Another great story from Harriet Branton! The Washington Female Seminary was a large part of LeMoyne history, and we have yet to put a story up about it on our blog page! This particular post talks about the final days of the Seminary in 1948. The last building was torn down last year to build another building for W&J College.
After teh retirement of Mrs. Sarah R. Hanna as principal of the Washington Female Seminary in 1874, the school continued to prosper under the capable administration of the new principal, Miss Nancy Sherrard. From the pupil's point of view, however, boarding school life in the late 1870s was not without its hazards. Illness sometimes created problems, as reported by one anonymous sufferer who wrote of a rather unusual experience. One day a student became ill with the flu (or a severe cold) and Miss Sherrard was summoned. The principal confirmed the diagnosis and bustled away to prepare her favorite remedy. She soon returned with an assistant bearing what was described as "about a peck of smoking corn in one hand and a gallon, more or less, of catnip tea in the other."
The patient was expected to consume both, and meekly did so; she was then left in peace and quiet to await the results. Soon she had perspired so profusely that the bedding was soaked. Some of classmates who dropped in to check on her were horrified; they resourcefully raided an empty bedroom for clean sheets to change the bed. Miss Sherrard, of course, found out and was sure that her patient would have a relapse; fortunately, however, she recovered nicely and, with the threat of another corn sweat hanging over her, she luckily never had another cold during the remainder of her stay at the seminary.
By the mid-80s the seminary was graduating an average of 20 students annually; in 1884 there were 140 pupils in attendance, 60 of whom were boarders. To keep pace with the steady growth of the institution, the trustees decided to construct a new wing for the building. Work was begun in June 1883 and on February 21, 1884, the dedication of the facility took place. The ceremonies were attended by about 500 people who afterwards inspected the 30 rooms of the new four-story wing. Construction costs came to a little more than $11,000; the total value of the building and grounds was then estimated to be about $25,000.
The completion of the new wing was especially welcome to the prep school youngsters. For some years prior to 1884 the little girls in the preparatory division had had their classes on the second floor of a small frame structure behind the main building. They had dubious distinction of being labeled the "wash house preps," because the ground floor of the little building contained the laundry facilities. Never mind, they did have a good time; more than one alumna wrote of her memories of those days- of being seated on great benches with desks much too large for small bodies and short legs, while the odors of hot suds from the laundry below permeated the whole building. The "unimportant juveniles" did have soem fun, however, since the hinged tops of the huge black desks made very convenient barricades for little people to dive behind and munch off bits of taffy or other goodies. Other fond memories included recollections of benches in the assembly hall which were so wide it was hard to sit properly; kittens which were smuggled into morning devotions, and one lively scholarwho was occasionally prompted at Sunday services to leap from pew to pew from the back of the church to the front.
Mis Sherrard's successful and competent administration came to an end in 1897. She had served with distinction for 23 years. Her relationship with the faculty had been harmonious; teacheres and pupils alike found her always ready with wise counsel, hearty sympathy, and cooperation. As a disciplinarian she was firm and just, and she did all in her power to create a homelike atmosphere at the school. Like Mrs. Hanna before her, Miss Sherrard was credited with maintaining the standards of the seminary and insuring its success. The trustees were sorry to see her go when they approved her request for retirement in 1897.
Miss Sherrard was followed, from 1897-1901, by Mrs. Martha McMillian who worked untiringly to increase the prestige of the school. It was during her term as principal that a college preparatory course was introduced and a second building was added to the seminary complex. Elice Mercur, a successful Pittsburgh architect, was selected by the trustees to design the new building. Since the mid-80s she had made quite a reputation for herself in a profession which in those days belonged almost exclusively to men. A member of a distinguished family from Towanda, Bradford County, Miss Mercur already had ties with Washington County. Her uncle, Ulysses Mercur, an 1842 graduate of Jefferson College, had studied law with T.M.T. McKennan and become a well-known member of the Pennsylvanian bar. From 1883 to 1888 he was Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Miss Mercur had studied abroad and had also attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Among her commissions were Episcopal churches in Pittsburgh and Johnsonburg, Pa., as well as the Women's Building for the International Cotten States Exposition in Atlanta, Ga. The new seminary building, constructed in 1897 at a cost of about $20,000, it was a four-story brick structure with classrooms, an assembly hall, and a gymnasium. Miss Mercur must have become a familiar figure in Washington during its construction, for it was her custom to inspect the laying of the foundation and personally to direct the workmen "from the first stone laid to the last nail driven." Today this building, now known as McIlvaine Hall, belongs to W&J College.
Financial woes, which had never appeared to be much of a problem to the seminary during the 19th century, began to plague the administration about the time of the first World War. In 1922 a most ambitious fund-raising project was undertaken jointly by trustees and alumnae. For some years there had been a move afoot to locate the school away from the central part of town. Trinity Hall Military Academy, which had closed its doors just 15 years earlier, was regarded by the Alumnae Association as an ideal site for the seminary. The 36-acre campus with its administration building, dormitory addition, and other buildings was for sale. The trustees secured an option for the property and recommended a fund-raising campaign for $100,000 to be used to purchase the site and erect a new building.
The campaign began with much optimism. Brochures pointed out that, since the seminary was partially self-sustaining in 1922, its future would be assured if it could raise this amount for the Trinity Hall project. Newspaper articles described various fund raising plans and the drive seemed to be well under way. For some reason, however, the goal was never achieved and the project was abandoned. Finally in 1925 the Trinity Hall property was purchased by several townships surrounding the city of Washington for the establishment of a joint high school. As Trinity High School, this public institution today occupies the handsome campus which had once been considered as a home for the Washington Seminary.
So the seminary continued to operate in its two buildings at the corner of Maiden and Lincoln Streets. Its rules were still quite strict and there were three departments of four years each- primary, intermediate, and academic. Students in the academic department could sign up for a college preparatory or general course. By the early 1930sfinancial pressures and increased competition from the growing number of public high schools created so many difficulties that in 1932 the trustees voted to close the school. Through the efforts of a devoted faculty and a determined principal, however, the seminary reopened almost immediately as a day school and hunior college and it continued to operate on this basis for another 16 years. Accreditation and financial problems continued to plague the administration and after the second World War the pressures became more intense. The school property had been sold to W&J in 1939; so, homeless and without funds, the trustees gave up the struggle for good in December 1947. The 112th commencement in June 1948 was the last.
