Blue Mont Central College was a private,

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

institute of higher learning located in

Manhattan, Kansas Manhattan is a city and county seat of Riley County, Kansas, United States, although the city extends into Pottawatomie County. It is located in northeastern Kansas at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. As of the 2020 c ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The college was incorporated in February 1858, and was the forerunner of Kansas State University. After Kansas became a

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

in 1861, the directors of Blue Mont Central College offered the school's three-story building and of its property to the State of Kansas to become the state's university. A bill accepting this offer easily passed the Kansas Legislature in 1861, but was controversially

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...

ed by Governor

Charles L. Robinson Charles Lawrence Robinson (July 21, 1818 – August 17, 1894) was an American politician who served in the California State Assembly from 1851-52, and later as the first Governor of Kansas from 1861 until 1863. He was also the first governor o ...

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

, and an attempt to override the veto in the legislature failed by two votes. In 1862, another bill to accept the offer failed by one vote. Finally, on the third attempt, on February 16, 1863, the state enacted a law accepting the college building and grounds, and establishing the state's

land-grant college A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890. Signed by Abraha ...

at the site – the institution that would become Kansas State University. Blue Mont Central College ceased operations later that year after the school term was completed.

History

The founding of the college was intertwined with the efforts of the

New England Emigrant Aid Company The New England Emigrant Aid Company (originally the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company) was a transportation company founded in Boston, Massachusetts by activist Eli Thayer in the wake of the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which allowed the population of ...

to establish the town of Manhattan, Kansas, in 1855 as part of the effort to keep Kansas Territory from becoming a

slave state In the United States before 1865, a slave state was a state in which slavery and the internal or domestic slave trade were legal, while a free state was one in which they were not. Between 1812 and 1850, it was considered by the slave states ...

. The co-founder of the Emigrant Aid Company,

Eli Thayer Eli Thayer (June 11, 1819 – April 15, 1899) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1857 to 1861. He was born in Mendon, Massachusetts. He graduated from Worcester Academy in 1840, from Brown University in 1845, and in ...

, wrote that the towns established by the Company should emphasize education: "to go with all our free-labor trophies: churches and schools, printing presses, steam-engines, and mills; and in a peaceful contest convince every poor man from the South of the superiority of free labor." Among the founders of Manhattan was

Isaac Goodnow Isaac Tichenor Goodnow (January 17, 1814 – March 20, 1894) was an abolitionist and co-founder of Kansas State University and Manhattan, Kansas. Goodnow was also elected as a Republican to the Kansas House of Representatives and as Superi ...

, a professor from

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

. Goodnow led the New England Emigrant Aid Company's efforts to create a college in Manhattan. The creation of Blue Mont Central College was formally proposed by Goodnow at a Methodist conference held in

Nebraska City, Nebraska Nebraska City is a city in Nebraska, and the county seat of, Otoe County, Nebraska, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,289. The Nebraska State Legislature has credited Nebraska City as being the oldest incorporated ...

, in April 1857. The conference approved the creation of the school and appointed Goodnow and his brother-in-law Joseph Denison agents for the college. The school was then chartered by an act of the Kansas Territorial legislature, signed by Territorial Governor James W. Denver on February 9, 1858—making it one of the first three institutes of higher education incorporated in Kansas Territory, all of which were incorporated on that date. It would take another two years, however, before the school was ready to open.

Operations

The cornerstone for the college's building was laid in a ceremony on May 10, 1859. The building was constructed of limestone, and was three stories tall when completed in late 1859. It contained eight classrooms, offices, a library and a grand hall on the third floor. The building was sufficiently complete for the first classes to begin on January 9, 1860. The first class consisted of 29 students. The school was open to all denominations and was

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

from its inception. Like many new colleges in frontier states, Blue Mont College began by offering only preparatory secondary school classes. Reportedly, no students were enrolled in college-level classes before the school ceased operations in 1863. Goodnow was appointed the first President of the college and Instructor Washington Marlatt was appointed principal of the preparatory department for the college in 1860. Joseph Denison was appointed the second President of the college in 1863.

Name

The college was named after a prominent hill in Manhattan, Kansas. The name is sometimes written as "Bluemont" rather than "Blue Mont," but the articles of incorporation use two separate words. The term "Central" was included in the name because the founders believed Manhattan was located very near the

geographic center of the United States The geographic center of the United States is a point approximately north of Belle Fourche, South Dakota at . It has been regarded as such by the U.S. National Geodetic Survey (NGS) since the additions of Alaska and Hawaii to the United State ...

as it existed in 1858.

Legacy

Kansas State University moved from the location of old Blue Mont Central College in 1875, and the original college building was torn down in 1883. Nevertheless, Kansas State University has honored its legacy by naming a building on its present campus Bluemont Hall, by featuring an arch from the original Blue Mont Central College building over the central fireplace in the KSU Alumni Center, and by displaying the college's old bell on campus.

References

{{Kansas State University Defunct private universities and colleges in Kansas Educational institutions established in 1858 Educational institutions disestablished in 1863 Methodist universities and colleges Education in Riley County, Kansas 1858 establishments in Kansas Territory