Chappell Hill Female College was a private college in Chappell Hill, a rural community in Washington County,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, United States. It was founded in 1850 as part of the

coeducation Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

al school Chappell Hill Male and Female Institute. First chartered by the

Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...

in 1852 as a non-denominational preparatory school, the charter was amended to affiliate the school with the Methodist Church in 1854, and was rechartered as a women's college after the male department was spun off as

Soule University Soule University was a private school, private Methodist university in Chappell Hill, Texas, Chappell Hill, a rural community in Washington County, Texas, Washington County, Texas, United States. Chartered in 1856 and named after Joshua Soule, Bi ...

in 1856. It was closed in 1912 and the building became a public school until a replacement was built in 1927 that preserves the college's bell. The site was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1985.

History

The college was founded in 1850 with five teachers and 100 students as Chappell Hill Institute, a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

; the land was donated by Jacob and Mary Haller. It was chartered by the Texas Legislature on February 9, 1852 as Chappell Hill Male and Female Institute. A second building was added that year to separate the sexes. In fall 1852 it became Chappell Hill College and P. S. Ruter, who had taught at

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...

, became president. His sister Charlotte was head of the music department, and Elizabeth Knox headed the female division.Phelan, p. 358.Carole E. Christian
"Chappell Hill Female College"
''

Handbook of Texas The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). History The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President Wal ...

'' online, June 12, 2010, retrieved March 4, 2017. Tuition for a session of five months was advertised as ranging from $8 for "reading and spelling" to $20 for "Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Astronomy, Physiology, Algebra, Geometry, Latin, Greek, or the higher branches of Mathematics" and $25 for music or piano "with use of instrument". In 1854 the college had 100 students, and was acquired by the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

as a replacement for

Rutersville College Rutersville College (occasionally misspelled ''Ruterville College''), was a coeducational college located in the unincorporated community of Rutersville in Fayette County, Texas, United States. Chartered under the Republic of Texas in 1840, Rut ...

. The male division became

, and the female division was rechartered on August 29, 1856, as Chappell Hill Female College. Fires required replacing the building at least once, and the college was badly affected by the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

and by

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

epidemics, but it had paid off its debts by 1873. In 1878 the president was Epaminondas Dunn Pitts. In 1880–1881 the president was I. M. Onins, a Civil War veteran.Stephen Chicoine, ''The Confederates of Chappell Hill, Texas: Prosperity, Civil War and Decline'', Jefferson, North Carolina / London: McFarland, 2005, repr. 2011,
p. 194
A dormitory and a music hall were added in the 1880s, and the college played a prominent role in the culture of the area, particularly after Soule University closed in 1887; the college's monthly literary magazine, the ''Philomathean'', was active in raising money in the mid-1880s to establish a home for Confederate veterans. Enrollment had risen to 112 by 1885, but fell by half in the following ten years: the college took in 70 public school students, 50 of them boys, to raise money. The Methodist Texas Conference provided support, and the college was given the Soule University property to reduce its debt, but public schools in Texas were improving, women's colleges were less popular, and yellow fever continued to be a problem in the area. The curriculum was revised in 1900 to conform to the Methodist Church General Board of Education; a study published in January 1912 assessed the college as offering primarily secondary-school level courses. It was closed in 1912, at which time enrollment was 112. The building was used as a public school until 1926, when it was replaced by the building that now houses the museum of the Chappell Hill Historical Society. The college bell has been preserved there.

Notable people

* Lizzie Johnson Williams, cattlewoman: graduated 1859Don Blevins, "Lizzie Johnson Williams: Educator, Trail Boss, Rancher, Miser", in ''A Priest, A Prostitute, and Some Other Early Texans: The Lives Of Fourteen Lone Star State Pioneers'', Rowman & Littlefield, 2008; Guilford, Connecticut / Helena, Montana: Lone Star, 2016, , pp. 76–86
p. 80

History

Notable people

See also

References

Further reading