Early Schools of Calcasieu Parish, La Submitted by Margaret Rentrop Moore Source: Southwest Louisiana Biographical & Historical by William Henry Perrin; published 1891 page 146 - 149. ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ Schools. - The first school in the parish was taught at the house of the old pioneer, Jacob Ryan, who hired a man named Thomas Rigneaden to teach his children and those of his sons-in-law, Moss and Vincent. The first school house was built on Bayou Dend, six or eight miles from Lake Charles. The next school house in the parish was perhap's at Lake Charles, after it was laid out as a town. The parish now has a good system of public schools, and in Lake Charles an excellent graded school, second to none in the country. The editor of the American, in a recent issue of his paper, thus describes a visit to the different educational institutions of Lake Charles: First we visited the public school. We found the fine building, which has been recently erected by the school board, in first-class order. It is an imposing structure, 42x78 feet, two stories high, containing eight school rooms 20x3O feet each, with wide corridors, cloak room, etc. Prof. 0. S. Dolby, B.S., is the efficient principal, and has charge of the highest grade. He is an experienced teacher. Born in Ohio, reared in Michigan, graduated from Hillsdale College, Michigan, in 1882. He has taught continuously since then in Michigan and Louisiana. Miss M. J. Crossmun, B.S., a graduate of Ames' Scientific and Mechanical College, in Iowa. and a native of Virginia, has charge of the second department. She is also an experienced and accomplished teacher, having taught in Iowa, Virginia and Louisiana. The third department is under the temporary charge of Mr. Vincent, who will teach until a permament teacher is secured. The fourth department is presided over by Miss M. A. Jenkins, who is a native Louisianian and a graduate of the Girls' High School., of New Orleans. She has taught the last three years, with great success and acceptability, the school in Westlake, and needs no recommendation to the people of Lake Charles. The primary department is under the care of Miss Louise Leveque, a recent graduate of the St. Charles Academy, of Lake Charles. Although this is Miss Leveque's first experience as a teacher, she is thoroughly qualified for her work and is giving splendid satisfaction. She has her little boys and girls under thorough training and is popular with them. There are enrolled and in attendance in the various departments of the public school two hundred and three students, and the probability is that the number will be largely increased in the next few months. Next in our route, we visited the Lake Charles College. This institution, which is destined to be the leading college of the State west of the Mississippi, is domiciled in a beautiful and commodious building in the southeast part of the city. The main building is 55x85 feet, three-stories, 16, 14 and 12 feet high, respectively, and contains fourteen rooms and capacious corridors. The addition, which is to be built in the near future, is to be 40x6o feet, two Stories high. This imposing structure is situated in the center of a large campus, which is being graded, fenced and fronted with a splendid sidewalk. In the southwest corner of the campus, Mr. Frank Siling, builder, is just completing for the college a splendid cottage for boarding purposes. The main building is 72x4O, three stories high, and the L is 20x32, two stories high, and contains twentyseven rooms. It is a marvel of beauty and convenience, and reflects credit upon both architect and builder. Lake, Charles College was first opened for students October 1, 1890 with an eflicient faculty of five, but only three of them as yet have arrived on the ground, but will come on later. There are three departments-academic, preparatory and collegiate-but there are no students in the collegiate department this term. Rev. Henry L. Hubbell D.D., is the efficient president. He is a native of Connecticut, and has resided for several years in Amherst, Mass., as pastor of the Congregationalist church. He is a graduate of Yale College. Rev. A. R. Jones, M., a graduate of Amherst College of the class of 1880 is professor in the college. Mrs. C. W. Little, a graduate of Fox Lake Seminary, lowa, is professor of music. The college has enrolled thirty-nine this first month, and this number will be largely increased when the cottage is opened for boarders, as it will be in the near future. The faculty will be increased as rapidly as required, and the curriculum and instruction will be equal to the best colleges in the nation. The institution gives a fine opportunity to Northern parents to come and spend the winter in a genial climate, and at the same time send their children to a first class college while they are still under the care of their parents. The St. Charles Academy, under the supervision and instruction of the Sis- Marianites of the Holy Cross, has been in operation eight years. It is a chartered academy and gives diplomas to its graduates. It has literature, art and music in its course of study. The discipline is good, although corporal punishment is never resorted to. It has seven teachers and sixty girls and thirty boys in attendance. The Glendale Institute has been running six years in Lake Charles, under the efficient management of Miss Ella R. Usher, a native of Baton Rouge and a graduate of the schools of that city. She has one assistant, and teaches English and French. There are thirty-six in attendance at this institution. Miss Mollie Burt claims the honor of having the oldest school in the city. It is needless for us to speak in high terms of her as a teacher, for her work speaks for itself. She is a graduate of the New Orleans Girls High School, and has taught continuously in Lake Charles for a number of years. She has all the students she can take care of properly. The present number is twenty-five, but as soon as she secures an assistant a number of others will attend. Rev. S. Hoernicke is conducting a school in German and English, with good success. He is a native of Ohio, and a graduate of a college in Springfield, Ill. His school numbers thirty-six, and is increasing. Besides these schools, which are for whites, there are also several schools for colored children conducted in our city. The correspondent of the American Wool, Cotton and Financial Reporter, Boston, Massachusetts, the great educational center of the United States, the very Athens of America, had this to say of the college at Lake Charles: The Lake Charles College was established by the Congregationalists, of the New England States principally, a number of the wealthier citizens here aiding in the enterprise. They have, in a well situated portion of the city, sixteen acres of ground and a magnificent building erected thereon. This college opened October 1, with Rev. H. L. Hubbell, D.D., of Amherst Massachusetts, as president, and Rev. A. R. Jones, a graduate of Amherst College as principal of the preparatory and departments. We were present last Sunday night in the Baptist church in this city and listened to an able sermon from Dr. Hubbell who preached by invitation of the pastor, the Rev. G. B. Rogers, and at the close of the sermon Mr. Rogers also introduced Prof. Jones, and made a few excellent remarks, encouraging his congregation to stand by and help, by I word, deed and patronage, these Christian gentlemen in establisling, and main- this college. Mr. Rogers is a Southern man, and this shows the feeling that exists betwen the Northern and the Southern people here, and shows that the efforts made here by the Northern people are appreciated. This is thought to be afar-reaching movement on the part of the Christian people of the East. There are a great many people from the North here already, but not a great many from the New England States. The most of them settle in the prairie and along the line of the new railroad. We will endeavor to see a number of the Northern people who have resided here it year or more and relate in our next article some of their experiences." The colored people have a number of schools and churches in the parish, and a very excellent graded school in Lake Charles. They are manifesting considerable interest in educational matters.