  The Sunday Gazetteer Sunday, November 29, 1896 pg. 3 LOCAL CONDENSATIONS Monday, November 23, 1896 - Prof. E.B. Hinshaw has been appointed by the trustees of Bloomfield academy to superintend the work of building the new school house and dormmitories. The Denison Daily Herald Thursday, March 1, 1906 pg. 2 The passing of Bloomfield Seminary is viewed with deep regret by Denisonians as well as by the Chickasaws. Located due north of Denison in the Indian Territory it has always seemed almost a Denison school. The majority of the pupils have passed through Denison going to and coming from school and most of the supplies have been purchased here. Denison has always felt a pride in the school and has watched its growth and its success with pleasure. Its work has been well done and it has left its impress on the people of the Chickasaw Nation as no other school has ever done. Prof. E.B. Hinshaw, who has been in charge of the school for fifteen years, has every reason to feel proud of the record he has made. As an educator and a manager Prof. Hinshaw has scored a district success. He has been careful and painstaking in his work and the results he has secured speak more loudly than words. Wherever his new vocation may lead him, he will always carry with him the best wishes of the people of Denison, who have known him so long and so intimately. The Denison Daily Herald Thursday, March 1, 1906 pg. 6 BLOOMFIELD NOW NO MORE One of the Oldest and Best Schools in Chickasaw Nation to Close Beautiful Bloomfield Seminary, the oldest and best known of the schools of Chickasaw Nation, is no more. The young lady students have been leaving in groups and singly for the last two weeks, when it became known certainly that the school would be closed, and the last of these departed yesterday, coming by way of Denison, to which point they were accompanied by the superintendent, Prof. E.B. Hinshaw. The school was practically closed yesterday though officially it does not go out of existence til March 4, when the tribal government comes to and end. It was thought at the beginning of the term that sufficient funds might be appropriated by the Indian government to continue the seminary til the close of the scholastic year, but this was found impractical and consequently the school was closed though only one term of the scholastic year had been completed. Bloomfield Seminary was founded in 1853 as an Indian mission school by Rev. Carr and wife of Massachusetts, missionaries to the Indians. It was at first conducted as a co-educational institution but after the missionaries gave it up, it became a school exclusively for Chickasaw Indian girls. It is situated ten miles north of Denison and three miles north of Red River in the extreme southeastern part of the Chickasaw Nation. There is no village or town near it and it is said that the school was founded here by reason of the fact that the site is on what was formerly the trail between Shreveport and Fort Bill. It has been in continuous operation since its founding with the exception of a short period during the Civil War, shortly after which it came under the control of the Indian government. It was conducted by the government under the contract system, being let to various superintendents for terms of years of varying lengths. It was successively in charge of Captain Young, Captain Wharton, Mr. Cole, D.H. Johnston, now governor of the Chickasaw Nation, who was succeeded by Prof. Hinshaw in the term of 1890-91. Prof. Hinshaw became connected with the school as principal teacher in 1887 and has been located there continuously since that time. Bloomfield Seminary was the first school in the Chickasaw Nation to be chartered, and the first graduates from the Chickasaw Nation came from this school. The charter was granted during the term 1890-91. The school has made no pretentions of being a college, but as a preparatory school it has compared favorably with the high schools of the states. Bloomfield has been a means of advancement of the Chickasaw Nation and as such it has been appreciated by the Chickasaws. More girls have been educated in this school than in any other school in the Chickasaw Nation. The legislature and school officials have always dealt kindly with the school and have always met the demands and needs of the school with a liberal hand. The school was first designed to accommodate only thirty students. The number was then increased to forty-five and under D.H. Johnston to sixty and later to seventy-five. Under Prof. Hinshaw the facilities of the school were made capable of caring for one hundred pupils. For fifteen years it has always been filled to the extend of its capacity. It has been furnished with a corps of six teachers and has had a graduating class nearly every year since 1891. Fourteen were graduated last year and thirteen would have been graduated at the end of this year had the school been continued. The Seminary has the distinction of having graduated a greater number of students than all the other school in the Chickasaw Nation combined. The present buildings have been standing for about ten years and are in a good state of preservation. The building and the one hundred sixty acres of land on which it is situated will be sold and the proceeds will be added to the tribal funds. Prof. Hinshaw will remain at the school for some time yet. As to his future plans, he has not decided definitely. An interesting fact in connection with Prof. Hinshaw's superintendcy is that the daughters of girls who were Prof. Hinshaw's pupils when he first came to the school would have been graduated from the Seminary this year.  Bloomfield Academy History  Chickasaw Roots Native American Roots Schools Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message.  |