Dr. Jefferson Minor did operate a school for girls at Midway, which had been the plantation in Essex County of his father-in-law John Jones and from which a portion was apparently carved off for St. Paul's Episcopal Church, the cornerstone of which was laid in 1838. I have seen a photocopy of an announcement of the new session of the Midway Female Academy issued in the summer of 1848, which mentions Lydia Mary Fay as the institution's principal and states that she is "so well and favorably known and has given such general satisfaction as to render comment or eulogy unnecessary (see Richmond Enquirer and Whig for January)." I believe the original sheet may be in the special collections of the University of Virginia, but certainly the unpublished MA thesis of Russell B. Gill is there (#979), a study that covers schools in King and Queen County (Midway is right on the border) and indicates that the academy operated at least until 1855. The announcement referenced above is quite lengthy and gives much detail about the operations and curriculum of the school.
E. Lee Shepard
Director of Manuscripts and
Archives
Virginia Historical Society
P.O. Box 7311
Richmond, VA 23221
804-342-9670
________________________________
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history on behalf of Martha Katz-Hyman
Sent: Sat 1/24/2009 2:57 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Fwd: Midway Academy, Virginia, c 1845-1849?
This was posted on H-Local and, since it has to do with Virginia, I am
posting it here. Since Ian Welch is not a member of VA-Hist, please
reply to him at the address given below as well as to the list at
large.
Martha Katz-Hyman
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: List Editor (Gene Preuss) <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sat, Jan 24, 2009 at 4:15 AM
Subject: Midway Academy, Virginia, c 1845-1849?
To: [log in to unmask]
From: Ian Welch <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 9:42:17 PM
Subject: Midway Academy, Virginia, c 1845-1849
EDITOR'S NOTE: I apologize for the delay in posting this message.
Despite the date it was sent, it only recently arrived in my inbox.
GBP
A request for Virginia local historians.
I am researching the life and work of Lydia Mary Fay, a governess from
Vermont who moved to Virginia in 1839 and worked with several
prominent families, including the Carters and Dulany's. In 1850 she
left America to work as an Episcopal missionary in China where she
died in 1878.
At one stage she was employed by Dr. Jefferson Minor, and it seems
that it was in this context that the term "Midway Academy" appears in
two of her personal letters. The mail address was given as Miller's
PO, Essex County.
I hope there is someone on this list who knows something of "Midway
Academy". I think it was a rather small "institution"comprising a
small number of girls who met in the Minor home.
The Compliments of the Season from sunny Australia where snow rarely
falls at Christmas.
(Dr) Ian Welch
Australian National University
Canberra.
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