The 1840s

When Principal Hall resigned in 1840, he was replaced by E. J. Meany of Detroit. Mr. Meany was unable to maintain discipline in the Academy however, and the Board of Trustees requested his resignation (1841). During the interim, Elisha J. Hall stepped in to govern the pupils (1841). In 1847, Principal Hall proposed that Reverend Orlando Hutton serve as a co-principal with him at the Academy. The Trustees approved of this plan. Reverend Hutton later resigned (1848) in order to attend to his duties as pastor of two churches' St. Bartholomew's Church and St. John's Church.

Though the governance of the school remained stable for nine years, the Trustees needed to fill vacancies on the Board. The resignation of Richard Holms (1840), the death of Ignatius Waters a"highly esteemed friend and senior member of the Board," 9 and the resignation of Thomas McCormick (1846) led to the elections of Basil B. Pleasants (1840), Reverend Orlando Hutton (1844), and William Lingan Gaither (1846).

The 1840s were relatively quiet for the Brookeville Academy, yet the years were continually plagued by the need for money. The Board of Trustees raised rent charges in 1840, and the monies raised were used to assist in repairing the Academy building and the boarding house. Other changes occurred in the latter half of the 1840's. Quarterly examinations became semiannual examinations (1846); the boarding house was insured (1847) and rented out (1849); and Principal Elisha J. Hall introduced a new agricultural department (1849).