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A SHORT HISTORY OF COX COLLEGE
HIS institution is one of the oldest of
its kind in the world. In January of
1843 it began its first session under
the Reverend Dr. Jno E. Dawson as a
college of high order for young women.
On account of failing health Dr. Daw
son retired during that year from the
presidency, which was assumed by Mil
ton E. Bacon, A. M. Through his es-
T
forts the school was chartered under several suc
cessive names: ‘‘LaGrange Female Seminary”
(1845), “LaGrange Collegiate Seminary for Young
Ladies” (1850), “Southern and Western College”
(1852); finally, on February 17, 1854, he incorpo
rated the institution under its present name,
“Southern Female College.” He erected buildings
and conducted the College as an “individual en
terprise.” Never knight espoused a cause and fol
lowed it with more ability, zeal and chivalry than
Mr. Bacon undertook female education when it
was a novel and doubtful experiment. The faded
and stained parchments of the early records of
the college, containing his printed addresses and
circulars in advocacy of female education, glow
with noble enthusiasm as he combats prejudice
against his beloved work and outlines the ideal wo
man, consecrated and cultured.
Under President Bacon’s administration the col
lege prospered wonderfully, maintained high stan
dards, received patronage from all over the South,
and achieved wide celebrity.
In 1855 President Bacon retired from the school
and removed to Mississippi. He was succeeded by
Hon. John A. Foster, A. M., who was joined by
Rev. Henry E. Brooks, from Alabama, in 1856; as
associates they conducted the school through the
session of 1857. Mr. Fester then went to Alabama,
where he subsequently practiced law, and became
Chancellor of the- Southeastern Division of the
State. Mr. Brooks enlisted in the Confederate
Army, and since the war has lived at Eufaula, Ala.
These were troublous times and their effect was felt
upon the college.
In 1857 I. F. Cox, A. M., became president. When
he volunteered, with the LaGrange Home Guards
for the war the community asked his detail, and
arrangements were made for him to teach in the
basement of the Baptist church, as the college had
been seized and was used for a Confederate hospi
tal. From 1860-’63, Rev. W. 11. Robert, D.D., now
living in Mississippi, was associate president, and
for a year or two sole president. From 1855 to
1861 the Western Baptist Association owned one
half inteiest in the school. In 1864 the cohere
building, while occupied by the Confederates, was
accidentally burned, and as the Southern govern
ment was then in ruins and soon dissolved it could
make no recompense. With the exception of some
insurance paid in Confederate money that soon be
came worthless, the loss was total, and Mr. Cox
was the chief loser. The distressing condition of
the country during the period of reconstruction and
recurring panic added to the calamity of the col
lege.
With fortitude and indomitable energy Presi
dent Cox resolutely and heroically set to work to
overcome what then seemed insurmountable obsta
cles in the way of rebuilding and refurnishing the
institution. Alone, except with the aid of his wife,
he undertook the arduous work as a private enter
prise. The story of toil, self-denial and struggle
will never be fully told on earth. After teaching
for several years in rented buildings, first in one
place and then in another, he purchased in 1871, in
his own name, a new site, paid for part of the cost
in cash, borrowed money at high rates of interest,
began the erection of buildings, and by degrees
paid off all claims. In recognition of his labors
and services for the college, and as a tribute to
his perseverance and success, the public gradually
inaugurated the custom of calling the institution
“Cox College,” by which name it is now more
generally known than by its formal title.
At the time of President Cox’s tragic death,
which occurred from apoplexy in the midst of the
commencement exercises, June, 1887, he left the
college free from debt, equipped with handsome
buildings, supplied with the best teaching appli
ances, and strengthened by a large and able fac
ulty.
President Cox bequeathed the college to his fam
ily, who immediately assumed charge.
In 1888 President Charles C. Cox married the
youngest daughter of Milton E. Bacon, and the
descendants of the two men who established the
college in fame and prosperity, united in perpetuat
ing, promoting and extending the life-work of
their parents as a sacred trust and labor of love.
The semi-centennial celebration, during the com
mencement of 1893, was a notable occasion. The
orator was Hon. Henry Watterson. The alumnae
reunion was especially impressive. Upon the stage
were seated grandmothers, with their daughters
and grandchildren, who offered tributes of love
and praise to their Alma Mater. It was a memora
ble scene as the representatives of the classes from
1893 back to 1845 came forward to read their
papers, now preserved among the historical records.
Feeling that it had done its full duty in the field
where it had labored so long and pleasantly, the
college decided, in the summer of 1895, to remove
to College Park, a suburb of Atlanta, where it
occupies a wider territory of usefulness and honor.
It purchased for cash its extensive property and
holds it free from debt; has greatly improved its
'A
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PROF. JOHN W. GAINES,
President Cox College.
property, enlarged its work, and increased its
patronage. The removal was effected largely by
the co-operation of the Board of Advisers.
On November 20, 1895, the superior court of
Troup county ordered that the charter of this in
stitution “be amended and the name of said school
be, and is hereby changed from the Southern Fe
male College of LaGrange to the Southern Female
(Cox) College, and that the legal residence be
changed from the county of Troup to the county of
Fulton, State of Georgia, and that said school be
hereafter conducted at Manchester (now College
Park), in said Fulton county.” On November 27,
the superior court of Fulton county ordered its
clerk to enter the order of the superior court of
Troup county on the minutes of the superior court
of Fulton county, Thereby completing the transfer
of the school, its charter, history and rights, from
LaGrange to College Park.
In 1903, J. Lewis Browne, Musical Doctor, a
noted composer and the director of the famous
Atlanta Music Festivals, became associated with
Mrs. Alice Cox Crenshaw as director of the con
servatory of music, and continues in that posi
tion.
The Golden Age for June 27, 1907.
in 1905, after eighteen years of devoted service
to this institution and to Christian education at
large, Charles C. Cox, the president of the school,
died duiing the exercises of the sixty-second com
mencement. The sixty-third session was success
fully conducted under the administration of Mrs.
Charles C. Cox as president, and the sixty-fourth
under Adiel J. Moncrief.
During the sixty-fourth session, to perpetuate
the college and to increase its usefulness, the Cox
College Company was organized on a sound finan
cial basis, with the following officers: William S.
Cox, President; Mrs. Walton H. Wiggs and Mrs.
Alice Cox Crenshaw, Vice-presidents; Mrs. Mamie
B. Cox, Secretary, and Howard Stakely, Treasurer.
During its sixty-four commencements, from 1843
to 1907, the college has issued five diplomas with
the A. M. degree, ninety-seven with the A. B. de
gree, ten with the B. S. degree, three with the
Ph.B. degree, 697 other diplomas for the comple
tion of the regular literary course, and 105 for the
completion of eclectic literary courses, making a
total of 917 literary graduates; seventeen diplomas
for the completion of the studies in the school of
piano, one of voice and one of organ, making nine
teen music graduates; and five diplomas for the
completion of the course of expression, making a
total of 941 graduates. In addition, the college
has issued a large number of certificates for the
completion of prescribed courses in literary
studies, music, drawing and painting and elocu
tion.
Professor John W. Gaines has been elected pres
ident and has begun his work. The press no
tices that follow show his eminent fitness for this
position, and the good fortune cf r the institution
in securing him:
“We feel like c mgratulating all the friends of
the college—and they are many —on securing Prof.
Gaines as president His splendid services in the
Welsh Neck High School brought that institution
prominently before the public as one of the most
progressive and best managed schools in the south.
President Gaines is thoroughly trained, a fine teach
er and organizer of far more than usual ability,
and we predict for the college an era of prosperity
under his direction.” —From the Christian Index,
May 2d, 1907.
“Professor Gaines has won the presidency of
Cox College by his notable educational achieve
ments in the Sorth. Carr lina sch'o 1 . He has built
up the Welsh Neck institution from a handful of
pupils and a small equipment to an academy pat
ronized all the way from New York to Florida.
Tn addition to this practical experience, Prof.
Gaines is a graduate of Furman University and a
graduate-student of the University of North Caro
lina and the University of Virginia. With Prof.
Gaines’ extraoidinarv endowments for the positi n
to which lie has just been called and with the
reputation of Cox College for thorough and ener
getic work, the institution has before it the most
successful era of its history.”—From the Atlanta
Journal, April 30th, 1907.
•9 *!
Literally the Truth.
Two or three generations ago Dr. Samuel Reed
was one of the prominent physicians of Boston.
His large practice included many patients outside
of the city limits, and these he visited in his buggy.
One day lie bought a new horse, with which he
was ranch pleased until he discovered that the
animal had an insurmountable objection to bridges
of all kinds, and could not be made to cross one.
As, at this period, it was necessary to cross some
bridges in order to reach any one of the surround
ing towns, the doctor decided to sell the horse.
He did not think it necessary to mention the ani
mal’s peculiarity, but was much too honest to mis
represent him, and, after some thought, produced
the following advertisement which he inserted in
a local paper:
FOR SALE: —A bay horse, warranted sound and
kind. The only reason for selling is because the
owner is obliged to leave Boston. Lippincott’s.