Thursday, June 3, 2010

Henderson Female College

An Act to Incorporate the Henderson Female College was approved 30 September 1861. Trustees were appointed and included John H. Lambert, John Rudy, Joe Adams, Col. Jackson McClain, Shelby Nunn, John H. Barrett, F.B. Cromwell, Thomas D. Telford and James Henderson. The location in Henderson of the College is unknown. No mention of the Henderson Female College was found in Starling's History of Henderson and I have not found this institution mentioned anywhere else except for a brief ad and article in the Henderson Reporter.

In the 2 July 1863 issue of the Reporter, an article appeared about the College. It stated that the "fourth session of the Henderson Female College will commence on Monday, 7th September next. The College, during the three years it has been conducted, has been established on a firm foundation, and has achieved a reputation that would be creditable to older institutions of learning. It is an institution of which our city may justly feel proud, and we doubt not the number of pupils in attendance will be satisfactory evidence of the estimation in which the College is held by parents and guardians."

The following advertisement appeared in the same issue of the newspaper. I do not find H.B. Parsons listed in the 1860 or 1870 census of Henderson County. Because of the scarcity of information on this college and perhaps because of the Civil War, I assume it did not exist very long.



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