Dorland Memorial, Hot Springs, Madison county; Burnsville, Burnsville, Yancey county.
SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH SCHOOLS.[16] Glade Valley School, near Sparta; organized 1910; boarding and day school for boys and girls; buildings and furnishings worth $20,000. Five teachers in regular service; 130 students; full academic course; board and tuition per month, $10.
Lees-McRae Institute, at Banner Elk; established 1901; boarding and day school for girls; industrial, there being no servants Buildings, furnishings and farm worth $25,000. Eight teachers; 165 students; usual academic course with manual training. Tuition and board per month, $8.
Lees-McRae Institute at Plumtree; organized 1902; boarding and day school for boys; industrial, large farm connected with school; buildings, farm, furnishings, stock, etc., worth $22,000. Five teachers and about 110 students. Course prepares for freshman class in good college. Board and tuition, $8, many of the students making as much by their own labor.
Mission Industrial School, near Franklin; organized 1911; boarding and day school for girls; industrial, no servants. Buildings and furnishings worth $10,000. Five teachers and 75 students. Course same as that of best high schools. Board and tuition, $8 per month.
The Maxwell Home and School, near Franklin; organized 1911, for homeless boys who are destitute. Manual training, chiefly, the farm containing 500 acres. Buildings, furnishings and farm, worth $15,000. Three teachers, capacity for 30 boys at present. With $50 to get a start, a boy can make his own way here.
Mountain Orphanage. At Balfour, established in 1905 by Home Mission Committee of Asheville Presbytery. Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Temple have charge of 40 children. Property worth $5,000.
COLORED PEOPLE'S SCHOOLS.[17] "Very soon after the war the importance of the education of the colored people, now citizens and voters, was impressed upon the minds of the thinking people of this section. The first effort in this direction was the parochial school of the Protestant Episcopal Church, which was opened in 1870, and was taught by Miss A. L. Chapman of Rochester, N. Y. After two years she was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Berry, who was both pastor and teacher. This double office has been filled without interruption by educated and influential colored men up to the present time, and many heads of families look back with gratitude to the little room on South Main street, and the parochial school building on Valley street, where the rudiments of an education were obtained, and foundations of character laid, which have been a blessing to them and their households.
"In 1885 Rev. L. M. Pease, recognizing the importance of hand, as well as head and heart training, erected a bui1ding for an Industrial school on College street, and opened it the same autumn with three thoroughly educated colored teachers. At the close of the school year, being financially unable to continue it, he deeded the property to the Woman's Board of Home Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which continued the work under the superintendence of Rev. Newell Albright, whose health was such as to require a residence in this climate. When Mr. Albright resigned after one year, the school was thoroughly organized and established and has continued to do excellent work under the superintendence of Miss A. B. Dole, who, by her judicious management of the race question, and devotion to the interests of the colored people, has made many friends among both races.
"Rev. C. F. Dusenberry of the Presbyterian Church has a parochial school on Eagle street, under the auspices of the Holston Presbytery, where industrial work is taught to some extent, and a kitchen garden conducted.. The purpose of this is to teach correct methods of housekeeping, such as making fires, washing dishes, setting and waiting on tables, laundry and chamber work.
"In the Victoria suburb a combined chapel and school house was erected five years ago by a donation from Mr. Taylor of Cleveland, O., where a flourishing day school has greatly benefited the population. Mrs. W. I. Erdman was the projector and manager of this school till her removal to Philadelphia one year ago. The teacher's salary is paid by the Freedman's Board of the Presbyterian Church, by which they are also appointed.
"In 1892, Mr. Stevens, the principal of the public school for colored pupils, was greatly in~pressed with the necessity of an institution for colored young men on the plan of the Y.M. C. A. He set about devising plans for the erection of a building for this purpose, and made a journey during vacation to Bar Harbor, Me., for the purpose of soliciting aid from Mr. George Vanderbilt. In this he was successful, and Mr. Charles McNamee was commissioned to erect a structure, suitable for the purpose contemplated, on the corner of Eagle and Market streets. It is a fine, substantial building with a tiled roof. There are stores and offices on the first floor and a large lecture hall. On the second floor is a library and reading room, a parlor and school room and the office of the superintendent. This was occupied by Mr. Stevens for one year, and the following one by Mr. John Love, an Asheville boy, who was graduated at Oberlin, O., and resigned one year ago to take work in Washington, D. C. The present incumbent is B. H. Baker, a graduate of Howard University.
"The lecture hall has been in demand for lectures, concerts, exhibitions and entertainments, and on Sunday afternoons for a song service with a large attendance. There is a religious service one night in the week, a night school for boys and a kindergarten eight months in the year."
CHARLES McNAMEE, ESQ., for many years the attorney and adviser of Mr. George W. Vanderbilt, who erected the Young Men's Institute at the corner of Eagle and Spruce streets, Asheville, for the use of colored people, about the year 1893, in a letter dated October 24, 1895, says that he is the trustee of the property and that "It was the original intention that the income of the building over and above the running expenses should be devoted to paying Mr. Vanderbilt back the principal and interest of the cost of the building and ground." The foregoing references are to times prior to November, 1895.
MRS. HETTY MARTIN. This good lady was the wife of the late General James Green Martin. They came to Asheville during the Civil War, after which they faced poverty with brave hearts. Mrs. Martin was the daughter of the ate Charles King, president of Columbia College, New York, granddaughter of Rufus King, first American minister to the Court of St. James, and a sister of General Rufus King of the United States army. Notwithstanding her northern birth and ancestry, Mrs. Martin's fidelity to the South was unquestioned. Recognizing the fact that if left to their own resources the newly enfranchised negro race of the South must necessarily retrograde, Mrs. Martin soon after the Civil War exerted herself to advance their educational and religious training. It was through her influence that St. Mathias Episcopal church was organized and for years supported by the aid of white people. She also assisted in the erection and furnishing of the flue new church that crowns one of the hill-tops in the eastern part of Asheville, and in which so many reputable and self-respecting colored men, women and children have received spiritual guidance. Her influence for good in this community is incalculable.
MISS ANNA WOODFIN. This good woman is a daughter of Col. N. W. Woodfln, and although a confirmed invalid for many years, she has, nevertheless, exerted a wonderful influence for good in this community. In 1884 she was largely instrumental in organizing the Flower Mission, of which she is still an honored member. This was intended to be "an auxiliary to the State branch of that department of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union, with the object of carrying flowers to the homes of the sick and destitute1 to prison cells, to hospitals and almshouses." Bible texts and songs and readings often went with the flowers. Its work revealed the need of a hospital and, as the society was interdenominational, the cooperation of all the churches was secured, and soon the Mission Hospital was open in 1885. The Associated Charities is also an outgrowth of this grand scheme.
DONATION OF A LIBRARY. About 1905 Professor Charles Hallet Wing, of Brighton, Mass., donated to the county of Mitchell on certain conditions a large and well-arranged library building and 15,000 selected and valuable books, a book-bindery, etc., all situated at Ledger, on the road from Marion to Bakersville, where Professor Wing lived several years and gave the people in the neighborhood the free use of his library, besides binding without charge any pamphlets or books in need of such treatment.
PROFESSOR CHARLES HALLET WING. Of this public-spirited gentleman we read (Carolina Mountains, p.326) that "after many years of notable service as professor of chemistry in the Boston Institute of Technology" he came to Ledger, Mitchell county, N. C., "before there had been any change in the customs of the country, to escape the turmoil of the outer world. Professor Wing vehemently disclaimed any share in changing - he would not call it 'improving' the life of the people, but he made his charming log house, his barn and outbuildings, also his fences with their help." He also built a school house and library building, provided two teachers, and himself "conducted a manual training department." There were 250 applicants for admission to his school the first year it was opened, ranging from six to forty years in age. This school was successfully conducted "without the infliction of any sort of punishment." Fifteen thousand books were sent there by friends of Prof. Wing, and the library was kept by a native youth who was taught to rebind books, "as some of the most used books were those that had been discarded by the Boston Public Library." Small traveling libraries of seventy-five volumes each were sent around the country and loaned. "The library was free, with rules, but no fines, and it is illustrative of the quality of the people that the rules were not broken and that at the end of the first year not a book was missing, none had been kept out overtime, while less than six per cent of those taken out had been fiction" (p.327).
GEORGE W. PACK. Elsewhere has been mentioned the donation by this gentleman of a valuable library building to the city of Asheville, and his aid to the free kindergartens of that city.
BREVARD INSTITUTE. This school for training girls and boys in the practical things of life is situated near Brevard, and was started in 1895. "Besides the ordinary academic subjects and special religious training the pupils are taught a dread of debt, promptness in attending to business obligations of every sort, a love for thoroughness and accuracy in doing work of every sort, self-control in the expenditure of money, and a knowledge of simple business transactions."' There is also a business course, a department of music and one of domestic art. (Carolina Mountains, pp.225-226.)
ALLENSTAND COTTAGE INDUSTRIES. This is a form of settlement work which began, "long before the present wave of prosperity had drawn near the mountains," in the north-western portion of Buncombe county "away up on Little Laurel, near the Tennessee line … and close under the wild Bald mountains." It was "formerly a stopping place or 'stand' for drovers who stopped over night with their cattle, sheep, horses and swine" on their way from Tennessee to South Carolina. Here old4ashioned spinning, weaving and dyeing were revived and are being taught. (Carolina Mountains, pp.226-228.)
BILTMORE INDUSTRIES. From the same work (p. 231) we read that wood-carving is taught and practiced at Biltmore, as well as old-fashioned spinning, weaving and dyeing, and also embroidery, some of the graduates in wood-carving carving chairs for the great establishment of Tiffany of New York, and more than one hundred of the pupils are earning a livelihood by the wood-carving craft.
SCOTCH BLOOD ANSWERS FIRST CRY TO BATTLE. From the Carolina Mountains (p.149) we learn that although the men of these mountains had remained for years without an ideal and were without Opportunity to display their natural ability and trustworthiness of character, nevertheless, when George W. Vanderbilt began his operations at Biltmore he employed these very men and kept them under an almost iron discipline. He found "the Scotch blood at the first call to battle ready," and now "all the directors of the great estate, excepting a few of the highest officials, are drawn from the ranks of the people, who proved themselves so trustworthy and capable that in all these years only three or four of Biltmore's mountaineer employees have had to be discharged for inefficiency or bad conduct."
NOTE: Newton Academy is on the east side of South Main Street, Asheville, and nearly opposite the Normal and Collegiate Institute.