In the early days of E. W. Grove High School beginning in the year 1906 and for the four-year period following, most of the financial aid came from the generosity of citizens in Henry County. Oddly enough the majority of these contributing friends were the original stockholders in the Paris Medicine Company. These people who had faith in Dr. Grove's business enterprises, also had faith in his charities. Also, there was probably some feeling of indebtedness, by Dr. Grove and his associates, to the people of Henry County who had bought their product. They could minimize this debt by giving to the Henry Countians an educational institution, for which there was no equal in the county, and by allowing children to attend it free of tuition.

The county and city appropriated the money through sale of bonds for the purchasing of the grounds and the construction of the building. However, much of the ground was donated, contributions were made to take care of costs in excess of the county and city donations, and the school was insured of an income of $4, 000, 00 per annum, through the kindness of educationally minded citizens. In 1910 these same contributors saw the need for a girls' dormitory and generously made possible the construction of Cavitt Hall.

Of all the contributors, Dr. Grove was the most generous, and it is said that anything the school needed could be obtained for the price of a letter and a stamp. An example of this generosity is shown in the case of a foreign language teacher needing a graphophone as a teaching aid. Miss Parker, a teacher of French and German, desired the instrument so she wrote to Dr. Grove about obtaining one. The only inquiry in his return letter was an estimate of the cost and a check was sent for the purchase (Watkins, Interview, 1960).

The eighty thousand dollar endowment fund which Dr. Grove presented to the school has been in the hands of the Board of Trust since his death. Before this time the Board only received the interest from the stocks presented to the school. In 1927, at the death of the noble benefactor, the Board became responsible for the investment of the funds given by the Grove family for the return of the original stocks.

Since 1927, the Board has invested the money in buildings and in the purchase of bank notes, the notes generating five per cent interest per annum. The eighty thousand dollars remains untouchable for school expenditure, but the annual income today is used for certain supplementary salaries of the faculty and for other expenditures not included in the school budgets from the county and the state (Mathis, Interview, 1960). The Board members are listed in Appendix F.

There was no mention of appropriations to E. W. Grove High School by the Quarterly Court from 1905 until 1910. During the April Term of Court in 1910 a $500. 00 appropriation was made for the purpose of defraying the expense of the agriculture course (Minute Book O, April 4, 1910, p. 143). Another $500.00 appropriation was made by the Court for the following year and was also to go to the agriculture course (Minute Book O, April 3, 1911, p. 195). The first amount was taken from a special fund of the Court, while the latter was obtained through a warrant issued by the County Judge.

In 1916 and also during the April Term of Court, the school received two appropriations of $500. 00. One was to be used for the payment of insurance on the school property and the other was again given to the Agriculture Department (Minute Book O, April 3, 1916, p. 486).

The remodeling of the school drew the next appropriation from the Court and it is stated in Minute Book R as follows:

Ordered by the Court, that the sum of $1488.75, be, and the same is hereby appropriated for the purpose of defraying the expenses incurred from plastering, painting, etc., done at the E. W. Grove Henry County High School, and the Judge is directed to issue his warrant.... (Minute Book R, October 6, 1919, p. 98).

The funds for paying the teachers of the institution come predominantly from the state, while the county adds a small supplement (Personnel of County Superintendent's Office, Interview, 1960).

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Last Modified Wednesday, 13-Jul-2005 13:44:20 CDT