The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1891-03-03
EDUCATIONAL.
CHowAE FEMALE IxsErEUTE.

Inc oldest school tor girls In North
Carolina, next to the MOravian School
at Salem, is the ChOwan l1nstitute at
MurfreesbOrO. Wake Forest in the
center, with its phenomenal develop
ment, its magnificent though made
quate endowment, its crowded halls;
and ChOwan Institute in the east, with.
its matchleSS record, beautiful situa-
ton and splendid equipment, alike
testify to the unselfish and prOvident
fOrethOught Of our fathers.
This school was founded in 1913 by
the ChOWan Association, and in the
fall Ofthat year, with Rev "A. Mcdowell
as Principal formally opened with II
pupils, the number soon increasing to
AZ. The civil war, which suspended
collections and destroyed property of
all kinds, did. not pay debts or even
suspend interest, and thus it happened
that at its close the InstitIte was hope
lessly involved. In this emergency a
JOINT stock company Was :fOrmed who
assumed, and hOnOrably linquidated
it's debts, conducted the school ten
years for the benefit of the denOmina-
ton, added several thousand dollars
worth of improvements, and in 1873,
having received nothing, not ven in
terest on the money expended, gaze
bdcE the property to the denominations;
their sole condition being that for each
$1,000 of stock donated they be en-
titled to keep an INDECENT young lady
at ChOwan Institute perpetually, free
of charge for literary tuition.
This act of generosity III a State
whose people do nothing for female
education, was so remarkable that the
names of the donors deserve honorable
mention, and are as follows: w. w
Mitchell, S $4,000; Mark Gregory, 81, 900;
JnO. Mitchell, 81, 900, j. w. Mitchell,
$500; Mary Mitchell, $500; Annie S. AS
kew, $500; A. Mcdowell, $500; L. d.
Spiers, $3.50, and j. n. Barnes, $3.50;
which sum of So, 500, bearing interest
for ten years at eight per cent, makes
a donation to the cause of female edu-
cation of over $15, 900.
Rev. A. Mcdowell, D. D., was it's
first president. In 1919 Rev. NJ. r.
FOrey, of New York, took charge and
presided over the Institute till 1854,
when he was succeeded by DR.. VIM.
Hooper. In 1862 DR.. Hooper withdrew
and DR.. Mcdowell again took the helm,
presiding over the school with distin-
guished ability and success until his
death in 1881. In that year Prof. j. B.
Brewer, of Wake county, an alumnus
of Wake Forest College, and already a
successful. teacher, vas called to the
presidency. He is now it's hOnOred
head filling wOrthily the place occupied
by the distinguished men who preceded
him.
Recent improvements have greatly
increased the comforts and facilities
of this school. To accommodate it's
increasing patronage ten new dormi-
tories have been added and the whole
building remOdeled and refurnished.
The Institute has q good record. 1t
has given to our noble sisterhOOd such
leaders as Mrs. DR.. P. S.. Henson, of
Chicago, Mrs. DR.. T. H. Pritchard, Of
Wilmington. and a host of others.
while it's graduates are in almost every
State of the Union.
The school has twelve scholarships
of 81, 600 each. These were created for
the sole purpose of aiding deserving
but INDECENT girls. Others are ineligi-
BILE, and for ten years as many poor
girls as there are scholarships have
enjoyed annually all the literary ad-
vantages of this institution free Of
chdrgefOr tuition.
The daughters of all regular Baptist
ministers are admitted on the same
terms, /. e., free of charge for literary
tuition. CAIl this notwithstanding the
statements of Prof. McIver in his ad-
dresses throughout the State that absO-
tuteLy nothing is done to help the poor
girls of the State to an educatiOn.)
This school has peculiar claims upon
the Baptists of the State. 1t is not a
''private enterprise" but the property
of the denomination, sustaining to it
the same relation identically that Wake
Forest College does.
This location was selected on account
of it's celebrity for health; and the
history OF the school for more than
forty years fully sustains this reputa-
ton. The annual health record of the
school since its foundation shows an
average in medical bills of 25 cents
per pupil-a record that challenges
comparison with that of any similar
school in the United States.
The present status and outlook is
bright in the extreme. It's halls are
crowded; new pupils are coming in; it's
curriculum is broad, and it's faculty
large, capable and progressive.
A railroad IS being built to the town
of MurfreesbOro, while the eastern part
of the State is already spider-webbed
with such, making the future of the
institution bright with promise.
The continued success of this school
means the allbut universal prevalence
of Baptist principles from Raleigh to
the seabOard; for it means the placing
in every household a cultured and re-
fined Baptist woman.
Every day, and more and more dis
tinctly, the mighty heart of Wake
Forest College is felt pulsating through
out the State, giving new life and vigor
to every calling and to every enter
prise. From Cherokee to Currituck
the denomination points to it with pride
and says 1t is Our school,"
No less true is this of Chowan Fe-
male Institute. It is the property of