The Cedar Bluff Female College posted a notice in the Louisville Courier Journal on Oct. 12, 1866, announcing: “Any one young girl living in Middle Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, whose father was killed in battle, and whose means, or resources were destroyed by this ‘cruel war’ will be given one year’s board and tuition.” The college, located in Woodburn was founded by William F. Whitesides in 1864. The school only accepted young ladies from good families and promoted that it would protect the morals of their charges, which included forbidding them to attend parties, places of amusement or where they would receive the attention of young men.

– “Way Back When in Warren County” is compiled by researchers at the Warren County Public Library and appears twice weekly in the Bowling Green Daily News. For more information about the library, visit warrenpl.org.