An Accusation Dodged

Abstract

In the spring of 1881, a professor at Kentucky Wesleyan accused Gould before the Kentucky Conference of the Southern Methodist Church of being drunk in public. Gould successfully fought it, then fired the three teachers who had supported the accusation. Ten faculty members published a statement criticizing Gould and supporting the fired teachers. Gould was particularly angry at one of the signers, Professor A. G. Murphy. Murphy secured a position at a more prestigious school and left. The Paris Kentuckian, a newspaper which had supported Gould against the charge of drunkenness and would continue to support him in future disputes, did however note Murphy's departure with regret. A Cincinnati paper claimed that the majority of teachers were against Gould and predicted more resignations would follow.