Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® Masters Theses & Specialist Projects Graduate School 8-1996 The Athens of the West: Education in Nashville, 1780-1860 Timothy Augustus Sweatman Western Kentucky University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses Part of the Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration Commons, Higher Education Administration Commons, Public History Commons, Social History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Sweatman, Timothy Augustus, "The theA ns of the West: Education in Nashville, 1780-1860" (1996). Masters Theses & Specialist Projects. Paper 3038. https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/3038 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses & Specialist Projects by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE ATHENS OF THE WEST: EDUCATION IN NASHVILLE , 1780- 1860 A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Department of History Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, Kentucky In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts by Timothy Augustus Sweatman August 1996 THE ATHENS OF THE WEST: EDUCATION IN NASHVILLE, 1780- 1860 Director of Thesis Director of Gradua Studies Date ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It would have been impossible for me to finish a project of this magnitude without the assistance of many people . I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to those who contributed to the completion of this work. My thesis committee, Dr. Marion B. Lucas, Dr. Charles J . Bussey, and Dr . Richard L. Troutman, patiently provided valuable assistance on this project . They carefully reviewed the text and offered many useful suggestions for improving it . They freely gave of their time and energy to help make this thesis better. Many other people also contributed to this work. Selina Langford and the staff of the Interlibrary Loan Office at Western Kentucky University found numerous sources that proved essential to the completion of this project. The staff of the Nashville Room at the Nashville Public Library helped me find many sources not available elsewhere. The staff of the Manuscripts Room at the Tennessee State Library and Archives worked hard bringing me manuscripts to examine . Julia Rather was especially helpful in guiding me through that institution's vast resources. iii iv I would especially like to thank my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Sweatman, for the years of hard work and loving sacrifice that have made it possible for me to be in a position to carry out a work of this nature. Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Maria, whose love, patience, and understanding through all the long days and nights helped me to get through. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii LIST OF TABLES. viii ABSTRACT. ix CHAPTER ONE EDUCATION IN FRONTIER NASHVILLE, 1780- 1816 . 1 Education in Eighteenth-Century Nashville 2 Private Education in Early Nineteenth- Century Nashville . 5 Female Schools in Early Nineteenth- Century Nashville . 9 Davidson Academy. 12 Cumberland College. 23 Nashville's Educational Progress to 1816 . 30 TWO PRIVATE EDUCATION IN NASHVILLE, 1817- 1860 . 32 Grammar Schools . 32 Classical Education 37 The Nashville Female Academy. 41 Female Education in Nashville, 1817-1860 . 59 Education of Blacks in Antebellum Nashville . ... ..... 62 Antebe llum Private Schools and Nashville ' s Educational Heritage . 67 THREE HIGHER EDUCATION IN NASHVILLE, 1817-1860 69 The Revival of Cumberland College. 69 Student Life at Cumberland College 74 Academics at Cumberland College .. 76 v vi Cumberland College Becomes the University of Nashville. 81 Academics at the University of Nashville 84 Student Life at the University of Nashville .... .. 91 The University of Nashville ' s Finances 93 The Resignation of Philip Lindsley and the University of Nashville ' s Suspension of Operation, 1850 . 96 The Medical Department of the University of Nashville . 100 The Law Department of the University of . Nashville .. .. ... 109 The Reopening of the University of Nashville . 113 The Western Military Institute and the University of Nashville 117 Shelby Medical College . 126 The Success of Higher Education in Antebellum Nashville . 128 FOUR PUBLIC EDUCATION IN ANTEBELLUM NASHVILLE 129 The "Pauper Schools" ; Early Attempts by the State to Provide Education for Poor Children . .. 129 The Creation of the Nashville Public School System. .. 134 The Growth of the Nashville Public School System. 140 Organization and Curriculum of the Nashville Public School System. 143 Rules and Discipline in the Nashville Public Schools . 148 Public Education in Nashville on the Eve of the Civil War. 150 vii CONCLUSION. ANTEBELLUM NASHVILLE 'S EDUCATIONAL HERITAGE . 152 APPENDIX A. TRUSTEES OF DAVIDSON ACADEMY, CUMBERLAND COLLEGE , AND THE UNIVERSITY OF NASHVILLE, 1785-1860 . 160 APPENDIX B. ENROLLMENT IN THE NASHVILLE FEMALE ACADEMY, 1817-1860. 162 APPENDIX C. ENROLLMENT IN CUMBERLAND COLLEGE AND THE UNIVERSITY OF NASHVILLE, 1825-1860 164 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..... 166 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 . Course of Study, Nashville Female Academy Collegiate Department . ... 52 2 . Enrollment, Medical Department of the University of Nashville, 1851-1860 . ..... 108 3 . Enrollment, Nashville Female Academy, 1817- 1843 162 4 . Enrollment, Nashville Female Academy, 1844- 1860 163 5. Enrollment, Cumberland College and the University of Nashville, 1825-1850 . 164 6. Enrollment, Collegiate Department of the University of Nashville, 1855-1860 . .. 165 viii THE ATHENS OF THE WEST : EDUCATION IN NASHVILLE, 1780-1860 Timothy Augustus Sweatman August 2, 1996 170 Pages Directed by: Dr. Marion B. Lucas , Dr. Richard L. Troutman, and Dr. Charles J . Bussey Department of History Western Kentucky University ABSTRACT Nashville, Tennessee, is known as the Athens of the South because pf its reputation as a center of learning . The city' s commitment to education goes back to the days of its founding as a village on the extreme Western frontier of the United States . In 1785, five years after Nashville was first settled, Davidson Academy, an advanced classical school , was established. At the same time, numerous private schools operated in the Nashville area, providing many of the region ' s children with a basic education. During the first quarter of the nineteenth century Nashville moved closer to becoming a major educational center . In 1806 Davidson Academy was rechartered as Cumberland College. Financial problems forced Cumberland College to suspend operation in 1816, but it reopened in 1825 and was rechartered as the University of Nashville the following year. In 1817 the Nashville Female Academy, which by 1860 was the largest and one of the most renowned schools for females in the nation, opened . Other private schools ix x served Nashville as well; most were simple grammar schools that taught the basics, but some advanced schools operated as well. During the l820s and l830s, there were some efforts to establish state supported schools for the poor, but they failed because many poor parents refused to send their children to these ·pauper's schools, · as the state supported schools were commonly called. By 1850 Nashville's educational landscape was on the verge of change. Financial difficulties forced the University of Nashville to close in 1850, but in 1855 it resumed operation after merging with the Western Military Institute and flourished until the Civil War . During the l850s, the Medical Department of the University of Nashville and Shelby Medical College opened . Both schools enjoyed great success, and by 1860 Nashville was second only to Philadelphia as a center of medical learning. Also, during the 1850s Nashville established a successful system of public schools for all the city's children. However, the Civil War would interrupt the city's progress in education. Despite Nashville's prominence in education, no comprehensive study of the city's antebellum educational development exists . Based on several primary sources, most of which are available in the Tennessee State Library and Archives, and numerous secondary sources dealing with antebellum Nashville, this thesis represents an attempt to describe antebellum Nashville's educational development. CHAPTER ONE EDUCATION IN FRONTIER NASHVILLE, 1780-1816 The seeds for Nashville's development as a major center of learning were planted during the period from 1780 to 1816 . From the outset, Nashville's founders made the education of their children a high priority. During the settlement's earliest days, educational efforts were frequently hindered by Indian attacks , the distance between students and schools , and a highly mobile population. However, parents, teachers, and students overcame these obstacles, and by the mid-1790s noticeable progress had been made. This progress was noted by Thomas Bailey, an Englishman who passed through Nashville in 1796 or 1797 . Bailey, who later served as the first president of the Royal Astronomical Society of London, stated that the town ' s residents "were rapidly improving in education.'" During the early years of the nineteenth century Nashville's educational development progressed more rapidly. By 1816 Nashville had a degree-granting college and numerous private schools. lAnson Nelson, "Annals of Nashville," 189, in the J. Emerick Nagy Collection, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville (hereafter