I

Beginnings at Spring Creek: The Spring Creek Normal School, 1880-1882

In the census-year 1880, the United States of America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, had between 50 and 51 million inhabitants, and the country's president was Rutherford B. Hayes. The nation then consisted of only 38 states (26 of them to the east of the Mississippi River) and 10 federal territories. Fifteen years had elapsed since the close of the nation's Civil War between the North and South. The public school system in , with William Henry Ruffner as its first superintendent (1870-82), was then in its infancy. In the same year (1880), Bridgewater , a co-educational, church-affiliated liberal arts institution at Bridgewater, Rockingham County, Virginia, had its beginnings in the Spring Creek Normal School, founded at Spring Creek (four miles west of Bridgewater), in the same county as Bridgewater, in 1880, by Daniel Christian Flory (1854-1914), a lay member of the German Baptist Brethren Church (called since 1908).

Factors Motivating the Founder

The need for teacher-training institutions in Virginia, in consequence of the legislative enactment of 1870 for the establishment of a public school system in the state, was an important factor motivating Mr. Flory to open a normal school. More important still was his desire to establish a school where young people, especially of his religious sect, could get a broad, liberal education while surrounded by "wholesome moral and religious influences." The Brethren's Normal College (today, ), at Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, where Mr. Flory taught the Greek and German languages and literatures during the session, 1878-79, was another influencing factor. "The Huntingdon experiment," he is said to have remarked, "looks like a good idea for Virginia."1 The fact that the German Baptist Brethren did not yet have an institution of higher learning of their own in the Old Dominion induced their youth to attend state (or other) schools and resulted, sometimes, in their joining other churches. Mr. Flory made plans for the founding of the Spring Creek Normal School, in discussions with friends, while serving as principal of the Beaver Creek Graded School (located 1.4 miles northeast of Spring Creek) during the session, 1879-80. 2

1PHB, Southeast, p. 23. 2BMF1ory, p. 13. 2 Beginnings at Spring Creek: The Spring Creek Normal School, 1880-1882

He knew no better place to establish a German Baptist Brethren school than in the Beaver Creek-Spring Creek area of Rockingham County, in which county, at that time, it was reported, lived more German Baptist Brethren than in any other county in the United States.3 The area was well known to Mr. Flory, since it was the locality of his mother's family. During the 1880's, Spring Creek was an enterprising village of a few more than 100 inhabitants, located 10 miles southwest of Harrisonburg, the county seat, in the midst of a prosperous farming section. It had a church, two schools, two physicians, a dentist, and an undertaker; also two stores, a flour mill, a grist mill, a wagon factory, two tinner shops, a harness shop, a tannery, a nail factory, and a shoemaker's shop. Today, however, Spring Creek is "only a landmark" of bygone days. "The town's former glory has faded away."4

SPRING CREEK

On the map (above) of the village of Spring Creek in the early 1880's, from Lake's Atlas of Rockingham County, Va. (1885), the arrow indicates the building used by the Spring Creek Normal School. Spring Creek is located four miles west of Bridgewater and 10 miles southwest of Harrisonburg, the county seat of Rockingham County.

Opposition Encountered and Support Received But many members of Mr. Flory's religious sect, "men of unimpeachable sincerity and of recognized Christian integrity," opposed his projected undertaking. They had grave doubts as to the benefits of higher education for their sons and daughters. Many associated higher education with worldliness, vanity, and irreligion: were "calculated to lead us astray

3DHZigler, p. 238. 4walter Miller to JWW, Sept. 28, 1954, JWW Papers, AMML. Bridgewater College: The First Hundred Years, 1880-1980 3 from the faith and obedience to the Gospel" and from "the humble ways of the Lord."5 Higher education, furthermore, would "spoil" their sons for farm work. The opponents, declared James R. Shipman, who spoke from first-hand knowledge, were "much greater in point of numbers than the supporters." Mr. Flory agreed. "I am sure a large majority of them," he said, "were decidedly opposed to the institution," the Spring Creek Normal School, which they viewed as "the production of a wild theorist or a crank," and which the "Brethren generally" believed would be short-lived. 6 Mr. Flory, however, was not easily discouraged. He was heartened, moreover, by the encouragement and support he received from certain German Baptist Brethren who appreciated the value of higher education and felt the need to train for church leadership, and who, furthermore, wanted a school controlled by their denomination. Among those advocates of higher education was Mr. Flory's uncle, Martin P. Miller,7 with whom he discussed at length his project of opening a school, and in whose home (near Spring Creek) he was lodging when he taught at the Beaver Creek public school and when he started his school at Spring Creek.8

Announcement of Normal Schools Mr. Flory proceeded to carry out his plan. He issued a printed announcement of a six weeks' summer school for public school teachers that he would conduct at Spring Creek from July 19 until August 27, 1880. That session would devote itself to "methods of instruction and the public school branches."9 His four-page brochure also announced another school that he would conduct at Spring Creek from September 6, 1880, until July 1, 1881, a period of 42 weeks, "to aid young men and women to secure a good, practical education, and fit them for a higher sphere of usefulness in after life," and to give special training to "those who are preparing themselves for the responsible duties of the school room." The fall term, of 16 weeks, would end on December 24, 1880. After one week's Christmas vacation, the winter term, of 13 weeks, would run from January 3 until April 1, 1881, and then the spring term, also of 13 weeks, from April 4 until July 1. The tuition charge would be $3.00 per month; "board in private families, including fuel and light," $10 per month; and "washing," $1.00 per month. 10 Although designed for German Baptist Brethren and under their immediate control, the Spring Creek Normal School was opened to young men and women of all sects and creeds. It offered a hearty welcome to all who sought knowledge.11 Not all who attended were German Baptist Brethren.

5AnMM, pp. 54, 138, 139. 6BC (1905), p. 12. 7Men of Mark, p. 259. Martin P. Miller was the maternal grandfather of Warren D. Bowman, president of Bridgewater College, 1949-64, and of Rufus D. Bowman, president of Bethany Biblical Seminary, 1937-52. 8BC (1930), p. 1. 9c, 1880-81, p. 3. 10lbid., pp. 2-3. 111bid., p. 2. 4 Beginnings at Spring Creek: The Spring Creek Normal School, 1880-1882

TITLE PAGE OF THE FIRST CATALOGUE OF THE SPRING CREEK NORMAL SCHOOL

11880 - 1881 I THE

Spirit of the Valley Print, Harrisonburg, Va. Bridgewater College: The First Hundred Years, 1880-1980 5

The Founder Daniel C. Flory was a young man 26 years old, unmarried, and not yet an ordained clergyman. The son of Isaac and Susan (Miller) Flory, he was born on April 3, 1854, on a farm near New Hope in Augusta County, Virginia. He married Catherine S. Driver, daughter of Samuel and Anna (Myers) Driver, of Augusta County, on December 23, 1880, a few months after the opening of the Spring Creek Normal School. He joined the German Baptist Brethren Church in August, 1877, and was elected a minister in that church in March, 1888.12 He had a striking appearance and manner. "He was a big broad-shouldered, square- jawed, self-confident man," wrote Weldon T. Myers. "I can see him yet as he thundered his judgment from the college pulpit. .." He had a powerful voice and a dominating personality.13 The young school founder had certain strong convictions about education. He was a staunch believer, first of all, in co-education. He declared the "co-education of the sexes" to be "the only true method of education." The "reciprocal influence" of young men and women, he believed, would be beneficial "in the Chapel, Dining Room, and Recitation Rooms."14 During his school's first session (1880-81), young women were in attendance, as they have been in every session since. Mr. Flory stood for the development of all aspects of man's nature, the moral, the physical, and the social, as well as the intellectual. He regarded religion and education as "mutual allies in the fulfillment of human possibilities," and believed that "the integration of religion and science" is essential to a developing civilization. He was also convinced that "the effective education of the human mind demanded the highest possible standards of scholarship and the unrestricted opportunity for study, meditation, and expression."15 He had obtained a liberal education. Besides training received at home and in the schools of his community, he studied Latin, Greek, mathematics, modern languages, and natural philosophy through three sessions, 1875-78, at the , where he made a commendable record.16 Interestingly enough, he financed his university education from his patrimony of $1,000, which he received upon reaching the age of 21in1875.17

The School's First Annual Session Six students, "five boys and one girl," entered the Spring Creek Normal School when it opened on September 6, 1880. Only one of them can be identified with certainty: Lee Hammer, of Franklin, West Virginia. No more students enrolled "until Monday of the 7th week, when the no. increased to 17 or 18."18 More entered later, raising the total enrollment during the three-term session, 1880-81, to 29. Twenty-five were men and four were women. Twenty-eight of the students were Virginians (all from Rockingham and Augusta counties) and one was a West Virginian. Nine of the 18 Rockingham County students hailed from Spring Creek, three I from Rushville, two from Ottobine, two from Bridgewater, one from Greenmount,

12BM Flory, pp. 7, 11-12, 26. 13w1M to AVK, April 28, 1969, AVK Papers. 14c, (1881-82], p. 4. 15From statements of JSF and PHB in the PrO Papers, AMML. 16uvac, 1875-76, p. 10; 1876-77, p. 9; 1877-78, pp. 9, 18. 17BMFlory, p. IO. 18Lee Hammer to Jacob A. Garber, Dec. 7, 1926, PrO Papers, AMML. 6 Beginnings at Spring Creek: The Spring Creek Normal School, 1880-1882

Daniel C. Flory and his wife, Catherine S. Driver Flory, photographed in December, 1880, a few months after the opening of the Spring Creek Normal School. Photograph by the courtesy of Byron M. Flory Bridgewater College: The First Hundred Years, 1880-1980 7

and one from Timberville. Nine of the 10 Augusta County students came from Sangerville and one from Fishersville. The names and addresses of the 29 students of the first session appear below: "Ladies" Beard, Annie Sangerville, Augusta Co., Va. Blakemore, Hattie V. Sangerville Koiner, Mollie Spring Creek, Rockingham Co., Va. Wenger, Sue C. Fishersville, Augusta Co., Va.

"Gentlemen" Andes, John K. Timberville, Rockingham Co., Va. Blakemore, D. B. Sangerville Blakemore, D. L. Sangerville Blakemore, W. Byron Sangerville Garber, Jacob Sangerville Hammer, Lee Franklin, Pendleton Co., W. Va. Heatwole, Thomas Rushville, Rockingham Co., Va. Koiner, Joseph M. Spring Creek McCall, Abram L. Sangerville McLaughlin, H. Frank Spring Creek Miller, Eugene X. Bridgewater, Rockingham Co., Va. Miller, J. J. Greenmount, Rockingham Co., Va. Miller, Martin B. Spring Creek Miller, M. F. Spring Creek Ritchie, C. W. Rushville Rivercomb, J. W. Ottobine, Rockingham Co., Va. Shipman, James R. Bridgewater Skelton, S. D. Ottobine Spitler, Newton A. Sangerville Spitzer, Perry Rushville Thomas, Abram S. Spring Creek Thomas, Benjamin F. Spring Creek Thomas, Peter S. Spring Creek Vint, Bernard E. Sangerville Weaver, Martin D. Spring Creek19 The last survivor of the students of the school's first session was Newton A. Spitler, a centenarian (1861-1962).20 Lee Hammer, the lone West Virginian, was reportedly the first student to register for study at the Spring Creek Normal School,21 and during the school's first six weeks he was the only boarding student.22 A two-story frame building, about 20 by 35 feet, in Spring Creek, "near the mill," and along the road that runs through the town, provided rented quarters for the Spring Creek Normal. The school used the two rooms on the first floor. The building, no longer standing, had been used as a general store.23 Mrs. Samuel D. (Anna Rebecca Wampler) Bowman made a

19c, [1881-821, pp. 2-3. 20Newsette, April, 1962, p. 21. 21B, April, 1938, p. 16. 22nc (1905), p. 210. 23pJtM, April, 1911, pp. 12-16. 8 Beginnings at Spring Creek: The Spring Creek Normal School, 1880-1882

THE GEOGRAPHIC AREAS FROM WHICH THE STUDENTS CAME On the map below, the names of the post offices of the Spring Creek Normal School students (1880-82), in the Virginia counties of Rockingham, Augusta, and Shenandoah and in the West Virginia county of Pendleton, are underlined.

I (

WEST VIRGINIA

Pendleton County

Franklin o

I I;.., 1~ I

lersvill B

!ck Bridgewater College: The First Hundred Years, 1880-1980 9 painting of the structure from a description of it by Abram S. Thomas and James R. Shipman, two students at the Spring Creek Normal School during its first session,24 and the painting now hangs in the Bridgewater College library. The "Stover House" (built by Sylvester Granville Stover about 1891), later the residence of DeRay M. Miller and his family, is on the site of the building used by the Spring Creek Normal School, according to the testimony of Newton A. Spitler and Abram S. Thomas, two students who attended the school during its first session. 25

THE SPRING CREEK NORMAL SCHOOL BUILDING Mrs. Samuel D. (Anna Rebecca Wampler) Bowman's sketch of the building used by the Spring Creek Normal School (1880-82), reproduced below, is based on the memories of two of the students. No photograph of the building exists.

The catalogues reveal interesting facts about the school's routine and regulations. Each school day began with worship, "including the reading of the Holy Scriptures, singing, and prayer." On Sundays, a Bible class was conducted at the school in the afternoon and worship in the evening. German Baptist Brethren students were expected to comply with their church's order of dress. Women must wear dresses "without tucks, ruffles, etc.," and "plain bonnets" instead of "dress hats." "Gay attire and jewelry" were prohibited. The school forbade the use of tobacco in its building, and it took pride in the fact that Spring Creek was a town free from saloons and gambling houses.

24Jbid., p. 25. 25Mrs. John R. (Madge Stover) Weaver supplied the information on the "Stover House." 10 Beginnings at Spring Creek: The Spring Creek Normal School, 1880-1882

A literary society, which met once a week, provided the students an opportunity for cultural and intellectual development outside the classroom. It included in its membership "quite a number" of Spring Creek residents who were not students. "This had the effect of encouraging the society and making it very interesting and enjoyable," a student member, James R. Shipman, wrote some years later.26 'We had our time for study and our time for recreation," he continued. "During the hours of recreation we would frequently have a game of ."27 Daniel C. Flory was the school's principal and chief teacher, as well as its founder. James R. Shipman, of Bridgewater, was assistant teacher. While "taking some studies as student," Mr. Shipman took "some classes as teacher," teaching "more in the second session than in the first."28

James R. Shipman, assistant teacher at the Spring Creek Normal School

26BC (1905), p. 13. 27Ibid. 28Bc (1905), p. 86; RR, April 27, 1882, p. 3. Bridgewater College: The First Hundred Years, 1880-1980 11

The school's curriculum, the catalogue reveals, included a wide range of subjects: "Orthography, Arithmetic, Geography and Map Drawing, and Physical Geography; Book- keeping; Natural Philosophy; History; English Grammar and Analysis; Penmanship; Composition and Rhetoric; Exercises in False Syntax; Physiology; Botany; Geology; Vocal and Instrumental Music; Algebra; Geometry; Trigonometry and Surveying; Conic Sections; Latin, Greek, French, and German; Mental Science, and Methods of Instruction."29 During the second year, courses in literature, the Bible, and philosophy were added. During July and August, 1881, Mr. Flory conducted at Spring Creek another six weeks' normal school for public school teachers, devoted to the "Theory and Practice of Teaching" and to review of the "Common School Branches."30

The Board of Trustees Until near the end of its first annual session, the Spring Creek Normal School had no board of trustees to serve as its governing body. The basic reason, probably, was the unsympathetic, skeptical attitude of many German Baptist Brethren in the , at the time, toward Mr. Flory's educational venture, and toward higher education in general. But because the school survived its first session, some influential members of the church, friends of higher education, decided that the school should have a board of directors, a group of sponsors. This decision was reached soon after German Baptist Brethren leaders of the Beaver Creek-Spring Creek-Bridgewater area learned of an effort being made by German Baptist Brethren leaders of Roanoke County, Virginia, about 100 miles to the southwest, to establish in their section a denominational school similar to the one at Spring Creek, and to induce Daniel C. Flory to become its head.31 The Spring Creek Normal School's board of trustees came into being in May, 1881, at the time of the district meeting of the German Baptist Brethren of the church's Second District of Virginia at Timberville in Rockingham County.32 On the evening of May 12, after the first day of the district meeting, about 40 church members who advocated higher education assembled on the back porch of Emanuel Hoover's house, two miles north of Timberville, "to consider sponsorship of the D. C. Flory school."33 They did not deem it advisable to raise the subject in the district meeting, for fear of encountering strong opposition and, for the same reason, did not assemble in a church building. The outcome of that memorable porch convention was the choice of 30 men to serve as the board of trustees of the Spring Creek Normal School. The names and addresses of those original trustees (all Virginians) appear below (asterisks denote elders of the German Baptist Brethren Church): *Daniel Baker Stephensburg, Frederick Co. John J. Bowman Broadway, Rockingham, Co. Enoch L. Brower Waynesboro, Augusta Co. Daniel T. Click Dayton, Rockingham Co. John W. Click Bridgewater, Rockingham Co. *John A. Cline Stuarts Draft, Augusta Co.

29c, 1880..81, p. 2. 30c, [1881-82), p. 7. 31Jacob Thomas, Solomon Garber, and George Wine, Sr., to J.P. Zigler, March 14, 1881, PrO Papers. 32DistMM, pp. 25-27 33PHB, Southeast, p. 31. Emanuel Hoover was the paternal grandfather of Mrs. Paul Haynes Bowman. 12 Beginnings at Spring Creek: The Spring Creek Normal School, 1880-1882

Samuel Driver New Hope, Augusta Co. Samuel A. Driver Mt. Sidney, Augusta Co. John Flory Bridgewater *Levi Garber Mt. Sidney Samuel J. Garber New Hope "Solomon Garber Bridgewater *Daniel Hays Moore's Store, Shenandoah Co. Emanuel Hoover Timberville, Rockingham Co. Emanuel D. Kendig Fishersville, Augusta Co. *Benjamin Miller Greenmount, Rockingham Co. *John Miller Mt. Sidney Martin P. Miller Spring Creek, Rockingham Co. Jacob Myers Cherry Grove, Rockingham Co. Samuel H. Myers Timberville Samuel Petry Good's Mill, Rockingham Co. Samuel A. Sanger Meyerhoeffer's Store, Rockingham Co. Samuel F. Sanger Bridgewater Emanuel B. Shaver Maurertown, Shenandoah Co. "Samuel A. Shaver Maurertown *Jacob Thomas Spring Creek Hamilton Varner Stony Man, Page Co. *Levi A. Wenger Long Glade, Augusta Co. Daniel Yount Koiner's Store, Augusta Co. Walter B. Yount Koiner' s Store34 All of the trustees, young and old, were German Baptist Brethren, and all were residents of the church's Second District of Virginia, which embraced (in 1881) northern Virginia (north of the James River and north of Botetourt and Alleghany counties) and parts of some northern counties of West Virginia. Fourteen of the trustees lived in Rockingham County, eleven in Augusta County, three in Shenandoah County, one in Page County, and one in Frederick County. Twenty-three of the 30 trustees were clergymen, and 10 of the 23 (in 1881) were elders of the church.35 The seven laymen were business men and farmers. No trustee was the official representative of a church congregation. Seven of the trustees were young men: Daniel T. Click, John W. Click, Samuel A. Sanger, and Walter B. Yount were in their twenties; Samuel A. Driver, Emanuel D. Kendig, and Samuel F. Sanger, in their early thirties. The youngest, Walter B. Yount, was only 21. His father, Daniel, was also a trustee. Five of the trustees were men beyond the age of 60: John J. Bowman, Solomon Garber, John Miller, Jacob Myers, and Hamilton Varner; Jacob Myers, 68, was the oldest. The trustees' terms of service are indicated in an appendix near the end of this volume.36 The trustees elected Jacob Thomas, of Spring Creek, president of the board; Daniel Hays, of Moore's Store, vice president; and Samuel F. Sanger, of Bridgewater, secretary.37

34C, (1881-82], pp. 1-2. 35sarnuel Driver, John Flory, Emanuel D. Kendig, and Samuel F. Sanger were made elders after 1881. 36For biographical sketches of the trustees, see Chapter I in BC (1930). 37c, (1881-82], p. 1. Jacob Thomas (seated, with cane), president of the school's board of trustees, 1881-86. Photographed with some family members and friends about 1901, in front of his house near Spring Cireek, Virginia. Photograph by the courtesy of the late Mrs. Lottie E. Thomas, of Dayton, Virginia. 14 Beginnings at Spring Creek: The Spring Creek Normal School, 1880-1882

The Second Annual Session

During its second annual session, which lasted 41 weeks (divided into three terms), from September 5, 1881, until June 16, 1882, the "Spring Creek Normal School and Collegiate Institute for Males and Females" (the new catalogue designation) had an enrollment of 30 students. Twenty-eight were Virginians and two were West Virginians. Fifteen of the Virginians came from Rockingham County: six from Spring Creek, five from Ottobine, two from Bridgewater, one from Timberville, and one from Mt. Crawford. Eleven other Virginians came from Augusta County: ten from Sangerville and one from Waynesboro. The two other Virginians hailed from Maurertown in Shenandoah County. Twenty-five students were men and five were women.38 Students coming by railroad were met at the Mt. Crawford depot of the Shenandoah Valley branch of the Baltimore and Ohio, about eight miles southeast of Spring Creek. In letters to their families, students gave their impressions of the school, their schoolmates, and the town. William I. Sanger, of River View, Fayette County, West Virginia, wrote, in part, as follows to "Dear Ones at Home" on December 18, 1881: I started to school last Monday ... and am very well pleased so far, ... The Professor [Daniel C. Flory] is competent in every respect to teach; is very kind and pleasant in his ways .... He has one assistant teacher, Jimmie Shipman, who is a very nice young man .... Perhaps you all think a little strange of me boarding at the boarding house and paying $10.00 per month .... the boarding house is kept by cousin Shem Miller .... I have a nice warm room. Can see all over Town from my window .... My roommate is a most splendid fellow. His name is Lee Hammer, ... We have a pet bear here, which is a good deal of company.... Some of the boys are very wild, but they are all kind and sociable. Spring Creek is a very quiet little village, no saloons of any kind. My greatest fault to this place is there is only semi-weekly maiI.39 The school's catalogue for the session, 1881-82, listed three regular courses of study: "Normal, Scientific, and Classical." The two-year "Normal Course," designed especially to "meet the wants of all those who are preparing themselves for the responsible duties of the school room," included the study of etymology, orthography, elocution, vocal music, English grammar, composition and rhetoric, Latin, penmanship, book-keeping, mental arithmetic, written arithmetic, algebra, geometry, mental science, astronomy, geology, physiology, botany, English literature, the history and Constitution of the United States, physical geography, map-drawing, political geography, natural philosophy, and the science of teaching.40 The "Scientific Course," which required two years of work beyond the Normal Course, was "intended to afford a wider culture and more thorough mental discipline than the Normal Course." It included "Latin and German, and an extended study of the Natural Sciences and Mathematics."41 The four-year "Classical Course," designed to prepare "for any profession or calling in life," included the study of Latin grammar and composition, Caesar, Virgil, Cicero, Horace, Sallust, Livy, and Tacitus; Greek grammar and composition, Greek Testament, Homer, Herodotus, Xenophon, Thucydides, Plato, and Aeschylus; German and French; astronomy,

38c, 1881-82 [1882-83], pp. 6-7. 39Frorn a letter among the PrO Papers. 40c, 1880-81 [1881-821, p. 3. 41Jbid., p. 4. Bridgewater College: The First Hundred Years, 1880-1980 15 geology, physiology, botany, zoology, and chemistry; higher algebra, geometry, trigonometry, surveying, analytical geometry, differential and integral calculus; ancient and modem history, philosophy of history; rhetoric, English and American literature, and history of literature; mental philosophy, moral philosophy, natural philosophy, and logic; international law and political economy; the Bible and evidences of Christianity. 42 Some of the textbooks used in the courses were the following: "Venable's Arithmetic, Davies' Algebra, Venable's Geometry, and Analytical Geometry, Robinson's Surveying, Reed and Kellog's English Grammar, Hill's Elements of Rhetoric and Composition, Maury's Geography (Political and Physical), Steele's Natural Sciences, Westlake's Literature, Wood's Botany, Brook's Higher Arithmetic, Robinson's University Algebra, Cutler's Physiology, Hill's Science of Rhetoric, Fulton and Eastman's Book-keeping, Haven's Mental Science, Blackburn and McDonald's History of the U.S., Wickersham's Methods of Instruction, Brook's Normal Methods of Instruction, Gildersleeve's Latin Grammar, Jones' Latin Lessons, Hadley's Greek Grammar, Boise's Greek Lessons."43

Five Spring Creek Normal School students photographed 50 years later, on June 2, 1930. From left to right: Martin B. Miller, Newton A. Spitler, Abram S. Thomas, Eugene X. Miller, and J. William Miller.

42Jbid. 43Jbid., P· 6. 16 Beginnings at Spring Creek: The Spring Creek Normal School, 1880-1882

Conclusion The Spring Creek Normal School was a milestone in the development of higher education among the German Baptist Brethren in the United States. It opened its doors four years after German Baptist Brethren had started (in 1876) what is today Juniata College at Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, and one year after they had started (in 1879) Mt. Morris College at Mt. Morris, Illinois. Other members of the denomination founded McPherson College at McPherson, Kansas, in 1887; Manchester College at North Manchester, Indiana, in 1889; what became Daleville College at Daleville, Virginia, in 1890; what is today the University of La Verne at La Verne, California, in 1891; at Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, in 1899; what became Blue Ridge College at New Windsor, Maryland, in 1899; and what is today Bethany Theological Seminary at Oak Brook, Illinois, in 1905. (Blue Ridge, Daleville, and Mt. Morris colleges are no longer in existence.) The old mill in Spring Creek, Virginia, across the road from the site of the Spring Creek Normal School building. A wood engraving by Isaac J. Sanger.