Among the first to enroll on opening day was Bert Hoover, later thirty-first president of the United States. Then eleven years old, he was living with his uncle, Dr. Henry Minthorn, Pacific’s principal. On the college’s fiftieth anniversary Mr. Hoover was granted Pacific’s first honorary degree and his fiftieth.
When the academy opened, there were two of senior rank, eleven in the first year, twelve in the second, and thirty-four in the first year of the grammar department. There were two teachers besides Dr. Minthorn.
Six years later there were 125 students attending classes, and one had graduated. The Quakers were now confronted with the problem of providing further education for their children, and, since the nearest Quaker college was in Iowa, they decided to start their own.
Pacific College opened its doors on September 9, 1891, with Dr. Thomas Newlin as president. There were six other instructors. The college’s aim was that of “offering to young men and women the benefits of a liberal Christian education.” Two juniors, four sophomores, and seven deficient in preparatory work were enrolled in the college; and 136, in the academy.
Pacific’s first graduates were Clarence J. Edwards, son of Jessee Edwards, in whose wheatfield the academy had been built; and Amon C. Stanbrough, an early superintendent of Newberg schools.
In 1949-50, final action was taken to change the name of Pacific College to George Fox. It was felt that the increasing confusion of Pacific College with Pacific University at Forest Grove and the use of Pacific in the names of other schools on the Pacific coast made such a change imperative.
There are few colleges that send a larger proportion of their graduates into the so-called sacrificial fields, as teachers, preachers, or missionaries. George Fox, the fifth oldest Quaker college in the United States, emphasizes constantly the ideal of service rather than selfishness, and of character as well as scholarship.
Belleque House
Helen E. Austin
George W. Eberhard, at the age of 22, arrived at San Francisco by way of Panama from the State of Michigan. He remained in California for five years and came to Oregon by boat in 1859. The following year he bought 320 acres of the Pierre Belleque farm above Champoeg. At that time only 60 acres were cleared. He paid $1,500 for this land which had been farmed by the Belleque family over 25 years. Because of technical regulations in the Land Grant laws, no clear title had been issued, and it was 28 years before Mr. Eberhard was able to secure his official title.