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the 80th ANNIVERSARY EDITION
Houston limm' loumal Zl“
Four-Score Four-Square 1870-1951
FOR FREEDOM, JUSTICE, PEACE, and PROGRESS
Houston
prof. Holtzclaw
Was President
A county which has always
taken great pride in its schools,
Houston county citizens founded
and helped operate 10 or 12 dif
ferent academies in the 1800 s, the
best known being Houston Fe
male College operated by the
Baptist denomination and Hous
ton Male Academy organized by
the Methodist church.
First schools set up by the pio
neers were called “old field”
schools because they were usual-'
ly located in the first clearing
made when the earliest settlers
established homes.
Later some schools were called
“poor schools” because county of
ficials voted “poor funds” to help
pay tuition of pupils whose pa
rents were not able to pay the
fees of the privately operated
schools.
Holtzclaw Leaders
The educational leadership of
R. N. Holtzclaw runs through
much of the cultural history of
this area, as does the name and
pioneer educational efforts of Col.
Howell Cobb, who led the first
Sabbath School in the Methodist
church.
Ragsdale’s History of Georgia
Baptists reports that “The Per
ry Collegiate Institute, later the
Houston Female College, was pro
moted by a group of local Bap
tists and accomplished useful
service under Henry Holtz
claw as president.
“Later, A. C. Dayton, author of
Theodosia Ernest, became pres
ident in 1863 and served until
1865. His grave is in the Perry
cemetery.”
Mr, Holtzclaw had been a pro
fessor in the Georgia Female
College at Madison from 1848 to
1853 and was president of the
college at Perry from 1854 to
1860. He practiced law in Perry
from 1865 until his death in 1892.
Another Holtzclaw was at one
time president of Houston Fe
male College. He was Jesse A.
Holtzclaw who later moved to
Tennessee. Both the Holtzclaws
were natives of Greene county,
Ga., and early graduates of Mer
cer University.
Original Sponsors
Here is the original subscrip
uon list of those who brought
Houston Female College, a famed
institution which attracted stu
dents from many parts of the
'ate, into existence in the early
1850 s:
Houston Female College
Whereas it is believed that the
"ants of the community in Perry
!!) d the surrounding country de
mands a school of high order for
■ Education of females and
whereas it is further believed
that such a school will be most
efficient when controlled by a
s ‘ n gle denomination—We whose
•aames are hereinto subscribed do
promise to pay the several sums
affixed on or before the first day
of Jan uary next, for the purpose
°f building such an high school
to be under the exclusive direc
b°n of the Baptist Denomina
tion.
B F. Tharpe, $200; C. F. Coop
*-'r - Martha Tharpe, $100;
aas. Barrett, $100; E. L. Felder,
is° ; w. E. Sanders, $100; W. T.
Wlft ’ $100; j no . Killen, $100;
' L Felder, $100; J. R. Felder,
' oo [ J- R. King, SSO; Jno. H.
F ° zi er> SSO; Jno. H. King, S2O;
' ■ x McNair, S2O; Jas. M. Toomy,
f °' w m. L. Faulk, $25; Al
‘ed Nels °n, S2O; Jno. M. Giles,
- C. j. Goodwin, $10; E. J.
• cGehee, SSO; J. H. Houser, $10;
ri. H, Miller, $25; C. J. Staley,
S. A. Riley, $10; Jno. S.
.Jbson, sio; col. A. M. Colley,
’ J. W. Bilvin, SSO; R. B. In-
Female College Was One of County’’s Earliest Institutions
gram, $25; R. W. Baskin, SSO;
Jno. R. Cook, $10; N. .Mashburn,
$25; Jno. W. White, SSO; G. W.
Burns, $25; M. Marshall, SSO;
A. Burnam, SSO.
Copied from original paper in
possession of Miss Kate Felder,
daughter of E. L. Felder, Clerk.)
Ft. Valley Academy
Under Act of Jan. 22, 1852, Al
len Wiggins, George W. Persons,
John J. Hampton, Wm, A. Math
ews, Adolphus D. Kendrick,
Miles L. Green, William J. An
derson, D. N. Austin, Judson
Kendrick, Wm. H. Hollinshed,
Mathew Dawsey, Benjamin
Barnes, Robert M. Patterson and
James A. Miller, and their suc
cessors in office w\re constituted
a body corporate by the name and
style of the “Fort Valley Female
Seminary or High School,” with
the right to confer all honors, de
grees and licenses that are usual
For The Land’s Sake, LIME!
More and More Farmers Are Increasing the Production
or Their Crop and Pasture Lands By Applying Our
HI-CALCIUM AGRICULTURAL LIMESTONE
Serving 110 Counties In Georgia
ROBERT B. JONES & R. A. COLEMAN, Sales Representatives
View of mine when opened in 1928. ONE OF THREE huge shovels now in use. View of Mine operations today.
ALSO
Furnishing Limestone As A Basic Material for Roads, Airports
and Other Facilities Requiring The Finest Foundations—Since 1928
GEORGIA LIMEROCK COMPANY
PERRY, GEORGIA
W. M. PALMER, Pres. PAUL HARDY, Superintendent
G.JG. WARE, Sec.-Treas.
“WHAT GEORGIA MAKES, MAKES GEORGIA”
ly conferred in Female Colleges.
By an Act approved Dec. 20,
1860, Wm. A. Skellie, James P.
Allen, T. N. Killen. W. T. Thomas
and Malachi Patterson were nam
ed trustees and made a body cor
porate under the name and style
of Trustees of the Fort Valley
Female College. They were em
powered among other things to
confer degree^.
There are older citizens who
still remember the “Male Acad
emy” at Perry. Our forebears
even before they had succeeded
in emerging from the horrors of
Reconstruction, realized the ne
cessity of improved educational
facilities for the boys coming into
young manhood. The genesis of
, that movement may be found in
the following clipping from the
Home Journal of July 12, 1873:
“A number of citizens met at'
the Court House to take into con
sideration our school interests. It (
. v*. ' '
i *
w - - - Hv'a
“the NEW PERRY GRAMMAR SCHOOL building completed
and occupied about two years ago is shown above. It is located
Southeast of the Perry High School building which was con
structed about 20 years ago but is still one of the most attractive
in the state. Two former colonial buildings which were once
used for classrooms on the grounds were moved and transformed
into beautiful homes by Mr. and Mrs. George Jordan and Mr.
j and Mrs. E. M. Beckham.
was decided that a good school
for males is an absolute necessity:
and it was proposed to proceed at
once to raise money to erect a
building for a male high school)
to be under the charge and direc
tion of the Methodist Church at
this place. The Baptists already
having charge of the Female Col
lege.
“The following amounts have
been subscribed for the erection
and furnishing of the Academy,
which makes about three-fourths
of the amount at present desired.
Rev. B. F. Tharpe, Gen. Eli War
ren, Col. C. C. Duncan, Thos.
J. Cater, T. M. Killen, George
W. Singleton, and Col. H. S.>
Dennard SIOO each; Wm. Brun
son, R. W. Baskins, J. W. Mann,
Dr. W. M. Havis, Day and Gor
don and J. R. Cook SSO; G. W.
Killen, and I. R. Bason S4O each;
HOME JOURNAL, PERRY, GA., THURSDAY, JULY 19, 1951
Dr. J. C. Gilbert, C. F. Cooper
and W. D. Pierce $25; L. M.
Houser SSO; D. H. and Dr. P. B. D.
H. Culler $25 each.
“A suitable building with con
venient furniture will cost about
$1,500; and it is proposed to put
it up and have the exercises of
the school to open by the first of
next Jan.” (This Academy stood
on the corner lot of the late Ebid
Holtzclaw (1932) son of R. N.
Holtzclaw).
Public Schools Started
The old ante bellum academies
ceased to exist after the War Be
tween the States. The State made
an appropriation to supplement
the pay of the teachers, however,
and a Couny School Commission
er for each county administered
the fund paying to each teacher
so much per pupil. It was the
(Continued On Back Page)