Stuart Female Seminary

After 23 years as principal of Live Oak Female Seminary, Washington County, Rebecca K. Stuart Red (1826-1886) founded her own school in 1875. Her husband, G.C. Red, M.D., had a two-story stone dormitory - academic building erected on this site, and the Stuart Female Seminary opened formally in January 1876. Ashbel Smith, M.D. (past board member, United States Military Academy), was first president of the board of trustees. His successor (1886) was D.F. Stuart, M.D., brother of Mrs. Red. Board members included another brother, R.C. Stuart, State Legislator J.N.P. Cramer, Judge Z.T. Fulmore, the Rev. Josephus Johnson, and the Rev. J.W. Miller. On faculty were Dr. G.C. Red and the Red children, William, Clark, Lel, and Harriet (Mrs. S.W. McJunkin); also Miss Janet Downie, and Mmes. Fannie Speed Davies, Anna Ritz, and Margaret Stiles. In 1886, at the death of the founder, her daughter "Miss Lel" Red (1859-1946) became principal. In 1889 Miss Red married the Rev. J.M. Purcell, and they continued the school until 1899, when the Red heirs deeded this site to the Presbyterian Synod of Texas. Here in 1902 the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary began its work. It moved to University of Texas area in 1907, but site has remained in public usage. (1973)

Stuart Female Seminary is a historical marker in Austin, Travis County, dedicated in 1973. It is one of 336 historical markers documented in Travis County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 641 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 30.2665, -97.7273 near Austin. The nearest cataloged historic site is Texas State Cemetery (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include William E. Collard, Frances & Benjamin McCulloch, and Jobe, Phillip W., House.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5507015338. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.