Charles (Brud) Harrell and his brother James Henderson Moran both attended The Webb School and
Vanderbilt Training School at Elkton Kentucky. From there the brothers educational track diverged with Brud attending Jennings Business College in Nashville Tennessee and James going on to Vanderbilt and the University of Virginia. Since Brud was the eldest son of J.W. and Sophia Moran it seems that he would've been chosen to take the more advanced track of going to Vandy and UoV. I can only speculate as to the reason but it was common knowledge that Brud was "sickly" all his life and Jim was the healthier brother. It would've made sense to promote the sibling with the greatest chance of survival (read healthiest) in the world.
Although Brud did not attend the more prestigious colleges and universities he was the son who pulled the Moran cookies out of the fire when the Bank of Dresden collapsed in, I believe, 1928. Brud had accumulated his own wealth and he was responsible for making good on bank debts, for saving Moran Place, and keeping the family afloat. Brud made it possible for his brother Jim and Jim's family to have a place to live. Jim may have been the bank president but it was Brud that had the business sense.
Jennings Business College
Nashville Tennessee
Diploma
This certifies that Charles Harrell Moran has completed a
course in this school, making good progress in acquiring a
knowledge of Bookkeeping and Commerce Usage.
He is a young man of most excellent morals, and has
made an attentive and faithful student, has a clear head
for business and is in every way a most excellent young man
qualified to make himself valuable in any store, office, or countingroom.
No. 1377, July 8th, 1897,
R.W. Jennings Principal
Made by A.L. Morton, Penman
That diploma was done by hand and required excellent penmanship skills. The penman for this particular work of art was A.L. Morton and even though A.L. Morton was an excellent penman you can see on the next to the last line where he or she made an error and had to squeeze in the word "any". The other charming thing about this diploma is the wording. It was important to know that someone was moral and that he had been an attentive and faithful student and was clearheaded. These qualities would transfer well to the world of business and spoke well of Brud.
Who was A.L. Morton, the penman? Allen L. Morton was the son of W.T. and Mary Fancher Morton. The family breakdown in 1900 for the Census of Nashville:
W.T. Morton, June 1847, Tennessee, Artist
Mary Morton, wife, May 1854, 9 births 8 live children, Tennessee
Emily F. Morton, daughter 1873, printer
William T. Morton Jr, son, April 1875, cabinet maker
Maria E Morton, daughter, Sept 1878, bookbinder
Arthur B. Morton, son, Sept 1881
Allen L. Morton, son, Oct 1883, collection
James Edgar Morton, son July 1887, printer
Charles E. Morton, son, Dec 1890, at school
John Quincy Morton, son, Jan 1900
Allen married Katherine Carlisle Sanders. They appear in the 1930 and 1940 Census for Birmingham Alabama. His occupation was still in the printing industry, pressman. In addition there was Allen L Morton Jr, at 22 in 1930, John W. Morton, age 15, and Jesse Morton 24. All born in Alabama. The young penman, A.L. Morton, died on May 16 1954 in Birmingham Alabama. Katherine passed away on April 6 1972 in Pell City Alabama.
I've included some ephemera from the school and will transcribe those as well.
This is a Specimen of College Currency Used by the Students in JENNINGS' BUSINESS COLLEGE.
Nashville, Tenn.
TERMS OF TUITION, BOARD, ETC.
Tuition. If paid by the Month: $30 for the first month, $20 for the second month and $5 per month afterwards, all payable monthly in advance.
Or, If $50 is paid on Entering, it will be in full for the course, limited to four months. Remember, these terms above all include books and stationery, which would cost the student $10 to $20 for the course at other schools, in addition to tuition. If two or more enter at same time from same neighborhood, a discount of 10 per cent, in each case will be deducted from above prices. Time required to finish the course, three to four months. Some have completed it in two months but this required very rapid work, and like the too hasty eating of a meal, it is not properly digested. Board can be obtained in private families at from $12 to $20 per month. The principal of the school can accommodate a limited number at his residence. R W. Jennings Principal.
See Biographical Sketch on Opposite Side.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF R.W. JENNINGS
The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol. 2, page 130, says:
"R.W. Jennings, the founder and manager of Jennings' Business College, Nashville, was born in Edgefield, S.C., March 19, 1838, where his father and grandfather had been raised. At the age of sixteen he commenced clerking in a retail store, and in 1855-56 he became bookkeeper for the Trion Manufacturing Co., at Trion, Ga. In January, 1857, he came to Nashville and secured a position as bookkeeper for the wholesale house of Gardner & Co., where he remained until 1861, when he entered the Planters' Bank as bookkeeper. In 1864 he filled an important position with the great house of A.T. Stewart and Co., New York, where he was directed to overhaul and examine into the books of that firm, running back for a period of nineteen years. In 1865 he was teller of the Falls City Tobacco Bank, Louisville, Ky., resigning this in December of that year to accept a partnership in the two firms of Evans, Gardner, & Co., New York, and Evans, Fite & Co., Nashville, the latter being the largest wholesale house which has ever been established in Nashville. Withdrawing from these firms in 1872, he was until 1884 the senior partner in the wholesale houses of Jennings, Goodbar & Co., Jennings, Eakin & Co., Jennings, Dismukes & Woolwine, and R.W. Jennings & Co., Thus Mr. Jennings brings to his work as a business educator the ripe experience of thirty years in actual business.
Bishop M'Tyeire's Advice
Bishop McTyeire, While President of Vanderbilt University, who never gave an opinion without careful thought, said to a mother, whose son wanted a position: "Send him to Jennings' Business College; a certificate from R.W. Jennings to your son, recommending him for a position, will be of more benefit to him than all the other influences he could have."
From Bishop Fitzgerald.
My knowledge of Mr. R.W. Jennings as a business man of unblemished reputation, and exceptionally full knowledge of his business affairs, and my knowledge of his success at the head of his Business College, prompt me to commend him and his excellent school with emphasis and without reserve. O.P. Fitzgerald.
(Bishop Fitzgerald's son Oscar, who graduated from this school, afterwards secured a position as bookkeeper in the American National Bank, Nashville.)
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Students Mental Exercises in Jennings' Business College.
Multiply the Months by 5; Divide the Days by 6; then add both answers together. |
Here is another leaflet for Jennings' College. I included this one because it has a picture of a R.W. Jennings Jr.. On the back is a "Tribute to Tennessee" His father is the owner and principal of Jennings Business College.
**Note the misspelling of "Tribute"
A TRIBUUE TO TENNESSEE
A Nashville Boy in the Far North-West.
The Port Townsend (Wash.) Call, speaking of the result of the canvass in that district for Attoorney General between the Democratic and Republican candidates, says of R.W. Jennings, Jr. whose photo appears on opposite side of this bill:
"The canvass ended in a joint discussion between R.W. Jennings, Jr. and his republican opponent, at the Opera House in Port Townsend, before a large audience. Mr. Jennings' speech, as will be seen, occupies more than six columns of this paper. His opponent in his reply not being able to answer the strong array of facts and figures presented, went off into a bloody shirt tirade, seeking to create a prejudice against Jennings on account of his being from the South. In reply to this Jennings turned upon him and said:
"Yes sir, I am from Tennessee, and every foot of her soil is dear to my heart. I love her mountains and her dales, I love her woodlands and her meadows, her rushing rivers and her rippling brooks; I love every leaf upon the trees of her many colored forests; I love every lark, and linnet, and golden throated songester that pipes its morning lay to the rising sun; I love her sunny skies and her starry heavens; and even here, 3,000 miles away, upon the western coast of America, on the shores of Puget Sound, looking out across the broad Pacific to the gateways of the Day, I fancy that sometimes upon my cheek I can feel the soft, warm breath of her perfect Junedays, and I seem to be once more
"Among the fields of yellow corn,
Where the bloom is on the rye.
"I love it all; and if you, sir, think I would deny my birthright, to get this office for once you mistake your man. I would not do so for the office of Prosecuting Attorney for this or any other county, though it were offered to me upon a golden platter set with diamonds.
"This sentiment, so boldly and eloquently expressed, was followed by immense applause.
Two days afterward young Jennings was elected Attorney General of that district, leading the Democratic ticket.
He acquired his literary education both at the Vanderbilt and Harvard Universities, then took a commercial course in Jennings' Business College, Nashville, of which his father is Proprietor and Principal and afterwards graduated with high honors (ranking No. 2 in a class of 45) at the Georgetown D.C., Law University.
The Art of Counting Money Rapidly
The art of counting money rapidly is known to but few persons outside of banks, and it has often been a matter of surprise how a teller can count so rapidly and yet make so few mistakes; but he should be both FAST and CORRECT, else he could not long hold a position in an institution where large amounts of money are daily handled. The experience of R.W. Jennings, Principal of this school, as a bank teller enables him to teach the method adopted by that class in handling bank notes. A bookkeeper for a large mercantile house frequently handles as much money as a small bank.
The rule is to count by tens, calling five a half, a ten is called one, a twenty is a two, a fifty is a five, and a $100 bill would be a ten (meaning ten tens or $100). Then by multiplying by 10, mentally, he gets the amount wanted.
A number of students of this school have reached a proficiency in this art which is highly creditable, as may be seen from the following: A package of $500 is given to the student to count. At the same time a stop-watch is held to get the number of seconds it takes him. The package consists of thirty-nine bills, made up of $100 in fives, $100 in tens, $100 in twenties, and $200 in fifties. The time required to count this package ranges all the way from twenty seconds down to eight seconds.
See Record of Money Counting by Students on Other side.
FAST MONEY COUNTING
by the students in
Jennings' Business College,
Nashville, Tenn
Counting $500 (39 bills) under th watch.
Under twenty seconds is fair, and is required by the school; under sixteen seconds is good, under eleven and one-half seconds is extra good, and is fast bank teller's time.
Names of those who made fast bank teller's time:
J.W. Davis, Murfreesboro, Tenn 11 seconds
E.F. Turner Panhandle Texas 11 seconds
Geo. W. Hopkins, Nashville, Tenn 11 seconds
F. Debardelaben, Autaugaville, Ala. 11 seconds
Will Ward, Jefferson, Texas 11 seconds
Geo. A. Decker, Nashville, Tenn 11 seconds
Chas. Thomas, Jr. Murfreesboro Tenn 11 seconds
T.D. Lloyd, Gallatin, Tenn 11 seconds
Brad Nichol, Jr., Nashville Tenn 11 seconds
R.E. Power, Nashville Tenn 11 seconds
W.R. Simpson, Pulaski Tenn 11 seconds
F.M. Bass, Goodlettsville, Tenn 11 seconds
Ben Luton, Goodlettsville, Tenn 11 seconds
W.N. Robertson, Hartsville, Tenn 11 seconds
Willie Bowles, Nashville, Tenn 10 1/2 seconds
M.L. Blodgett, Tullahoma Tenn 10 1/2 seconds
L.G. Jarvis, Nashville, Tenn 10 1/2 seconds
Miss Myrtle Johns, Trezevant, Tenn 10 1/2 seconds
Charles T. Benedict, Nashville Tenn 10 1/2 seconds
J.R. Clyde, Orangeburg, S.C. 10 1/2 seconds
Maney Turner, El Paso, Texas 10 1/2 seconds
C.G. Black, McMinnville, Tenn 10 1/2 seconds
L.M. Hitt, Nashville, Tenn 10 1/2 seconds
John Cullom, Nashville Tenn 10 1/2 seconds
Junious Simpson, Rome, Ga 10 1/2 seconds
F.O. Covington, Unionville, Tenn 10 1/2 seconds
John H Carter, Nashville Tenn 10 seconds
W.L. Otey, New Orleans, La 10 seconds
W.W. McDowell, Chicago, Ill 10 seconds
J.E. Sanders, Goodlettsville, Tenn 10 seconds
A. Teitlebaum, Nashville, Tenn 10 seconds
C.B. Gwynn, Jacksonville, Fla 10 seconds
N.F. Mulloy Brentwood Tenn 10 seconds
E.D. Lerman, Nashville Tenn 10 seconds
A.L. Morton Petersburg, Tenn 10 seconds
John McCabe Nashville Tenn 10 seconds
Geo. C. Adelott, Tullahoma Tenn 10 seconds
Miss Genia Johns Trezevant, Tenn 10 seconds
Bed D.Ewin, Nashville Tenn 9 1/2 seconds
T.A. Crawford, Williston Tenn 9 1/2 seconds
W.H. Blodgett Tullahoma Tenn 9 1/2 seconds
Clifford Smith Murfreesboro Tenn 9 1/2 seconds
H.M. Young Bryson Tenn 9 seconds
F.M. Crass Denver Colo 9 seconds
Julius Abrahams Nashville Tenn 9 seconds
E.L. Turner, Mrufreesboro Tenn 9 seconds
Archie Byrns Flat Rock Tenn 9 seconds
John Bittick Union City Tenn 9 seconds
M.L Carney Murfreesborot Tenn 9 seconds
H.B. Cain Nashville Tenn 8 seconds
Out of 51 people listed, only two are women.
Brud's Diploma now hangs in our home, Mini Moran Place.
