TRANSCRIPTION: Mount Pleasant, Cabarrus Co., N. C.
Rev. Z. W. Bedenbaugh,
Dr. Sir & Bro.: It is my pleasure to officially inform you that at a recent meeting of the Board of Trustees of Mont Amoena Female Seminary, at this place, you were unanimously elected Principal of said Seminary. The conditions of the call are as follows, Viz: You are to furnish, employ teachers, and have entire control of the institution, subject to the approval of the Board, and to pay to the treasurer of said Board one hundred dollars ($100) annually – the Board assuming no responsibilities. It was in the mind of the Board, when you were elected, that the church in this place (Holy Trinity E. L. Church) would also extend to you a call to become its pastor. (Waiting for an action of the church explains the course of the delay of this letter). I regret to say that the church has its eye upon another man and therfore the call from said church is not extended.
With the same mail of this letter I send to you the last catalogue, for your information.
Very truly yours Jonas Cook, Sec. B. T. Mont. A. F. S. [Board of Trustees, Mont Amoena Female Seminary]
P.S. It will cost something like $80000 to furnish the Seminary and you would need to employ at least two (2) assistants and a Music & Art teacher. ____________
RESPONSE
TITLE: Letter from Rev. Z. W. Bedenbaugh to Capt. Jonas Cook
SUBJECT: Correspondence
DESCRIPTION: Hand-written response to being elected Principal of Mont Amoena Female Seminary. He declined the position.
CREATOR: Rev. Zaccheus Wright Bedenbaugh, Newberry, South Carolina
SOURCE: Eastern Cabarrus Historical Society Museum, Mt. Pleasant, NC
DATE CREATED: June 3, 1891, Prosperity, South Carolina
RIGHTS: Eastern Cabarrus Historical Society Museum, Mt. Pleasant, NC
Collection Eastern Cabarrus Historical Society Museum, Mt. Pleasant, NC
Capt. Jonas Cook Secty. B. Trustees M. A. F. S. [Secretary, Board of Trustees Mont Amoena Female Seminary]
Dear Sir & Bro.: – I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter informing me of the action of the Board of Trustees of Mt. Amoena Female Seminary in electing me Principal of said institution. Since the reception of your very kind and fraternal letter, I have had the matter under serious and prayerful consideration, that I might know His will and my duty in this matter. It is a source of great satisfaction to me to know of the confidence and esteem of the Board of Trustees of Mt. Amoena F. Seminary, and a matter of much regret that I cannot see my way clear to accept the position so kindly offered me. Various reasons have influnece [sic] me in my decision, not the least of which is that I believe it necessary for the perpetuity and success of the institution that a man better qualified in every way for the work be called, and not from any lack of interest in the in the Seminary or unwillingness to take up distinctive Church work I beg that you communicate my decission [sic] to the Board, and express to them my sincere thanks and appreciation of their kindness and confidence. With best wishes and many prayers for the success of Mt. Amoena F. Seminary,
RIGHTS: The SA of NC considers this item in the public domain by U.S. law but responsibility for permissions rests with researchers.
Collection
Charters. Governors’ Office Records. State Archives of North Carolina
FORMAT Laws (documents), jpeg
SPATIAL COVERAGE United States–North Carolina
SOURCE INSTITUTION State Archives of North Carolina, North Carolina Digital Collections
TRANSCRIPTION: THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
TO ALL WHO SHALL SEE THESE PRESENTS, GREETING:
Whereas, D H Bittle, J. C. McEachern, Paul Miller, John S. Henderson, M. Widenhouse, Moses Barrier, John A. Troutman, and M. H. Carter
have associated themselves together under ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT now on file in the Office of the Secretary of the State, acknowledged before the Clerk of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions of Cabarrus County, on the 29th day of March, 1859, and have applied to be incorporated for the purpose of forming a Literary Institution for the promotion of education under the corporate style of “The Montamoena Female Seminary” to pursue the business of a high school to encourage education at Mount Pleasant in the County of Cabarrus, for the term of Thirty years.
Now Therefore, In pursuance of the provisions of an Act of the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina, ratified on the eighth day of November, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, entitled ” An Act to incorporate Literary Institutions and Benevolent and Charitable Societies,” We do by these presents declare the before-mentioned persons and their successors a Corporation, according to the terms prescribed in said ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT, under the name and corporate style of “The Montamoena Female Seminary” to carry on the business of a high school to promote & encourage education, at Mount Pleasant, in the County of Cabarrus, for the term of Thirty years from the date hereof: to have all the rights, privileges, powers and immunities conferred by the before recited Act of the General Assembly, and to be subject to all the limitations, liabilities and restrictions imposed by said Act.
In Witness Whereof, His Excellency John W. Ellis, our Governor, Captain-General, and Commander in Chief, hath signed with his hand these presents, and caused our Great Seal of the State of North Carolina to be affixed thereto.
Done at our City of Raleigh, on the 2nd day of April, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and fifty nine, and in the eighty third year of our Independence.
BY THE GOVERNOR: John W. Ellis
Graham Daves Private Secretary.
Memories of Mont Amoena 