The Masonic University was an educational facility operated by the

Grand Lodge of Kentucky The Grand Lodge of Kentucky is one of two state organizations that supervise Masonic lodges in the state of Kentucky. It was established in 1800. The Grand Lodge of Virginia (GLVA) established Lexington Lodge #25, the first Masonic lodge west o ...

La Grange, Kentucky La Grange is a home rule-class city in Oldham County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 10,067 at the time of the 2020 U.S. census. It is the seat of its county. A unique feature of the city is the CSX Transportation street-ru ...

, located twenty miles northeast of

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

, in the mid-nineteenth century. Among its faculty was Kentucky Chief Jurist and Confederate spy

Thomas Hines Thomas Henry Hines (October 8, 1838 – January 23, 1898) was a Confederate cavalryman who was known for his espionage activities during the last two years of the American Civil War. A native of Butler County, Kentucky, he initially worked a ...

, and

Robert Morris Robert or Bob Morris may refer to: :''Ordered chronologically within each section.'' Politics and the law * Robert Hunter Morris (1700–1764), lieutenant governor of Colonial Pennsylvania * Robert Morris (financier) (1734–1806), one of the Foun ...

, the poet laureate of

Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

History

The initial money to found the school came from the will of William M. Funk, who left $10,000 for the purpose of such an institution, naming it the Funk Seminary. The

Kentucky General Assembly The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It comprises the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets annually in th ...

approved of the school and chartered it in 1842. The

took control of it in 1844, and renamed it the Masonic College. It was renamed Masonic University in 1852.Kleber, John E. ''Encyclopedia of Louisville''. (University Press of Kentucky, 2001). p.593. The Masonic University had its greatest era in the 1850s. However, the beginning of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

in 1861 severely crippled it. This is best represented by the departure of the principal of its grammar school, Hines, who left to found the Buckner's Guides, a Confederate force. It was during this time that Rob Morris began running the school (1860). His home, the Rob Morris House, still stands a few blocks southeast of the site of the university. Eventually the Grand Lodge decided they had better uses for the money used to run the school, selling it off in 1873 in favor of concentrating on the

Masonic Widows and Orphans Home The Masonic Widows and Orphans Home, located in Louisville near St. Matthews, Kentucky, is a historic building on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built by the Grand Lodge of Kentucky to support the widows and orphans of Master ...

, then just established in Louisville. In 1881 the school finally closed. The building burned to the ground in 1911. The Oldham County Fiscal Court Building now stands at the site.

Operations

As a means to support the school, a one-dollar donation was requested from each Freemason in Kentucky. Tuition was six dollars, but was waived for students whose father was a Mason and was either very poor, or dead.Woods, Richard. Masonic Educational Institutions ''The School Review'', Vol. 44, No. 6, (June 1936), (

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

Press). p.458 The first president of the Masonic University was J.R. Finley, who was paid a yearly salary of $750. Finley traveled throughout the United States from 1844 to 1846 to attain "books, maps, and mineralogical specimens" from various Masonic lodges. The journey also saw fifty-eight new students for the school, including one from

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and four from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Students at the school did not live on campus, but instead boarded in nearby homes. However, they never studied at the homes, but instead in the individual school rooms under the supervision of one of the professors. The schools were nonsectarian; students could attend who had no relationship to a Freemason. The commencement ceremonies, first held on July 23, 1847, were not open to the general public. Subjects taught were reading, writing, math,

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, and bookkeeping. It was mandatory for those who attended the university due to charity to learn one of the following:

carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. C ...

, coopering,

horseshoe A horseshoe is a product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface (ground side) of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human toenail, altho ...

ing,

horticulture Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

, or smithing.

References

Kentucky Historical Markers in Oldham County
{{coord, 38, 24.519, N, 85, 22.76, W, type:landmark_region:US-KY, display=title Defunct private universities and colleges in Kentucky Masonic buildings in Kentucky Masonic educational institutions in the United States Buildings and structures in Oldham County, Kentucky Education in Oldham County, Kentucky La Grange, Kentucky