Biography

In 1838, the Mississippi Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church voted to build and endow Centenary College in honor of the one hundredth anniversary of Methodism occurring in 1839. In 1840, the Mississippi Conference named Centenary's board of trustees. Centenary advertised that its preparatory department would open in April 1841 in Clinton, Mississippi. A few months later, the institution announced a new location, located about 30 miles east, in Brandon Springs. The new property and buildings had previously served as Brandon Mineral Springs, a mineral spa facility. The college began holding classes at this new location in November 1841. Thomas C. Thornton served as Centenary College’s president from 1841 to 1844; David Olcott Shattuck served as Centenary’s president pro tem beginning in 1844. In 1845, the trustees and the Mississippi Conference chose to move Centenary to the campus of the recently-closed College of Louisiana (Jackson, La.).

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