The School at Minco in late 1894

In late 1894, the Minco Minstrel reported on the opening of the new college on October 1. But earlier, a few other reports indicated a strange turn of events related to the school. Because S. E. Kennedy, minister of the Christian Church at nearby Chickasha, seems to have been the main person behind the construction of the college, it likely surprised readers when in mid-August the paper announced the following: "C. O. Robertson, formerly connected with the Minstrel, will have charge of the Christian college and church paper to be established here. Charley is a good man for the business."[1]

The Minstrel, published by Lewis N. Hornbeck, regularly listed C. O. Robertson as its manager. So, why was the manager of the local newspaper suddenly going to become the top person at the Christian academy? Why not S. E. Kennedy? Why not, of all people, Meta Chestnutt, a highly-trained educator and the town's very first school teacher? Was it then, around late August, that Meta Chestnutt, brokenhearted and without recourse, left Minco for North Carolina?

Either way, the paper indicated that she returned from the east coast to Minco on Friday, September 7, and that C. O. Robertson left Minco on Thanksgiving Day, November 29. Robertson was on his way to Indiana where, said the paper, "he will remain." His wife, still in Minco, would soon be joining him in Indiana. [2] What had happened?

Notes

[1] Minco Minstrel, August 17, 1894.

[2] Minco Minstrel, September 14, 1894; November 30, 1894.