IlC 2851 ,S662 Southland College History OF Southland College ISSUKD UY AUTHORirV OK Indiana Yearly Meeting of The Friends S^^joJo, ^ j-vcXl^ ulljr NirlTolauu Prrsa RICHMOND, INDIANA 1906 % iH^ .^ <^ C" Giffe J3Je'08 PREFACE 'T^ HIS booklet is intended to give Friends a better knowl- edge of tbe notable work done by members of Indiana Yearly Meeting, of the religions society of The Friends at the close of the late civil war in behalf of the wives and children of the Freedmen. The record presented in these pages shows that the Friends have ever been the friend of the lowly and oppressed, regardless of race or color. The work done at Southland from its inception to the present time has not been devoid of excellent fruit in the line of character-building, and righteousness ; for from out its walls hundreds have gone with the message of helpfulness, and life to others, having learned the same within its walls by right living and faith in Christ. This sketch is issued by tlie Missionary Board, in charge of Southland College under the authority of Indiana Yearly Meeting of The Friends, Richmond. Indiana. 1906. By minute No. 35, 1901, Timothy Nicholson, Elkanah Beard, Samuel Dickinson, Eli Jay and Charles W. Osborn, were appointed to prepare a history of Southland College from its beginning to the present time. By minute No. 99. 1902. the committee was continued. By minute No. 91, 1903, Edward Bellis was added to the committee. By minute No. 38, 1904, the report after its reading was referred to the Missionary Board on Southland for some corrections and additions, with request to report next year. By minute No. 37, 1905, the committee continued last year by minute No. 38. relative to a History of Southland College, now produce a complete report, and are authorized to have it printed in pamphlet form. iMISSIONARY BOARD Missionary Board of Southland College, reorganized for the ensuing year, Ninth month, 1905, to Ninth month, 1906, stands : Edward Bellis, Corresponding Secretary. Charles M. Jenkins, Recording Secretary. Elizabeth P. Hill, Carthage, Ind. Cynthia Shaffer, R. R. 3, New Castle, Ind. Edwin S. Jay, Henley Road, Richmond, Ind. Mary A. Jay Ballard, Richmond, Ind. Barclay Johnson, R. R. 3, Fairmount, Ind. Clarkson H. Parker, Carthage, Ind. Mary E. Baldwin, 2211 S. Meridian St., Marion, Ind. Committee to investigate qualifications of teachers and engage them : Barclay Johnson, Chairman ; Mary A. Jay Ballard, Eliza- beth P. Hill, Clarkson H. Parker. Committee to finish History : Edward Bellis, Mary A. Jay Ballard, C. M. Jenkins. N. B. — There have been only two corresponding secre- taries, viz.: Joseph Dickinson, 1864-1896; Edward Bellis, 189^. History of Southland College Near Helena, Arkansas INTRODUCTORY OOOX after the rise of Friends in England, some of them ^-^ emigrated to the Xew England Colonies, and to Mary- land, \'irginia and the Carolinas; and others by banishment were consigned to the West Indies. In those locations some of them early Ijccame owners of slaves in imitation of the colonists around them. At that time there does not seem to have been any doubt that slaveholding was compatible with Christian profession and conduct. In 1671 George Fox. William Edmundson and others visited Barbadoes. and although they were not favorably im- pressed by the system of slavery existing there, Fox did not condemn it. only admonishing those that held slaves to bear in mind that they were their brethren, and to train them up in the fear of God. to deal gently and mildly with them, and after certain years of servitude to make them free. Four years after this Edmundson revisited the island and bore such testimony against the unjust treatment of slaves, that he was arraigned before the governor, on a charge of endeavoring to excite insurrection among the slaves. He ad- dressed a remonstrance to Friends in ^Maryland and Virginia in which he condemned slavery as incompatible with Christi- anity. Ap])rehension of this truth gradually grew upon the Friends ; individuals here and there becoming convinced of the evils and inconsistency of holding their fellowmen in bond- age, and then by loving and faithful presentation of their views, after a lapse of one hundred years, slaveholding was eliminated from the Society of Friends. Slavery was abolished in Philadelphia and Xew York Yearly IMeetings in 1776: X'ew England Yearly Meeting is said to have had no slaves in 1782; and in 1784 X'irginia Year- S History of Southland College iy Meeting directed the monthly meetings to disown those who persisted in holding slaves. As early as 1786 a query in North Carolina Yearly Meeting was, "Are Friends clear of purchasing, disposing of, or holding mankind as slaves ?" But few disownments, however, were necessary to clear the Society of slaveholding. The Friends generally yielded to the Chris- tian consideration brought to bear upon them and afterwards seem to have regarded the colored people within their limits as wards requiring their oversight and care. We find that in the organization of Indiana Yearly Meeting in 1821 a large committee was appointed to have charge of the subject of "African descendents ;" and each Quarterly Meeting was to appoint an auxiliary committee to have charge of the people of color within its limits and re- port was to be made annually to the Yearly Meeting. These committees advised the colored people in their temporal af-- fairs ; they assisted them in the education of their children, frequently spending two or three hundred dollars a year for books and tuition. They saw that each family had a copy of the Scriptures; and from about 1840 they organized and en- couraged First-day or Sunday Schools amongst them. They also looked after those who were kidnapped or illegally held in bondage, rescuing at different times a dozen or more al- ways at considerable expense. One boy, eleven years old, kidnapped in Richmond, Indiana, and sold in St. Louis, Mis- souri, was rescued at a cost of one hundred and seventy-eight dollars, twelve and a half cents. Another case was a man res- cued from Texas at a cost of over six hundred dollars. At- torneys and witnesses were sent from the North in both cases. This committee was very faithful to its trust during the forty- three years of its appointment, never failing to report annually and accomplishing much for the colored people. In its report in 1863 it states that but few if any colored children within the limits of the Yearly Meeting were growing up without some literary instruction. They also say : "The committee, taking into consideration the change of circum- stances in relation to the colored man in our country since the organization of this committee and the vast field that is open for labor among those that have recently acquired their History of Southland College 9 freedom, are united in suggesting to the Yearly Meeting the propriety of taking the whole subject into consideration, and if way opens provide, either through this or a new committee, for more effectual and organized labors for their relief." These changed conditions spoken of had reference to former slaves of the South within the lines of the Union army in circumstances requiring help from their friends in the North. In this emergency (Governor Morton of Indiana had appealed to Friends to assist in caring for them. In accordance with the above suggestion a committee was appointed whose labors were to be directed specialh- to the relief of the physical necessities of the Freedmen and their advancement in knowledge and religion. The committee was given executive power. They were directed to meet frequent- ly and regularly ; to employ agents and teachers ; and to re- port to the Yearly Meeting the funds distributed and the work done. Quarterly and Monthly Meetings were directed to appoint committees for the purpose of raising money and collecting clothing and other necessities for the Freedmen to be distributed by this committee. The committee found a large and needy field, and they entered upon the work with energy. They had twentv-eight thousand dollars placed at their disposal. They emploved twenty-one agents and teachers, and most of their work was clothing and caring for the destitute, though schools were also established and meetings held among the Freedmen. At the urgent request of General Buford, Post Command- ant at Helena, the committee established an Orphan Asylum at that place under the care of Calvin and Alida Clark, with Susan Horney and Martha Ann Macy as teachers. This was done April, 1864. In 1864 the committee was increased to twelve members ; some of the old ones resigned, not being able to endure the work required of them. Twenty-three thousand dollars in money besides a vast amount of clothing and other necessaries were at the disposal of this committee. In addition to min- istering to the physical wants of the Freedmen, they estab- lished schools in various places for children and adults, and religious instruction was given in all places where our teachers 10 History of Southland College were located. Two more Orphan Asylums were established, one at Lauderdale, Mississippi, and one at Little Rock, Ar- kansas. At this time Susan Horney resigned her position as teacher in the Orphan Asylum at Helena and established an industrial school for colored women, where they were taught to cut and make garments ; this school continued twenty-three weeks in which time 225 women were given instruction and over 1,000 garments were made. •^t^^ 1 * ^ „•—- ■*"* CALVIN CLARK In 1866 Colonel Bentzoni, then in command at Helena,, received orders to put the buildings, used as Orphan Asylums, in possession of their owners. Shortly after receiving the order in regard to the Asylum buildings, the Colonel called, on Alida Clark and the question of what to do with the orphan children, then numbering about 80, was the subject of con- History of Soutiii.axd College 11 versation. The Colonel proposed the purchase of some land and the erection hy the Rej^inient of suitable buildings and presented a rude sketch of the houses he thought necessary to l)e erected. Alida Clark recognized him as God's instru- ment to meet the difficulties then confronting them about wliich slie had spent hours on her knees in ])raver. CHAS bp:ntzoni Lieut. -Col. U. S. Army, (latet Colonel SHth U S. Colored Iiif.iiitry Charles Bentzoni was Ixirn in Prussia in 1830; began learning the l)usiness of a .soldier at tlie age of seventeen; emigrated to the United States in 1857; entered the army and was made lieutenant of the 11th U. S. Infantry in 1861, and three years later was appointed Colonel of the 56th Regiment of the U. S. Colored Infantry, taking command of them at Helena. Accordingly thirty acres of land lying about nine miles northwest of Helena were purchased on which were erected 12 History of Southland College suitable but cheap buildings for the accommodation of the Asylum, and deeded to Indiana Yearly Meeting. Each officer and private contributed a certain per cent, of his wages to cover the cost, and men were detailed each week to work on the buildings till completed. The land and buildings were valued at $4,000.00. The new quarters of the Asylum were dedicated by the Colonel and other officers and men of the regiment marching out in military style nine miles and planting the flag in front of the house, giving three cheers and firing three rounds in honor of the old flag. Then the Asylum managers, teachers and visitors, all white, with the regiment and children marched to a grove where was a speaker's stand and also seats and a table one hundred feet long spread by the Quartermaster. Calvin and Alida Clark were seated on the stand. The Colonel ALIDA CLARK History of Southland Coli.kge 13 read the amounts given by each company, and the deed to the property, which, on behalf of the regiment, he handed to AHda Clark, who received it on behalf of Indiana Yearly Meeting, assuring them that the trust would not be betrayed, and pledging the Bible as the foundation of all teaching in the Asylum, w'hich called forth hearty aniens. Chaplain Brooks followed in a speech honoring Friends. The Colonel and officers called upon the children to sing, in which they ac- quitted themselves honorably, when he and Adjutant Samuel T. Clark each gave the children a nice talk, followed by re- freshments. The boys were dressed in new linen i)ants and shirts, with new straw hats ; and the girls in new calico dresses and Shaker bonnets neatly trimmed. The reports of 1869 state that 29 children had been placed in homes the past year, and only three remained of that class. Nineteen young persons had been selected and were being trained in the Asylum for teachers. Thus the Asylum was merged into a school or normal institution. The whole num- ber of children admitted into the Asylum from its first open- ing was three hundred and sixty. Of these thirty-six died, fifty-six were claimed by parents, nineteen left without per- mission, and eighty were taken by order of the government and placed in homes in St. Louis, nineteen were educated as teachers, and the remainder placed in homes mostly in Phillips County. Arkansas, near the Asylum. Shortly after the removal of the Asylum to the countr}-. fifty acres of land were bought by the Yearly Meeting and added to the grounds. This eighty acre tract constitutes the college grounds today. It lies with the long way north and south, with the south end. on which the liuildings are lo- cated, fronting a public road running east and west. The land is comparatively level, productive, and parts of it somewhat wet. though susceptible of drainage. During the first five years of the labors of the Executive Committee on Freedmen, nearly $200,000.00 in money and clothing w^ere distributed by them. The funds and other sup- plies distributed by the committee were not all donated by Indiana Yearly ^Meeting. Other yearly meetings and indi- viduals contributed ; English Friends gave over $36,000.00 14 History of Southland College and the Cincinnati Contraband Relief Commission in 1864- turned over to our committee $6,400.00 in money and $32,000.00 worth of goods and clothing. In 1869 the Yearly Meeting changed the name of the committee having charge of the work in the South from Freed- men's Committee to Missionary Board on Southland, which still continues to be its name. SOUTHLAND NORMAL INSTITUTE The work of the government through the Freedmen's Bureau and the return of peace changed our work in the South till finall}'- only the work at the Asylum, now called Southland, remained. In 1869 a small, but neatly furnished, school house was added to our grounds at a cost of $3,500, $1,000 of which was paid by the committee and $2,500 bv the Freedmen's Bureau. In the reconstruction of the state of Arkansas about this time, liberal provisions were made for the education of the colored people, and the Freedmen's Bureau withdrew from the state. But before withdrawing they recommended to General Howard the appropriation of $5,000 for the erection of more ample school buildings at the Asylum which had developed into a Normal Institute requiring more room. The recommendation was assented to and the money directed to be paid over on condition that the committee should erect the building. The new house, a two-story build- ing 32 X 80 feet, was built in front of and joined to the house previously built, the whole forming a commodious school and church building. The upper story of the new building had two recitation rooms on the west; the large east room was used for church and lecture purposes, and was reached by two flights of stairs going up from either end of the hall below, which divided the lower part into two large school- rooms. The whole building cost near $10,000. In 1873 the school property in Little Rock, owned by Indiana Yearly Meeting was sold to the city for school pur- poses. Said grounds had been purchased by the Yearly Meeting for Asylum purposes, and the buildings erected thereon by the Freedmen's Bureau turned over to Indiana HiSTCJKV OF SoilTIILAXl) CoLLEOK 15 Yearly Meeting-. The ])n)perty brouo-ht $5,550. $1,000 of wliich was invested in tliirty acres of land on which the Maryville. Tennessee, Normal Institute was built; and three thousand of the jjrocceds were used in the erection of a house for the officers and teachers at Southland. The house was 48x42 feet, two stories high, "with spacious rooms in the roof." and cost $4,600. Alida Clark collected over $1,000 in the East for finishing and furnishing the house. The new building^ w^as much needed, as the old barracks were becoming" unfit for occu])ancy. and were too small for the growing- school. usuall_\- numbering al)out forty boarders. The home is (lod's first and greatest instrumentality in the moral government of the world. Southland was instituted as a home for those that had no home. A larg^e part of her work has been to train those children and make teachers of them whose lives and examples should influence other lives and homes. In this she has been eminentlv successful. A moral and Christian atmosphere has pervaded the institu- tion all the years of her life. Evangelistic and Christian teachers have been SL'ut and encourag-ed. and series of meet- ing-s held in time of school as though they formed a part of the educational course. Students as much expected to attend the preaching- service, the prayer meeting-, the Sunday School, the temperance meeting-, and take the pledgee of total absti- nence from all intoxicants and tobacco as they did to attend the daily recitations. And when they went out as teachers thev almost invariably org^anized a Sunday School and a Temper- ance Society as though they were necessary parts of a common school education. And they generally opened their schools with Scripture reading and pra\er. RELIGIOUS MEETINGS In the Eleventh month. 1866. the officers and children to the number of seventy-one. enrolled themselves in a religious meeting with the i:)urpose expressed in the following- article : "In order to build one another up in the most holy faith, watch over one another for good, strengthen, encourage, 16 History of Southland College counsel and instruct one another in the way everlasting; that we may the more effectually bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ in supporting the weak, relieving the sick and afflicted among us. With a desire that a growth in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ may be experienced, and, as way opens for it may be joined with the Friends of Indiana Yearly Meeting." Meetings were reg- ularly held with interest, and in the Seventh month, 1868, seven persons applied for membership in Whitewater Monthly Meeting and were received. Eight more were received the following year, and in the Sixth month, 1870, a Preparative Meeting was established by Whitewater Quarterly Meeting called Southland, numbering thirty members. In Twelfth Month, 1873, a Monthly Meeting, also called Southland, was established with seventy-eight members. In 1876 a Prepara- tive Meeting was established, twenty miles west of Southland, called Hickory Ridge. A lot was bought and a house erected at a cost of $800, and for some time the monthly meeting was held alternately there and at Southland. The house was used for school as well as church purposes and was built by eastern and English Friends. A meeting was established at Beaver Bayou, twelve miles southwest of Southland, in 1884, a house erected at a cost, including the two acres of land, of about three hundred dollars. The money was raised through the solicitations of Alida Clark. Owing to deaths and removals the meeting was discontinued in four or five years, and the property has since been sold. Southland Month- ly Meeting grew from seventy-eight in number, when first organized, to about four hundred members as reported in 1886. A large number of these were students attending South- land College who, on returning home or going out to teach, joined other denominations, and must not be reckoned as the numerical strength of the Monthly Meeting at any one time. But the truths taught were not lost ; they were taken with them wherever they went, and but few if any schools have sent out teachers more thoroughly imbued with the principles of Christianity, of sobriety, and total abstinence from all in- toxicants, than Southland has. The matron, in her report to the Board in 1877, says: "We have sent out about one History of Southlaxd College 17 hundred native teachers, and so far as known all the teachers keep the temperance pledge and the non-use of tobacco. The fact that they received their education at Southland was a guaran- tee of good morals and scholarship. Stanley Pumphrey and wife, of England, spent some time at Southland and vicinity in 1878 in religious work ; and in a letter he says : "I wish to bespeak for Southland the continued interest of American Friends. No missionary work more important in character or fruitful in results is being carried on by their members." Elkanah Beard, after thoroughly examining the working of the institution in 1880, says : "The reputation of the school is most excellent all through this section of the country. Lead- ing men, white and colored, say that Southland is the best institution of learning in the state. T have no hesitation in saying that the educational and religious interests of the mission are most carefully guarded." Other buildings were needed for the better accommoda- tion of the school, one was study room and dormitory for the boys. Elisha Hathaway, of Cincinnati, had subscribed v$l,000 toward the building of a hall on condition that $2,000 addi- tional should be raised. Alida Clark, with the approval of Southland Monthly Meeting and the Missionary Board went east in the interest of the Southland school. She made a somewhat extended visit, collecting v$l,400 iov the boys' hall, and $600 for aiding poor and orphan children to educate themselves for teachers. Stanley Pumphrey on his return to England raised $600 for the erection of the building and it was formally dedicated as Pumphrey Hall in April, 1880, the 17th anniversary of the institution. The dining room in the Barracks became inade(|uate to the needs and comfort of the boarders, and a new building was called for. The friends of the institution were apprised of the needs, and the money for it was soon donated. A large and commodious dining room with kitchen and wash-house attached was added to the house already occupied by the officers and teachers, at a cost of over $2,000 and was first occupied in 1873. 18 History of Southland College In 1878 Benjamin Coates, of Philadelphia, gave $500 as the beginning of an endowment fund for Southland Col- lege. Sarah Slade, of Fall River, Mass., purchased 135 acres of land adjoining the college farm for $2,070, deeding it to Indiana Yearly Meeting to be sold, as opportunity offered, in small tracts to colored people for homes; the proceeds to be added to the Endowment Fund. George Sturge, of En- gland, in 1881 gave $25,000 endowment to Southland, the principal use of the proceeds being to qualify colored per- sons of both sexes for teachers. The Endowment Fund has since been increased by Phebe Metford, Julia Ann Boyce, and others, till now it amounts to nearly $35,000. SOUTHLAND COLLEGE In 1876 the school was named Southland College, and the superintendent, matron and teachers were constituted a faculty, authorized to issue to those who had completed a given course of study, certificates or diplomas showing the course of study completed. HAZARD HALL — GIRLS' DORMITORY History of Southland Coli.egi-: 19 The matron in her report to the Board, in 1881. says: "During the severity of last winter's long continued cold weather, our girls, many of them, had tlieir feet frosted in their old plank collection rooms, after which I began asking for money to build them a new hall." Ehzabeth Hazard, of Newport, R. I., headed the list with a subscription of $1,000. Other subscriptions followed, but the house was not erected till 1886 ; it is a three-story building 32 x 40 feet, with verandas on each story, facing the south, 8 x 40 feet. There are eleven rooms, one 16x32 feet and ten 16x16 feet; a hall eight feet wide, for stairways, running between each set of rooms. There is also a basement 32 x 40 feet and 7-foot story with brick walls. The building cost over $4,000 and is called Hazard Hall in honor of the woman who gave the largest contribution for its erection. The college was now well cqui])ped with buildings suited to its needs, but in the autumn of 1887 the institution was CKNlkAL HAl.L— DININC; ROO.M, OKKICES Teacheks' and Officers' Home 20 History of Southland College visited by a fire that consumed the dwelhng house, dining room and kitchen, together with much of the contents. The fire originated in a defective flue. The loss was severely felt. The buildings were comparatively new and cost over $6,000. There was $3,500 insurance on the buildings and the friends of the college, east and west, came to her help and the fol- lowing 3'ear a handsome two-story building with eleven rooms was erected at a cost of $4,750, now known as Central Hall. The number of students in attendance has varied in dif- ferent years, but usually from 150 to 200. When the district scholars were admitted and the public money paid to our teachers, the number was much larger. At first all teachers were white persons from the North. Ever since colored per- sons have been trained in the Southland school and become competent teachers, some of them have taught each year. In the years 1880, 1882 and 1883 all the teachers were colored and all educated at Southland. One of the dark days for Southland was when in the spring of 1900 the chapel and school building was consumed by fire, evidently the work of an incendiary. The Board had $12,000 insurance on the several buildings. The companies immediately cancelled all the policies, paying the three thou- sand on the burned building and refunding the money on the unearned policies. The school was continued in the collec- tion rooms of the two halls and the basement of the girls' hall was temporarily fitted up for chapel and Sunday School pur- poses. The people willingly put up with this inconvenience, assured it would only be temporary and another building would soon be erected. Some of the Friends thought it unwise to build while we could get no insurance on the buildings we already had ; while others argued that we could not long con- tinue the school without suitable quarters, and that if we did not have faith to risk another building the companies would not insure. The Board decided to build and the present hand- some and commodious structure was erected nearly on the • site of the old one. It is a large three-story building, up to date in all its apartments. All the buildings are now insured in reliable companies. History of Soi'tttland College 21 SCHOOL AND CHAl'KL 'IMie limits of this sketch torhid the mention of all those who had a ])rominent ])art in this work. lUit mention shonld be made of Alida and Calvin Clark, who for twenty-two years were the managers on the grounds. We mention her name first, because, from the nature of the work and her natiu-al fitness for it, she took the lead though ably and faithfully supported by her husliand. She had a somewhat stern ex- pression indicative of an iron will and indomitable purpose, but underneath was a heart full of s\mpathy for the orphan and the oppressed. She was profoundly imj^jressed with the importance of the work she was engaged in. and with her tongue and pen she impressed others with its importance, and collected most of the thousands of dollars necessary for erect- ing buildings and carying on the work. Colonel Bentzoni said of her: "Alida Clark was the grandest woman I have ever known. With unusual executive abilities she combined tenderness of heart and an unbounded desire to hel]) the lowly and ncedv." A southern man who was accpiainted with her 22 History of Southland College during all the time of her residence in the South, sa3's of her: "She had more moral courage and invincible determination than any individual I have ever met." JOSEPH DICKINSON CoRRESrONDING Secketary froai 1861 TO 1896 Mention should also be made in this connection of Joseph Dickinson, of Richmond, Indiana, who was prominently and continuously connected with the Yearly Meeting's work in the South from the commencement in 1864 till his death in 1896, a period of thirty-two years. He was corresponding- secretary of the Southland Board and the real conductor of the business while holding the position. The school is now provided with four commodious build- ings which have cost more than $16,000, a large part of which has been contributed by benevolent persons in this country History of Southland College 23 and in Eni^land. Two of tlicse IniiUlinja^s. \iz.. the School and Cha])cl. and the Girls" Dormitory, arc heated with stcanL There are also ahont 300 acres of j^ood farming;' land belons^inj^ to the institutioiL Southland College grants two dii)lonias, one from the Preparatory and Normal Department at the completion of the common school work, and one at the completion of the col- lege course. The aim of the work done at Southland College and Xor- mal Institute has been to make its students useful and safe citizens of the comnionwealth. a ])lessing to their own race and a benefit to the state, ller success in this line has been of great service to that part of the country and its influence has extended to adjacent states. The thorough, |)ractical training given her students has qualified them to succeed, es- pecially in teaching, in which a large number (over four hun- dred) of them have engaged; many of them making that ])ro- fession their life work. Some of the original children, taken as orphans of the soldiers, have taught consecutively for thirty to thirty-five years. The majority are perhaps rightl\- employed along agri- cultural lines, putting the training received at the college into making better homes and farms in the South land. Some have chosen the ])ractice of medicine, or that of law. while others are in the civil service as pension agents, mail clerks, etc., filling their respective places with honor and profit. Perha])s there is no emploxment more coveted among them than the ministry of the (iospel; and as the moral and re- ligious training at the college has always been made promi- nent, this result might be naturall\- expected, and certainly nothing is more desirable for this needy race than intelligent and enlightened religious teaching and training.