Newspapers / The Yancey Journal (Burnsville, … / March 18, 1976, edition 1 / Page 4
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PAGE 4 flaw- *• ~ u * • THE YANCEY JOURNAL MARCH 18, 1976 ... ■ School History From 1851 \ J •>fef^ i -jr V * 5 •■ V*/-- *}rg *• *>* BY ALTHEA PROFFITT The first high school in Yancey County was establish ed in Burnsville in the year 1851 by the Holston Confer ence of the Methodist Church. The Building was erected by local citizens on what is now : the site of the home of Mr. and Mrs. Dover Fouts. It - came to be called Burnsville ■ Academy. ‘ Yancey County, at that - time, included what is now a large part of Madison County, all of Mitchell County and part of what is now Avery County, though Madison be ’ came a county during that \ same year. Not only were there no ’ high schools in the county but • such schools as existed were > in small buildings, often of • logs, were poorly furnished ; with rough benches and \ heated only by fireplaces. | Books were few and inade < quate and the teachers were • often poorly prepared. The j school term was usually two ‘ or three months. Occasionally 5 a gifted teacher could produce • good results even in such circumstances, somewhat on > the principal that “Mark | Hopkins on one end of a log J and a student on the other , would constitute a college.” But the people were eager ' for good schools and welcom ed the new high school. The Rev. Stephen D. Adams was . sent by the Conference as the ; first principal. He seems to ‘ have been a man of unusual ; ability. A fellow member of - the Conference wrote of him: ; “He is an accurate scholar , and a prodigious genius. I 1 ■ B ■■ BH H B figflßflfHßij JT ! Jp JSjB ■./ HHttßKypß ' ' ■ 's'" ■ MH K ; |uUBB *h * M V -. ; 7" „,. __ ' 1 '''„'• ; '-'/- :'Jr •. • , s '■■-■' s *' •* : " • llplipl 2 lifr y tiITM M \* «'gso, .1% KkiSmt“"' 4,7 •""" *JE2S!?|bhbw^ ar 1 r iffy* J** SH ' f? ’- - n£T'fmT| -^EMfI RgjS * * J?F lj| j g^giPßi . T ML?A* J ■ ; iAHJ sEM •/ «dtf* : ,-* £; If r| ' T r »■ 4fl^'iSffirnrtTfiiraffi f C \ tin nr ~ y I c_ V , '■; ; .IMB |k* ** w Mk u ’ w fl' l(9n&; fc» Ja»T»IW«IMBCJwB ? 1 bhi Hi. ® ■ mmm-' JMP mb wmm* t iiin■pi , v ' m ga, ~-7 S7JBIf /- ’ flAjm Wml &a j lr ' i ; ~ • '*a fc£H£wt£*Ja KHwxSl' s 'm \* fiEfl %\Jr 2/A. 2B| miMWi\ 11k r f mHVI :aiwhatefc3», w£ "■",' imr- V ■ Ik !7***T^k H. J „ 7' ; -r-^r^ * y Bp" ■ f‘ 7 I^Bl|^Wr' : aßß|- Mkj f 7 f "> **' *‘??K ,r |F ,117 ;||||^s&|pEj^^Hn^ElMnfM|H|^^Hrpp^^^H* : v I ." ' TjP '‘ I I Still Mill To Spin Soon Tfce familiar weatherworn landmark in Loafer's Glory, 9 Mitchell County, la coming bach to life under the enthaaiaatic J etpeethe of WUUam Henley, the new millwright. The ; non-profit A BCD Foundation waa created to salvage the old | MB and dam from further deterioration. The timber* $ have already been relieved of the weight as abaolrtr 1 equipment. The hndly eroded foundation la befcg reformed f and the wheel and mil trace wffl be welded. It la hepad that the « charm of the building and the effect of the ~nfn tmned a hail I heard him preach ofteti and he would have taken rank as an orator in any age.” THE SCHOOL PROSPERS The school, backed by local .trustees, grew and prospered and students con tinued to come from a large surrounding area. There were no dormatories and so stu dents were taken care of in boarding houses and in private homes. In 1852 the French Broad Baptist Institute was opened in what is now the town of Mars Hill. This school also prospered and was the nu cleus of Mars Hill College. Naturally a number of students were lost to the Academy but it still had a large territory from which to draw students. NEW PRINCIPAL In 1854 Rev. Stephen Adams died and was buried in what is now Academy Hill Cemetery. Rev. Richard M. Price was sent by the Holston Conference to' replace him and he continued as principal until succeeded by Rev. T.P. Thomas, a graduate of Emory and Henry College. He was lauded by Mr. Price as "a fine scholar and a fine Christian gentleman”. Mr. Thomas continued as principal until a short time before the beginning of the Civil War. Rev. Henry Am mons filled in the remaining time until the outbreak of war. when the school was dosed. THE WAR YEARS Sporadic efforts were made to keep the school open during the war years, bid k i was finally closed until the s) war ended. Unimpeachable evidence has been given that during f the very unsettled period I before the close of the war a . small detachment from Col. , Kirk’s infamous forces seized [ and occupied the building and part of it was burned during , this time. Here, I think, some praise should be given to the I trustees of the school. Their I names are not known but I r think anyone familiar with the , history of the** town could suggest a number of substan tial citizens who might Rave been on the Board. Though we have no such record, the Holston Conference must have withdrawn its support at the beginning of, or during, the war. So the Trustees must have repaired the buOding and secured a new principal. AFTER THEWAR After the war, the first principal of the Academy was Mr., or, as all high school principals were at that time called. Professor. Merriwea ther Lewis. A friend of his said later that he was. “a great scholar, a great instruc tor and a moral lighthouse.” And Dr. John Mdeod, in his history of Mars Hill College, where Professor Lewis wentas president two years later: “He was the most liberally educated man to teach at the college during the first thirty years of its history.” To speak of a man as a great scholar in those days meant that he was proficient in Greek and Latin, which were almost required studies wfll create memorica for grimalkin* to tar. Trustee* of the ABCD Foundation are ri|ninmH il lochlv by Herbert Brydon, Marl Aakew Brydon, Suaan Askew a>d William Hensley. They hope reeldents wfll recognte h. benefits of the prq|eet for the community and will —rnnj. they are able with elbow greooe, -atorhda, fmnto, or adW*. Persons with questions or historical or anecdotal bits, pertfaamt or whfanalml about the Mffl may contact Marl Aakew fiiydto. Route 3, Box 193, Bakenvfle 28705 or phone 688-2415. in a high school curriculum; which usually included lan guages-Greek, Latin and English, mathematics and history, very litt'.eScience and no agriculture, crafts or home economics. LATER YEARS-PRINC3PALS After Professor Lewis, very little is known of the work of the Academy except the names of its principals, which are as follows, though perhaps not in order in which they served: John Simley, John H. Rhein, Dr. W.M. Austin, James Gudger, John C. Ewin, J.C. Britt. E.E. Hawkins, and C.R. Hubbard all, of course, with the title of Professor. In the later years of the Academy, because of the unsafe conditions of the old building, classes were taught in the County Courthouse. In 1898 Stanley McCor mick School was opened in Burnsville by the Presbyter ian Church in the U.S.A., and Professor C.R. Hubbard ac cepted the position as its first principal. The Academy was closed as it seemed no longer necessary. In 1901 the Baptist deno mination opened another high school in Burnsville called the Yancey Collegiate Institute. The first principal was Pro fessor E.E. Hawkins, who served in this capacity for many years. These two schools served the community well for a number of years, until the first State high school was opened in Burnsville. JL a'. ' m WL at. ■t. 1 i ! I 4 cLi BwBT • cts Photo By Brian Westveer Burnsville Hospital Construction The Bornsvflle hospital is taking shape quickly. From one week to the next, the site changes greatly. The new hospital, Yancey County Middle Schools To Include Grades Six 9 Seven , Eight - Yancey County’s two new t middle schools will contain aU Yancey County students in grades ’six, seven and eight, when schools open in August 1976. This decision was reached by the Board of Education at its meeting on March 4, following an exten sive study of the alternatives. Daring the month of January, public meetings were held in all the elemen tary school districts in the county. These meetings were publicized through The Yan cey Journal, Radio Station WKYK, and elementary grade students were given individual schedules of the meeting to carry home to their parents. In each meeting, which was conducted by the Superintendent of Schools, and attended by members of the Board of Education, several alternatives for the reorganizations! plan were presented and all persons in attendance were asked to offer opinions and express their desires. While a variety of opinions were expressed in most of the meetings, the final tally revealed that the • > . v-- vfr V. " ■„ ' m> ’ . . A'' HPHK J Jri Mayland Tech Building 50% Completed * * According to information presented to a construction conference by Charles L. McMurray, architect, the Mayland Technical Institute building Is roughly 50% , « , majority of the parents in the I majority of the meetings i favored a middle school that woflld contain grades 6-S. In its meeting on March 4, the Board asked for opinions f of the newly elected middle i school principals, the Director of Instruction, the NCAE Free Wildlife Food Available t & To Landowners From ASCS: i ■-’> BY RAY DORSETT If you are a landowner in Yancey County with some vacated spots in your fields, or have some unused or eroding areas on your hum or home site, maybe you should consider planting these areas to wildlife food. Not only would this practice be helpful to wildlife, but it would be of little cost to you because you can presently obtain applica tions for free seeds through the Soil Conservation Service. Annual, Perennial and reseeding Perennial mixtures long planned as a part of the two-county Blue Rjdge Hospital System, Is expected to be completed early in the spring of ’77. President and others present for their opinion on the matter. The vast majority of those present felt that the most ideal organization for a successful middle school pro gram would be one containing grades 6-8. Cane River School will contain students from are available. Quantities of seeds can be ordered for 1/8 acre or more. They provide excellent habitat and food stuff for animals and birds. Some of the plant varieties offered are mixtures of soybeans, cow peas, millet and lespedeza. This year the ASCS office is also offering cost-assistance to some landowners on the purchasing of fertilizer for planting these areas. If you are interested in helping wildlife and putting unactive acres of land into useful wildlife production areas. a ' hi a Occupancy of the building la new expected to be November 1, I*7*. This la another “Picture” Progress Report on th* MkXhmdToch bufldlng. Bald Creek, Bee Log, Gear mont tud the western half of the Burnsville School district. East Yancey will contain students from Micaville, Pen sacola, South Toe and the eastern half of the BurnHille School district. Each school will enroll approximately 400 students. - * consider planting this wildlife cover which can be obtained through the Soil Conservfiion Service. Call or write us fog an application now so that you will receive your seed in rime for planting. The Soil Conservation Service also has pamphlets on wildlife which you may 4 be interested in obtaining, v B Reminder * Give your neighbors a chance to read. Look through your books and see if any should be returned to the li brary.
The Yancey Journal (Burnsville, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 18, 1976, edition 1
4
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