Presbyterian Colleges in East Tennessee – Hawkins County Genealogy & History

Literary Institutions of the Tennessee Synod

The text below is transcribed from the book entitled A Brief History of the Synod of Tennessee, from 1817-1887 (published 1890). The transcriber’s name was not indicated.

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Contents of this Article:

Besides the Synodical College at Maryville, which has been noticed already, there are other institutions within our bounds, properly Presbyterian, though not directly under ecclesiastical control, which justly claim our attention.

They have been founded, sustained and governed mainly by Presbyterians, and by educating a large proportion of our ministers and other professional men, have powerfully promoted the spiritual and intellectual progress of our population. First in order is

Washington College

For, though chartered a few months later than Greenville College, yet it was the outgrowth and continuation of Martin Academy, which was chartered before any other literary institution west of the mountains (1783).

In speaking of its founder, Dr. Samuel Doak, we shall give some account, which we need not anticipate, of the building of his log house, log college and log church, and the commencement of long and fruitful labors at Salem, in Washington county. What follows is condensed from a fuller account published by the writer in 1880.

It is reasonable to suppose that Mr. Doak had commenced, and had some success in educational labor at Salem, at least one or two years before he obtained the charter from North Carolina, for Martin Academy, in 1783, and that when it was chartered as Washington College in 1795, he had been teaching already about twelve years in his primitive building. It is matter for regret that the good father left no record of those years for the edification of posterity. But Dr. Ramsey testifies to the usefulness of his infant institution, when he says: “For many years it was the only, and for still more the principal seat of learning in the western country.”

There is evidence also from the minutes of the first meeting of the trustees of the College, that the Academy had attracted attention and contributions as early as the date of its charter. for the trustees at that meeting appointed Co. Landon Carter to sell 420 acres of land, on the Doe river,

“Which Col. Waitstill Avery had donated to Martin Academy,” and Messrs. John Waddel and John Sevier, Jr., “to collect certain subscriptions made to Martin Academy in 1784.” We pause here for a brief tribute to the memory of this Col. Avery. At the opening of the Revolutionary war he was a citizen of Mecklenberg county, N. C., a zealous patriot, a signer of the celebrated Mecklenberg Declaration of Independence in 1775, and a member of the Provincial Congress of North Carolina in 1776. In 1777, he visited Tennessee as a commissioner of North Carolina, to treat with the Indians at Long Island in the Holston, near Kingsport. When the first Court of Oyer and Terminer was established in Jonesboro in 1782, Waitstill Avery, Esq., was appointed State’s Attorney. It is said that some of his descendants are still large land owners about the headwaters of the Watauga. Honor is due to him who probably was the first to exhibit his patriotism and philanthropy by a large donation of land to a literary institution in the West.

The College had received its charter from the Territorial Legislature, July 8, 1795, and the above-named meeting of the trustees was held on the 23rd of the same month. A new subscription of £135/5s. was put into the hands of Mr. David Deaderick, of Jonesboro, as treasurer, and, as the same log structure which had sheltered the Martin Academy must cradle and protect the new-born college, the moderate sum of L9 8s. 6d. was expended in putting it in proper repair. Three years later the important addition of “a stone chimney” was made to the structure- the arch five feet back, six feet front and the top two feet higher than the roof – at a cost of L8. No doubt the old one, which had sent up its column of smoke for fifteen years, was a crib of logs lined and protected with mortar.

In 1795, the trustees owned no land, except the distant Avery tract, for Dr. Doak was still, and for thirteen years later, the owner of that on which the church and the College stood. But at the second meeting of that body, October 3, 1795, Alexander Mathes donated to the institution a valuable tract of fifty acres, adjoining that of Dr. Doak. The liberal donor was a pioneer settler and a member, both of the original session of Salem Church, and of the constituting board of trustees of the College. And here it may be well to add that E. S. Mathes continued a member of the board for forty-five years, and was, for the most of that time, their secretary and treasurer; that he greatly aided the College, both by personal efforts and by liberal contributions while he lived; and at his death, June 5, 1868, he left a valuable legacy which greatly assisted both the Salem Church and Washington College. He died at the mature age of seventy-nine years, and left behind him a character of generous liberality and devoted piety worthy of being admired and imitated.

In 1808, Dr. Doak donated the land now occupied by Salem Church and its cemetery to that congregation as being no longer needed by the College.

But to return to the organization of 1795. It was completed by dividing the students into three classes and requiring each student to deliver an oration before the trustees, on the 28th of September following, encouraged by small prized in money to the best speaker in each class. The first College Exhibition in the Western Country was held on the 17th of October, 1796.

Commencement days, under Dr. Doak were gala days, signalized by the display of whatever pomp and circumstance the officers and students could command. The gatherings of the people were in proportion to the novelty of such entertainments in the wilderness. The worthy president was easily distinguished by his peculiar dress as he moved facile princeps [sic] among the people, wearing his antique wig, his old-fashioned shoes with broad shining buckles, his long stockings and short breeches, also ornamented with buckles on the knees.

Of course, the multitude hung upon the lips of the youthful orators while their delighted sires and mothers were fondly predicting for them lives of honorable usefulness or lofty fame.

The honor of being the first-born sons of this youthful Alma Mater belongs to Messrs. John Whitefield Doak and James Witherspoon, who were graduated in 1796 – the former the eldest son of the founder, and the latter said to be related to the celebrated Dr. John Witherspoon, of Princeton.

In 1798, Dr. Doak, while in the East as a commissioner to the General Assembly, collected the nucleus of a library, which was transported on pack horses across the mountains, and in the same year the Avery lands were sold and the proceeds expended in globes, maps and other equipments. The library consisted largely of text books to be loaned to the students in the literary course, and works of theological lore for those who were students in divinity, for then such books could scarcely be bought in this region, and a goodly number of students received thier entire preparation for the ministry under Dr. Doak.

In 1806, the trustees judged that a new building was imperatively demanded, if the College was to maintain its character and retain its patronage. The country around had improved in all respects. The old building, which had been occupied for twenty years, was antiquated, rude and unsuitable to the changed times and circumstances. But the enterprise of a new building taxed the wisdom, energy and liberality of the officers and friends of the institution.

The Rev. John W. Doak was appointed financial agent, and after two years, having made tours to the South and East, he reported $1956 collected by him. With what was left of this small amount after expenses were paid, and with about $200 collected in Washington county, the trustees commenced building a new frame college and finished or made it habitable in 1808. This structure was erected on the fifty acres donated by Elder Alexander Mathes and about thirty yards north of the present brick college building. It has long since disappeared, and its site is marked by a small mound of monumental earth.

The year 1818 was signalized by the resignation of Dr. Doak, after a presidency of thirty-five years in the Academy and College, and by his retirement to Tusculum, in Greene county.

Since in another place we sketch his character and course as an instructor of youth, we shall proceed with a very brief account of Washington College under his successors.

Our limit will not admit a detail of the numerous struggles and changes experienced, of presidents and professors compelled to resign for want of adequate support, financial embarrassments, and the numerous efforts and expedients resorted to by the trustees to perpetuate the existence of an institution which was conferring inestimable blessings on both Church and State.

The Rev. John Whitefield Doak, one of the first graduates, succeeded his father, February 27, 1818, as the second president. With him were associated James McLin and Samuel Zetty, and one year later Mr. John V. Bovell, as tutors. His brief administration was suddenly terminated by death, October 6, 1920. The Rev. John V. Bovell succeeded, as the third president, and resigned after eight years, having graduated twenty-four students. The trustees then elected the Rev. James McLin as the fourth president, February 19, 1829. Mr. McLin resigned in 1838. Fourteen students were graduated and many had taken a partial course.

Financial difficulties now reached a crisis. Presidents and professor had been compelled to resign for want of support, and it was difficult to have their places filled. Agents to obtain necessary funds had often been appointed with inadequate success; and an abortive effort had been made to raise $20,000, to purchase and stock a farm and work-shops, in order to try the manual labor plan.

The next effort was the election of the Rev. S. W. Doak, of Tusculum Academy, who occupied the presidency less than two years and resigned, on condition that the Rev. Joseph I. Foote, the of Knoxville, would accept. Mr. Foote accepted on condition that $10,000 should be raised for a new building and general purposes. The second edifice, a frame structure, had become almost untenantable in about thirty-two years. This frame had succeeded the log college in 1808.

The $10,000 was obtained on subscription, and Mr. Foote having signified his acceptance, the trustees conferred on him the title of D. D., that the new administration might open with the greater éclat. They commenced the erection of the brick College, now standing, which is 85 feet long, 32 feet wide and four stories high. They also elected a full corps of professors. But a sudden and mysterious providence disappointed the hopes of immediately entering upon a new era of prosperity, for as Dr. Foote was coming to deliver his inaugural address and to be inducted into office, he was thrown from his horse and died of the injury on the next day, April 20, 1840.

The Rev. Archibald Alexander Doak succeeded to the presidency, September 19, 1840, with the Rev. Samuel Y. Wylie as vice-president. The new building and a president’s house were finished in 1842, but the subscriptions were largely unpaid, the institution in debt, and the difficulty of maintaining the faculty continued. In this emergency the president and professors were appointed financial agents in an effort to obtain endowments and to collect the subscriptions due for the building. This resulted in the collection of some subscriptions for the buildings, but failed in the matter of endowment. Yet, as the new president was not only a fine scholar but a brilliant genius and popular as a teacher and orator, and as the buildings and equipments were attractive, the attendance of students from far and near was greatly increased.

This administration continued with some interruptions, from 1840 to 1856, a period of about fifteen years. The professors during this period were the Revs. A. A. Mathes, William A. Irwin, Lewis Williams, and Messrs. T. L. Caruthers and William Smith; also the Rev. E. Thompson Baird was for some time professor of mathematics, and for eighteen months (1850-1852) was president during an interruption in the presidency of the Rev. A. A. Doak. After the final resignation of Mr. Doak, in 1856, the institution on account of financial embarrassments and the effects of the civil war, could no longer be sustained as a College proper, but with several changes and suspensions it was conducted as a select or high school for both sexes, for many years. These changes cannot be detailed here. The restoration of Washington College, after the ruin effected by the civil war, to its present position of efficiency, was effected in the midst of difficulties and discouragements, by the labors and sacrifices of its trustees, principals and professors.

In 1868, the school was reorganized as a Female Seminary, with the Re. William B. Rankin as President and Superintendent, and Misses Ellen Rhea, of Blountville, and C. A. Wood, of Kingsport, as associate principals. At the end of one year, Miss N. A. Telford was elected to the place of Miss Wood, who had resigned. The presidency was transferred to Mr. F. G. McClure – Mr. Rankin retaining the position of superintendent. Under the efficient superintendence and financial agency of Mr. Rankin, the debt of the institution was reduced from $4000 to $300, and the institution enjoyed an encouraging attendance of pupils. After his resignation there was another suspension, during which the property was neglected and greatly abused, so that the enclosure was broken down, the grounds overgrown with weeds, the library and apparatus robbed or rendered useless by breakage and the building untenantable.

In 1877, the trustees elected the Rev. J. E. Alexander, of Greeneville, but formerly of Ridley Park, Pa., principal, to conduct a High School, either male or female, or mixed, at his option. His efforts in adverse circumstances resulted, in six years, in the repairing and improvement of the building and grounds, the addition of ten acres to the landed property and the establishment of a prosperous institution of male and female pupils, a large proportion of whom were classical students. During the last year of his connection with the College, 1882-83, the Rev. J. W. C. Willoughby was associated as co-principal, and since conducted it as president with encouraging success, in connection with the pastorate of Salem-Presbyterian Church. Rev. M. A. Mathes served as professor of mathematics from 1885 until his death, in 1888. Valuable additions have been made in the way of buildings, and the aid afforded in support of the faculty by the Women’s Executive Committee and the Board of Aid adds increased assurance of permanence and prosperity.

It is impossible to estimate the widespread, various and lasting benefits which it has conferred on the social, civil and religious interest of large sections of our country. Among the distinguished ministers of the Presbyterian Church who were students of Washington College, were the Rev. Drs. John W., Samuel W., A. A., and w. S. Doak; W. M., John W. and Alexander N. Cunningham, Andrew Vance, James A. Lyon, J. D. Tadlock and Samuel Hodge; also the Revs. Samuel Kelsey and David Nelson, James Gallaher, Gideon Blackburn, James McLin, John V. Bovell and others, of whose lives and labors brief sketches may be found in other parts of this volume.

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