Gale College (also Galesville University and Marynook) was a private college in
Galesville, Wisconsin
Galesville is a city in Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,662 at the 2020 census. It is located where Beaver Creek flows into a wide area of the Mississippi River valley. The creek is impounded to form Lake Marinu ...
. It was founded by
George Gale, opening in 1854 and closing in 1939. Several religious denominations used the facilities as a college and later as a training school.
History
Judge George Gale went to college at the
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...
and moved to the western frontier in
La Crosse, Wisconsin, in the early 1850s.
After finding little interest in starting a college in La Crosse, he bought to start Galesville at a choice spot for his planned university.
The state of Wisconsin chartered the school in 1854 as Galesville University and Gale held the first classes in the county courthouse in Galesville.
The first class had 16 students including Gale's son, George Gale Jr.
Old Main was completed in 1862 and the campus was occupied in 1863.
Gale ran the nonsectarian college until 1865 and the school floundered when his health deteriorated during his involvement in the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
.
In 1865, the
Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...
took over the school and held classes until 1871.
The
Presbyterians took over until 1901 and changed the name to Gale College in the 1890s.
The
Synod of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America purchased the college in 1901.
In 1915, they built a new dormitory and gymnasium. They constructed a new heating plant in 1921. The Lutherans suspended the school for the 1938-39 school year because of too small enrollment and closed it permanently in June 1939.
The
Society of Mary, Province of St. Louis purchased the buildings and of land in 1941 for $10,000.
Its buildings included two dormitories, the main building, and a heating plant.
The Catholic
order used the buildings to train novitiate
brothers
A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...
and
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
s.
They named the school Marynook and operated the novitiate until it became a retreat in 1973.
The retreat operated until June 1994, at which time the city of Galesville purchased it for $150,000.
The city granted a 50-year lease in 2000 to the Garden of Eden Preservation Society.
Founder's Day
Throughout the school's varied history, it held a "Founders Day" celebration on June 4.
A wreath was usually placed at Gale's tomb and the grounds were typically open to the public.
The day celebrated Gale's founding of the school, his platting of Galesville, and his work to develop
Trempealeau County
Trempealeau County (, ) is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,760. Its county seat is Whitehall. Many people of Hispanic, Polish, Norwegian and German descent live in this area.
History
Patche ...
.
Historic Place
Several buildings on the campus were listed as a historic district with the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
on February 14, 1997.
Current use
![2016RedBrickGaleCollege](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/2016RedBrickGaleCollege.jpg)
The Old Main building is being restored by the Old Main Historical & Community Arts Center. The group rents out the building for events and holds fundraisers.
Volunteers are compiling the history of the area, building a digital database, and collecting local genealogy information.
Another building is being used as a
kindergarten
Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th ce ...
.
Notable alumni
*
Marcellus Dorwin
Marcellus Dorwin was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly.
Biography
Dorwin was born on February 14, 1861, in Durand (town), Wisconsin. His father, Vivus Wright Dorwin, was also a member of the Assembly. The younger Dorwin attended what wou ...
, politician
*
John Hamman,
Marianist
The Society of Mary ( la, Societas Mariae) abbreviated SM is a clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men (brothers and priests) commonly called the Marianists or Marianist Brothers and Priests. Its members add the nominal ...
Brother, magician
*
Charles N. Herreid
Charles Nelson Herreid (October 20, 1857 – July 6, 1928) was the fourth Governor of South Dakota.
Biography
Charles Herreid was born in Dane County, Wisconsin. His parents, Nels Olson Herreid (1832–1902) and Thone Kittelson Herreid (1833â ...
, politician
*
David L. Holcomb, politician
*
Merlin Hull
Merlin Gray Hull (December 18, 1870 – May 17, 1953) was a lawyer, a newspaper publisher, and a member of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin.
Born in Farina, Illinois to John and Adelia Hull, Merlin Hull was a graduate o ...
, politician
*
John Ballard Rendall
John Ballard Rendall (April 5, 1847 – September 3, 1924) was an American Presbyterian minister, educator, and politician. He served as a professor of Latin at the historically black Lincoln University of Pennsylvania from 1872 to 1906, pres ...
, educator and politician
*
Arnt O. Rhea, politician and educator
*
Elmore Y. Sarles, Governor of North Dakota
*
Hobart Stocking, politician
*
Albert Twesme, politician and jurist
Gallery
References
Further reading
*''A brief history of Galesville University, Gale College and Marynook'' by Lucinda Oakland Morken.
External links
Old Main Historical & Community Arts Center
{{Authority control
Defunct private universities and colleges in Wisconsin
Buildings and structures in Trempealeau County, Wisconsin
Educational institutions disestablished in 1939
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin
National Register of Historic Places in Trempealeau County, Wisconsin
Educational institutions established in 1854
1854 establishments in Wisconsin
1939 disestablishments in Wisconsin
Lutheran universities and colleges in the United States