University of Virginia Library

STONEWALL JACKSON INSTITUTE.

In the year 1868, a number of the prominent citizens of Abingdon,
principally affiliating with the Presbyterian Church, feeling
it necessary that another school for the education of girls should be
established in this section of the State, undertook the founding of
such an institution in the town of Abingdon.

The location selected was the brick residence erected by General
John S. Preston in the year 1833, and lots Nos. 10, 11, 12, 13, 20,
21 and 3-4 of lot No. 9, in West Abingdon. This property was
occupied by General Preston until his removal to South Carolina,
and then by Governor Floyd until the time of his death.

After the death of Governor Floyd, his wife, Sally B. Floyd, and
W. B. Byars, trustee, conveyed this property to A. L. Hendricks,
who, on the 16th of January, 1868, sold and transferred the same
to the trustees of Martha Washington College.

Stonewall Jackson Institute, Abingdon, Va.

When it was definitely determined to undertake the establishment
of this school, the trustees of the Sinking Spring Presbyterian
Church, purchased from the Trustees of Martha Washington College
the property above mentioned, and the gentlemen interested at
once met and organized a Board of Trustees composed of the following
gentlemen: W. Y. C. White, A. C. Cummings, T. P. Clapp,
F. B. Hurt, Robert A. Preston, T. M. Clapp, James W. Preston, Rev.
James McChain, D. G. Thomas, D. C. Dunn, S. A. Preston,
D. C. Greenway and J. G. Kreger, and elected the following officers:

President, W. Y. C. White.

Vice-President, A. C. Cummings.

Secretary, John G. Kreger.

Treasurer, Samuel A. Preston.

The Trustees of the Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church
appointed the Rev. A. L. Hogshead as agent to solicit subscriptions
to the new enterprise, and the Board of Trustees gave to the
new institution the name of Jackson Female Institute, and selected
the Rev. Samuel Davies Stuart, of Staunton, Virginia, as principal
of the institution for the first year, and the Rev. Thomas Brown as
principal professor. The first session of this school began on the
15th of September, 1868, with a large attendance and bright prospects.
The name given to the institution was bestowed and intended
as a tribute, so far as such an act can constitute a tribute, to a
majestic character, a great name that will ever shine with undimmed
glory upon the page of history.

When General Lee received information of the organization of
this institution he addressed the following letter to the principal
of the Institute, expressing his feelings in regard thereto:

What more fitting monument could be erected to the memory of
General Jackson, who was loved chiefly for his patriotism, gentleness,
truth, his love for his family and his God, than an institution
of learning of this character.

Could General Jackson know the manner in which the young
lady pupils of this institution are taught and witness them in their
uniforms of Confederate gray, he would feel that this is the grandest

monument that has yet been erected to his name by a loving
people.

By the year 1870, it was found necessary to have this institution
incorporated, and the General Assembly of Virginia, on the 27th of
June, 1870, incorporated the same with the following Trustees:
W. Y. C. White, T. P. Clapp, James W. Preston, S. A. Preston,
David C. Dunn, Floyd B. Hurt, D. G. Thomas, John G.
Kreger, David C. Greenway, H. S. Preston, E. H. Barnett, George
R. Barr, James W. Humes, George W. Palmer, A. C. Cummings,
Isaac B. Dunn and Joseph R. Anderson.

I. B. Dunn and Joseph R. Anderson declined to serve as trustees
and R. M. Page and John A. Buchanan were elected to fill the
vacancies.

Considerable difficulty was experienced by the trustees of this
institution in relieving it from its indebtedness, but after a few
years the financial condition of the institution was such as to
justify the erection of a commodious addition, three stories in height,
at the east end of the original building, and about ten years ago a
handsome building was erected at the west end of the original building,
and the grounds were terraced and placed in excellent condition.

The trustees of this institution until recent years were selected,
one-half by the trustees of the Institute and the other half by the
trustees of Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church, but, in the year
1896, the trustees of the Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church
transferred their interest in the institution to Abingdon Presbytery,
and the charter of Jackson Female Institute was amended by the
General Assembly changing the name to Stonewall Jackson Institute
and provides for the appointment of new trustees by the Abingdon
Presbytery and the trustees of the Institute.

It may be said that this institution bids fair to experience in the
near future such an era of prosperity and usefulness as is seldom
witnessed, and that not without cause.

Could the fathers and mothers of our country know and experience
the gentle Christian-like influences that are constantly
exerted by the principal of this institution in her dealings with her
pupils, they could not hesitate to intrust their daughters to her care.

The Institute is situated upon a beautiful eminence on west Main

street, the grounds are studded with handsome shade trees, all of
them of full growth, many of them of stately stature and patriarchal
age; the surface is undulating in graceful terraces and intersected
by winding paths. The front and sides of the campus are
enclosed with a handsome stone wall, surmounted throughout its
entire length by an artistic iron fence. The buildings occupy the
crest of a hill of considerable elevation above the street upon which
they front and from which they are quite far removed, while the
town of Abingdon is 2,057 feet above the level of the sea. In salubrity
of climate, which is an important consideration in selecting a
school, Southwest Virginia is not excelled by any other section of
the country.

The principals of the institute since its founding have been:
Rev. Samuel D. Stuart, Thomas D. Davidson, A. Q. Holliday, Rev.
John O. Sullivan, J. D. Anderson and Miss Kate M. Hunt.

Under the present administration the institute has received a
larger patronage than in any preceding period of its history.