Picture of Grandmother Mattie Alice Livesay Payne at Mossy Creek Baptist Academy, Ca. 1900

(click for an enlargement)

 

Anyone who may have had family attending either Mossy Creek College or Carson-Newman College, in or around 1900 may recognize someone in this picture.  My grandmother, Martha Alice Livesay, born Feb 18, 1885 is pictured in upper right hand side of picture. (email Joe Payne)

Mossy Creek Academy became Mossy Creek College before merging with Carson-Newman College.

 

The Story of a College: Past, Present, and Future

Local citizens invested their own labor and money to found this college. On December 5, 1851, Mossy Creek Baptist Seminary was chartered to offer educational opportunities to the Baptists of this region. The Civil War years proved difficult for the new institution, however. Union troops occupied the buildings, and faced with debt, the college closed its doors and the land was sold at auction. But bold dreams do not die. In 1869, college president Dr. Jesse Baker rode 3,500 miles on horseback to raise $5,250 to pay the college’s debts.

In 1880, the college became known as Carson College in honor of a founder who established an endowment for ministerial education. Two years later, Newman College was established for the education of women. The two colleges merged in 1889 as Carson-Newman College. With capable leadership and supportive alumni and friends, the college survived a war-ravaged era marked by economic depression. Soon, with the onset of World War II, the institution faced an unprecedented demand for educational opportunities. Carson-Newman College made its facilities available to the United States government for the training of officers for the armed forces.

 

Carr, Isaac N. History of Carson-Newman College. Jefferson City, the college, 1959. 367 pp.

 

 

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