CORONA COLLEGE
           AS AN EXAMPLE OF ANTEBELLUM SOUTHERN EDUCATION

                             SECTION III
                     ELIZA LUCY IRION'S JOURNAL

        One of the girls who boarded at Corona College left a
particularly vivid record of her time there. Eliza Lucy Irion was born
on March 3, 1843, near Bolivar, Tennessee. After the death of her
mother in 1851, the family moved to Columbus, Mississippi, to be near
family members. While in Columbus, Lucy attended school at Montevallo
from 1853 until the Spring of 1855, and the Columbus Female Institute
from the Fall of 1855 until February 1858. [40]

        In January 1858, Lucy's cousins came to visit from Corinth,
all abuzz with the excitement taking place at home. The building of
the new female college was almost complete, and Reverend Gaston
planned to begin classes as early as February 1.  Cousin Tom Peters
had bought a scholarship to aid in the building of Corona, and he
offered it to Lucy. She excitedly accepted the gift and began to make
preparations to leave Columbus. [41]

        On March 5, Lucy finally arrived in Corinth, which would be
her home for the next two years. She stayed with the Peters until
arrangements could be made for her at Corona. On March 7, she saw
Corona for the first time.  [42] Lucy was very impressed with the
grand appearance of her new school: it was quite different from those
she had attended in Columbus. The facade and interior were so imposing
that she could hardly believe that this building was only a school.
The scholars were also quite different from the girls she had known in
Columbus. Corona girls, as they called themselves, were much more
sophisticated, and Lucy considered them to be young ladies. She
wondered, as she observed them, if she would ever become one of them.

        Her fears did not last long. Her cousin, Mela Peters,
introduced her to two girls who would become and remain some of Lucy's
greatest friends throughout her stay at Corona. Iowa Van Pelt was from
Corinth, but Louise Foster was also far from home. Mrs. Gaston then
assigned Lucy to a room. At Corona, four girls usually shared a room,
two to a bed. Lucy's first room at Corona was number seventeen, and it
was located on the third floor. The rooming arrangement provided Lucy
with yet another opportunity to make friends. She shared a bed with
Ann Wright, but one of her roommates, Minnie Vaughn of Alabama, became
Lucy's closest friend. [43]

        On March 16, Lucy finally got a chance to write home. Most of
her letter was filled with praise for Corona College. She was
delighted to be there and thought Mrs. Gaston to be the "best" woman.
She admired most of the scholars, but she also stated that Fannie
North was the worst girl in the school. Fannie was from Coahoma,
Mississippi, and Lucy characterized her as mean and conceited. Lucy
also informed her family of two rules at Corona: each room was
allotted one candle for three nights, and the scholars could only
visit Corinth twice during each session. [44] The Gastons adhered to
the first rule quite strictly. If the girls used up their candle
before the third day, they must sit in the dark. The second rule,
however, was never enforced. The girls attended church in town every
Sunday and were allowed to visit Corinth often on Saturdays.

        Lucy's first great sorrow at Corona came early. Professor
Morrison removed her dear friend Minnie from school after an argument
with Reverend Gaston. Lucy and Minnie were heartbroken and convinced
that they would never see one another again, but they promised to
write. They did correspond, and one of Lucy's fondest memories of
Corona was the occasion on which Minnie returned for a visit.

        During Lucy's second term at Corona from July through
December, 1858, Mrs. Gaston assigned her to a new room. Her rooming
arrangement was different because this room housed six girls. Lucy did
not become close friends with any of her roommates. She had become
close to Fannie Dean, a new girl in school. At this time, Lucy became
aware that Corona was divided into two cliques: the boarders and the
day schoolers. The two camps carried on quite a feud. Lucy, as one of
the boarders, was sympathetic to her own group, although she did have
friends who were day schoolers. She characterized the boarders as
those who had beauty, intellect, wealth, and position. After all, her
friend Iowa, who exemplified all of these characteristics, was from
Corinth, but she chose to board at Corona. [45]

        In December of 1858, after most of the boarders had left for
home, scarlet fever broke out at Corona.  The school was under
quarantine, and Lucy despaired of leaving for the holiday. The cases
cleared up a few days before Christmas, and Lucy boarded a train for
Tennessee. She would spend the holidays with her relatives in
Bolivar. [46]

        Lucy very much enjoyed her vacation in Bolivar, especially the
special treatment that she received for being a college girl. She
spent most of her time visiting so that her relatives could boast to
their friends about her schooling. She also tried to gain subscribers
to the Corona WREATH. She was not very successful in this task and
soon became anxious to return to Corinth.

        She arrived in Corinth on January 31, and found only nineteen
scholars at the school. [47]  She was assigned to room sixteen, but
this session her roommates were all friends of hers: Fannie Dean,
Kittie Mitchell, and Metta Hill. [48]  Because there were so few
scholars, Lucy often feared for the future of her beloved Corona. On
March 16, she confided to her journal,

    Mrs. Gaston spoke so despairingly today about the school. Oh! I am
    so afraid something has happened to the school. Oh! I do hope and
    pray that it may not be broken up. [49]

On March 22, she again despaired,

    Heard very discouraging news about the school. I do sincerely wish
    that it may not change hands before the next ten months are over [50]

By May, Lucy's fears had proven unfounded -- the school would survive.
Now she had an important decision to make. Should she stay for one or
two more sessions? She could graduate in December, but she might like
to stay and take the courses offered to super-graduates.

        On June 20, Lucy served as monitoress of study hall. The
Gastons usually assigned this task to the more advanced girls, and
Lucy had finally reached the elite group of scholars at Corona. She
also began Latin during this session and by April had finished the
third book of Caesar. For her examination, Mrs. Gaston chose three
chapters from the fourth book to translate. Lucy was also examined on
botany, geometry, and evidence of Christianity. [51]

        On July 12, the fall session of 1859 began. Lucy took such
subjects as dictionary, chemistry, French, Latin, and arithmetic.
She also began a class in moral science. [52] This subject was quite
demanding, and Lucy was intimidated because only one other girl was in
the class. She was assigned to room number sixteen again with Lou
Rudisill, Laura Irvin, Jennie Cross, and Fannie Reynolds, but on
August 13, Mrs. Gaston transferred her to room twenty-three. Fannie
Reynolds would be her only roommate, and both girls were quite excited
because no one had lived in the room prior to them. [53]

        The Gastons also trusted Lucy with more responsibilities. On
July 15, Mrs. Gaston appointed her secretary of the Lyceum Society.
This appointment was a great honor, but Lucy was wary of the job. She
would have to take down the minutes of the club meetings and was not
sure that she could be successful. [54] Mrs. Gaston also appointed
Lucy monitoress twice more for study hall, and on September 2, she
asked Lucy to hear the recitations of two classes for her. Lucy was
thrilled that she had been chosen because she had long hoped to become
a teacher, and this assignment would help her to gain experience. [55]

        Lucy's correspondence also leaves a record of her time at
Corona. Very few letters from this period of her life exist, but one
is important. Her family was obviously concerned that Lucy apply
herself while at Corona because a letter from her brother encouraged
her. On September 22, 1859, he wrote,

     Do study hard and inform yourself in every way. Read all you can
     and understand what you read. Kill all your bad traits and
     cultivate with great attention your virtues. Be careful to have
     excellent manners. [56]

This example proves that Lucy's family understood what a grand
opportunity her cousin had given her. McKinney Irion also exhibited a
knowledge of the purposes of female education. Southern parents
expected their daughters to be virtuous and expected academies to
prepare them for their future roles in society.

        During the spring term of 1859, Lucy's last at Corona, she
remained in room twenty-three. Her roommates were Mollie and Sallie
McCalla and Mela Peters -- all cousins of hers. [57] Lucy knew that
she would be leaving in June and often became sad at the thought.

        As the day of graduation neared, Lucy had a great surprise:
her classmates had elected her valedictorian. She often had misgivings
because she felt that she did not deserve the honor. However, most of
her days were too full to brood over the matter. She had to attend
frequent meetings with Mrs. Gaston on the all-important question of
her wardrobe for the day. The valedictorian would wear white, and a
special dress was ordered from Memphis. The white crepe dress with a
tunic skirt and white crepe flowers as decoration would not be
unveiled until the big day. [58]

        In June of 1860, Eliza Lucy Irion was graduated from Corona
College. Even though she never fulfilled her dream of becoming a
teacher in Texas, she retained fond memories of her time in Corinth.
Throughout the Civil War, she worried about the college, and when the
Union army took Corona as a hospital in 1862, she wrote, "Our sweet
Alma Mater so desecrated!" [59]  After the war, Lucy married John
Albert Neilson of Columbus and raised a family. Today, her papers are
the most valuable source of information about Corona College.

        Lucy Irion left the only existing impression of social life at
Corona. Although she had been lead to believe that she would find
little time for recreation at Corona, she soon found that she would
have many social invitations. The Corona girls went to all church
functions, and these gave them the opportunity to meet young men. Lucy
was pleased that all of the young men seemed so polite and attentive
to the college girls. Soon Lucy had her own beau-- a Mr. Neilson who
was referred to in her journal as "Violet." [60]  (This Mr. Neilson
was no relation to her future husband.) Church fairs and parties at
the homes of friends in Corinth gave the girls ample opportunity to
see their sweethearts. Also, the young men often came to serenade the
college, and girls would throw bouquets to their sweethearts below.

        Lucy and "Violet" also passed notes with the help of friends
so that they could be sure to meet at special events. One of these
events was a picnic that the Corona girls threw for Mrs. Gaston's
forty-second birthday on May 31, 1859. [61]  Another was a tournament,
complete with jousting and speeches, in Kossuth on July 2, 1859. [62]
Perhaps the most exciting was Lucy's last excursion while a student at
Corona. On May 1, 1860, the young gentlemen invited the students at
Corona to make a railroad trip almost nine miles south of Corinth. The
train left at six o'clock in the morning and stopped at a beautiful
location (probably Cedar Creek) where everyone enjoyed a picnic. The
trip lasted all day, and at nightfall the train returned a weary crowd
to the city. [63]

        Another surprise for Lucy at Corona was the feeling of
sisterhood that she shared with her fellow students. In her journal,
Lucy spoke of the happiness that marked her life. An entry reads,
"Joyous days. Nothing mars our happiness." [64] She also often wrote
of her feelings about her friends and how they admired their teachers
and could see no more rewarding way to spend their lives. The girls
spent many hours simply daydreaming. On June 24, 1859, Lucy recorded
in her journal, "Builded many aircastles of the future. Wonder if
they'll prove only and idle fancy." [65]

        The girls at Corona not only shared dreams. They had a great
deal of fun together. One entry in Lucy's journal reads, "We went on
chatting, laughing, and cutting all sorts of shines such as only a set
of freed school girls can..." [66]  She also recorded some of the
pranks and roughhousing that took place after lights out. Whenever a
girl received a package, she unselfishly shared the cakes or cookies
with her friends. The food served at Corona was simple, and this
sharing allowed all of the girls to experience treats.

        Girls at Corona also teased one another unmercifully. Boys
were a favorite subject. Most girls tried to keep their beau a secret
so that they would not have to face the teasing that Kittie Mitchell
did. Kittie had a suitor, and the girls constantly tormented her
about when she was getting married. [67]

        Not all of Lucy's memories of sisterhood were happy ones. She
grieved that her friend Minnie Vaughn had been removed from school and
complained when Minnie did not write to her as often as Lucy believed
that she should. She also grieved when her friend Fannie Dean (called
Deanie) had to leave school due to her mother's illness.

    a short time since my dear, dear friend was separated from me. Oh!
    how very lonely I'll be. Oh! Deanie, my friend, I do pray that God
    will spare your Mother yet a little longer, for how can you with
    your timid soul meet the rough waves of this world. But if God
    sees fit to take your darling Mother, Oh! may he strengthen you
    and comfort you is my most heartfelt wish. I can't realize that
    you really have gone. Oh! how sadly will I miss you. My only
    comfort is that you may return. [68]

Lucy felt the pain that her friend was feeling and worried quite a bit
about how her friend would handle the death of her mother.

        The students at Corona wished to remember one another after
they were parted, so they carried on several practices. When the girls
went into town on Saturdays, they often had their pictures taken.
Exchanging Daguerreotypes was a sign of friendship, and Lucy was always
writing in her journal that she wished some special friend would give
her one. A sign of an even greater friendship was to give someone a
lock of hair. Lucy had locks of both Deanie's and Minnie's hair --
these two girls were her closest friends at Corona.

        The girls at Corona also kept what they called souvenier
albums or albums of the heart for their friends to sign. Some girls
simply signed their names, while others wrote long, loving messages.
Two such albums which belonged to Corona girls still exist: Lucy
Irion's and Anne Polk's. The messages in these albums prove that Lucy
was not the only girl at Corona who had deep feelings about her fellow
students.

        Fannie Dean's message in Lucy's album confirms that she
felt the same way that Lucy did.

     This lock of my hair, I once did wear
     But now I trust it to your care
     If ever we should parted be
     Oh! Look at this and think of me.
         Will you Lucy? [69]

Lucy's album also contains a message from Lena Young:

    This little emblem of respect
    My gentle friend I give to thee
    Treat not this motto with neglect
    Yes, my dear, remember me. [70]

        Anne Polk's album is also quite interesting. She has messages
from several of the girls that Lucy most admired at Corona. Fannie
Dean's entry reads,

        For my "friend"
    In after years-- when thou perchance
        As thoughts of "Auld Lang Syne" arise
    Midst other scenes should cast a glance
        Along these pages should shine eyes
    Rest on this tribute-- think of me
        Think kindly as I shall of thee. [71]

Kittie Mitchell's entry is concise but meaningful:

        May felicity be thine. [72]

And Iowa Van Pelt, in Lucy's eyes the most sophisticated girl
in school, wrote,

     May your path through life be a pleasant
        one, may you ever be surrounded by
            true and loving friends,
                Is the wish of your schoolmate. [73]

This album also gives one a glimpse of the sort of entry that
Lucy would make:

    May it be, that thy life pass gently
        and usefully, and at last-
        "An old age serene and bright
        And lovely as a Lapland night,
        Lead thee to thy grave." [74]

        Lucy's journal contains few entries which refer back to her
school days. However, two that it does contain are quite significant.
In one entry she reminisced about her days at Corona:

     I was very happy! Indeed, I know no one could have been more so.
     Our school was so pleasant and the teachers so agreeable, the
     girls so sweet and kind to me. Oh! the memory of my dear Alma
     Mater comes to me now in womanhood, and a secret wish steals in
     my heart that my life there could have lasted till Death's solemn
     hour. [75]

And still later when her friend Fannie Reynolds came to visit:

    We had been separated for nearly four years, such eventful years,
    too, and now once again we were in each other's arms. We are so
    glad we sat for a full half hour staring at each other without
    saying a word -- "entirely too full for utterance."  How happy I
    felt! I was almost persuaded that the four years had only been a
    horrid dream and that I had awakened to find myself at Corona
    surrounded by my old school friends. [76]

Even though she rarely mentioned her school, we do know that she was
happy there and loved Corona.



SECTION  IV.  SOUTHERN ANTEBELLUM EDUCATION