There is little information to be had about the Brownsville Female Academy. An 1831 act provides a list of "Brownsville Academy" trustees. Most other references to such a school actually relate to the Brownsville Female Institute or Seminary. The Brownsville Female Institute was established in 1842, under the control of the Presbyterian Church, and closed at the start of the Civil War. It is possible the Brownsville Female Academy evolved into or was incorporated into the Brownsville Institute in 1842.
Julia Ann McNeill is equally mysterious. Most of the dates in the journal are 1838, but do not provide a specific age for any of the apparent writers. [References are made to a Julia Ann (1829-1901) who married a Stanhope McCommons. They moved with their children to Missouri in 1856. Both husband and wife appear on the 1860 census and Stanhope appears as head of household on the 1870 census.]
The inside cover of the journal bears the date October 2, 1838 and also the year 1841. The first fifty-one pages of the journal consist of a collection of essays on various topics, apparently written as school assignments. Of the twenty-three essays, nine are initialed "J A McN" or some variation. Eight bear the initials "J H T." Six are labeled "M L B." The essays are short and the topics range from descriptions of scenery, imaginative paragraphs written from the points of view of animals or inanimate objects, appreciative essays on people or paragraphs which encourage good morals. The handwriting seems similar in some places and different in others. It is possible that more than one person wrote in the journal.
The last twenty pages include fragments and variations of songs, lyrics and poems. Most are unsigned or unidentified in the journal itself. The popular tunes include the 19th century British folk song by Allan Cunningham "A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea," a version of George F. Bristow's " "Miss Lucy Long," and an English version of the French folk song "Ma Normandie" by Frederic Berat. Among the religious pieces are Reginald Heber's "From Greenland's Icy Mountains," a version of "Frozen Heart," and Thomas Moore's "Nothing True but Heaven." One of the last items is a fragment for Moore's long poem "Lalla Rookh: An Oriental Romance." The last page also includes a list of textbooks used by the Brownsville Female Academy in 1838.
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"A mountain scene." Signed J A McN. Essay describing an experience and challenge of climbing a mountain. The end of this essay includes a sentence to the "young ladies of Brownsville Female Academy" about the importance of writing their compositions.
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"The Looking glass." Signed J H T. Essay from the point of view of a looking glass, tracing it from a shop to a home.
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"The Slate Pencil." Signed M L B. Essay from the point of view of a pencil, used at a school and lost in the street.
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"The Goose Quill." Signed M L B. Essay from the point of view of a quill, remembering its journey from goose to its loss.
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"Disadvantages of attending Theatres." Signed M L B. Paragraph on the evils of theater.
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"The Lion." Signed J A McN. Essay from the point of a view of a lion traveling the world from Africa to Brownsville, Tennessee.
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"My visit to the Moon." Signed M L B. Story of a trip to the moon, the beings there and the return to Brownsville.
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"Vanity." Signed J A McN. Essay about the sin of vanity.
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"A Winter evening." Signed M L B. Description of a night in the winter.
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"Remembrance of childhood." Signed M L B. Memories of growing up in Virginia and of a friend there.
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"The Farmer." Signed J H T. Description of the life and virtues of the farmer.
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"The life of a Squirrel." Signed J H T. Written from the point of view of a squirrel who traveled in search of a new home and ends up as a pet.
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"The Mechanic." Signed J H T. Description of the life and virtues of the mechanic.
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"North America." Signed J A McN. Short, subjective account in praise of America.
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"The Life of a pin." Signed J H T. Written from the point of view of a hair pin from its creation to its loss in the street.
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"A Winter evening in the North." Signed J A McN. Account of a northern winter evening by a writer to has not experienced one.
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"A discription [sic] of Love." Signed J H T. Description of the writer imagines love and a warning against fickle lovers.
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"The Beauties of the Evening." Signed J H Towne. Description of various people and of nature in the evening.
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"The Mississippi River." Signed J H T. Description of the Mississippi River and its importance to various groups of people.
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"A Walk in the meadows." Signed J A McN. Description of a meadow and the pleasure and escape it provides.
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"Temper." Signed J A McNeill. Essay about the virtues of women maintaining a pleasing temperament.
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"The Mother." Signed J Ann McNeill. Essay describing the virtues and fears of mothers.
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"A rainy day." Signed J. A. McN. Description of a rain storm as both a cause of fear and a chance to accomplish things indoors. The rest of the items in the journal are located in the final 20 pages. Information in brackets offers a limited identification of the otherwise unidentified items.
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"Farewell," a four verse, anonymous song or poem.
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"The Indian Scholar," an eight verse song or poem with the date Sunday Eve January the 4th 1846. [This does not appear to be an original composition. It may be a version of the song "The Indian Student" from the early 1840s.]
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Untitled poem which appears to have been signed, then erased.
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Poem, "To J." Also appears to have once had a signature, now erased.
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Poem, "The Tear," signed Em (?) Etheridge.
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Poem, "The Tear," signed Morton Walker.
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"A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea" [19th c. British folk song by Scottish-born Allan Cunningham, written before 1825].
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Untitled lyric [possibly a variation of "Miss Lucy Long" by George F. Bristow, 1842].
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Poem or song, "Patent (?) Plough."
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Song, "My Normandy" [English version of Frederic Berat's "Ma Normandie" (1836?)].
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Two unidentified lines: "I'll envy not the proudest monarch on his throne Could I but claim you as my life my love my own."
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Poem or song, "Serenade."
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Poem, "A little Gem."
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Untitled song with the head note, "To be sung on occasion of his preaching for the missionary society in 1820. Dated 8th January, 1842. [Identified as From Greenland's Icy Mountains by Reginald Heber 1819.]"
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Untitled song [Possibly a version of Frozen Heart 93].
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Song, "Nothing True But Heaven" [Written by Thomas Moore, 1829].
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Unidentified poem (?).
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Song, "Isabel."
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Unidentified religious song.
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Song, "The Switzer drover Boy."
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Poem, identified only with the last name Moore in journal [from Thomas Moore's "Lalla Rookh: An Oriental Romance" (ln 275-291, 3rd tale of 4 "The Fire-Worshippers" ) 1817].
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"List of books used in the Brownsville Female Academy, 1838."
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Poem, untitled and signed by Julia Ann McNeill. A farewell to Brownsville Academy.
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