Ocey Snead - Montgomery Female Academy

Montgomery Female Academy

The Montgomery Female Academy was inherited by Martha Wardlaw and her three daughters from Oceana Seaborn Polluck (Martha's sister). Virginia G. Wardlaw became head of the Montgomery Female Academy around 1902.

Around 1906, Caroline Wardlaw visited Mary Wardlaw Snead's son, John Wardlaw Snead, age 28, who was married and living in Lynville, Tennessee. While there she persuaded John to leave his wife and return with her to Christiansburg, Virginia to teach in the college. A few days later, he was burned to death. Although the sisters initially claimed it was a suicide, it later emerged they'd doused him with kerosene and burned him alive to collect on a $12,000 insurance policy. Fletcher Wardlaw Snead, the brother of John Wardlaw Snead, was married and living in Tennessee. After a period of time, Fletcher divorced his wife and came to the college and married Ocey Snead.