Smiths Grove College commencement
A historical collection on Smiths Grove, Kentucky housed at WKU’s Special Collections Library offers a look at the educational heritage of this Warren County community. In 1875, William Wirt Beck established Smiths Grove College on the site now occupied by North Warren Elementary School. The college operated until 1901, when it was sold to the Methodist Church and renamed Smiths Grove Training School for Vanderbilt University. Another sale in 1910 transformed the school into the Warren Baptist Academy.
At a meeting on January 27, 1884, the trustees of Smiths Grove College considered a disciplinary matter involving Professor W. P. Maury and student John Hazelip. After hearing from six witnesses, the board found Professor Maury “justified in chastizing Jno. Hazelip for disobedience, and that said Jno. Hazelip had to some extent been mischievous and annoying before this discipline took place.” He was asked to apologize to his teacher for “language used outside the house.”
A finding aid for the collection, which includes the Smiths Grove College trustees’ minute book for 1884-1901, can be downloaded here. For other collections on Smiths Grove history, search TopScholar and KenCat.