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Romney Classical Institute was a 19th-century coeducational collegiate preparatory school in Romney, Virginia (present-day West Virginia), which was in operation between 1846 and some time after 1866. Prior to its establishment, Romney was served by Romney Academy. By 1831, the academy had outgrown its facilities, and the Romney Literary Society set about raising the necessary funds for the construction of a new educational building. The Virginia General Assembly permitted the society to raise funds through a lottery. By 1845 construction of the building had commenced and was completed in 1846. On December 12, 1846, the Virginia General Assembly formally established the Romney Classical Institute, and empowered the Romney Literary Society with its operation. From 1846 to 1849, the institute was operated under the direction of Presbyterian Reverend William Henry Foote, who had been a teacher and principal at Romney Academy. In 1849, when the Romney Literary Society established a new operating code for the institute and a new system of bylaws, Foote took offense and in 1850 founded a rival school, which was known as the Potomac Seminary. Professor E. J. Meany succeeded Foote, followed by John Jeremiah Jacob who served as the school's principal from 1851 to 1853. Jacob later served as West Virginia's first Democratic governor. Reverend Joseph Nelson later served as the school's principal until the American Civil War, and shortly after hostilities ended. The institute and the society experienced a hiatus during the course of the war. The school held sessions under Reverend Nelson, and subsequently William C. Clayton in 1866. Clayton later served in the West Virginia Senate. The Romney Literary Society was revived in 1869, and following the passage of a bill which established the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind in March 1870, the society offered the institute's building and grounds to the state of West Virginia for the new school. The institute's property was transferred to the state and the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind opened for its first term on September 29, 1870. Following the schools' subsequent expansions, the institute's former building became the center portion of the administration building of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind, in which capacity it serves at the present day. In addition to Jacob and Clayton, Robert White, Attorney General of West Virginia, was also an alumnus of the institute. == Background == Prior to the establishment of the Romney Classical Institute in 1846, Romney and its environs had been served by a school as early as 1752, and by Romney Academy, which had been incorporated by the Virginia General Assembly on January 11, 1814. By 1831, Romney Academy had outgrown its educational facilities in an old stone building just north of the Hampshire County Courthouse in Romney. Also at this time, several academies in present-day West Virginia were aspiring to collegiate status, as there were few colleges operating in the region prior to the American Civil War. To remedy this issue and improve the educational opportunities for local children, the Romney Literary Society commenced an initiative to raise funds for the construction of a new school building.〔〔 On January 6, 1832, the Virginia General Assembly authorized the society to raise $20,000 by way of a lottery for the funding of educational purposes.〔 Following an intermission of ten years, the society made arrangements with James Gregory of Jersey City and Daniel McIntyre of Philadelphia to finance the lottery, "for raising a sum of money not exceeding twenty thousand dollars, for the purpose of erecting a suitable building for their accommodation, the purchase of library and Philosophical apparatus". The lottery was conducted over a ten-year period, and sums of $750, $1,000, and $1,500 were to be raised in semiannual installments.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Romney Classical Institute」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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