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Centenary College (Brandon Springs, Miss.)

 Organization

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.).

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:

Centenary College (Brandon Springs, Mississippi) clippings

 Collection
Identifier: SC-Cent. Misc. Mss. 536
Scope and Contents Collection consists of digital facsimile printouts of newspaper clippings about Centenary College while it existed in Brandon Springs, Mississippi. Also included is an inventory containing brief notes and citations for the clippings. The clippings include advertisements, announcements, articles, editorials, letters about the college, and descriptions of the campus property. Various clippings from October 1841 to July 1843 document the challenges of incorporating the college and...
Dates: 1838 - 1845

Jane Carr Chapman Thornton letter

 Collection
Identifier: SC-Cent. Misc. Mss. 53
Scope and Contents Typescript of letter about Centenary College (Brandon Springs, Mississippi). Thornton writes of travelling with her family from Virginia and arriving in Jackson, Mississippi, in November 1841. She describes Centenary College’s campus, dormitory, cottages, and a nearby medicinal spring. One of the college’s buildings is the home of her son, Thomas Chapman Thornton, who serves as the president of Centenary. She also mentions the people enslaved by her family who have traveled with the...
Dates: 1842

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