Church School Educaries in the Creek Nation    313
Church until a permanent building was erected in 1884.
endTheodore F. Brwe was president of the school until
1 .6 I tt year he was suceded by Reverend W. R. Thom-
twho held the place for two years.
Fire destroyed the building in 1899, but steps were ftnrnedi-
tely taken to rebuild it. Through the generosity of H. B. Spauld-
ing, a wealthy layman of the church, an eleven-acre tract of
ln was secured in the residential section of Muskogee as the
,unpus for a new and larger building.*
The new school grew    rapidly. Old students returned and
new students were found. It seemed as though Spaulding In-
stitute was designed to become one of the leading colleges of
the area. However, in 1906, grave financial difficulties arose.
Apparently the Methodists had established too many schools.
Reverend O. B. Staples, the president of the institution, made
a strong appeal to the conference, but secured only $900 for its
operation. The school struggled on in a poverty stricken condi-
tion until Christmnas week of 1905. When classes were-dismissed
for the holidays, that year, the doors of the institution were
dosed.,
Another school for young ladies in Muskogee was the Miner-
va Home for Girls, founded by the Presbyterian Mission Board
about two years after the Methodists had established Harrell
Institute. The school, despite a number of things in its favor,
was never very successful.6
Consequently, in 1894 the Minerva School joined forms with
the Timothy Hill School, also in Muskogee, and formed Henry
Kendall College.' The new institution was at frst operated as
.tHenry Sidney Babcock and John Y. Bruce, Tht History of efod-
m  Oklahoma, I (n. p, 1t35), p. 312.
t1id. As Is generally the cae in matters of this kind, the name
Itnute tschool was changed to that of its donor, the name "Spaulding
ut'having been given before the fire.
tha  About a year before it closed, the name of the school had been
bbto "dto Oklahoma College for Women. Apparently this was an effort
tootin statewide support for the endeavor.
la 6John D. Benedict to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, July 14, 190,
of     after referred to asDCF). Miss Alice Robertson wa the director
M toe school In 1885. From available reports, the enrollment of the
scolnever exceeded thirty-eight.
6 John D. Benedict, A History of Mttokoges and Northeast OO.1a
(Chie-go, 1922), P. 452.