Rev. Jacob A. Clutz, D. D., was elected first president, and served efficiently in that capacity for fourteen and one-half years. In 1904 Rev. M. F. Troxell, D. D., pastor of the English Lutheran church of St. Joseph, Mo. was elected president, and was succeeded by Dr. Rufus B. Peery.
In 1891 Oak Hall, a dormitory for girls, was erected, to which, about ten years later, the annex was added, giving accommodations for thirty young women. In 1893 the gymnasium was erected, the money being solicited by the students of the institution. Through the solicitations of Dr. Clutz, a splendid six-inch telescope was donated, and an observatory built in 1899. Through the efforts of Dr. Troxell a proposition was secured from Andrew Carnegie to donate $15,000 towards the building of a library, provided the same amount could be raised for its upkeep. From the synods on the territory, alumni and friends of the college, this amount was secured, and the handsome library building was erected during the winter of 1910–1911, and formally dedicated on May 30, 1911. A legacy of $5,000, given several years before, was added to the building fund in order to have a public hall, and a memorial tablet was placed in the hall to the memory of the generous donor, Rev. J. G. Griffith, D. D. On the retirement of Dr. Clutz, his home was bought by the college board for the use of the president.
The Western Theological Seminary was organized in 1895, and the first president and professor, Rev. F. D. Altman, D. D., was inaugurated.
The German department of the seminary was added a few years later, with Dr. J. L. Neve as dean of the department. The home owned by ex-Senator John J. Ingalls was secured in 1908 for seminary purposes. It is admirably adapted to that purpose. At the annual meeting of the college trustees in 1910 the board of education turned over the management of the seminary to this board.
ST. BENEDICT’S COLLEGE.
St. Benedict’s College is the product of Benedictine activity in Kansas, in the cause of Christian civilization. Father Boniface Wimmer, O. S. B., the founder of the Benedictines in the United States, settled in Pennsylvania in 1846, and ten years later he sent missionaries in all directions, and where they settled, promptly there, too, their schools soon were founded. Father Henry Lempe, O. S. B., was the first Benedictine to touch upon Kansas soil in 1856, and he inspired Bishop Miege, S. J., of Leavenworth, with the idea of inviting Abbott Wimmer to make a foundation in Kansas, and thereafter Father Augustine Wirth, O. S. B., was sent out to Doniphan, in 1857, but in 1858 he moved to Atchison. Father Augustine’s management of the college continued until 1868, when he was succeeded by Louis M. Fink, O. S. B., who remained at the head of the institution until 1871. It was under Father Louis that the first printed catalog of St. Benedict’s College appears. Father Giles Christoph, O. S. B., succeeded Father Louis, and held the position three years, from 1871 to 1874, and was succeeded by Father Oswald Moosmueller, O. S. B. The college is situated on the hills north of Atchison and commands an extensive view of the Missouri river and surrounding country. In 1908 the college planned to erect a new group of buildings to crown the brow of the hill, east of the old college, new St. Benedict is to be not only first class, but it is to be a monument of beautiful architecture, which will be in Tudor Gothic and uniform throughout. The administration building, already erected, comprises the first of the group, part of which comprises living quarters of the students. It is a fire-proof building of re-inforced concrete and vitrified brick, spacious, well ventilated, and conveniently arranged. The buildings in the old group are of substantial structure, well fitted to serve their purposes. They comprise an auditorium, recitation room, kitchen and dining rooms, scientific laboratories, museum of natural history, music and typewriting departments. The college has two distinct libraries, one for the exclusive use of the students, and the other, the college library proper. The students’ library contains upwards of 5,000 volumes, in addition to a number of papers and magazines. The college library proper, maintained for the use of the professors, occupies four rooms and the monastery, and it contains more than 27,400 bound volumes and over 5,000 pamphlets. The scientific laboratories are adequate for present use, and the museum is one of the best of its kind in this part of the country. The playgrounds of the college are large and well suited to afford all manner of healthful exercise for the students.
St. Benedict’s College, Atchison, Kan.
The courses available in the college are the academic, the collegiate, business and stenographic, which are presided over by twenty-two professors, and in which are 300 students. St. Benedict’s is one of the finest Catholic institutions in the West.