Creighton University - Bluejay Yearbook (Omaha, NE)

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EDWARD A. CREIGHTON. Edward A. Creighton, a gigantic figure in the business activities of the West in the last half of the nineteenth century, was a man of whom the West of that time could well be proud. It was in the mind of this pioneer leader that the need for a school of higher learning first be- came a possibility. Following right upon the heels of this idea came his resolu- tion to endow and foster a free school for the youth of the Middle-west. Before he had brought his extensive plans to a suc- cessful completion he died, leaving the work of disbursing his bequests to his wife, Mary Lucretia Creighton. To Ed- ward ' s munificence and clear foresight Creighton University owes not only its most profound respect and gratitude but also its very existence. COUNT JOHN A. CREIGHTON. One of the foremost men of his day and co-founder of Creighton University was Count John A. Creighton. A young- er brother of Edward Creighton, he car- ried on to a successful termination the endowment of the school of higher learn- ing begun by his illustrious brother. In addition to his numerous gifts to the school which bears his name, Mr. Creigh- ton aided many other worthy causes, which earned for him the honor of being awarded in 1895 the title and dignity of a Papal Count. In 1900 the University of Notre Dame presented him with the Laetare Medal as a tribute of homage to his munificence in behalf of charity and education. [ Page 18 ]

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OMAHA AND CREIGHTON IN 1878. HE Story of Creighton is an epitome of the history of the west. As the individual is said to recapitulate the experience of the race within the compass of his own life, the growth of the University is one with the winning of the West. In 1878, Omaha was a ragged town of 30,000 people. Not eastern enough to be smug and sophisticated, it was never- theless not western enough to be lusty and colorful. But it was a gate city geographically and a key town economically. To this frontier metropolis came the Creightons, bent on building the west. The eldest was Edward, the first father of the University that was later to bear his name. With his brothers, John A, and James, he established his contracting business in Omaha in 1856, specializing in the construction of telegraph lines. By the early seventies wealth had definitely come, and Edward Creighton was making ready to shower his gold upon others, when death came. But death did not defeat his philan- thropic designs, for his wife, Mary Lucretia Creighton, in her last testament, provided for the founding of a college in the ' !il [ Turn to Page 20 ] [ Page 17 ]

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SARAH EMILY CREIGHTON. Sarah Emily Creighton, wife of Count John A. Creighton, was the founder of St. Joseph ' s Hospital by virtue of her original bequest of $50,000 which pro- vided part of the funds necessary for the establishment of the building which was to house the Franciscan Sisterhood in their mission of mercy. This pious, ener- getic pioneer was in her day a leader in early Omaha society. Mrs. Creighton died in 1888. MARY LUCRETIA CREIGHTON The invaluable work accomplished by this sturdy pioneer woman in carrying out the bequests of her deceased husband, Edward A. Creighton, as well as adding substantial contributions of her own to the young college is a familiar passage to all those who have followed the history of Creighton University with any degree of interest. Her most valued contribution, coming as it did at a crucial moment, was an endowment of $100,000 made to Creighton in her will, which was pro- bated in 1876. It was in that year that she died, just two years after the demise of her renowned husband. [ Page 19 ]