Chickasaw County Iowa

The town of Bradford has achieved the distinction of being first in a number of instances.

• The first settlement of Chickasaw County was made there.
• The first school was conducted there.
• The first court house was located there.
• The first election was held there.
• The first and only private academy in Chickasaw County was established there.
• It is also the site of the Little Brown Church, made famous by Dr William Pitt’s song.

The people of Bradford were, for the most part, of New England stock and brought with them their New England traditions.  Their ideal community was composed of the home, the church and the school.  They had built their homes and their church had become a reality in 1864, when the Little Brown Church was completed, so it is not surprising that their thoughts next turned to the establishment of an academy to provide advanced educational opportunities for their young men and women.  There was real need for such an institution as the nearest high school was located at Cedar Falls, thirty-five miles away, and none but English subjects were offered there.  The public schools provided no facilities for higher training, so it was up to the church leaders to meet the problem.

At the time the Little Brown Church was built, the Reverend J.K. Nutting was pastor.  The church had scarcely been completed when Reverend Nutting began to hope and plan for an institution of higher learning, and his proposal that an attempt be made to set up an academy met with a ready response in the community.  A house to house canvass resulted in sixty subscribers to a fund for its maintenance, and a promise of forty students.  Reverend Nutting attended the first National Congregational Council, held at Boston, Massachusetts, in 1865. On his return he was accompanied by his nephew, W.P. Bennett, who had graduated from Williams College a short time before, and who became the first principal of the Bradford Academy.

The Academy opened its doors in September 1865, in the old Cory Building on the southeast corner of Main Street and West Union Road. There were only six students enrolled the first day, but the number increased rapidly until it was soon necessary to divide the school, using two rooms and employing an assistant.

The enterprise had become so successful by the close of the first year that a stock company was formed with sixty shareholders and money was raised to buy and remodel the brick schoolhouse which was known thereafter as the old academy building.   The academy work was carried on in the Cory Building for two years, then classes and equipment were moved into the new building in 1867.

"The Old Academy Building"
The following item appeared in the Weekly Nashua Post of June 19, 1867:
“Prof. Bennett, principal of Bradford Academy—a very agreeable gentleman by the way, honored this sanctum with a call last week.   His school has a better prospect than ever before.  The newly purchased brick academy will be ready for use this fall, thus giving better accommodations to teachers and pupils.

The Bradford Academy has not been so widely advertised as many institutions of its kind, but it is really more deserving and gives pupils far better advantages and a much more thorough course of study than many institutions of wider fame.

Prof. Bennett is an unassuming gentleman of real worth and makes it his study to advance his pupils.  We doubt if he has any superior in the state as a teacher.”

The following courses were offered:

• The classical course fitted the student for the sophomore year in college;
• The normal and business courses prepared for teaching and business, respectively;
• The mathematics course offered arithmetic, algebra, geometry, surveying and astronomy;
• The science course included natural philosophy, chemistry, geography, botany and physiology.

The institution had no endowment, so the money received for tuition was all that was available to cover the expenses.  Terms began in September, December and March.  Tuition rates per term were as follows:  six dollars for common branches, seven dollars and a half for higher branches, and nine dollars for the classics.

During its best years the academy numbered from eighty to one hundred and twenty-five students, mostly from the northeastern part of the state, for that part of Iowa between Bradford and McGregor was well settled and quite prosperous before there was much of a settlement west of Mason City.  The academy held a high place among the schools of the state and it was considered “the school” for northeast Iowa.

In addition to regularly scheduled courses, students were expected to take part in literary work, which included some public speaking.   There was no athletic program, the greatest emphasis being placed upon art and culture.