Bryan Co., OK; Schools - Bloomfield Academy --------------------------------- Submitted by the Bryan County Heritage Library Located in Calera, OK and Viki Anderson vikia@novia.net --------------------------------------------------------------- USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Bryan County History and Oklahoma Indian Pioneer Interviews - Elizabeth Kemp - #168 and #169 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Bloomfield Academy was established in 1853 by the Chickasaw Council as a Seminary for Indian girls. The site is located near Achille. The academy was located on two different sites about three-quarters of a mile apart. Near the second location of the academy is the Bloomfield Cemetery where many prominent Chickasaws and missionaries are buried. Fire destroyed the buildings at Bloomfield in 1914. In 1917 the academy was moved to Ardmore (Carter County) and renamed the Carter Seminary. Girls weren't neglected either. Besides the schools mentioned above, Bloomfield Academy, south and east of Colbert, was constructed for them by Silas A. Carr and financed by the Methodist Missionary Board, which contributed one third and the Chickasaw Nation the rest of the money needed for current expenses. They also received $1,000 annually, from interest on money George Washington refused to accept from the First Congress for his services during the Revolutionary War as commander-in- chief of the army. The Civil War interrupted education. Boarding schools were closed and students returned home. It was some time after the close of the war before educational attempts resumed. In 1894, the Choctaw canceled all contracts for their schools from other sources. The Federal Government took control of all tribal schools in 1898, funding them with Indian Funds. Today most Choctaw children attend public schools. Interview 168 My parents tried to give us children an education. One of my sisters went to Bonham, one to Bloomfield, and Simon, my brother, was sent to Dangerfield, Texas. But school days were over when he was seventeen years old as a very bad prank was played on him which saddened his life. While at Dangerfield, each boy had his chores; and one of them was to build fires, at which each boy took his turn. A story of a ghost appearing in the school room each morning as the fires were beginning kindled was told. So when it came my brother's turn to light the fires, th told them he wasn't afraid. As he lit the match to light the fire, something all white blew it out an said, "You will have to fan the fire." As he struck another match, he could see the white form; and in the excitement, he hit the form over the head with the poker. To his sorrow, he had killed Bob Hamilton, one of his companions. My brothers and sisters all married and raised families. I have only on brother, Joel C. Kemp, living today. I spent four years in Bloomfield Seminary (starting in 1853) that were happy years. Bloomfield was in charge of the Methodist missionaries and run by the Chickasaw Government. The first principal of the school was John H. Carr, a white man who married Catherine Neil, a Choctaw. There were about thirty girls the first year I was there, but the attendance was more the next three years. You had to be between the ages of nine to eighteen to attend the school and be able to read well in McGuffey's Fifth Reader, spell well, and read in the New Testament, and be of good moral character. The Chickasaw Government furnished everything. We made our own clothes which were made by hand. There was one machine in the school, owned by one of the teachers. We would do her work to get her to hem our dresses on the machine. Interview 169 The building burnt but was rebuilt, moving location 3-4 miles NW from the old building. The building was heated by wood stoves and we used oil lamps for lights. Our bedrooms had no fire, but we never suffered from the cold. We had plenty to eat - nice ham, sausage, and bacon, and milk once a day. The girls were numbered and answered roll call by number. We were never allowed to leave the school grounds without a teacher. Each morning and evening we had prayers, and every Thursday at three o'clock prayer meeting. The only kind of musical instrument we had at school was a melodeon. at home, my brother had a fiddle and my sister had an accordion, which they played. After the Civil War broke out, parents came for their children and we had no school except what they called the neighborhood school, which I attended about three months. Then when the War was over, my mother took me to Bonham to place me in school; and because I was going to have to work in a hotel for my board, I refused to stay. To this day I have never forgiven myself for not getting an education... When and how I began to use tobacco. While attending school at Bloomfield, when I was eleven years old, Sarah Colins, one of the older girls, took me with her to gather the eggs and feed the chickens. On the way to the barn she asked me if I used tobacco. I said, "No," so she gave me a little piece and told me to chew it, taking a piece herself. When we reached the barn, she told me to get in the loft and get the eggs, when I reached the loft I slumped down on the fodder. She called me and I said, "Oh! I am so sick." "oh" said Sarah, "Don't pay any attention to that, it is just the tobacco, get up and you will be all right." She bathed my head and had me drink some water, I felt better. The next day she told me to try it again. I did and have been using it ever since. Nearly all the girls in school used snuff or chewed tobacco. The younger girls would hide it in their playhouses and the older girls had a secret shelf on the campus in on old post oak tree. When my sister Charity died, my sister Mary took some of her hair to Bloomfield Academy and Mrs. Angeline H. Carr made a picture of a tombstone with it.