CITATION:
Staff Writer, “Certificates Of Graduation Are Presented To 22,” Mont Amoena: Educating the Young Ladies of Cabarrus Couunty 18, t59-1927, accessed December 27, 2014, https://montamoena.org/2014/12/28/mt-pleasant-dedicates-new-historical-markers/

TRANSCRIPTION:
Concord Tribune, 1962

MT. PLEASANT – The service of dedication for two historical markers at Mt. Pleasant Sunday afternoon was a happy occasion for many people.

From widely separated places, old friends and fellow students of the two schools indicated by the markers, came to pay tribute to the past.

The happiness of their reunion overflowed in the tears of nostalgic joy as they greeted, from the twilight of life, those whom they had known years before.

The 3 p.m. program began with a band concert by the Mt. Pleasant High School band as alumni from Mont Amoena Seminary and  Mt. Pleasant Collegiate Institute gathered near the square.

Even the strains of the National Anthem momentarily failed to diminish the enthusiastic handshaking and joyous greetings.

And they remembered.

Mrs. J. H. C. Fisher, 92-year-old widow of the President of the seminary, recalled the time in 1911, when the old seminary burned and she was trapped on the second floor.

She jumped from a window to escape the flames.

Mrs. J. L. Morgan sat beside her in hThe crowd of several hundred, er wheelchair also, and reminisced about the days when she was teacher at Mont Amoena and her husband was president of the Lutheran Synod of North Carolina.

Sunday’s activities had a double meaning for her. It was also her 87th birthday.

Rev. R. A. Goodman, D. D. enjoyed the special distinction of being the only teacher to have served in both the Seminary and MPCI.

The crowd of several hundred, young and old, with cameras and tape recorders, gathered close around Master of Ceremonies R. Brown McAllister as he opened the program with recognition of other special guests.

Teachers and Alumni of the old schools included Dr. and Mrs. Edwards, Dr. and Mrs. D. S. Brown, Harry Isenhour, W. Guy Isenhour, Dr. and Mrs. Blackwelder, Capt. Johnny McDaniel, and Mrs. Paul Beatty.

Miss Susan Nance, MP High School graduate who wrote first to the Sate Board of Archives and History concerning the markers, was also given special recognition.

Principal address for the event was delivered by the Rev. Henry McCullough Jr. pastor of the Lutheran Church of The Redeemer, Newberry, S. C.

Dr. McCullough pointed out the fact that in spite of the limited size of the two Mt. Pleasant Institution, they had left a priceless heritage to the people of the community.

“The education given these outstanding citizens was like planting seed corn for the Kingdom of God,” he said. “In spite of the vast technological advances in our age, university graduates of today lack comprehension and appreciation of these basic Liberal Arts and Humanities.”

The afternoon program was concluded with a benediciton by the Rev. Walter yount, pastor of Calvary Lutheran Church, Concord.

CITATION:
Staff Writer, “Certificates Of Graduation Are Presented To 22,” Mont Amoena: Educating the Young Ladies of Cabarrus Couunty 1859-1927, accessed December 27, 2014, https://montamoena.org/2014/12/28/n-c-educational-center/

TRANSCRIPTION:
Unknown newspaper, c. 1970s

N. C. EDUCATIONAL CENTER

Rev. C. L. T. Fisher, Re. Henderson N. Miller, Rev. J. H. C. Fisher, Rev. R. A. Goodman and Prof. H. T. J. Ludwig.

Emphasis was placed on economic operation of Mont Amoena. Cost of tuition was amazingly low by today’s standards. It was possible to attend the school for as low as from $62 to $80 per year, including tuition, room and board, in the 1890’s to less than $200 in the era before World War I. Costs were somewhat higher in the years before the school ended its distinguished career.

Residents of Mt. Pleasant will particularly be interested in this paragraph from the Mont Amoena catalog for 1923-24:

“The town is pleasantly situated in a fertile section of the State, and is free from all malarial diseases. Persons suffering from chills and fever are always benefited, and in some instances cured, by a residence in town. These facts are stated in order that parents may feel safe in sending their daughters to the school.”

Says the catalog of 1897-98:

” The community (Mt. Pleasant) is highly moral and intelligent and is protected, by legislative enactment, from all exhibitions of an immoral tendency, and from the sale of spirituous liquors within its corporate limits. . . .”

The catalog of the school also placed emphasis on physical training for its students, pointing out that in addition to tennis, basketball, and croquet courts, there was a regular walking course prescribed for the young ladies. One capes us, says about the exercise of walking. . . .”The more walking the better.”

CITATION:
Staff Writer, “Certificates Of Graduation Are Presented To 22,” Mont Amoena: Educating the Young Ladies of Cabarrus Couunty 1859-1927, accessed December 27, 2014, https://montamoena.org/2014/12/28/certificates-of-graduation-are-presented-to-22/

TRANSCRIPTION:
Unknown newspaper, c. May 25, 1927

CERTIFICATES OF GRADUATION ARE PRESENTED TO 22
——–
Fourteen Graduates of Mont Amoena Seminary and 8 of M. P. C. I. Are Given Their Diplomas
——–
FINAL PROGRAM ATTRACTED CROWD
——–
Finals for Two Mt. Pleasant Schools Ended Durin Morning and Large Crowd Enjoyed Program
——–
By Staff Correspondent.
Mount Pleasant, May 25,–Several hundred people, including friends and parents, gathered here this morning for the joint graduation exercises of the Mount Pleasant Collegiate Institute and Mont Amoena Seminary. Although lengthy, the final program of the commencement services of these two Lutheran institutions was beautiful and profound.

The joint program began at 10 o’clock and concluded at 1 o’clock this afternoon.

The graduates of Mont Amoena Siminary are: Adelle Anderson, Ruth Barrier, Mary Ella Barrier, Virginia Cline, Miriam Foil, Jessie Isenhour, Ellen Linker, Ruth Lowder, Shirley Moose, Jane Penninger, Frieda Smith, Lena Hahan, Verna Mae Hahn, and Nemea Cox. Little Miss Rachael Smith, the mascot, was on the platform with the graduates.

The graduation class of Mount Pleasant Collegiate Institute includes: C. R. Little, R. E. Davis, F. L. Caughman, F. A. Moser, H. A. McCullough, W. J. Prevo, J. H. Taylor, J. D. Suther, A. W. Caughman and M. L. Little. The later two were given certificates.

Near the conclusion of the program the winners of various school honors were named and medals awarded to them. The distinction list of the Collegiate Institute follows:

Students who did not receive any demerits during the 1926-27 session: J. C. Curry, J. S. Davis, R. E. Davis, H. L. Fisher, C. A. Honeycutt, F. A. Moser, H. B. Shoaf, H. H. Sloop, O. K. Stringer, J. D. Suther and J. H. Taylor.

The students whose general averages was 93 or above, winning first distinction in classroom honors, are: H. A. McCullough, Jr., C. A. Honeycutt and H. E. Barrier.

Those winning second distinction in classroom honors are given below:

C. C. Barringer, A. W. Caughman, H. W. Czarnitzki, W. M. Freed, J. D. Honeycutt, M. L. Little, H. C. McAllister.

The follwoing students did not miss any recitations during the session: G. L. Barrier, R. W. Hotinger, H. B. Shoaf, O. K. Stringer, J. C. Curry, J. L. Daves and D. F. Mendenhall.

J. H. Taylor of the graduation class won the annual oratorical contest held at the commencement exercises this morning. He won over H. A. McCullough, F. A. Moser and J. A. Suther. The title of his impressive oration was “Today, the Index to Tomorrow.”

Mr. Taylor was awarded the oratorical medal at the same time medals were give to other young men of the school who had during the year accomplished some oustanding achievement and honor.

The medal winners include: G. D. Bellis, declaimer; C. A. Honeycutt, debater; J. H. Taylor, orator; J. A. Fowler, military; H. A. McCullough, scholarship and Science; Company B. trophy cup: Capt. H. H. Sloop, First Lieut. F. L. Caughman, Second Lieut. C. A. Honeycutt, Second Lieut. E. L. Miller.

Opening the program this morning the graduating essays of the senior class of Mont Amoena Seminary were read by their authors. The title of the essays and their authors are as follows: Miss Ruth Barrier, “The Gates of the Mind;” Miss Virginia Cline, “No Thorns, No Roses;” Miss Lenna Hahn, “The Ideal American;” Miss Jessie Isenhour, “He Who Labors Conquers;” Miss Jane Penninger, “The Value of Spare Moments;” Miss Freida Smith, “Today’s Call for Justice.”

Miss Helen Thayer won first distinction in classroom honors. The students winning second honors are: Misses Ruth Barrier, Numa Cox, Jessie Isenhour, Gerdie Cook, Janie Dryde, Verna Mae Hahn, Margaret Schulengerger, and Annie Laurie Drye.

The Seminary society cup this year was won by the Alpha chapter of the Bernheim Literary Society.

Prof. McAllister announced that the Mont Amoena Seminary next session, which opens September 14, will be under the management and coordination of the Mount Pleasant Collegiate Institute, and will not be suspended.

CITATION:
Staff Writer, “Girls at M. P. C. I.,” Mont Amoena: Educating the Young Ladies of Cabarrus Couunty 1859-1927, accessed December 5, 2014, https://montamoena.org/2014/12/06/girls-at-m-p-c-i/

TRANSCRIPTION:
The Institute, c. 1927

GIRLS AT M. P. C. I.

Following announcement that Mont Amoena Seminary would not open for the session of 1927-1928, solicitious inquiries were received by the management of the Collegiate Institute as to the admission of girls. This presented a rather perplexing question. The Collegiate Institute is a distinctively Boys’ School. The military feature is definitely established. The admission of girls seemed incongruous. However, there was a disposition to accommodate those knocking for admission, especially those who were desirous of completing their preparation for college. Accordingly, it was decided to receive such as Day Students.

In the September Institute News, something in the nature of a prophecy was expressed in these words: “An added touch toward the refinement of the finished product – a 100 per cent, successful school year- will be realized, let us believe, in the presence of a limited number of sisters  counted for the first time in our student body. Just enough to give color to a handsome picture and set the pace, maybe, in scholastic achievement.”

The nine girls who were enrolled have fulfilled the “prophecy.” The photographic cut of the “Specials,” which will appear in the new catalogue, is evidence of the enhancement of the “color” and “refinement” of the student-body; and, those who have access to the Record can testify that the girls duffer not in comparison in the mater of scholastic achievement.”

CITATION:
Staff Writer, “Ideals, principals taught at Mont Ameona will live on,” Mont Amoena: Educating the Young Ladies of Cabarrus Couunty 1859-1927, accessed December 5, 2014, https://montamoena.org/2014/12/05/ideals-principals-taught-at-mont-amoena-will-live-on/

TRANSCRIPTION:
The Concord Tribune, Sunday, September 2, 1973
Idelas, principals taught at Mont Ameona will live on

MT. PLEASANT – The Mont Amoena Seminary in Mt. Pleasant is only a memory for the old timers to recall and where the institution once stood, there’s now nothing but a parking lot.

The facility, which until 1932 housed a school for young women, has passed into history and little remains but the memories of a few who where a part of that history.

The proud days of Mont Ameona Seminary are gone and even the decaying old buildings that once graced the site have been reduced to rubble and hauled away.

It was 114 years ago – 1859 – when the seminary was established and housed in a large white frame building, the clean simple lines of which were marred only by a tower jutting above the roof.

The institution survived the rigors of the War Between the States and was taken over by the North Carolina Lutheran Synod in 1869 which operated the school until its demise in 1932.

The old building was heated by wood stoves, one in every room, a factor which was directly responsible for the destruction of the original structure on Thanksgiving night 1911. Fortunately, it was at this time that one of the college’s semi-annual plays was being given in the school’s off-campus auditorium.

A fire started in a dormitory room and the building was a mass of flames before the blaze was discovered.

In 1913, the new building was opened after a construction period of more than a year.

When the school was re-opened that year the faculty included Rev. R. A. Goodman, president; Rev. J. H. C. Rosalyn Summer, Miss Ella Belle Shirey, Dr. J. M. Earnhardt, Mrs. Hampton A. Stirewalt, Mrs. Moses Foil and Mrs. Leah J. Fisher.

According to the Bulletin for the 1915-16 term, the school was in an ideal location “free from all malarial disease. Persons suffering from chills and fever are always benefitted, and insome instances, cured by a residence in the town,” the Bulletin stated.

The Bulletin described the “The morality and intelligence of the community, the legislative inacement forbidding the sale of intoxicating liquors and the absence of gambling dens and other haunts of vice afford the student the best possible safeguard and environment.”

Despite its relatively small enrollment (75 to 100 girls), the school offered a varied curriculum, including Bible, English, mathematics, Latin, German, French, natural sciences, penmanship, padegogy, algebra, history, physics, chemistry, ethics, logic and geology. The college was especially proud of its art and music courses in which a variety of subjects were available. In its later years, a commercial department was added.

In its bulletins of years gone by, the college stressed that it featured low-cost education. In 1925, a girl, boarding student, could attend the seminary for one year for $260, including “lights, heat, bath and room.”

Enough of the cold facts. What was life like for the pretty young women who attended the seminary?

Discipline, it is said, was “extremely strict.” During the heyday of the old building, near the turn of the century, a former student recalled that girls were not allowed any gentlemen callers unless they were fathers, brothers or uncles and the institution was strictly “off limits’ for young men of North Carolina College (later known as Mt. Pleasant Collegiate Institute).

Girls on the lawn of the college were not allowed to speak to boys passing on the sidewalk only a few feet away – in fact, they could not acknowledge their presence in any way, it is said.

Monday was a big day for the girls for that was the day they were marched “uptown” to Mt. Pleasant where friendly clerks at Heilig’s General Store and Moose’s Drug Store waited to serve them.

At the beginning of each school year, the president of the institution arranged to have carriages or, in later years, motor cars, waiting to transport students from the railroad depot at Concord to the seminary.

Prior to the destruction of the old building, each girl, upon entering the school in September, was required to furnish the principal with a list of six correspondents and these were the only people she would write to duriing her stay at the college.

In 1932, however, the days of Mont Amoena Seminary became just a memory and the building which once brought educational opportunities to hundreds of young women found itself being ravaged by nature.

But during World War II, when housing became a problem, portions of the structure were turned into apartments.

After the war, Mont Amoena became a haven for rodents and again, nature began to take its toll in the form of decay and deterioration.

For more than tow decades the old structure stood only as a monument to the town’s past history.

Several years ago, members of the First Baptist Church acquired the property and had the old building razed.

Today, Mont Amoena Seminary has been totally removed from the landscaped at Mt. Pleasant. Memories, however, will linger for years of the old building and the activities that took place there.

But even when memories are gone, the ideals and principals taught at this institution will continue to have their influence upon the people of this area and this state, through the children, grandchildren of those who knew the campus so well.