Bluffton University - Ista Yearbook (Bluffton, OH)

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lm-719 TA I X ff f X X A HISTORY OF BLUFFTON COLLEGE For many years the need of an institution of learning was greatly felt by the mid- dle district conference of the Mennonites of North America. The background of Bluff- ton College is to be found in the school at Wadsworth, Ohio, tJanuary 2, 1868-Doc. 31, 18781 from which a number of real leaders went forth who spread the spirit of higher education among their people. Only a few years after the close of this school a new school sprang up in a larger and newer center of Mennonite settlements, near Halstead, Kansas 418823. Large immigrations from Russia and Germany were settling in Kansas and other western states. a fact which naturally resulted in centering edu- cational interests there. This new school was continued at Halstead for ten years and was a direct forerunner of Bethel College established in Newton, Kansas in 1893. No sooner did Bethel College open its doors than the people of Indiana and Ohio and Pennsylvania discovered that it was a long distance to Kansas for them to sen-I their children to school. Few went. Remarks were frequently heard that the distance was too great, even for those who had scholarships by reason of funds contributed by parents or friends. To induce students to go there teachers from Ohio and other east- Laying the Corner-stone of Main College Building ern points were placed on the facultyg but without apparent results. But where shouifl thc young people go to school? Many were studying in different schools near home. As early as 1894 the matter of establishing a College was urged before the conference and gradually from year to year the interest in thc school increased and the way to its erection became more clear. In 1894 the conference met in Bethel, Missouri. Dr. N. C. Ilirschy wrote a paper on XVass Kami die Mittlere Distrikt Konferenz fur die Schul- sache bezuglich unscrer Denomination thun . In it was put forth the claim that the confercnce should establish a school and that what ought to he done could be done. ln 1896 some investigation of the prospects of uniting the efforts of the Middle District Ks 18

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fly lfmfisrnl X fl N il l HN IMIENIGIRHAXIMI Dr. N. C. Hirschy, First president of Bluffton College 1900-1909 Born February 25, 1867 Died March 13, 1925 EPITAPH OF A NATURALIST To Dr. N. C. Hirschy by John F. Smith Go make my grave where the lilies grow, Where the song birds sing and the violets blow, VVhere soft winds sigh and the eagle soars O'er the mystic haunts of the out-of-doors. Lay me away on the mountain side Where the sunbeams gleam and the dews abide, Where the wild hawk nests in the towering tree, There let me rest where I long to be. And plant a shrub where my body lies In its early bed under vaulted skies, That my lone soul from beneath the sod May spring with Howers to its home with God. X fl Rx 17

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71 ,f l'E?zeF1STAl ffl W! Church and the College at Elkart, Ind., was made. They soon found that such a plan X would be impossible at this time. A school committee of three was appointed in 1896 and one of seven in 1897 to de- cide on the location and to secure funds and, as soon as sufficient funds were secured, to proceed with the erection of a building. At the next conference the committee cor- sisting of: J. H. Tschantz, C. Showalter, C. D. Amstutz, J. F. Lehman, N. C. Hirschy, J. B. Baer, W. W. Miller submitted full plans as a result of their efforts. The follow- ing year the present location wr' decided on by the conference and a Board of nine trustees was elected. In 1899 a corstitution was .adopted and the trustees authorized to erect necessary buildings and make all preparations for opening the school. Their work was a marked success. Before the next conference met the new building was completed. The corner stone was laid on Tuesday, June 19, 1900. Enthusiasm for the College at this time was high. A great throng of people gathered in the grove for the occasion. A program of addresses and appropriate songs was prepared. The formal act of laying the corner stone was fittingly committed to the aged Rev. John Moser. This day marked the pro- gress in the educational work among the Mennonites. The next conference held its session in the St. Johns church near Pandora. As a part of its program came the dedication of the first building of the college, Wednesday October 31, 1900 in the presence of a great throng of people. Stirring -addresses and excellent. music marked the event. Rev. S. F. Spiungr gave the most impressive ad- dress on Bis hierer hat der Herr geholfenf' On Monday Nov. 5, 1900 the school was formally opened and work was begun on Tuesday Nov. 6, 1900 with an enrollment of twenty students. Only the academic, roi-mal, ard the commercial departments were opened the first year. The first work in the college was done in the winter of 19039 the first Bible school was opened in the fall teiun of 1904. Much of the success of the school in these early days of its existence must be ac- credited to Dr. N. C. Hirschy and his co-workers who, thru their untiring eiforts and skill, steered the ship of Bluffton thru many a dangerous placeg but always after the storm had cleared -away the small ship was again sailing on in its beaming splendor of success, ever growing, ever striving to attain something higher. For the first eight years Dr. N. C. Hirschy was president of Bluffton College, then known -as the Central Mennonite College of Bluffton, Ohio. He resigned in 1908. In his farewell speech he says, For fourteen years, ever since the first thought of a college was suggested to me, I have cherished the fondest hopes of its possibilities. Dr. S. K. Mosiman was elected president in 1909. In this year the college was put on a sound iinancial basis, which caused the institution to throb with new life. This was a remarkable yearg perhaps the college never before opened under such a pall of misgiving hanging over it. Probably it never closed a years work with ia brighter prospect for the future. In 1911 work was begun on a Department of Agriculture and in the same year the Department of Art was added. On January 27, 1914 the Central Mennonite College was transformed into a larger Bluffton College and Mennonite Seminary. The movement leading up to presert college organization had its inspira- tion in the conviction among several of the leaders in educational work of several branches of the Mennonite Church that the young people of the church demand a well equipped, fully endowed standard college. In 1912 an informal meeting was held at Chicago to consider this question. The leading men at this meeting were: Pres. J. W. Kliewer of Bethel College and Pres. N. E. Byers of Goshen College. At this meeting it was tacitly agreed that any advanced work in education in the Mennonite Church if it is to serve the largest possible number of people could be best accomplished by the cooperation of a number of branches of the Church. It was further agreed that if there was suificient interest in such a movement in several localities, a meeting should be called at some central place to consider possibilities of such an undertaking. After some investigation had been made it was found that a number in several bodies of the Mennonites expressed their willingness to attend a meeting to consider a Ns 19