30

Thus, under the leadership of w. J. Parkinson, the young school began to establish itself. It acquired the name Bennett Seminary in honor of its most generous supporter. Plans to move from the basement of the Warnersville Church to a permanent campus came closer to actu- alization with the purchase of a 20-acre site in l875. The instruction of the teachers was of good quality and the students learned well, for the first commencement exercises were highly praised. The entire sit- uation provided a good background for the next principal.

The Principalship 9: Edward 9. Thayer. The next principal of

Bennett Seminary was the Rev. Edward 0. Thayer, graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and a native of Chelsea, Massa- chusetts.33 Thayer arrived in Greensboro on his twenty=third birthday,

December 4, l875, immediately following his college graduation. He

34

lived in the home of Judge Albion w. Tourgée for two yearso Thayer

described the school thus:

The seminary was a day school, held in the unfinished base- ment of the warnersville Church. I taught with the help of one colored assistant classes from the first reader to theology. The only property was twenty acres in the out- skirts of Greensboro.

33Dr. Edward 05 Thayer, undated letter (probably 1937) to Dr. David D. Jones, quoted in two unsigned newspaper articles, "First Head of Bennett College Recalls Early Days in Letter to Dr. D. Do Jones,“ Greensboro Daily News, January 19, 1938; and "Bennett College Has Grown Rapidly in Past 40 Years,“ Greensboro Record, November 16, 1940, p. 8-A.

3L‘Thayer, small additional quotation from above letter, found in “Bennett Is to Have Ceremonies Today,” Greensboro Daily News, Decem- ber 4, I937. ’

35Thayer, letter, in Greensboro Record, November l6, 1940. See footnote 33 above for complete details.