Burritt College
Operating under the auspices of the Churches of Christ, the school offered a classical curriculum, and stressed adherence to a strict moral and religious code.
[1] The idea for a school in Spencer was first proposed by Nathan Trogdon, a brick mason who had built the second Van Buren County Courthouse in the town.
In 1848, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a law chartering the institution, which was named in honor of activist Elihu Burritt.
[3] His successor, William Davis Carnes, played a critical role in shaping the college's policies, most notably introducing coeducation in 1850 and instituting a strict moral and religious code.
[1] The policy allowing coeducation met staunch opposition at first, but Carnes defended it, stating, "It is God's law that the young of the opposite sexes should exert a healthful influence in the formation of each other's characters, and no place is better suited to this purpose than the classroom and lecture room.
"[3] To alleviate fears, Carnes modified the school's code to bar all communication between the sexes outside classrooms or other supervised events.
He struggled to curtail drinking, however, in spite of introducing increasingly stringent measures, including the expulsion of anyone caught in possession of alcoholic beverages.
He finally turned to local law enforcement, pleading with them to hunt down moonshiners operating in the Spencer area, and destroy their stills.
[3] The college closed at the outset of the Civil War in 1861 as many of its male students left to fight in the Confederate army.
[2] The college's relative isolation protected it during the first half of the war, though it was eventually occupied by Union troops.
Martin White, a Burritt graduate remembered by students for having walked the entire distance from his home in North Carolina to Spencer to enroll at the school, was hired as president.
[3] During the 1870s, Thomas Wesley Brents, a physician who had recently relocated to Spencer, offered his assistance to Burritt, and began raising money for the college.
[3] In hopes of reviving the college, the Board hired a Burritt graduate, William Newton Billingsley, as president.
Billingsley stabilized the college's finances, and managed to increase enrollment to over two hundred students by the end of the decade.
At a meeting the following day, the college's administrators and students agreed to finish the year and make plans to rebuild.
Students in the academical department were required to take Latin, mathematics, geography, spelling, writing and history during their first year, with Greek and English composition added in the second.
[3] A typical day during the Carnes and Powell administrations began at 5 A.M., with students initially preparing their rooms for inspection.
A catalog for the college from the early 1900s notes that the nearest railroad station was at Doyle, roughly 9 miles (14 km) to the north.
