Nelson Merry School

Nelson Merry School. . In the late nineteenth century, African-American members of the Baptist Church determined that a black college was needed in East Tennessee. The town of Mossy Creek (the former name of Jefferson City) was chosen as the ideal location. Thanks in large part to the diligent fundraising efforts of Rev. Peter Guinn, contributions from both black and white members of the Baptist church and the local community enabled the purchase of 12 acres. The construction of the original building, which was two stories and wood frame, began in 1889., Nelson Merry College, also called Nelson Merry Academy, opened in 1890, named for noted Nashville-based African-American Baptist pastor Nelson G. Merry. Thompson Hall, a three-story building constructed of bricks made from local clay, was added to the campus a few years later to function as a dormitory, classrooms, and dining hall. Although referred to as a college, the school offered classes at the elementary and secondary levels, and included a normal school department for training teachers. The academy was one of three African-American collegial institutions in the state supported by the Baptist Church, the other two being Roger Williams University in Nashville and the Howe Institute in Memphis. Presidents of Nelson Merry College included G. Nelson Bowen, C. Lopez McAllister, Jeremiah M. Thompson, B.A. Nance, and H.J. Baily., In 1932 the site was sold to Jefferson County to become an African-American high school, one of approximately 90 such schools located throughout Tennessee. For this purpose, a new H-plan brick building was constructed that offered grades one through twelve, funded by the local community with a matching grant from the Rosenwald Fund. The school was later expanded, including the addition of a gymnasium in 1956 and a science classroom., As a result of desegregation, prompted by the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, black schools across the state gradually shut down as white schools were integrated. Nelson Merry High School closed in 1965 due to low attendance. The school became the property of the East Tennessee Baptist Association until it was bought by a furniture manufacturer in 1973. Local residents objected to the idea of using the school as a manufacturing facility, and in 1976 the city of Jefferson City purchased the property with the intention of repurposing it as a community center. In 1980 the main building was demolished because of maintenance issues and today all that remains is the gymnasium., Rev. Nelson G. Merry , (1824 – 1884). Born into slavery in Kentucky in 1824, Nelson G. Merry was brought to Tennessee in 1826. Freed in 1845 at the age of 21, he felt a calling to the ministry and was baptized in the Cumberland River by Rev. Dr. R.B.C. (Robert Boyte Crawford) Howell, who was a leading figure in the Baptist church in Tennessee, from whom Merry also received training in theology. In 1853 Merry was licensed to preach in the African American branch (First Colored Baptist Mission) of the First Baptist Church in Nashville, where he served as pastor for 28 years. He is considered Nashville’s first ordained black pastor. During the Civil War, Merry was imprisoned for several months for preaching sedition against the government. At the conclusion of the war, the Mission successfully petitioned for independence from the white Baptist church, becoming the First Colored Baptist Church in 1865. Under the tutelage of this popular minister, hailed for his eloquent and moving sermons, the church continued to grow and expand, from a membership of about 500 in 1865 to over 3,000 in 1872. He also organized 14 other churches and held a lifetime post as the president of the Nashville Preachers’ Union., [Caption]: Nelson Merry High School, circa 1943, [Caption]: The Nelson Merry College building is in the process of erection on Eagle Heights. The colored Baptists conceived the idea a few years ago that they should establish a college somewhere in East Tennessee and Mossy Creek was selected as the most suitable place. Rev. Peter Guinn has worked untiringly in its behalf and as a result they have paid for a beautiful site of several acres and will soon have a building in which they can carry on college work., [Caption]: Rev. C. Lopez McAllister, President of Nelson Merry College, 1912-1913., [Caption]: Nelson Merry College, circa 1917. At left is the original frame building completed circa 1890. At right is Thompson Hall constructed a few years later as a dormitory, classrooms, and dining hall., [Caption]: Nelson Merry High School, circa 1965. At left is the façade of the 1932 school building; at right is a later science room addition.