The Masonic Female Institute
The first session of the Gilmer Masonic Female Institute, under the supervision of Mrs. L. W. Montgomery, closed on Friday, May 4, 1852, after a thorough and rigid examination of the pupils on the various branches, to-wit: orthography, reading, arithmetic, geography, ancient and modern history, botany, philosophy, astronomy, and rhetoric, in all of which they acquitted themselves with a great deal of honor, to the satisfaction of parents and the spectators present.
The articulation and pronunciation could not be better. The deportment of the young ladies was sufficient evidence of the excellent discipline in the school room. There were forty pupils at the close. The second session of the Institute was to open on the first Monday in July, 1852, as announced by the trustees, P. C. Halenquist, J. M. Glasco, B. N. Hampton, Thomas D. Brooks, and William Ward, but we have no further record of the school after this.
The Gilmer Female College was given a charter by the Texas Legislature, and the first session opened in September, 1854, and closed on the last Thursday in January, 1855. Tuition for spelling, reading, and writing was ten dollars for the term; and for geography, grammar, history, arithmetic, and botany was $12.50 per term. Tuition for arithmetic, botany, history, composition, natural philosophy, physiology, English analysis, chemistry, mythology, astronomy, and Butler’s analogy, was $15.00 per term. Music on the piano was $20.00. The faculty was Rev. W. S. Stovall, Mrs. Martha W. Weatherd, and Miss Margaret Weatherd. A boarding house was built near the school for the convenience of the pupils and teachers. E. C. Williams was secretary of the Board of Trustees. The Rev. Mr. Stovall soon left Gilmer and Mrs. Weatherd taught several years, assisted by her daughter and Miss M. E. Beavers. Miss Harriett M. Patilla taught music. This school closed after its fourth session. Mrs. Weatherd was very popular in Gilmer, but her husband was very unpopular, so she resigned and went to her home in Daingerfield. In 1857, Mr. Burkes began teaching in the Gilmer Female College and continued for several sessions. He was an Irishman, said to have graduated from Dublin University in Ireland. He came from Louisiana to Gilmer. His assistants from 1857 to 1861, were his son-in-law, Mr. Wiley, and his wife. J. B. Norman taught music. He organized in the school one of the best bands in Texas at that time. He led a band through the Civil War.