1906 Industrial Issue - Institute Township  

INSTITUTE TOWNSHIP

Everything can be grown in Institute Township; but tobacco is probably the chief and most lucrative crop. Some of the lands of the township are especially adapted to the culture of bright tobacco, yielding the farmer from a hundred to a hundred and thirty five dollars an acre. The township covers an area of 15,991 acres, owned for the most part by white citizens. There are 175 polls on the records o the township. Of these 109 are white citizens and 66 are Negroes. Land is valuable, bringing about twenty dollars an acre. There is not much timber of value in the township, and there are about 5,000 acres of swampland.

Institute has three white and two colored churches, also three white schools and one colored. Rev. C. W. Howard is pastor of the Wheat Swamp Disciple Church, which has a membership of 230. Rev. H. E. Tripp is pastor of Institute Methodist Church, and the Free Will Baptist Church has a good membership.

School No. 1, in Institute Township has 50 pupils and the teacher is Miss Glenn Mewborn. Misses Daisy Grey and Kathleen Murchison teach school No. 2 known as the Dale school. Sixty pupils are enrolled.

There are two general merchandise stores at Institute post office. One is conducted by A. T. Dawson and Son, and the other by Arden W. Taylor and Brother. The township is traversed by forty-five or more miles of public road.

The school committee comprises A. T. Dawson, H. M. Brothers and H. B. Warters.

At one time, Institute was the educational center of the county. There were no fewer than three prominent schools located there, and students came from various parts of the State, and adjoining States.

ARDEN W. TAYLOR

The correspondent and representative of the Free Press, at Institute is Arden W. Taylor. Mr. Taylor was born near Hookerton, Green County, January 4, 1874. His parents were Rev. John Richard and Josephine Taylor. His father was a Baptist minister, a farmer, a member of the Knights of Honor and a school committeeman for quite a while.

Arden attended the Ormondsville High School for a while, and in 1892, went to Institute to engage in business. He has been located at Institute ever since that date. He is an official member of the Christian Church; a Mason, being a member of the committee on the orphan's home; and a Woodman of the World.

Mr. Taylor now conducts a general merchandise business at Institute and carries a $5,000 stock. In 1898, he married Miss Hattie C., daughter of Jessie H. and Mary A. Kennedy. The children living are William Kennedy and John Heber Taylor.

EDWARD B. BYRD

One of the progressive young farmers of Institute Township is Edward B. Byrd, born in Institute Township August 3, 1868. His parents were Lemuel and Susan Byrd. His father was a trustee and steward in the Methodist Church, was a successful farmer and a school committeeman for several years.

Edward Becton Byrd attended the neighborhood schools and has been a farmer all his life. He cultivates 72 acres of good land, which id enough for any farmer to work successfully with a short supply of help.

His wife, Melissa, is the daughter of Wyatt and Henrietta Tucker. Susan Henrietta is the name of the sweet baby girl that blesses the home.