The first session of the Gilmer Masonic Female Institute, under the
supervision of Mrs. L. W. Montgomery, closed on Friday, May 4, 1852,
after a thorough and rigid examination of the pupils on the various
branches, to-wit: orthography, reading, arithmetic, geography, ancient
and modern history, botany, philosophy, astronomy, and rhetoric, in all
of which they acquitted themselves with a great deal of honor, to the
satisfaction of parents and the spectators present.
The articulation and pronunciation could not be better. The deportment
of the young ladies was sufficient evidence of the excellent discipline
in the school room. There were forty pupils at the close. The second
session of the Institute was to open on the first Monday in July, 1852,
as announced by the trustees, P. C. Halenquist, J. M. Glasco, B. N.
Hampton, Thomas D. Brooks, and William Ward, but we have no further
record of the school after this.
The Gilmer Female College was given a charter by the Texas Legislature,
and the first session opened in September, 1854, and closed on the last
Thursday in January, 1855. Tuition for spelling, reading, and writing
was ten dollars for the term; and for geography, grammar, history,
arithmetic, and botany was $12.50 per term. Tuition for arithmetic,
botany, history, composition, natural philosophy, physiology, English
analysis, chemistry, mythology, astronomy, and Butler’s analogy, was
$15.00 per term. Music on the piano was $20.00. The faculty was Rev. W.
S. Stovall, Mrs. Martha W. Weatherd, and Miss Margaret Weatherd. A
boarding house was built near the school for the convenience of the
pupils and teachers. E. C. Williams was secretary of the Board of
Trustees. The Rev. Mr. Stovall soon left Gilmer and Mrs. Weatherd taught
several years, assisted by her daughter and Miss M. E. Beavers. Miss
Harriett M. Patilla taught music. This school closed after its fourth
session. Mrs. Weatherd was very popular in Gilmer, but her husband was
very unpopular, so she resigned and went to her home in Daingerfield. In
1857, Mr. Burkes began teaching in the Gilmer Female College and
continued for several sessions. He was an Irishman, said to have
graduated from Dublin University in Ireland. He came from Louisiana to
Gilmer. His assistants from 1857 to 1861, were his son-in-law, Mr.
Wiley, and his wife. J. B. Norman taught music. He organized in the
school one of the best bands in Texas at that time. He led a band
through the Civil War.