St. Mary's University was the first

Catholic seminary This is a list of Catholic seminaries in the world, including those that have been closed. According to the 2012 Annuario Pontificio, Pontifical Yearbook, the total number of candidates for the Priesthood (Catholic Church), priesthood in the wor ...

and college in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Founded in

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

in 1855, it closed in 1922 when its operator, the

Jesuit Order , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

, decided to concentrate their efforts on universities in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

and

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

. In 1926 its charter was transferred to St. Mary's Seminary in

La Porte, Texas La Porte ( ) is a city in Harris County, Texas, United States, within the Bay Area of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 35,124. La Porte is the fourth-largest incorporated c ...

(now in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

History

St. Mary's University was opened by Jean Marie Odin, Bishop of Galveston, in 1855. The University was founded as a seminary for the training and education of native-born men into the priesthood. However, to help make the seminary self-supporting, and at the same time provide a Catholic education for the youth in the area, Odin decided to include in the project a college for boys. The institution was originally placed under the direction of the

Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary Congregation of Papal Right, religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a France, French priest born in Aix-en-Provence ...

. Construction of the university began in 1853 and a three-story building was completed in November 1854. The initial enrollment of St. Mary's University was sixty traditional college students and a handful of seminarians. The school formally opened on January 1, 1855 and in 1856 the Texas legislature granted St. Mary's a charter as a university, making it the first state-chartered institution for higher education in Texas. The number of traditional college students continued to grow, but the number of seminary students remained stagnant, so that by 1860 the seminary had ceased to function. By the early part of the 20th century the Jesuits had taken over the operation of the university. However, in 1922, on the order of Father

Norbert de Boynes Norbert de Boynes (August 24, 1870 in La Trinité-des-Laitiers, Dep. Orne – October 6, 1954 in Rome), was Vicar general, Vicar General of the Society of Jesus, Society Of Jesus from the death of Vicar General Alessio Magni (12 April 1944) u ...

, the university was closed when the Jesuits decided to leave Galveston in order to focus their resources on the two largest universities in the Province of New Orleans.

Notes and references

External links

St. Mary's Seminary
{{Authority control St. Mary's University, Galveston 1922 disestablishments in Texas Universities and colleges established in 1855 Defunct private universities and colleges in Texas 1855 establishments in Texas Educational institutions disestablished in 1922 Education in Galveston, Texas History of Galveston, Texas Catholic universities and colleges in Texas Religion in Galveston, Texas