Manchester College - Aurora Yearbook (North Manchester, IN)

Page 20 text:

Margaret Bixler, Vocal and Instrumental Music. Millard R. Myers, Elocu- tion. H. J. Beachley, Shorthand and Penmanship. During the summer and fall of 1895 the Brethren were busy on the grounds remodeling the old College building and pre- paring for the opening of the fail term. Plans were laid and the work was begun on the new building now called the Chapel building or Bible School Building. Emanuel Grossnickle was out soliciting funds for the school in Whitley, Kosciusko and Huntington counties during the summer. He reported inter- est in the College wherever he went. At last on September 11, the school opened with very flat ■ Boys are Boys tering prospects for future success. The attendance of people at the opening was very large and shortly after nine o ' clock President Young called the assembly to order in the Chapel, and read a Scripture lesson. Miss Bixler led the singing, ' All Hail the Power of Jesus ' Name, ' followed by prayer by Rev. Burton. The president made a short address, followed by Rev. Burton, Kuhn and others. After some announcements the audience was dis- missed — The chapel was filled to overflowing by an appreciative audience composed mostly of citizens here. The great number of aged people that were there is an evidence that many parents had come to look after the welfare of their children starting in school. Everybody seemed pleased with what they saw and heard. The Journal further says that, Owing to the short time in which the College people had to make their announcements they will feel well satisfied with one hundred students. The number will not probably fall much short of that figure. The total number of students enrolled during this first year were tAvo hundred and seven in the College and one hundred and twenty-four in the Bible School — thirty-one of these counted in both. The North Manchester Journal reports that during the first term eighteen new families moved to town because of the College being located here. During the first years of the school a great deal of extension Bible Institute work was done in the churches of the Districts surrounding the school. The instructors in these schools for the first few years were E. S. Young, David Hollinger, J. W. Rarick, Chas. Gibson, L. H. Eby, J. K. Miller, E. M. Cobb, and T. S. Moherman. During the first year of the school 1050 students en- rolled in these schools in Districts and local churches. Bible Schools were held at Girard, Illinois ; Monticello, Indiana ; South English, Iowa ; Lima, Ohio ; Ivester, Ohio ; Flora, Indiana ; Smithville, Ohio ; Union City, Indiana ; Baker, Ohio : DeGraff, Ohio ; Pittsburg, Ohio, and Mexico, Indiana. There can be no question but that these schools did great good in encouraging Bible Study, as well as arousing interest in Manchester College. During this first year of the School both the Bible Society and the Excelsior Literary Society were founded. A description of these societies and their work is given elsewhere. The College authorities also published a College paper called The Bible Student. The paper was published monthly for a while then bi-monthly. It was devoted almost exclusively to Bible study. It contained essays, mission news, prayer meeting outlines, comments on the Sun- day School lessons and sermon outlines as well as some personals and news of [Page 12

Page 19 text:

BUMCrARDNEE OB COLLEGE HALL of education in general and especially among the children of German Baptist Brethren. The object of the Bible school is to promote Biblical instruction parti cularly on the denomination- al line of the Ger- man Baptist Church. ' ' The school was to be under the control of trus- tees, all of whom were to be mem- bers of the Ger- man Baptist Brethren church. ' ' The trustees for the first year were Elder L. T. Holsinger, chair- man; S. S. Young, secretary; G. B. Heeter, treasurer; E. S. Young, David Hol- linger, L. H. Eby and G. L. Shoemaker. Of these trustees E. S. Young was to be President of the College and S. S. Young business manager. It was provided that the church could assume the control of the school Avhenever it desired. It also provided the financial support of the school shall be by endowment and otherwise. The trustees at once busied themselves to secure a faculty for the coming year. Three teachers from the United Brethren faculty of the year before published a letter in the North Manchester Journal in which they an- nounced to their former students that they had accepted under the new management the same positions they had held the year before. They urged their former students to return to their work, promising them better facilities for work. They also urged them to send the names and addresses of friends who might be interested in school. The names of these faculty members were Albert B. Ulrey, H. W. Ward and W. R. Oyler. When the faculty list was completed it contained the names of E. S. Young, Professor of Old and New Testament History and Hermaneutics. A. B. Ulery, Natural Sciences. H. W. Ward, Languages. E. M. Crouch, Mathematics and English. W. R. Oyler, Commercial and Business Course. Page 11] E. S. YOTTNCr, First Brethren President (1895-1899)

Page 21 text:

affairs about the College. One is impressed with the high order of the produc- tions in the paper. The period from 1895 to 1902 was a time of struggle for the school. It was the time of beginnings and experiments. The constituency of the school was not generally sympathetic, not to say interested in the school. The problem of finance was a hard one. The trustees of the College were often hard put to it to find a way out of difficulties. During the presidency of E. S. Young, the Young brothers and their helpers fought hard and bravely with these problems and the school grew slowly. During this era the church took no financial re- sponsibility for the school. The responsibility rested with the trustees and many of them sacrificed heroically for the cause of Christian education. The trustee board changed somewhat during the period. The table following gives the names of trustees for the period from 1895 to 1902 and the time dur- ing which they thus served the school. Trustees of Manchester College from 1895 to 1902 were : Elder L. T. Holsinger 1895-1897 Elder S. S. Young 1895-1899 Elder G. B. Heeter 1895-1902 Elder E. S. Young 1895-1899 Elder David Hollinger 1895-1902 Elder L. H. Eby 1895-1897 G. L. Shoemaker 1895-1897 Elder M. N. Rensberger. . .1897-1902 Elder J. Edson Ulrey 1898-1899 Elder R. C. Hollinger 1898-1902 Elder G. B. Knepper 1898-1902 Simon Burkett 1899-1902 E. C. Witter 1899-1902 H. P. Albaugh 1899-1902 J. B. Speicher 1899-1902 E. B. Hoff 1900-1902 E. M. Crouch 1900-1901 Mention should be made of David Hollin- ger who served as trus- tee throughout the en- tire period mentioned above. He gave much earnest effort and means for the school and great credit is due h i m and his wife, whose likenesses are herewith presented. The only other trustee whose name appears throughout this entire period is that of G. B. Heeter who, too, sacri- ficed much for the school. .All of these men deserve the respect of the young men and women who are finding Manchester College a blessing in their lives today. While the school property was held in the names of the above trustees and while they were responsible for financing the school, the church maintained an advisory relation to it thru a committee of Brethren called a Board of Pag-e 13J DAVID HOLLINGER AND WIFE