Soon after Alabama officially became a state, settlers came from the coastal region and started communities. Selma witnessed its rise along with surrounding communities. Local citizens, benefiting from the agricultural advantages to establish businesses, transportation, and necessary government agencies, felt the need to provide educational opportunities for their young people. As a result, numerous schools were established in the 1830's and 1840's in the various communities.
In 1839, the Ladies Educational Society of Selma was incorporated with the goal of creating schools. The first school was the Dallas Academy in 1839. The next school the Society helped promote was the Central Masonic Institute, incorporated on February 18, 1848 by the Local Fraternal Lodge No. 27.
According to the Act of Incorporation, the founders were William Hendrix, Grand High Priest of the Royal Arch Chapter, Rufus Green, Grand Master of the Lodge of Alabama, and locals Charles G. Edwards, Nimrod E. Benson, John M. Strong, William Sewell, William M. Lapsley, William Wadell, Jr., George E. Gayle, Wiley Milton, John R. Somerfield, Abner Jones, and Thomas B. Carson. The purpose of the school was "to educate youth of both sexes." Consequently, a three story building was erected on a site at the end of Alabama Avenue.
The first president was Rev. S. R. Wright, a Presbyterian minister, who came from being president of Marion Female Seminary. During his tenure, according to the 1851 catalog, the Institute consisted of instruction from primary to collegiate levels. For the male department, boarding in a separate building, the Institute offered a program patterned after the West Point Military Academy.
In 1852, the name of the Institute was officially changed to "The Masonic University of the State of Alabama." At this time, the University seemed to be facing financial problems. Rev. Wright resigned the next year to become head of another female seminary in Uniontown.
The next president was Prof. Alexander Winchell, coming from the Mesopotamia Female Seminary in Eutaw, Alabama. While, according to the Masonic University advertisement, the school, despite its name, was " no longer under the control of the Masonic fraternity, " and goes on to say, "the president alone is responsible for its future character." The male department evidently was dropped, for the advertisement says, "the Institution, as its name implies, occupies a position above that of normal female seminaries."
Unfortunately, tragedy ultimately led to the University's demise. In the fall of 1853 a yellow fever epidemic struck Selma. According to a newspaper article of October 31, 1853, panic resulted and citizens fled "en mass ... about 300 out of 3,500 only remaining." It was reported that "all business is suspended, the schools are disbanded. "
Prof. Winchell, at the time, was elected professor of Physics and civil engineering at the University of Michigan and began his duties in January of 1854. The building was later converted to a hospital, an office building, and is now the Vaughan-Smitherman Museum.
-Dr. Paul G. Reitzer
Perry County Historical Society
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Perry County History Museum
The Perry County History Museum is one of three museums in the city of Marion. It is located in the old Female Seminary Building that was built in 1850. In 1984, the Perry County Historical and Preservation Society took ownership of the building which had been vacant for several years. Gradually, the process of restoring the various rooms began, the auditorium being one of the first rooms to be restored. In the early 1990's the former classrooms were tackled.
In the process of restoration, one of the Board members, Dr. Paul Reitzer, felt that it would be a good idea to start a museum that would occupy five of the classrooms and thus, also, preserve historical material related to Perry County. Dr. Reitzer, no stranger to museums, had visited museums in his multiple travels and studies in the United States and Europe, and had started two museums in South Carolina before coming to Marion.
In gathering fixtures and items for the museum rooms, he collected most of them by purchasing and donating them from travels to flea markets, antique malls, estate sales, and auctions. Consequently, for instance, old school type light fixtures came from places such as the Dozier Hardware building, Newbern Baptist Church, and stores in Selma and Mississippi. Display cases were bought from the old Dozier Hardware, First Christian Church of Selma, a former store owned by the Gayles on Highway 5, and an old store in Newbern. Most recently, several items have been donated by area folks and are so noted with the items.
While items were purchased from all over the country, Dr. Reitzer tried to collect items that resembled ones that most likely existed in early Perry County. In the main downstairs room are examples of Perry County pottery, drugstore items, old pictures of Marion stores and schools, two hand-made quilts, and memorabilia related to schools and personalities.
Upstairs, in the former chemistry lab, are several military items in one cabinet ( limited so as not to compete with Marion Military's Museum), a cabinet with old projectors, a glass bottle display showing a brief history of bottles, a display of Chemistry lab equipment, a few toys and a chair from the old Bonita Theater.
The next room features hand tools, hand machines like vegetable, meat, and coffee grinders, cream separators, hand saws, and cultivators.
The next room features railroad items, automobile related appliances, household items ( toasters, waffle irons, beaters) children's dishes, wooden wash machines, and baking supplies.
The fifth room features items from surrounding Perry County communities (Heiberger, Newbern, Uniontown, Felix-now Suttles, Perryville, Sprott ) an assortment of hand irons, shoes, sewing kits, street lights, and a weaving loom.
Two of the rooms have been dedicated to former Historical Society Board Members who played a large part in its history: Virginia Moore and Mildred Woodson. Space has been reserved in the hallway upstairs to commemorate one of Perry County's leading authors: Mary T. Brown. The display features her desk, her chair, and several pictures related to her.
The museum is open during the Society's December Tour of Homes, on scheduled evening events, on Perry County High School Alumni Day, and by special appointment.
In the process of restoration, one of the Board members, Dr. Paul Reitzer, felt that it would be a good idea to start a museum that would occupy five of the classrooms and thus, also, preserve historical material related to Perry County. Dr. Reitzer, no stranger to museums, had visited museums in his multiple travels and studies in the United States and Europe, and had started two museums in South Carolina before coming to Marion.
In gathering fixtures and items for the museum rooms, he collected most of them by purchasing and donating them from travels to flea markets, antique malls, estate sales, and auctions. Consequently, for instance, old school type light fixtures came from places such as the Dozier Hardware building, Newbern Baptist Church, and stores in Selma and Mississippi. Display cases were bought from the old Dozier Hardware, First Christian Church of Selma, a former store owned by the Gayles on Highway 5, and an old store in Newbern. Most recently, several items have been donated by area folks and are so noted with the items.
While items were purchased from all over the country, Dr. Reitzer tried to collect items that resembled ones that most likely existed in early Perry County. In the main downstairs room are examples of Perry County pottery, drugstore items, old pictures of Marion stores and schools, two hand-made quilts, and memorabilia related to schools and personalities.
Upstairs, in the former chemistry lab, are several military items in one cabinet ( limited so as not to compete with Marion Military's Museum), a cabinet with old projectors, a glass bottle display showing a brief history of bottles, a display of Chemistry lab equipment, a few toys and a chair from the old Bonita Theater.
The next room features hand tools, hand machines like vegetable, meat, and coffee grinders, cream separators, hand saws, and cultivators.
The next room features railroad items, automobile related appliances, household items ( toasters, waffle irons, beaters) children's dishes, wooden wash machines, and baking supplies.
The fifth room features items from surrounding Perry County communities (Heiberger, Newbern, Uniontown, Felix-now Suttles, Perryville, Sprott ) an assortment of hand irons, shoes, sewing kits, street lights, and a weaving loom.
Two of the rooms have been dedicated to former Historical Society Board Members who played a large part in its history: Virginia Moore and Mildred Woodson. Space has been reserved in the hallway upstairs to commemorate one of Perry County's leading authors: Mary T. Brown. The display features her desk, her chair, and several pictures related to her.
The museum is open during the Society's December Tour of Homes, on scheduled evening events, on Perry County High School Alumni Day, and by special appointment.
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Mesopotamia Female Seminary of Eutaw, Alabama
The desire to provide education opportunities for their children has always been a concern of parents. In the early days of settling and forming communities in Alabama, efforts to create schools were forefront in the minds of civic leaders as well. An example of this was a lengthy letter written to the editor of the Eutaw Whig and Public Advertiser ( December 16, 1843) citing the need for a female institute and gave six reasons why Eutaw was "a most desirable place" for one. As history shows, Eutaw became the birthplace of several schools.
In January, 1845, not long after Eutaw became the county seat of Greene County, an act was passed by the General Assembly of the State of Alabama to incorporate the Mesopotamia Female Seminary for the purpose of education young women. Sponsors of that act were Joseph Pickins, Willam A. Glover, John C. Johnson, Nicholas R. Morgan, Amasa T. Park, and John Womack. The original site of the school, according to the New Orleans Christian Advocat, was a mile and a quarter "from the business part of town. " The first principal was Mrs. Priscilla Maxwell Upson, a 30 year old teacher and principal, coming from the Marion Female Seminary where she had been for seven years.
During her tenure, she built up the enrollment, brought two teachers with her, including her sister from Massachusetts, and, according to the advertisement in the Eutaw Whig of January 22, 1847, "other instructors will be procured as the Institute may demand." It is interesting to note that an advertisement for the Eutaw Female Academy also appeared. However, the Mesopotamia Female Seminary offered an "advanced Department" indicating a collegiate level of instruction.
Unfortunately, due to health issues, Mrs. Upson had to relinquish her career at the Seminary. After a period of recovery, she moved in 1850 to Camden, Alabama, where she became the founding principal of the Wilcox Female Seminary.
The next president of the Seminary was Alexander Winchell, who came in 1851 from being the president of the Newbern Female Seminary. Seemingly, according to the local newspaper clippings from the Winchell scrapbook, now at the University of Michigan Library archives, the Seminary "had been suspended a long time and the public attention has ceased to be attracted to it." However, Prof. Winchell took charge and worked diligently to build up the school. Being educated in horticulture, he procured scientific apparatus, erected a herbarium composing specimens of about one thousand species of plants, and kept a daily record, between 1851 and 1853, of the climatology of Eutaw for the Smithsonian Institute.
His tenure at the Seminary was met with rivalry from supporters of the Eutaw Female Academy. In 1853 he left Eutaw to become president of the Masonic University in Selma.
Following the departure of Mr. Winchell, Henry P. Hatfield became president, coming from being president of the Marion Female Seminary. His tenure lasted until 1860, when he accepted the position of president at the Wilcox Female Seminary in Camden.
A notable graduate of the Mesopotamia Seminary was Martha Foster from Fosters near Tuscaloosa. She was trained as a teacher and graduated in 1849 at the age of nineteen. The next year she married the Rev. Tarleton Perry Crawford and was appointed in 1851 to China as the first woman foreign missionary from Alabama by the Southern Baptist Convention. During her 58 years as missionary she wrote numerous articles on her work that were published in the Alabama Baptist. In 1998 Mrs. Crawford was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame.
Due to the scarcity of records, it is not known how much longer the Mesopotamia Female Seminary survived. It is interesting to note that the rival Eutaw Female Institute became co-educational in 1870, and in December of 1888, the General Assembly of the State of Alabama approved the incorporation of the Eutaw Female College.
In 1889, the main building of the Mesopotamia Female Seminary was moved to its present location on the corner of Main Street and Wilson Avenue in downtown Eutaw.
-Dr. Paul G. Reitzer
Perry County Historical & Preservation Society
In January, 1845, not long after Eutaw became the county seat of Greene County, an act was passed by the General Assembly of the State of Alabama to incorporate the Mesopotamia Female Seminary for the purpose of education young women. Sponsors of that act were Joseph Pickins, Willam A. Glover, John C. Johnson, Nicholas R. Morgan, Amasa T. Park, and John Womack. The original site of the school, according to the New Orleans Christian Advocat, was a mile and a quarter "from the business part of town. " The first principal was Mrs. Priscilla Maxwell Upson, a 30 year old teacher and principal, coming from the Marion Female Seminary where she had been for seven years.
During her tenure, she built up the enrollment, brought two teachers with her, including her sister from Massachusetts, and, according to the advertisement in the Eutaw Whig of January 22, 1847, "other instructors will be procured as the Institute may demand." It is interesting to note that an advertisement for the Eutaw Female Academy also appeared. However, the Mesopotamia Female Seminary offered an "advanced Department" indicating a collegiate level of instruction.
Unfortunately, due to health issues, Mrs. Upson had to relinquish her career at the Seminary. After a period of recovery, she moved in 1850 to Camden, Alabama, where she became the founding principal of the Wilcox Female Seminary.
The next president of the Seminary was Alexander Winchell, who came in 1851 from being the president of the Newbern Female Seminary. Seemingly, according to the local newspaper clippings from the Winchell scrapbook, now at the University of Michigan Library archives, the Seminary "had been suspended a long time and the public attention has ceased to be attracted to it." However, Prof. Winchell took charge and worked diligently to build up the school. Being educated in horticulture, he procured scientific apparatus, erected a herbarium composing specimens of about one thousand species of plants, and kept a daily record, between 1851 and 1853, of the climatology of Eutaw for the Smithsonian Institute.
His tenure at the Seminary was met with rivalry from supporters of the Eutaw Female Academy. In 1853 he left Eutaw to become president of the Masonic University in Selma.
Following the departure of Mr. Winchell, Henry P. Hatfield became president, coming from being president of the Marion Female Seminary. His tenure lasted until 1860, when he accepted the position of president at the Wilcox Female Seminary in Camden.
A notable graduate of the Mesopotamia Seminary was Martha Foster from Fosters near Tuscaloosa. She was trained as a teacher and graduated in 1849 at the age of nineteen. The next year she married the Rev. Tarleton Perry Crawford and was appointed in 1851 to China as the first woman foreign missionary from Alabama by the Southern Baptist Convention. During her 58 years as missionary she wrote numerous articles on her work that were published in the Alabama Baptist. In 1998 Mrs. Crawford was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame.
Due to the scarcity of records, it is not known how much longer the Mesopotamia Female Seminary survived. It is interesting to note that the rival Eutaw Female Institute became co-educational in 1870, and in December of 1888, the General Assembly of the State of Alabama approved the incorporation of the Eutaw Female College.
In 1889, the main building of the Mesopotamia Female Seminary was moved to its present location on the corner of Main Street and Wilson Avenue in downtown Eutaw.
-Dr. Paul G. Reitzer
Perry County Historical & Preservation Society
Priscilla Maxwell: A Pioneer in American Female Education
Having gained the designation as "the College City" due to being the birthplace of six colleges, Marion had benefited from the presences of a number of outstanding educators who came to the various schools and added to the rich heritage of the community and influence the lives of many students. One such educator served also to become a pioneer in America female higher education: Priscilla Maxwell.
Born in Charlemont, Massachusetts, in 1815, Priscilla attended Ipswich Female Seminary for her college education. Upon graduation in 1838, and upon the urging of her mentor, Zilpha Banister, to teach in Alabama, she joined the faculty of the Marion Female Seminary. She gained the respect of her students, peers, and superiors and was elected to take over the leadership of the Seminary in 1841, making her one of the first female college presidents in the country. In the same year, the Seminary received the authority to grant diplomas by the Alabama State Legislature, and it awarded the first diploma in 1842, Her leadership was well appreciated by the Board of Trustees and the Editor of the local newspaper, W. A. Townes, who also served as Chairman of the Board and wrote a history of Marion in 1845.
In 1844, Miss Maxwell married a local gentleman, Edward Upson, and subsequently they moved to Eutaw, Alabama, where she helped organize the Mesopotamia Female Seminary. Her sister, Kate, came from Massachusetts to help teach. Two of Priscilla's children, Edwin and Florence, were born in Eutaw. While she was able to build a flourishing female academy, her health began to fail and she was compelled to relinquish her position after four years. Fortunately, after a short period, her health improved and she took charge of starting another female academy in Camden, Alabama.
Priscilla became the "founder and president" of the Wilcox Female Seminary in the fall of 1850. She was able to bring her sister with her to teach, and to hire her former student from the Marion Female Seminary, Mrs. Sarah McReynolds. According to the Camden Phenix, March 25, 1851, "the success of this school can be accounted for...one hundred and twenty young ladies have entered as students since the 16th day of September last." The newspaper also referred to the school as "Mrs. Upton's School." Her third child, Kate, was born on February 22, 1851.
Unfortunately, heath issues arose again and she soon had to give up her "favorite pursuit." She moved with her husband to Mobile. In 1855, while visiting her parents in Massachusetts, Priscilla died at her childhood home at the age of 40. The most prominent traits of her character were, as stated in Fagan's History of Marion (1907), "an iron will, energy, firmness and decision." Her legacy continued through her daughter, Kate, who became a noted writer, editor, teacher, and a trustee of Wheaton College.
-Dr. Paul G. Reitzer
Perry County Historical & Preservation Society
Born in Charlemont, Massachusetts, in 1815, Priscilla attended Ipswich Female Seminary for her college education. Upon graduation in 1838, and upon the urging of her mentor, Zilpha Banister, to teach in Alabama, she joined the faculty of the Marion Female Seminary. She gained the respect of her students, peers, and superiors and was elected to take over the leadership of the Seminary in 1841, making her one of the first female college presidents in the country. In the same year, the Seminary received the authority to grant diplomas by the Alabama State Legislature, and it awarded the first diploma in 1842, Her leadership was well appreciated by the Board of Trustees and the Editor of the local newspaper, W. A. Townes, who also served as Chairman of the Board and wrote a history of Marion in 1845.
In 1844, Miss Maxwell married a local gentleman, Edward Upson, and subsequently they moved to Eutaw, Alabama, where she helped organize the Mesopotamia Female Seminary. Her sister, Kate, came from Massachusetts to help teach. Two of Priscilla's children, Edwin and Florence, were born in Eutaw. While she was able to build a flourishing female academy, her health began to fail and she was compelled to relinquish her position after four years. Fortunately, after a short period, her health improved and she took charge of starting another female academy in Camden, Alabama.
Priscilla became the "founder and president" of the Wilcox Female Seminary in the fall of 1850. She was able to bring her sister with her to teach, and to hire her former student from the Marion Female Seminary, Mrs. Sarah McReynolds. According to the Camden Phenix, March 25, 1851, "the success of this school can be accounted for...one hundred and twenty young ladies have entered as students since the 16th day of September last." The newspaper also referred to the school as "Mrs. Upton's School." Her third child, Kate, was born on February 22, 1851.
Unfortunately, heath issues arose again and she soon had to give up her "favorite pursuit." She moved with her husband to Mobile. In 1855, while visiting her parents in Massachusetts, Priscilla died at her childhood home at the age of 40. The most prominent traits of her character were, as stated in Fagan's History of Marion (1907), "an iron will, energy, firmness and decision." Her legacy continued through her daughter, Kate, who became a noted writer, editor, teacher, and a trustee of Wheaton College.
-Dr. Paul G. Reitzer
Perry County Historical & Preservation Society
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