454 A SKETCH OF EDUCATION IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 



feature is wortliy of special note, as evincing a determination to assure 

 the permanence of educational institutions. This absolute increase is 

 remarkable, being six fold in ten years. Its comparative increase is. note- 

 worthy, as being from a fraction over two per cent, of the aggregate en- 

 dowments in the whole Union, in 1850, to something more than six per 

 cent, in 1860. In that year South Carolina was fifth on the list in the 

 amount of College endowments, and sixtli also in the income of her 

 Colleges ; as will be seen by reference to the census. 



At this time were in most successful operation the South Carolina 

 College, the State Military Academy, the Charleston College, Erskine 

 College, Wofford College, Furman University, Newberry College, the 

 Medical College in Charleston, and three Theological Seminaries, all for 

 males. Female Colleges of high repute flourished in different portions 

 of the State. Classical or Military Academies were located in almost 

 every town, and in many country places, selected for their salubrious 

 climate or other natural advantages. All these were patronized alike by 

 parents who had received a liberal education, and by those who, feeling 

 the want themselves, desired it for their sons and daughters. Xor was 

 patronage confined to schools and colleges at home. Large sums of 

 money flowed into the coffers of renowned educational institutions in 

 other States and beyond the seas, so that it is safe to estimate the annual 

 expenditure at not much less than a million dollars for education. 



AS THE CLOUDS OF WAR 



thickened, these institutions closed one by one, and teachers and pupils 

 alike passed from classic shades to the tented held. Some school ediflces 

 were destroyed, some converted into hospitals for the sick and wounded, 

 and others afforded shelter to refugees from the devastated districts. The 

 last call for troops, in February, 1865, swept into the field every white 

 male from sixteen to sixty. 



The year I860 was most disastrous to every interest. The pangs of 

 defeat were intensified by the pangs of hunger, and the desire for know- 

 ledge gave place to cravings for bread. The following year, however, 

 marked 



A GENERAL REOPENING OF SCHOOLS 



One of the first acts of the new legislature .that succeeded military rule 

 was the rehabiliment of the South Carolina College, and its enlargement 

 into a University, with a full academic course and complete schools of 

 law and medicine. Private colleges set themselves bravely to the task 

 of collecting scattered students and replenishing bankrupt treasuries. 



