Choctaw Academy was a historic

Indian boarding school American Indian boarding schools, also known more recently as American Indian residential schools, were established in the United States from the mid 17th to the early 20th centuries with a primary objective of "civilizing" or assimilating Na ...

at Blue Spring in

Scott County, Kentucky Scott County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 57,155. Scott County is part of the Lexington–Fayette, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Native Amer ...

for

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

students. It existed from 1818 to 1842.

History

Baptists Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

started an academy for Choctaws in 1818 near

Georgetown, Kentucky Georgetown is a home rule-class city in Scott County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 37,086 at the 2020 census. It is the 6th-largest city by population in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is the seat of its county. It was originall ...

, but it quickly failed due to lack of funding. The school was reopened around 1821 after the U.S. acquired Choctaw lands in Mississippi because Chief

Peter Pitchlynn Peter Perkins Pitchlynn ( cho, Hatchootucknee, italic=no, ) (January 30, 1806 – January 17, 1881) was a Choctaw chief of Choctaw and Anglo-American ancestry. He was principal chief of the Choctaw Republic from 1864-1866 and surrendered to the ...

and other members of the tribe had worked with U.S. Representative

Richard Mentor Johnson Richard Mentor Johnson (October 17, 1780 – November 19, 1850) was an American lawyer, military officer and politician who served as the ninth vice president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841 under President Martin Van Buren ...

to request that part of the treaty money be used on schools. The original Baptist school was located near Johnson's home on his land, so he contacted his brother-in-law William Ward, a U.S. Indian agent, and the school was restarted as a Federal school in 1825, and a three-story stone building was constructed. Johnson's own mixed-race children and other family members attended the school as well as children from various tribes.

Closure and preservation of site

The

Indian Removal Act of 1830 The Indian Removal Act was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for ...

caused many Choctaw to move to what is now Oklahoma, and the Choctaw ceased funding the school in 1842 when various reservation schools were founded including Spencer Academy. As of 2017 the stone Choctaw Academy building was dilapidatated, and the roof was caving in, but private fundraising was started to save the 1825 building, and a grant was given by

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma The Choctaw Nation (Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American territory covering about , occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United S ...

's Chahta Foundation.Katherine Flynn, "Kentucky Ophthalmologist Fundraises to Save Choctaw Academy" Preservation Magazine, https://savingplaces.org/stories/kentucky-opthalmologist-fundraises-choctaw-academy#.Yg0ehurMJPY

Notable alumni and faculty

Julia Chinn Julia Chinn ( – July 1833) was an American plantation manager and enslaved woman of "mixed-race" (an "octoroon" of seven-eighths European and one-eighth African ancestry), who was the common-law wife of the ninth vice president of the United S ...

, wife/slave of Vice President Johnson, manager of the Choctaw Academy, * John Tecumseh Jones, interpreter, Baptist minister, businessman, friend of

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

and founder of

Ottawa University Ottawa University (OU) is a private Baptist university with its main campus in Ottawa, Kansas, a second residential campus in Surprise, Arizona, and adult campuses in the Kansas City, Phoenix and Milwaukee metropolitan areas. It was founded in ...

in Kansas *

Robert Ward Johnson Robert Ward Johnson (July 22, 1814 – July 26, 1879) was an American planter and lawyer who served as the senior Confederate States senator for Arkansas, a seat that he was elected to in 1861. He previously served as a delegate from Arkansas ...

, U.S. Senator from Arkansas, Confederacy supporter * Robert McDonald Jones, Choctaw tribal member, businessman, Confederate politician

References

{{coord missing, Kentucky Native American boarding schools Schools in Scott County, Kentucky School buildings completed in 1818 1818 establishments in Kentucky Choctaw culture Native American history of Kentucky 1840s disestablishments in Kentucky