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Preparatory Academies and Vanderbilt University
Presidents
| unknown | Samuel E. Ryan |
| unknown | F. S. Ditto |
| unknown | Patton R. Broyles |
| 1923-1957 | Harry L. Upperman |
| 1957-1959 | Paul Barker |
Baxter Seminary
... Baxter, Tennessee
1910-1959
Instruction is the least part of education.
—Harry L. Upperman
Baxter Seminary was chartered by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1910 (some accounts date Baxter to 1908) and graduated its first class in 1914. In 1917, Baxter Seminary became the main school for Putnam County, and the school began focusing exclusively on secondary education in 1922.
Baxter Seminary. Photo courtesy of Charles A. Reeves, Jr.
More than 10,000 day and boarding students attended Baxter for almost 50 years. The buildings were sold to the Putnam County School System in 1959 and the school became Upperman High School, named in honor of the school’s president from 1923 until 1957. The buildings now house Cornerstone Middle School.