Jessamine Female Institute was an American finishing school and college for women founded in Nicholasville, Kentucky.
On May 20, 1854, the community of Nicholasville, Kentucky held a public meeting where it adopted a resolution in support of establishing a school for females.
[1] Later that year, the Legislature of Kentucky authorized a company to start a school in Nicholasville.
[2] J. E. Spilman, pastor of the Nicholasville Presbyterian Church, operated the school for several years starting in 1863.
[3] The Legislature of Kentucky granted a new charter for the non-sectarian Jessamine Female Institute in February 1866.
[3][1] Miss M. F. Hewitt was hired to reorganize the school and became its principal in September 1881; she managed it for the next twelve years.
[3][1] When the number of students increased under Hewitt's leadership, the institute's board of trustees voted to spend $20,000 on a new building in 1881.
[3][1] In September 1885, the institute had the largest number of students in history, including more than fifty boarders.
[12] In March 1911, it was announced that G. P. Simmons, an associate principal at Campbell–Hagerman College, had purchased the Jessamine Female Institute property to start a new school.
[14][11] The campus of Jessamine Female Seminary was located on three acres on a hill west of Nicholasville, Kentucky.
[1] When the school opened in 1855, its curriculum included art, English, Greek, Latin, mathematics, modern languages, and music.