Concordia College - Spire / Concordian Yearbook (Fort Wayne, IN)

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In 1855, the seminary and the college departments were separated, and Prof. Adolf Biewend was installed as director of the college division. He thus became the first ‘“‘president’’ of Concordia College. Installed with him was Rector George Schick, who taught at Concordia College until 1914, and thus became the ‘‘grand old man”’ of whom the alumni speak so much. The Wines home. The Concordia College Campus in 1861. There were no annual graduatian ex- ercises while the college was in St. Louis. Due to the urgent need of ministers, the candidates were released as they completed the prescribed courses. The largest group, consisting of ten, was released in 1860. Moving day! Rol- lers, long boards, and a team of horses bring the college from Dresden to Altenburg, Mo. In 1861, Concordia College was twenty-one years old, and once more it was moving time! After spirited arguments, the Syno- dical Convention of 1860 finally passed the mo- mentous resolution. Dr. Wilhelm Sihler of St. Paul’s Church in Fort Wayne, issued a 39 page pamphlet listing all points favorable to the move. Thus, Concordia College was officially transferred from St. Louis to Fort Wayne, and the entire Concordia family was moved, including the faculty and the student body. In September of 1861, the seventy-eight stu- dents assembled in St. Louis were brought to Fort Wayne on a special coach of the Wa- bash Railroad. August Crull, president of the student body and later German professor for many years was in charge as Primus Omnium. The train left St. Louis at noon and ar- rived in Fort Wayne on the evening of the following day. What a trip! The boys had more fun than a barrel of mon- keys. Once in Fort Wayne, the students were limbered up by being marched over the dusty roads to the college grounds for some real eating and much needed scrubbing down.

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The year 1850 was important in the history of the college for two other reasons. It was in this year that the college became the property of the Missouri Synod, which had been organ- ized in 1847. It was in this year also that the college finally got a name. The eleven-year old was now formally known as Concordia College. Trinity congregation in St. Louis and the Alten- burg congregation had drawn up some terms on which they were willing to turn the college over Toate 2 ae basa t. ve a “Giant oaks from little acorns grow”’ The log cabin college, Altenburg, Mo. to the newly organized Synod. On af these conditions was that the college must serve the Mis- souri Synod forever and must train only ministers and teachers. Later, it was agreed that anyone who wished to prepare for any other vocation might be admit- ted as long as the original pur- pose was dominant, the training of young men for the public ministry of preaching and teach- ing. Another stipulation was that the German language should al- ways remain the medium of in- struction except in certain semi- nary subjects which could be taught by the medium of Latin. Future genrations played havoc with some of these conditions. A peculiar development took place very shortly. The en- rollment for the early fifties showed a number of non-mini- sterial students. Concordia Col- lege, in other words, was attracting many stu- dents interested in a general education only, including even non-Lutherans. The officials is- sued a warning that Concordia must curtail its enrollment of non-ministerials, lest if lose sight of its original purpose. Names of the class rolls reveal many English students, who spoke only English and whose names were, therefore, printed in smaller type than the names of the German ministerial students. Demands for additional housing facilities resulted in a second building, completed in 1852. This structure was a coun- terpart of the first and so con- structed that eventually the area between the two could be added. The purchasing power of money in those days was rela- tively high. Students paid $1.25 per week for board or $4.00 per month, a special bargain price. Students’ fees for non-ministerials were $6.00 for the lower classes and $8.00 for the upper classes. Examinations were open to the public. Summer vacations were short, from about the end of July to the beginning of September. Christmas and Easter recesses lasted two weeks each. “Candy, classics, and customers’”’ Scene in the old college bookstore.

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And what did Concor- dia College find here in Fort Wayne? The campus at that time consisted of approximately fif- teen and one half acres. Some ten additional acres were pur- chased subsequently, to the north all along Washington Street and to the west where Oak Grove was procured later. The buildings consisted of the old Wines home and the Wolter building, then the pride of Concordia, which was de- dicated in 1857. Housing facilities were inadequate; in fact, they were much worse than they had been in St. Louis. The English Academy building (the present administra- tion building) was too crowded to serve all pur- poses. Professors Lange and Schick lived with their families in the eastern wing where the col- lege offices are now, while President Saxer lived with his family in the western wing, now occupied by the Dean’s office. The seventy-eight students lived in the central portion, where all classrooms were also located. The move to Fort Wayne was not as easily carried out as it might seem on the sur- face. Before Concordia College could move in, ‘‘We are growing up!”’ Hanser Hall, finished in 1870. space had to be provided by vacating the cam- pus which was at that time occupied by three educational i nstitutions, each separate and dis- tinct from the other. The oldest was a practical seminary founded in 1846. This is now Concor- dia Seminary in Springfield, Illinois. The second school was a teachers seminary, which had come to the campus in 1857, and is now located at River Forest, Illinois. The third school was known as the English Academy. This school passed out of existence as Concordia moved in. Prof. Crull modeling the latest in beachwear. 3 1833 02616 0066 — Gta omen ee a