Belmont Abbey College - Spire Yearbook (Belmont, NC)

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ABBEY In the fall of 1872, the Reverend Jeremiah J. O ' Connell purchased the Caldwell Plantation In Gaston County. He gave the land to the Diocese of Richmond in 1875, which in turn gave it to the Benedictine Monks of St Vincent ' s Abbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. On January 19, 1876, the monastic community of St. Vincent ' s voted in favor of accepting the land for the purpose of building a college. Fr. Herman Wolf and two boys from Richmond, the first two Ab- bev students, arrived at the planta- tion on April 21, 1876, since designated as Founder ' s Day . The name of the pl antation was then changed to Maria Stein . On the 25th of April, five lay brothers arrived from St Vincents and the work began. In the fall of 1876, in a log cabin built by four students, the two from Richmond plus two from Charlotte, the first classes were held. The of- ficial opening of St Mary ' s College took place In September of 1878. By the next year the enrollment had increased to thirtv-nlne stu- dents. On Bastille Day of 1885, the Reverend Leo Haid was elected the first Abbot For the next fifteen years, the college and the Abbey both grew so that by 1900 there were fifty-nine in the monastic community and 120 students. On May 19, 1900, a fire broke out in the new west wing of the college. A mass was hurriedly said in the Abbey Church with all vest- ments and chalices packed for a speedy removal. However, during the sacrifice of the Mass the wind changed and the rest of the college was spared. Through much hard work, a new building was up before the end of the year. In 1906, St Leo ' s Hall was begun. The name Belmont Abbey College was decided upon for the Institution and on Thanksgiving Day, 1913, it was offlciallv changed from St. Mary ' s College to Belmont Abbey College. Abbot Vincent Taylor became the second Abbot of Belmont Ab- bey on August 20, 1924, shortly af- ter the death of Abbot Leo Haid Abbot Vincent supported the academic program, and launched a program of higher learningfor the teachers at the college. The old sub-academic studies and the old rules were dropped in favor of newer, more liberal ideas and a junior college was established. During 1929 and 1930, an athletic field was graded and the most modern design in athletic building for its time was construc- ted, the Leo Haid Gymnasium. The ground floor of St. Leo ' s, which had formerly been the gymnasium, was converted into a library of some 30,000 volumes in 1930. The books were gathered from the monastery, and die new facility was staffed by .,

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SUCCESSION OF ABBOTS Abbot Leo Haid, 1885 Abbot Vincent Taylor, 1924 Abbot Walter Coggin, 1959 Abbot Edmund McCaffery, 1970 Abbot Jude Cleary, 1975 Abbot Peter Stragand, 1978

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HISTORY mmw 9 , rr v ei FTI « P S M ■