Private schools existed in Cincinnati and Hamilton County beginning in the early 1800s. Also known as academies, institutes, seminaries, and colleges, many were identified simply by a teacher’s name. There were also institutes of higher learning in dentistry, medicine, theology, and law.
Cincinnati Public Schools operated beginning in 1829 and private and public schools have co-existed since. Public and Catholic schools were co-educational, but most private schools remained gender-specific through the nineteenth century. Private academies spanned various grade levels from the ages of six to twenty. Larger schools had separate primary, preparatory, and collegiate departments, and some had residential students as well as day schools.
Hundreds of private schools opened and closed in Cincinnati in the 1800s, many of them short lived. Two resources that provide information on dates, founders, teachers, and courses of study are:
Student names are not included in these histories. To find students, the best sources are yearly catalogues and circulars, some of which survive in print and/or digitized form. They often include lists of students and graduates. A few female schools published pamphlets that included the married names and residences of alumnae.
Student information that has been indexed by HCGS is available here. The lists are in searchable Acrobat PDF format. NOTE: These extracts (indexes) are available to HCGS members only. Memberships in HCGS start at $20/year and give access to the Members Only databases, as well as numerous other exclusive benefits.
Bartholomew English and Classical School/Bartholomew-Eli School (1875–1918)
George K. Bartholomew founded this institution in 1875 to educate girls in ancient and modern languages, mathematics, science, and English. Bartholomew served as president and his wife as lady principal. The school operated on the northwest corner of Fourth and John Streets, educating an average of 130 students each year.
In 1883 the school relocated to a new building at the corner of Lawrence and East Third Streets. In 1890, it merged with the Clifton School, operated by Miss E. Antoinette Ely, an 1879 graduate of Bartholomew English and Classical School. The Bartholomew-Ely School was located on Evanswood Place in Clifton.
- Twentieth Annual Catalogue of the Bartholomew English and Classical School for Young Ladies and Children, 1895. CHPL holds catalogues for the years 1875 through 1895.
- Catalogue of Students: Bartholomew-Ely School, Information Copied from Cards Destroyed in 1956. CHPL. Not dated.
Belmont College (1884–1890)
In 1884, Farmers’ College in College Hill, Ohio, had a small number of students and declining financial health. The college’s founder, Freeman Cary, thought the name of the college kept it from attracting broader interest. After much debate the new name selected was Belmont College.
At the first commencement of Belmont College on 12 Jun 1884 there were four graduates. In its seven years, enrollment remained low with only ten men and thirteen women receiving bachelor’s degrees.
The college did not prosper. In September of 1890, Belmont College closed, and the facility became the Ohio Military Institute, a high school and boarding school providing college preparatory classes and military instruction.
The Student List of Belmont College was extracted from Catalogue of Belmont College and the Ohio Military Institute, College Hill, Ohio 1891-92. For the list of graduates from 1884 through 1890, see Farmers’ College.
Chickering Classical and Scientific Institute (1855–1886)
Chickering’s Academy for boys was opened by Josiah Boutelle Chickering on 8 September 1855 in the hall of the George Street engine house between Central Avenue and Plum Street. In 1859, Chickering bought a lot on George Street, between John and Smith Streets and built a two-story brick building.
In 1866 the school’s name was changed to Chickering’s Classical and Scientific Institute. When Professor Chickering died on 5 December 1881, W.H. Venable operated the school until June of 1886, when the building was abandoned for business reasons.
This list of graduates from 1868–1875 was extracted from Catalogues by the Chickering Classical and Scientific Institute 1865, 1867-1875 at CHPL and 1854-1865, 1879 at CHLA, and from Chickering Classical and Scientific Institute, CHLA.
The Cincinnati Training School for Nurses (1889-1911)
The Cincinnati Training School for Nurses opened in January of 1889 with a contract for the students to train and work at Cincinnati Hospital. Despite great improvement in the quality of nursing and the prevention of unnecessary deaths, the relationship between the school and the hospital became strained. The hospital cancelled the nursing school contract inm1893. The school operated independently until 1911.
In its short life, the Cincinnati Training School for Nurses graduated the first skilled nursing professionals in Cincinnati. For more information on the training program and the history of the school, see the article in the December 2023 issue of the Tracer.
This list of graduates from 1889 to 1893 includes the only graduates of the Cincinnati Training School for Nurses. The information was extracted from the 1890, 1891, 1892, and 1893 Reports from the Cincinnati Training School for Nurses, available at CHPL.
Farmers’ College (1846-1884)In 1833, Freeman G. Cary, a Miami University of Ohio graduate from a College Hill pioneer family, opened Cary’s Academy in his Pleasant Hill home. By 1845, the school was educating an average of 120 students and had outgrown the facilities. Cary wanted to create a new institution—a college suited to the needs of the changing world that would focus on scientific studies and the useful arts.
Farmers’ College of Hamilton County was incorporated on 23 February 1846, and in 1855 received authority to confer Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) and Master of Arts (A.M.) degrees. The college changed its name in 1884 to Belmont College (see separate listing).
This list of graduates of Farmers’ and Belmont Colleges was extracted from A.B. Huston’s Historical Sketch of Farmers’ College. (1902) and the various Catalogues of the Officers and Students of Farmers’ College, 1847-1883. This list was also published in the March 2024 issue of the Tracer.
Glendale College (1854–1929)
Reverend john Covert, a Presbyterian minister, founded Glendale College in September 1854 as the American Female College. The school immediately changed its name to Glendale Female College and then, under the leadership of Reverend J. G. Montfort, Glendale College.
About one hundred students attended at any given time, most of them boarders. Day students from surrounding areas traveled on the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton Railroad to reach the college, which was fifteen miles north of Cincinnati.
The list of 439 graduates of Glendale College was extracted from Golden Jubilee of Glendale College, Thursday June 9, 1904, 1854–1904 and the Annual Catalogues of Glendale Female College, various imprints and years, 1857–1926.
Herron’s Academy for Boys (1845–1863)
Herron’s Academy for Boys was founded in 1845 by Joseph Herron in the lecture room of Wesley Chapel. Herron was a former public-school teacher, an instructor in the primary department at Cincinnati College, and a professor at Woodward College. In 1848 he moved his seminary to a building on Seventh Street, between Walnut and Vine. Several hundred boys were educated there each year. The school closed when Joseph Herron died in 1863.
This list of students in 1849 and 1855 was extracted from Catalogues of the Teachers and Students of Herron’s Seminary in Cincinnati. CHLA has the catalogues for the years ending 1849, 1853, 1854, 1855, 1857, and 1858.
Ohio College of Dental Surgery (1845–1926)
The Ohio College of Dental Surgery opened at 23 College Street, near Seventh Street, in Cincinnati in November of 1845. This was the second oldest college of dentistry in the United States, founded five years after the first dental college in Baltimore, Maryland. The school drew from all regions of the country and included several students from Canada, the West Indies, Prussia, and France.
The Annual Announcements of the Ohio College of Dental Surgery are available at the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library. 1845-1880 (incomplete)
Graduation years were pulled from all the above sources. Names with no graduation dates were awarded degrees between 1861 and 1879: the actual graduation year was not listed.
Ohio Female College, College Hill (1851–1871)
The Ohio Female College opened in 1849 in College Hill, Ohio, received a state charter in 1851, and remained in operation until 1872. The college suffered from several devastating fires but was able to rebuild each time. Ohio Female College had a preparatory department and a college department that awarded four-year college and two-year graduate degrees.
Each catalogue lists student names and residences (city or neighborhood). The students are identified as part of either the preparatory or college program. Beginning in 1868, the catalogues include, in addition to lists of current students, the name, spouse’s surname, residence, and graduation year for Ohio Female College graduates through 1871.
The list of graduates was extracted from the Annual Catalogue of Officers and Students of the Ohio Female College, 1871-72.
St. John’s College (1848–1855)
In 1843, the Reverend Chauncey Colton founded a boys’ academy on Longworth between Race and Elm Streets. Originally the school offered academic and primary branches, including a boarding school at Rugby Hall on High Street next to the reservoir. Classes for younger students were taught under the Cincinnati Observatory.
The college was chartered and opened on Broadway between Congress and Third Streets. Reverend Colton educated young men interested in commercial pursuits. The school did not award degrees. By 1855, Colton realized the college was too large to manage, and the school again became a boys’ academy.
St. Joseph’s College (1871–1920)
St. Joseph’s College was founded by the priests and brothers of the Congregation of the Holy Cross on 2 October 1871. Ohio chartered the school on 3 May 1873. Brother Arsene, C.S.C., was the first president of the college, at 269 W. 8th Street near the Cathedral. The college closed in 1920.
The college offered a two-year commercial course for those students interested in mercantile careers. For those seeking to study classics or the sciences, St. Joseph operated a two-year academic department, followed by four years of college classes.
Wesleyan Female College (1845–1892)
Wesleyan Female College opened in 1842, under the auspices of a group of Methodist ministers. The school, which included primary, preparatory and college classes, was located on Vine Street in Cincinnati, between Sixth and Seventh. The building was a home previously owned by John Reeves, and a second building was erected the following year.
The first president was the Reverend P. B. Wilbur, M.A. His wife, Mrs. C. Wilbur was listed as governess. In 1868 the college moved to a new building on Wesleyan Avenue. In 1876, the school changed its name to Cincinnati Wesleyan College and ceased operations in 1892.
The list of graduates from 1845–1892 was extracted from Annual Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the Wesleyan Female College, 1887–1887, and The Alumna, 1890-1900, with additional data from other catalogues. An article about the history of the college and other sources of information can be found in the June 2024 issue of the Tracer.
2024-11-09 PMD
