Brigham Young College ~ Index
Establishment of Brigham Young College, in 1878, classes taught and early teachers.
In the year 1873, Charles O. Card, Robert Davidson and Alvin D. Crockett were the trustees of the Logan school district and the Logan Seminary or high school came under their jurisdiction. For some time Professor Charles Davis, who was a well educated man and a good disciplinarian, was principal of the school. As his ideas were atheistic, he was released and Mr. James Z. Stewart was secured to act as principal of the school.
The Logan Seminary, or high school, was held in what was known as the Old Lindquist Hall, situated at the corner of First East and Second North streets. The building is at present occupied by Mrs. Edward Hansen as an apartment house. When Mr. James Z. Stewart took charge of the school in 1873, it was quite large as now students had come from Salt Lake County, Box Elder County and as far south as Iron County and from southern Idaho. The enrollment was between eighty and one hundred students.
The students were not graded as they are now, but their grade was referred to according to the reader the student was using, the 3rd, 4th, or 5th, reader grade and in the schools they were the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. There were some advanced students who did not take reading, so there were special classes in Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Philosophy, Chemistry and Civil Government. There subjects were all taught by one teacher at a salary of $116.00 per month during the school season. The one teacher had at no time less than thirty students.
Many of these students later in life occupied prominent and responsible positions in the county, state and nation. In 1875, Mr. James Z. Stewart was called to fill a mission for the L.D.S. Church in Mexico and President Brigham Young sent Miss Ida Ione Cook to Logan to take charge of the Logan Seminary, or high school, with the view of establishing a school to be known as the Brigham Young College. Miss Cook taught in the same building as Mr. James Z. Stewart did, namely the old Lindquist Hall.
On July 24th, 1877, President Brigham Young deeded to a board of trustees, consisting of Brigham Young, Jr. as president, Milton D. Hammond, treasurer, and Ida Ione Cook, secretary, a tract of land to be used for the support of an institution of learning. The tract of land consisted of 9,642.07 acres, including practically all of the land in the present College Ward precinct, and part of west Millville and Providence and some of Wellsville. The institution was to be known as the Brigham Young College. The parties named in the deed met August 7th, 1877 and accepted the trust and organized as a board.
The deed of trust provided who the beneficiaries of the college should be and what students who took a full course should be taught, if their physical ability permitted, some branch of mechanics. Further that all students should be instructed in the common branches, together with such other branches as are taught in the institutions of learning. Also the Old and New Testaments, Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants should be standard text books in the college. That no book should be used that misrepresented or spoke lightly of the Divine mission of the Savior or of the prophet Joseph Smith, or in any manner advanced ideas antagonistic to the principles of the Gospel as it is taught in the Bible, Book of Mormon or the Doctrine and Covenants.
It was the desire of President Brigham Young to have the first term of the college opened in September 1877, but for unpreventable reasons the college was not opened until November 9th, 1878. At the opening, Miss Ida Ione Cook was in charge. In the collegiate year of 1878-1879 there were seventy-one students enrolled and in 1879-1880 there were one-hundred ninty-eight, but forty-nine of this number were in the primary grade. This grade was admitted for the purpose of giving the normal students practical experience in teaching. During the last three terms of this year, Mr. William H. Apperly was employed to assist Miss Cook and rhetoric, natural philosophy, physiology, United States history, ancient history, book-keeping and algebra were added to the curriculum as provided in the deed of trust.
In 1880-1881 the enrollment was one-hundred eighty students. The lowest grade was the Fourth Reader. Mr. Horace Cummings succeeded Mr. William H. Apperly as assistant. In October 1881, Mr. James Z. Stewart having returned from his mission in Mexico, was employed to assist Miss Cook in the place of Mr. Horace Cummings. Mr. Stewart remained at this position until 1883 when he was called to help translate the Book of Mormon into the Spanish language and he was succeeded by William H. Smart to assist Miss Cook at the college. In the summer of 1884 the move from the old Lindquist Hall to the present east building of Brigham Young College was made. The faculty was reorganized with the following in charge: James Z. Stewart, president; Ida Ione Cook, William H. Apperly, William H. Smart, teacher. Dr. G. Hessel was employed as teacher of drawing and instrumental music and William Knowles as teacher of vocal music. At the close of the winter term, Miss Cook was succeeded by Mrs. Mary M. Reese.
The Board of trustees for the college in 1885-1886 were: George W. Thatcher, president; Brigham Young, Jr., Moses Thatcher, William B. Preston, Charles O. Card and Milton D. Hammond as members with J.E. Price as secretary and Joseph Quinney, treasurer. In 1889, Mr. James Z. Stewart resigned from his position as president of the faculty and J.M. Tanner was appointed to take the position.
