Eliza B Wallace

Knoxville College

Eliza B Wallace

Eliza B Wallace was born on June 6, 1838 to John and Jane McClenanhan Wallace in Fairvew, Guerney County, Ohio.

Her brother David was president of Monmouth College when she attented.

Eliza Wallace lived in Illinois, in 1866, where she is listed as a Science Course Senior from Monmouth.
In 1870, Eliza Wallace lived in Monmouth, Illinois, in 1870.
Post Office: Monmouth, Occupation: College Professor

After Eliza Wallace graduated from Monmouth, she came to Knoxville, Tennessee where she worked with Knoxville College to provide better educational opportunities for black children.

She also worked to establish a school of nursing and a hospital.  The hospital was established soon after her death, and was commonly called the Eliza B. Wallace Hospital.

In 1882 she is listed in the city directory as a math teacher at Knoxville College.

Eliza's brother David wrote the following about their parents:

She was eight years of agee when her parents came to America. They were married, June 14, 1825,
when they settled on a farm near Fairview. John Wallace was a ruling elder in the Fairview congregation of the Associate Reformed (Presbyterian) Church for over twenty years: first under the pastoral care of the Rev. Samuel Findley, D. D., afterward under that of the Rev. Hugh Forsythe. He died April 20, 1850.

His pastor, the Rev. Hugh Forsythe, writes: "He was a man of good sense, sound judgment, very judicious and very prudent. He was kind hearted. ln cases of discipline, if he erred at all. it was on the side of mercy. I suppose he had more influence over me than any other member of session. He had
great influence in the congregation. Two things gave him influence in congregational meetings, good
sense and a perfect willingness to do his part. He befriended a great many poor people, without respect
to race or color. When he was buried, some colored people, whom he had befriended, were standing near the grave looking into it while tears were rolling down their cheeks. John AVallace was emphatically the poor man's friend.'' (Source: A Busy Life: A Tribute to the Memory of the Rev. David A. Wallace, 1885, p. 5) Link

SUMMARY: The aggregate enrollment in all the schools under uur care this year is 1,518 and in our Sabbath Schools over 1,600, showing a very encouraging increase over last year. Since our last report 110 students from our school were engaged in teaching in the public schools. Of these 90 received their education wholly or in part in the Knoxville College. Source:Minutes of the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian ..., Volumes 25-28, Board of Publication, 1883, p. 73) Link

"Knoxville exhibits an increase in enrollment the number now being 328. Religious services were conducted regularly with spirit and with profit throughout the year. The normal department received particular attention and it has been especially satisfactory," (Source:Minutes of the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian ..., Volumes 25-28, Board of Publication, 1883, p.426)

KNOXVILLE: The work here has gone forward without interruption. The only change worthy of note is in the afternoon service on the Sabbath. Instead of holding the Sabbath school in the College in the afternoon, two school houses have been occupied. One is a quarter of a mile distant and the other two miles. At the nearest school house very few attend aside from the pupils who attend at the College in the morning. At the other school house we reach those who seldom attend elsewhere. The design in this change was to lessen the number of meetings in the College building and leave the afternoon free and also to afford an opportunity to students and others to do missionary work. Very little difficulty has been experienced in securing volunteers for the afternoon Sabbath schools. There is a Sabbath school in the morning followed by a sermon. The same personns, old and young, are present in the Sabbath school and at church Prayer Meetings. Two prayer meetings are held on Sabbath evening, one for males and the other for females. These are attended by students mainly who are living in the dormitories. A prayer meeting is held on Monday morning, at which all the students attend and which they conduct, as they do the others themselves.

Day of Prayer for Colleges This day was observed and in addition to a sermon in the morning a prayer meeting was held in the afternoon by the students. Extra Meetings were held throughout the last week of March. They were arranged so as not to interrupt the regular work and were attended with interest bible Lesson. The International Sabbath school lesson for the following Sabbath is recited on Monday, and both teachers and pupils are better prepared for the work ni the Sabbath. The Congregation has 81 colored members and 10 white. Increase by profession 3, by certificate 3, decrease 16, Infant baptisms 7, adult 8. Contributions to all the Boards $49. Total $180.

Average attendance: 161, at nearest school house 70, at the other 36.

The laborers here are: President JS McCulloch, Lady Principal Miss Eliza B Wallace, teachers: DT McClelland, Edgar MacDill, Mac H Wallace, Mrs AH Wait, Miss Ida McCulloch, Miss Henrietta Mason (colored) and Miss Maggie McDill. Miss McDill has charge of the Little Girls Home and Mrs Mary J Johnston has charge of the work in kitchen and dining room.

Miss Mary L Buchanan has assisted throughout the year in the Sabbath school and sewing without pecuniary compensation. She has also given lessons in instrumental music at half the ordinary rates ot tuition.

The Enrollment for the year is 202. The attendance was seriously affected by the prevalence of small pox in the vicinity during December and January. At no time however did a panic seize the students nor was a discontinuance of the school seriously threatened. For this we are devoutly thankful to God. One of the most encouraging things in the work of this year is the disposition of the students to hold on till the end of the term and pass through the examinations preparatory to regular promotion. Some however are still compelled to leave in order to earn money for the support of themselves and their parents. Sewing School The sewing school has been conducted this year very much as it was last year. Nearly all the girls in the school are divided into three classes supervised by teachers. They sew by hand forty minutes a day, and while they sew, they sing, or some one reads from an interesting and instructive book, so that the sewing hour combines both pleasure and profit, Students are encouragud to make garments for their own use and some are able to cut out as well as sew. They have the privilege of purchasing any garment thus made for about half the price of the material. The beginners have made patches for several quilts and put them together and the more advanced have made about 160 garments. A Mother's Meeting was carried on from September 1st to March 16th. It was held on Friday afternoons when about two hours were spent. It was opened and closed with devotional exercises, memorizing scriptures, singing and prayer, and a talk was given on the lesson sometime during the meeting.

Miss Wallace, Mrs McCulloch, and Miss Buchanan had charge of this work. The enrollment was 69; garments cut and made: 275, material used: 600 yards, receipts from garments sold: $24.38, expenditures: $11. About 30 boxes and packages of bed clothing, wearing apparel, material and papers have been received from Ladies Missionary Societies and individuals. These have been distributed with much care so as not to encourage thriftlessness. Comparatively few articles are given away. The prices are very low, but the money thus obtained serves to keep up the sewing schools and is used to assist the needy, both in health and when sick.

Colored Teachers About 70 who have at some time attended the College have been engaged in teaching this year. Their schools continued from two to seven months the average being less than four, perhaps. They taught in Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, and Arkansas. Many of them have taken an active part in Sabbath schools, and in this way not less than 3,000 have been educated to some extent indirectly through this institution.

Aid for Students As a church we are doing comparatively little in the way of direct personal aid to students, however deserving they may be. Some of the oldest colored institutions appeal annually to the churches for a large part of the money necessary for the support of the students. A large proportion of the students in some of the best colored colleges are helped from year to year to the extent of from $25 to $100. We have been entirely too modest in appealing for such help. Our own sons and daughters would in many instances give up in despair or disgust if they had to encounter the actual trials of some of the colored young men or women now in Knoxville College. The President says I could, if it were prudent, give names I could relate simple unvarnished facts. I could tell of patient long continued toil, of pinching economy, of self denial that would appeal powerfully to every real friend of the colored man. Here are boys and girls whom every member of the Faculty would deem it an honor to help through an education. Are there not generous individuals, and societies, and Sabbath schools, and churches ready to promise $25 a year or $50 a year for one such needy student? Let them send for the names and they will be furnished. When a young woman works hard all summer at low wages and succeeds in saving enough to barely support her four months, let us say to her that her heavenly Father has provided enough to finish. When a young man comes with $50 the savings of four months with pick and shovel let us relieve him from worry about the $25 or $50 more that may be needed.

Boarding Department There were 78 boarders this year. The number was not as great as last year. The falling off may be attributed partly to the increase in the price of boarding and partly to a wide spread rumor of small pox in the city referred to above. Among the boarders there are 4 who belong to the Presbyterian Church, 9 to the United Presbyterian, 12 to the Methodist, 14 to the Baptist. the others are not members of any church. What a work there is here to be done. The daily religious exercises consist of worship as in a Christian family all joining morning and evening in the service. Nearly all the boarders grouped in two companies agree to read the same chapters daily in their rooms and on Saturday evening they meet, each company with a teacher, and talk over the chapters read during the week. These meetings are voluntary but nearly all attend. They are opened and closed with prayer. This exercise seems to be much enjoyed and good must result from it. There is a reading room for the girls in this department which is of great benefit. It is open every evening. A donation of $50 worth of books was received from L MS of the Cleveland Ohio congregation. Also a donation from the Western Tract Society. For these good gifts the donors have cordial thanks.

Orphanage or Little Girls Home A new feature has been added to our work here under this title. Little girls from the age of 6 to 15 are received and kept in the Home during the entire term. These children have no homes of their own or live with relatives or strangers who are not able to support their own families. This Home had 8 little girls last year, all orphans or half orphans except one. They were under the charge of Miss Maggie McDill, who lives with them and does for them as nearly as possible all a mother could do. She teaches them to do all kinds of work and requires them to carefully prepare their lessons for school. The number would be greatly increased if the expense could be provided for. A business man in Chicago provides for half the support of two girls. He has our thanks and will have the blessing of the Lord. The Ladies Missionary Society of the Presbytery of Southern Illinois paid the salary of the matron Miss McDill last year and is deserving the thanks of the whole Church. This part of the work must be continued and enlarged. (Source:Minutes of the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian ..., Volumes 25-28, Board of Publication, 1883,p.767-769)

She died on December 12, 1897, at the home of her sister, in Pennsylvania, at the age of 59. Her death is listed in the Catalogue of Monmouth College, Illinois, 1906-1906 Link

Obit
Sad News.-President J. M. Wallace of the Salem Water Community,has received sad news of the death of his sister, Miss Eliza B. Wallace, in Waters Park, Pa., her demise occurring Sunday night. Miss Wallace's death was sudden and unexpected, in recent letter received by her brother
Indicating an Improvement In her slightly impaired health. Having held the important position of principal of the Knoxville college at Knoxville, Tenn., for the past 25 years, Miss Wallace was only obliged to resign her position owing to ill health.
Interment will be had in the family vault at the old home in Cambridge,Ohio.(Source: Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.), 14 Dec. 1897. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.) Link

One of her dreams did not come true during her lifetime. For years, Wallace wanted to establish a nurse-training program but could not find the funds. In her will, she bequeathed the money for such a program. The Wallace Memorial Hospital opened on the campus in 1907, 10 years after her death. The first black Red Cross nurse in the United States was Frances Elliott Davis who took her initial training at that hospital. Robert J Booker  Eliza B. Wallace

Rural Mount

By Blake Wylie - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,Link

Alexander Outlaw was born in Duplin County North Carolina in 1738. He received a classical education, was admitted to the bar and began the practice in his native county. In 1783, he moved to Greene County, North Carolina and settled in that portion which is now Jefferson County, Tennessee. He seems to have shared the general opinion that the Cession Act of North Carolina of 1784 made it necessary for the settlers in the ceded territory to erect a government of their own, and he therefore took an active part in the formation of the State of Franklin. He was in the Convention of August 1784 and in 1785 and again in 1786 was one of the commissioners of the State of Franklin to negotiate with the Cherokee Indians. His associates in 1785 were John Sevier and Daniel Kennedy and in 1786 William Cocke, Samuel Weir, Henry Conway, and Thomas Ingles. (Source:Tennessee: The Volunteer State, Volume 2 1769-1923, John Trotwood Moore, Austin Powers Foster, S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1923, p.200 )

In 1796 Alexander Outlaw represented Jefferson County in the Constitutional Convention, among his colleagues being Joseph Anderson and Archibald Roane. He was an active member of the Convention and was highly esteemed by his associates. He represented Jefferson County in the first General Assembly and, in 1799 was elected to the State Senate from Cocke and Jefferson Counties, and was made Speaker. In 1801, he was returned to the Senate by the same counties. It should be mentioned also that he represented the new and short lived County of Caswell in the Legislature of the State of Franklin.

He had four daughters and one son. These daughters were married to four well known men of that time to wit:

Judge Joseph Anderson married Only Patience Outlaw

Her dowry was a large tract of land on the Nolichucky River where Judge Anderson built a home—"Soldier's Rest."
Soldier's Rest was an adjoining plantation and sister to Rural Mount. It was
demolished for the present American Enka Plant. (from application for National Register for Historic sites)

Joseph Hamilton, married Penelope Smith Outlaw

("A native of Virginia, where he was admitted to the bar; moved to Hawkins County, 1784, and subsequently became a prominent lawyer in Tennessee (Caldwell, Bench and Bar, Tenn., pp. 77-82).") 
Rural Mount is thought to have been built as a gift to his daughter, Penelope and her husband Joseph Hamilton. 

Judge David Campbell married Elizabeth Outlaw

Paul McDermott and Dolly Outlaw

From Paul McDermott and his wife was descended the wife of JB Cooke of Chattanooga former Judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee from

TG Outlaw a prominent and worthy citizen of Mobile Alabama is believed to be the present head of the direct line Alexander Outlaw died in October, 1825 He was one of the best and purest as well as one of the ablest men of his time in Tennessee. His social position thorough education and high character gave him prominence and influence and his entire career was marked by genuine and unselfish patriotism. No man in our early history left a better reputation and none more faithfully endeavored to discharge his duties as a man and as a citizen. (Source:Sketches of the Bench and Bar of Tennessee

By Joshua William Caldwell. Ogden brothers & Company, printers, 1898, pp 65-66)



Tennessee State Supreme Court Case: Link

William E F S Milburn

W. E. F. Milburn home in Greeneville

The former was a soldier in the war of the Revolution and a pioneer of Greene County about 1804.

[See above. I have not found any documentation that either Jonathan or his father served in the Revolutionary War. John Milburn is listed as a Revolutionary War Patriot because he renendered material aid.

Jonathan was a Lieutenant in the Greene County Militia (Oct 16, 1799) (Source:Record of Commissions of Officers in the Tennessee Militia)

The father was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church for five years more than half a century. He was, during the war of the Rebellion, an avowed Union man and was much persecuted and imprisoned by the rebels for his Union sentiments. He was chaplain of the Eighth Regiment Tennessee Cavalry Volunteers United States Army. The mother was born near Harper's Ferry Va April 10 1802 and died February 14 1861. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Our subject served as a soldier from November 20, 1862 to October 25 1865 in Company B Twelfth Regiment Tennessee Cavalry Volunteers, United States Army in the war of the Rebellion. He was engaged in the battles of Florence and Shoal Creek and Sugar Creek, Ala; Pulaski, Triune, Clifton, Spring Hill, Columbia, Campbellsville, Franklin, and Nashville, Tenn, and the fourteen days of continuous skirmishing with Gen Hood's retreating forces from Nashville to Eastport, Miss.

After the war he entered school and was graduated with the degree of AB and won the highest honors of the class of 1871 in the East Tennessee Wesleyan University. For the two successive years 1872 and 1873 he was professor of mathematics in his then alma mater. In the year 1874, he was graduated upon examination from the University of Michigan with the degree of Master of Arts. He was president of the Holston Seminary for one year 1874-75 in the meantime reading law so as to be admitted to the bar in 1876, at Athens, Tenn, his license being signed by Judge Hayle and Chancellor Bradford.

In 1879, he removed to Abilene, Kansas, and early in 1880, he located at Greeneville, Tenn. From January 1882 to July 1885, he was special examiner of the United States Pension Bureau in the State of Kentucky with headquarters at Bowling , after which he resumed the practice of law at Greeneville. In November 1886, he was elected as a Republican to represent the county of Greene and served with ability and distinction in the Legislature of 1887. He was a member of the executive committee of the State Temperance Alliance, and took an active part in the canvass to adopt the constitutional Prohibition amendment in 1887. October 1, 1878 Florence Ella daughter of Mr John H Williams of Golden, Col became his wife. She was born at Ducktown, Tenn March 19, 1859. To this union have been born three children namely Lulu Belle, Frank Emily, and Blaine. Mrs Milburn is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

[There is some evidence that he married again after his first wife's death. A short article from the Chattanooga Times:

"Johnson City, Tenn., July 4 – A quiet wedding took palace Wednesday morning at 9:30 o’clock at the home of Mr. And Mrs. Frank Mountcastle, on Watauga Avenue when Miss Mary W. Hardy became the bride of Capt. W. E. F. Milburn, quartermaster of the soldiers home." No marriage rcord found, but he is listed as married on the 1920 Census and also on his death certificate." ]

William E F Milburn died on July 9, 1925 in Greeneville, TN, and according to his death certificate, he is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery.

The original article is from History of Tennessee, Volume 2,  Goodspeed Publishing Company Staff, Southern Historical Press, 1887, p.1224

Montvale Springs

Seven Gables Inn
By Unknown - (2010) Blount County, Arcadia Publishing ISBN: 978-0-7385-8571-0., Public Domain,Link

"Not far above the junction of the Little Tennessee and Holston rivers, immediately upon the banks of the former stream, occurs a level plat or "cove" as it is there called, of most romantic beauty Here the river suddenly ceases its wild leaping down the mountains, and, like a maiden about to be married, pauses to dream upon the alliance it is speedily to form with a mightier stream. On each side the wide expanse of this still river-lake, broad level meadows stretch away some miles down the stream ,until the hoydenish river wakes from its dream and again dashes down its narrow channel between the mountains." 

Sidney Lanier

Hurd and Houghton, 1867

Montvale Springs

By Steamer and Stage

Notice is hereby given to visitors to Montvale that  the light draught Steamer JO. JAQUE
Will run daily between Concord and Louisvllle, Tenn
connecting with a line of Four Horse COACHES, running dally between Louisville and Montvale.
The Steamer Jo. Jaque. having undergone thorough repair, will afford visitors traveling over this line a pleasant trip of one and a half hours on the Holston River, presenting some of the. most attractive scenery in the world.
The accommodations at Col. TIBBS' HOTEL, at Concord, will be as good as can be found in East Tennessee, and terms as reasonable.
Fare through from Concord to Montvale ....$3.00   SAFFELL. BRO. A CO. Louisville, Tenn., June 1, 1857

P. S. Passengers in Montvale should not fail to procure Tickets for Concord.
(Source: The Athens post. (Athens, Tenn.), 11 Sept. 1857. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress)

Sterling Lanier became the manager of the hotel in 1857. He and his brother bought the property in 1860. The Laniers paid $25,674 for the hotel and spent $15,000 on renovations to the building and its 4,500 acres (1,800 ha), hiring a Swiss gardener and two landscape gardeners. Lanier also brought in a French chef. The Swiss geologist Arnold Henry Guyot, after whom Mount Guyot is named, visited Montvale in 1859 during his survey of the Great Smoky Mountains. Sterling Lanier's grandson was the poet Sidney Lanier. Lanier conceived of his only novel, Tiger Lilies (1868), while staying at the resort in 1860. The first half of the novel is autobiographical, describing his vacation at the hotel.[21] With the outbreak of the American Civil War (1861–65) Lanier closed the hotel, which he sold in 1863, and returned to Alabama. (From Wikipedia)

Armistice Day Centenniel

James Henry White was born on October 9, 1892, in Rheatown, Tennessee, his father, James Randolph, was 40 and his mother, Mary Ann Emily Good, was 33.

He had three brothers and five sisters. 

Draft card signed by James Grandville Keebler, who was married to Minnie Hartsell White. James Henry White's sister.

On the 28th of March, 1918, he was ordered to report to Camp Gordon

Camp Gordon photo:

Committee on Public Information. (04/13/1917 - 08/21/1919), Photographer (NARA record: 1147072) - U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

James Henry White

Once the First Army jumped off on the offensive, the 82nd Division engaged in a holding mission to prevent German forces from attacking the right flank of the First Army. On 13 September, the 163rd Infantry Brigade and 327th Infantry Regiment raided and patrolled to the northeast of Port-sur-Seille, toward Eply, in the Bois de Cheminot, Bois de la Voivrotte, Bois de la Tête-d'Or, and Bois Fréhaut. Meanwhile, the 328th Infantry Regiment, in connection with the attack of the 90th Division against the Bois-le-Prêtre, advanced on the west of the Moselle River, and, in contact with the 90th Division, entered Norroy, advancing to the heights just north of that town where it consolidated its position. On 15 September, the 328th Infantry, in order to protect the 90th Division's flank, resumed the advance, and reached Vandières, but withdrew on the following day to the high ground north of Norroy.
On 17 September, the St-Mihiel Operation stabilized, and the 90th Division relieved the 82nd's troops west of the Moselle River. On 20 September, the 82nd was relieved by the French 69th Infantry Division, and moved to the vicinity of Marbache and Belleville, then to stations near Triaucourt and Rarécourt in the area of the First Army. During this operation, the division suffered heavy casualties from enemy artillery. The operation cost the division over 800 men. Among them was Colonel Emory Jenison Pike of the 321st Machine Gun Battalion, the first member of the 82nd to be awarded the Medal of Honor. The division was then moved into reserve until 3 October, when it assembled near Varennes-en-Argonne prior to returning to the line. During this time, the division trained and prepared for the war's final major offensive at Meuse-Argonne.

Meuse-Argonne

328th Infantry Regiment of 82nd Division advances in preparation to capture Hill 223 on 7 October 1918.
The division was next moved to the Clermont area, located west of Verdun on 24 September. They were stationed there to act as a reserve for the US First Army. George B. Duncan, former commander of the 77th Division, relieved Burnham on 3 October, and Burnham subsequently served as military attaché in Athens, Greece. On the night of 6/7 October 1918, the 164th Infantry Brigade relieved troops of the 28th Division, which were holding the front line from south of Fléville to La Forge, along the eastern bank of the Aire River. The 163rd Infantry Brigade remained in reserve. On 7 October, the division, minus the 163rd Infantry Brigade, attacked the northeastern edge of the Argonne Forest, making some progress toward Cornay, and occupied Hill 180 and Hill 223. The next day it resumed the attack. Elements of the division's right flank entered Cornay, but later withdrew to the east and south. The division's left flank reached the southeastern slope of the high ground northwest of Châtel-Chéhéry. On 9 October, the division continued its attack, and advanced its left flank to a line from south of Pylône to the Rau de la Louvière. (From Wikipedia)

He was hit by shrapnel on Hill #180, and died later the same day.

He died on October 10, 1918, near Chateau Thierry, France, at the age of 26, and was buried in Rheatown Cemetery, Greene County, Tennessee. He was about 4,000 miles from home.

Inscription on monument: Member of Company G 327th US inf 82 Division

Was wounded and died on same day was buried at Chateau-Thierry, France

He was always ready to do his best

Remnants of Wreath from committal Service of James Henry White in Rheatown Cemetery on September 4, 1921.

More: Link Link2
American Armies and Battlefields

Columbia:The County Seat of Maury County

Of all the many lovely interior cities that dot the State of Tennessee like the islands of an archipelago, it can be said without disparagement to any other, Columbia the county seat of Maury county is the loveliest. It is charmingly situated on the south bank of Duck river very near the center of the county on the Decatur Division of the main line of the Louisville Nashville and Great Southern Railroad, forty seven miles from Nashville, two hundred and thirty-two from Louisville, three hundred and forty-two from Cincinnati, one hundred and fifty-nine from Birmingham, Alabama and two hundred and fifty-four from Montgomery.

It rests upon a series of undulating limestone hills nestles at the base of Mt Parnassus whose summit towers over two hundred feet above the city, and from whose height can be viewed an absolutely exquisite panoramic display of thousands of acres of fertile field and sylvan glen of lawn and running brook of town and country.

The capital of Maury county, the third in wealth and population among the counties of Tennessee being exceeded only by Davidson and Shelby, whose wealth lies principally in the cities of Nashville and Memphis, is one of the richest cities in Tennessee. Today Columbia has a population of 5,600 including suburbs. Laid out in a most generous Southern manner with broad and regular streets crossing each other at right angles and many of them luxuriantly shaded with maples and oaks, it has fifteen miles of macadamized streets in good repair, and some of the finest public and private structures in the State, evidencing a high idea of art in their owners and projectors.

The city has one of the finest systems of water works in the South, erected in 1883 at a cost of $50,000 The reservoir is located on the summit of Mt Parnassus 300 feet above Duck river capacity 2,000,000. The pumping engine is 85 horse power with a condensing steam pump and has a daily capacity of 1,153,000 gallons. There are about six miles of water main in the city affording every advantage for domestic manufacturing or public use. The fire department is also in first class condition and affords ample protection from ordinary disaster. Water rents are as cheap here as elsewhere and the water better than in most cities pumped as it is from Duck river which has its source among the freestone knobs of the Highland river. The system of sewerage is also good and the natural drainage is to be admired. The streets of the city as well as the public buildings and many private residences are lighted by a superior quality of fixed oil gas, possessing great brilliancy and the attributes of cheapness as well. There are five miles of gas mains, and the reservoir has 40,000 cubic feet capacity. The city has also a telephone exchange with eighty subscribers, being more than many other cities of larger proportion, giving Columbia telephonic connection with all the principal cities and towns within a radius of sixty miles. The telegraph affords communication with all distant points.

REVISED HAND BOOK OF TENNESSEE pp. 163- 167

Swift Memorial College

Eight thousand dollars were expended in adding a wing to each end of the Main Buildin at Swift Memorial College Rogersville Tenn One wing was left unfinished for lack of funds The whole improvement when done will cost about $10,000 (Source: Minutes - United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. 1913, p. 248) Link

"In 1883, Union Presbyterian Church sent the Reverend William Henderson Franklin to Rogersville to organize a school for Negro girls. The school was named for the Reverend Elijah E Swift, president of the Board of Missions for Freedmaen of the Presbyterian Church. By 1893, Swift Memorial College had a three story administration building and a girls dormitory, located where the Presbyterian Church now stands." (Touring the East Tennessee Backroads, Second Edition,Carolyn Sakowski, John F. Blair, Publisher, 2007, p. 142)

Boys Dormitory

 

 After so long a time we are at last able to to the readers of the HERALD and the Memorial Institute with the understanding that our Board would erect an additional building for the accommodation of young men at a cost of at least $10,000. It took two years to raise this desired amount, and another year was consumed in obtaining plans, and erecting and furnishing the building. It is now finished and occupied much to the delight of the President Faculty and students. In the year 1903- 4, $7,202 were raised, in the year 1904-5 $2,174 more were raised bringing the amount up to $9,373. When we reached this point we began our plans for building, many friends of our work a picture of the boys new dormitory at Swift Memorial Institute in Rogersville, Tenn. 

It will be recalled by those who keep themselves informed of current events, in connection with our work that after the Tennessee Legislature made it unlawful to educate colored and white pupils in the same school, the trustees of Maryville College, Maryville ,Tenn, that had formerly admitted both colored and white to its classes agreed to turn over $25,000 of its Endowment Fund to the Trustees of the General Assembly for the benefit of colored education at Swift and although delayed somewhat by the first contractor, who failed to give sufficient bond, we started again and finished the building far enough to have it occupied by students last fall, although some finishing touches were not put on until as late as last spring. The total cost of the building and furnishing was $12,676. The Institution is in a prosperous condition under the faithful and able administration of Rev WH Franklin DD. The arrangement seems quite satisfactory to the Tennessee people white and black and both colleges seen much benefited by this adjustment of affairs. (Source: The Presbyterian Magazine, 1901, p. 635) Available on Google Books, Link 

William Henderson Franklin: college president was born in Knoxville Tenn Apr 14, 1852, son of Henderson and Elizabeth Bates Franklin. AB Maryville College, 1880, AM 1883 STB Lane Theological Seminary Cincinnati, Ohio, 1883; DD Maryville College 1898, married Mrs Laura C Emmons of Concord, N C Dec 24, 1893. Conducted State Teachers Institute Knoxville 1881-2, founded Swift Memorial College Rogersville Tenn 1883, and since pres gave $1,000 1912 toward purchasing lot for college building. 

Presbyterian Pastor St Mark's Church Rogersville 1883-1914, erected new church on ground secured from the Freedmen's Board of the Presbyterian Church, principal organizer Rogersville Presbytery and Synod of E Tenn, gave name and was first moderator of both, again elected moderator of latter by acclamation 1913 commissioner to General Assembly of Presbyterian Church USA for Holston Presbytery (white) 1888-1902; Trustee Maryville College. Republican. Member East Tennessee Colored Teachers Assn, pres 1914. Active in all race matters. Contributor to New York Age, Herald and Presbyter (Cincinnati), the Continent Chicago and other papers. 

Laura C Franklin matron and principal born at Concord, N C on Oct, 1858, daughter of Dalia Holmes, ed Scotia Seminary, Concord; married William Holmes, deceased, 2d marriage Rev William H Franklin pres Swift Memorial College of Rogersville, Tenn Dec 24, 1893. Reared under influence of Scotia Seminary and helped in the care of its students, teacher in schools of Concord 1870-92, became matron 1892, matron and principal since 1893 with Swift Memorial College devoted to child welfare work labored unselfishly and sacrificed much for good of colored race.

In 1932 the Presbyterian Board of National Missions sold the Swift College property to the county.