EDENTON ACADEMY, 1806.
TO THE PUBLIC.
The Trustees of the Edenton Academy, ever mindful of their first pledge to the public, that on their part no exertion to render the institution valuable service should be spared, have endeavored unremittingly to procure such a number of respectable teachers as would insure proper attention to the improvement of the youth committed to their charge, are now highly gratified at having it in their power to announce, that from the quarter commencing on the first day of April, the Academy will be under the direction of Doctor Freeman, assisted by Mr. Hilliard and Mr. Nye, who will teach the Greek, Latin, and French Languages, Mathematics, Geography, English Grammar, Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic.
The Trustees in their engagements with the teachers, have been governed by the confident hope of receiving that share of public patronage, to which the superior advantages of the institution entitle it; the salaries of Doctor Freeman, Mr. Hilliard, and Mr. Nye, make an annual sum of sixteen hundred dollars, besides the incidental expenses of fire wood, repairs, etc., for which the Trustees are bound.
The advantages upon which the Trustees so confidently rest their hopes of public patronage in the first place are, the number and respectability of the teachers. Of Doctor Freeman, it will be sufficient to say, his conduct for upwards of two years that he has been in the Academy, has entitled him to the warmest approbation and esteem of the Trustees, and so far as within their knowledge, given general satisfaction. Of Mr. Hilliard and Mr. Nye, they can only say, that these gentlemen have been selected by Doctor Freeman, not only from his own personal knowledge of their merit, but from the recommendation of a number of respectable characters in the towns of Cambridge and Falmouth, in Massachusetts.
Secondly, the attention which will be paid to the morals and health of the youth; seven of the Trustees residing in the town annually form a committee, who are appointed to assist the teachers in the government of the school, and attend to the accommodation, health, and morals, of the students.
Thirdly, The excellence of the building, so well adapted to the accommodation and comfort of the different classes of students; its high, dry, airy situation, and convenience to good water, with a large yard well inclosed and shaded.
Lastly, Experience justifies them in saying the healthiness of the town: Of four hundred and sixty students and two who have heen at the Academy in the four years ending the thirty first day of last December, but four deaths have come to the knowledge of the Trustees, and but one of these can be attributed to the air of Eden ton. The healthy appearance of the students at the annual examination late in August, has afforded general satisfaction.
With respect to board, the Trustees recommended it to parents and guardians, to board their children and wards, in private families, so that they may not be crowded.
Should the institution be likely to meet proper encouragement and any difficulty occur in procuring board, the Trustees are determined to commence the next year with sufficient houses to board and lodge comfortably all the students coming from abroad.
The prices of tuition as heretofore.
—Halifax Journal, May 13, 1805.
(Source: North Carolina Schools and Academies, 1790-1840, By Charles L. Coon 1914)
