Meta Chestnutt, S. E. Kennedy, and the Christian College at Minco, I.T., 1894

Chickasha, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory, early 1894. The tallest man (second from left) is Silas E. Kennedy. Standing in front of him is his wife, Charlcy. The two men standing to either side of Mr. Kennedy are his sons. The woman standing quite close to one of the Kennedy sons is Meta Chestnutt. Further right is yet another Kennedy son, Luke M., a dentist. There came a time, later in the same year, when Meta Chestnutt would likely not stand so close to S. E. Kennedy.

For almost all of 1894, while some people were planning and building a college at Minco, the local newspaper barely mentioned the person who had always stood at the center of local academics, and never in connection with the college. Early that year, Meta Chestnutt appeared in the news only because she was sick. In January, after students had returned, the paper reported that "Miss Meta Chestnut [sic] was taken seriously ill," and had to temporarily close her school. Two weeks later, readers were informed that Miss Meta was "slowly improving." As late as March 2, the paper noted that Chestnutt was still "improving in health" [1] Was emotional stress the source of her condition? Did a prolonged illness make the single woman seem unreliable and vulnerable?

Either way, just a few months later, construction of the college received plenty of publicity. Throughout the summer, the paper offered regular reports. In early July, for example, readers were told, "Workmen are engaged in excavating the basement of the Christian College." Six weeks later, the foundation was nearly ready and timbers were "all cut for the first and second floors."[2] It appears that the community supported the project. For example, near the end of August the school hosted a fund-raising "phantom party," at which performers wore disguises. Although concealment was likely not the goal, the paper failed to report the names of those who had organized the event, and did not know the amount of money that had been raised.[3] In fact, over the first eight months of 1894, not one newspaper report identifies anyone connected with the construction of the college.

But that changed in September. In a lengthy article titled "An Appeal for the College," S. E. Kennedy announced a celebration for the opening of the school on October 1. It would be a grand event. Attendees would hear "the Silver Cornet Band of Chickasha," see a parade, and take in something straight out of a Wild West show: a "blood-curdling warwhoop by the Comanche, Kiowa, Wichita and Caddo Indians from Anadarko." After the Indians had whooped, several white men would speak. They included J. H. Hardin from Cincinnati, Corresponding Secretary of the American Christian Missionary Society, G. W. Muckley, from Kansas City, one of the original trustees of the Disciples' Divinity House at the University of Chicago, and Ira Joy Chase, Christian church minister and former governor of the State of Indiana.[4] Although it seems clear that they did not attend, Governor Jim Hogg of Texas, father of Ima, and President Grover Cleveland were sent invitations. Kennedy spoke directly to "the people of Minco." Triumphantly, he reminded them: "when I came among you and asked you to give ten acres of land and $3,000 in money to start this College I gave you my sacred word of honor that if you would be patient and trust me I would build in your town a College of which you and your children would not be ashamed."[5]

Over the next few weeks, things did not turn out the way he imagined they would.

Notes

[1] Minco Minstrel, January 12, 1894, 3; January 26, 1894, 3; and March 2, 1894, 3.

[2] Minco Minstrel, July 13, 1894, 3; August 24, 1894, 3.

[3] Minco Minstrel, August 31, 1894, 3.

[4] S. E. Kennedy, "An Appeal for the College," Minco Minstrel, September 18, 1894, 3. On J. H. Hardin, see John T. Brown, Churches of Christ (Louisville, KY: John P. Morton and Company, 1904), 156. On G. W. Muckley, see The Disciples' Divinity House of the University of Chicago: Preliminary Bulletin (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1894), 6. On Ira Joy Chase, see Alan K. Wild, "Ira J. Chase," in Linda G. Gugin and James E. St. Clair, eds., The Governors of Indiana (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 2006), 198-202.

[5] Kennedy, "An Appeal for the College."