Montgomery Bell Academy - Bell Yearbook (Nashville, TN)

Page 12 text:

N i:t si. c;iTLiN has mteras lectiuis, ill igJomiuo NOri .fl SIT, |iio(l I m‘f4€s ct Cunitorcs Niiprudicti, alamnum, morihus iiiculimtuiii, literisijiic huinanioribiis iinbntiini, titulo praduqiic ARTIFM LIBERALIUM BACCALAUREI odoruavtriiiHi-te..ii lccoruvcrunt,ctcifruciiilaiIedc. umomninjura, privUegio, dignitates, Uonorcs et insignia, qua: hie nut iigqiiaiii oiitium ad ciindiim grndum cvcctis concedi soicnt. Ii Cl ' JlIS IlEI TESTIMOIWEM, Uteris hiscc ENIVERSITATIS 8IGIELO munilis, NOS, pro nuctori- tatc nohis commissn, ClIlItOGRAI ' lIA apposui.nus— »« «», « Ubu, Aeadennci. die quarto Octobris, Anno Domini tinnoqiiu Ucipublicw AuicricancD LXll. ■1 ' ‘ ' ’ ■ ' f 4 1 WDCCCXXXVII. X - r r ' j i ) 4 I i K ai UNIVERSITATiS NASHVILLENSIS, IMI E8EN ET CTTRATORES Charter for the University of Nashville. The first principal of Davidson Academy was Thomas Craighead, a Presbyterian preacher and teacher, the first minister to arrive at the Cumberland settlement. The school was located at Spring Hill Meetinghouse on the road to Gallatin near the site of the present Spring Hill Cemetery. Craighead taught the boys during the week at the rate of four pounds a year in “hard money” and preached to them and his neighbors on Sunday. In 1806, by legislative act, Cumberland College was chartered as the successor of Davidson Academy. Prior to this, in 1805, under the supervision of trustees Andrew Jackson and James Robertson, a new building was started on “College Hill” in South Nashville on lands belonging to the college. The work was completed in 1808, and the college moved across the river to its new home. Trustees, appointed over the years, were men of note including three United States Presidents: Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk and Andrew Johnson. 6

Page 11 text:

, ; r • ■ ■ ■-■• •■ ' ■■■ •.- -■ .-,4. . •--. ■ . J .. : :, : -, - . ■ a ' : ' , ; v - .sj . ' T ✓ ' • ' V v. I i ; , „ .y . — ., — :■ , ;f . y 7 c ; T i T . AA - V v , ;2 — V ' ■ ■ ' ' -- , , . .. . . H .,,;■ ,,. w vr. ,.■ --y-y ’ ■ X- . ri A. o X -7-- Z ' U - Vi? 6’-.— 6- ■ .i ' ■ - :?: . yr- y . X s-- V X “A Bill for the Promotion of Learning in the County Davidson.” Montgomery Bell Academy is closely linked to James Robertson, the founder of Nashville. The history of the Academy and the history of Nashville have always been bound up together. The seed, which grew into the Uni- versity of Nashville and later into MBA, was planted by James Robertson. On December 29, 1785 Gen. James Robertson, who represented in the Legislature of North Carolina “a people living in stations and forts” on the bank of the Cumberland, secured the passage of “an act for the promotion of learning in the County of Davidson.” Nine trustees were named, and the institution, called Davidson Academy, was organized the following year. The trustees were James Robertson, William Polk, Thomas B. Craighead, Hugh Williamson, Daniel Smith, Anthony Bledsoe, Lardner Clarke, Ephriam McLean and Robert Hayes. 5

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Dr. James Priestly succeeded Rev. Craighead as presi- dent of Cumberland College in 1810. In 1816, the college was closed because of financial difficulties. After some years of decline, the college was revived under the lead- ership of Rev. Phillip Lindsley, who arrived in Nashville December 24, 1824. Two years later the name of the institution was changed to the University of Nashville. Historians have called Dr. Lindsley a “giant in intellect.” Before coming to Nashville he had been president of Princeton College in New Jersey. His Educational Dis- courses became the cornerstone of higher education in Tennessee. Under his leadership, Nashville became the “Athens of the West” — a. name later to become the “Ath- ens of the South.” In 1855, the literary department of the University of Nashville, which had been closed, was reopened on the military plan. This was accomplished when John Berrien Lindsley, who had succeeded his father, Phillip, as presi- dent, merged the Western Military Institute with the University. In former years, the Institute had been lo- cated in Kentucky, but by the time of the merger, it was being operated at Tyree Springs under Col. Bushrod Johnson. With the approach of the Civil War, military instruction became popular, and the school grew rapidly. John Berrien Lindsley Phillip Lindsley James Priestley 7