Wikipedia

Draft:Vine Hill Academy

Vine Hill Academy, also called the Vine Hill Female Academy, was a private secondary school in Halifax County, North Carolina. It operated from January 1811 through June 1903. The Encyclopedia of North Carolina notes that the academy taught many prominent North Carolinians, including a governor, a college president, and a North Carolina Supreme Court justice.

History

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Vine Hill Academy was a private secondary school in Clarksville, Halifax County, North Carolina (later called Scotland Neck).[1][2][a] The North Carolina General Assembly approved the Vine Hill Academy's charter in 1809.[2] Its founding trustees were John Anthony, Simmons J. Baker, Marmaduke Norfleet, Josiah Nelms, Willis Powell, James Smith Jr., William Ruffin Smith, and Peyton Randolph Tunstall.[2] The academy was named for Vine Hill, the home of Baker in what is now called Scotland Neck, North Carolina.[3][2] It was located on property donated by Norfleet.[4][2]

Vine Hill Academy opened in January 1811 as a school for boys.[2][5] It became one of the most successful schools in eastern North Carolina.[3] Daniel Adams of Stratford, Connecticut was the school's first principal; he also taught languages.[5][4]Franceway Ranna Cossitt, who founded Cumberland College in 1826, served as Vine Hill Academy's principal starting in 1815.[6] Episcopal minister John H. Norment was charge of the school from September 1829 to June 1930; his wife oversaw the new female division.[2] Norment was replaced by Robert A. Ezell.[2] Under Ezell, the faculty included L. Whitehead, Fanny Critchlow with the women's department, and Felicia Vaughn in the music department.[2]

Vine Hill Academy expanded to include a separate building for female students by 1837.[3] The female department was overseen by Miss Rowan and Miss Hanks, both from New York.[3] The department was suspended in 1847 due to a lack of students but operated intermittently in later years.[3] The academy stayed open during the Civil War, despite many students enlisting in the Confederate army.[3][2] However, it sold part of its property in 1867.[7]

As the State of North Carolina expanded its public education system, Vine Hill Academy lost students.[3] The boys department closed by 1893, with the school operating as the Vine Hill Female Academy in Janauary 1891.[1][8][9] The femal academy was run by Miss Smith and Miss McDowell.[9] Vine Hill Female Academy closed after its commencement ceremony on June 6, 1903.[4][10] L. W. Bayley was its last principal, having served in this capacity for four years, working with his wife and daughter.[10]

The academy's trustees leaded the campus to Halfax County for a graded public schools that opened in the fall of 1903.[4][8][10] Later, a building for Scotland Neck High School was added to the campus[3] When the local high schools consolidated in the 1980s, the campus was used for town offices and spaces for public use.[3]

Papers realting to Vine Hill Academy are achived at the Louis Round Wilson Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[1]

Campus

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Vine Hill Academy was located in Scotland Neck, Halifax County, North Carolina on 40 acres that were donated by trustee Marmaduke Norfleet.[1][4][11] The campus included boarding facilities or students could live off-campus in nearby "respectable" houses.[5] The orginal buildings were paid for by subscriptions.[11] Before 1837, a second building was added to accommodate female students.[12] Boarding costs in 1837 were $7 a month.[5]

A new building for boys was added shortly before the Civil War.[4] The academy purchased a former Baptist Church and moved it to the campus in 1881 to use as a schoolhouse.[4]

Academics

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In 1812, tuition was $12 a year for reading, writing, and arithmetic.[5] Grammar was an extra $15 per year and the languages or geography were $25 per year.[5]

In 1837, courses for male students included arithmetic, grammar, geography, history, reading, spelling, and writing for $8 per session.[5] Male students could take algebra, geometry, Greek, Latin, logic, navigation, rhetoric, and surveying for $12.50 a session.[5] French was an additional $12.50.[5] The female department was divided into two divisions. The first division included arithmetic, elementary geography, grammar, history reading, spelling, and writing for $8 a session.[5] The second division offered classes in American history, ancient history, astronomy, chemistry, elements of criticism, logic, modern history, moral and intellectual philosophy, natural philosophy, natural theology, rhetoric, and universal geography for $10 per session.[5] Additional courses included botany for $13, drawing for $8, flower painting for $10, French for $12.50, and oil painting for $10.[5]

 

Notable alumni

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According to the Encyclopedia of North Carolina, Vine Hill Academy "educated many prominent North Carolinians".[3]

Notes

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  1. ^ The villages of Clarksville and Greenwood merged and incorporated as Scotland Neck in 1867.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Vine Hill Academy Papers, 1812-1893". Wilson Special Collections Library at the Louis Round Wilson Library. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Vine Hill Academy". Newspapers.com. Rocky Mount Telegram. 1955-11-06. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Gammon, David Bryant (2006). "Vine Hill Academy". In Powell, William S. (ed.). Encyclopedia of North Carolina. edited by William S. Powell. Copyright. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via NCpedia.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Scotland Neck Old in Schools; Vine Hill Academy Organize din 1810 and Operated for 100 Year". Newspapers.com. Raleigh, North Carolina: The News and Observer. 1932-04-24. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Coon, Charles Lee (April 11, 1915). "North Carolina Schools and Academies, 1790-1840: A Documentary History". Edwards & Broughton printing Company, state printers. pp. 175–177 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ Wilson, Joseph M. (1867). "The Presbyterian Historical Almanac and Annual Remembrancer of the Church - vol. 9". Philadelphia: Joseph M. Wilson. p. 475 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "An Act to Authorize the Trustees of Vine Hill Academy, in the County of Halifax, to Sell a Part of the Lands Belonging to the Institute". www.carolana.com.
  8. ^ a b "Professor Bagley Endorsed". Newspapers.com. Scotland Neck, North Carolina: The Commonwealth. 1903-07-16. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  9. ^ a b "The Female Academy". Newspapers.com. Scotland Neck, North Carolina: The Commonwealth. 1891-01-08. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  10. ^ a b c "Close of Vine Hill Academy". Newspapers.com. Raleigh, North Carolina: The News and Observer. 1903-06-07. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  11. ^ a b "Scotland Neck Chronology". Newspapers.com. Raleigh, North Carolina: The News and Observer. 1932-04-24. p. 8. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  12. ^ Gammon, David Bryant (2006). "Vine Hill Academy". In Powell, William S. (ed.). Encyclopedia of North Carolina. edited by William S. Powell. Copyright. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via NCpedia.
  13. ^ Instruction, North Carolina Department of Public (April 11, 1898). "Report" – via Google Books.
  14. ^ Johnson, Mary Lynch (1979). "Brewer, Charles Edward". In Powell, William S. (ed.). Dictionary of North Carolina Biography. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via NCpedia.
  15. ^ Williams, Max R.; SLNC Government and Heritage Library (March 2023). "Cox, William Ruffin". In Powell, William S. (ed.). Dictionary of North Carolina Biography (2nd ed.). Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via NCpedia.
  16. ^ Meekins, Christopher (2020). "Kitchin, William Walton". NCpedia. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  17. ^ Watson Jr.,Richard L. (1988). "Kitchin, Claude" in Powell, William S. (ed.). Dictionary of North Carolina Biography. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via NCpedia.
  18. ^ Johnson, Rossiter; Brown, John Howard (April 11, 1904). "The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans ..." Biographical Society – via Google Books.
  19. ^ Hilliard, E. E. (1908-07-05). "Kitchin's Boyhood and Young Manhood". Newspapers.com. Raleigh, North Carolina: The News and Observer. p. 12. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  20. ^ Weaver, Frances A. (1996). "Wilson, Louis Round" in Powell, William S. (ed.). Dictionary of North Carolina Biography. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via NCpedia.
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