Live Oak Female Seminary

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Live Oak Female Seminary
TypeFemale seminary
Active1853–1888
PresidentJames Weston Miller
Location
Gay Hill
,
Texas
,
USA

Live Oak Female Seminary was a Presbyterian female seminary and boarding school in Gay Hill, Washington County, Texas from 1853 to 1888. Many daughters of the Southern aristocracy were educated here.

History[]

It was founded by Presbyterian minister James Weston Miller (1815-1888) in February 1853.[1][2][3][4] Miller served as Superintendent, Chaplain, and Teacher of Latin, French, Greek, and Moral Philosophy.[2] His second wife and first cousin, Elizabeth Scott Stuart, was in charge of boarding arrangements.[2] Her sister, Rebecca Stuart, was Principal and Teacher of English, History, Science, and Mathematics.[2] After she got married, her husband, , a physician, became the laboratory instructor and Teacher of Science and Mathematics.[2] Other subjects included art and music as well as embroidery, home economics and the Bible.[2][5]

There were about sixty boarders and fifty day students.[2] While primarily a female seminary, Miller's sons were educated here.[2] Many of the students belonged to what came to be known as the Southern aristocracy.[3] For example, the mother of the Chairman of the Board of Regents of Texas A&M University Edward Benjamin Cushing, Matilda Burke, was educated here.[3] Moreover, the daughters of three first judges on the Texas Supreme Court were also educated here: Betty Lipscomb and Lucy Lipscomb, daughters of Judge Abner Smith Lipscomb; Emily Wheeler, daughter of Judge Royall T. Wheeler; and Elizabeth Hemphill, daughter of Judge John Hemphill.[3] Moreover, the nieces and grandnieces of Judge Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor, who lived on a farm across from the seminary, attended Live Oak.[3] Anne Giddings, later the wife of , the President of , and the mother of , the Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, was also educated here.[3]

During the American Civil War of 1861–1865, the school remained open.[2] However, Miller's wife and sister-in-law stopped teaching at the school.[2] Miller served as a Confederate chaplain under Brigadier General Thomas Neville Waul.[1] The school was resumed properly at the end of the war in 1865, although his sister-in-law had left for Austin, Texas, where they established the Stuart Seminary.[2] Nevertheless, the school was operational and Miller's three daughters taught there.[2]

The school closed down shortly after Miller's death, in 1888.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Carole E. Christian, "MILLER, JAMES WESTON," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fmi18), accessed October 08, 2014. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m Lel Purcell Hawkins, "LIVE OAK FEMALE SEMINARY," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/iwl03), accessed October 08, 2014. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Robert Finney Miller, 'Early Presbyterianism in Texas as Seen by Rev. James Weston Miller, D. D.', The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 2, 1915, pp. 159-183 [1]
  4. ^ Lois Wood Burkhalter, Gideon Lincecum, 1793-1874: A Biography, Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 2010, p. 75 [2]
  5. ^ Mary Henrietta Chase, Seeley family, M. H. Chase, 1961, Volume 1, p. 72 [3]

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