“It is thought that no more desirable location could have been selected than Tehuacana. It is proverbial for its healthfulness, supplied with an abundance of living water, surrounded with a beautifully romantic scenery and fertile country, capable of sustaining a dense population, central, and ease of access, being on the line of the Central Railroad and now with a short day's ride of the Terminus, and free from the temptations to vice abounding in the various towns of the Country.” - Trinity University Catalogue, 1869-1870
Trinity University got off to an inauspicious start 150 years ago, in a single farmhouse in tiny Tehuacana, Texas. On this campus from 1869 to 1902, the University would take its first steps towards becoming the Trinity we know today.
In 1869, with Texas still reeling from America’s most devastating conflict—the Civil War—a group of Texas Cumberland Presbyterians had a unique vision: following the demise of three smaller Presbyterian colleges left decimated by the Civil War, they would unite to create a new university of the highest order.
In Tehuacana, top-notch faculty paired with top-notch laboratories
These founders, who valued experiential religion and higher education above all else, still needed land and financing, the former of which they received through a 1,100-acre donation from Texas pioneer and politician John Boyd.
Thanks to this donation, the fledgling University was able to renovate the aforementioned farmhouse in Tehuacana, a village of just 500. But to remain viable, Trinity would need to remain flexible.
On the Tehuacana campus, Trinity’s faculty were philosophically committed to the idea of coeducation, or admitting both genders. And as the Civil War left a limited supply of adult, male students, this principle also made sense from a practical standpoint. The University also made the timely decision to enroll students from kindergarten through high school.
While students of opposite sexes in the late 1800s were generally not permitted to even talk to each other, Trinity’s innovative spirit extended even to social life: students of all stripes would pass notes through textbooks or converse in clandestine spots off campus.
Trinity University's faculty in 1889.
Trinity would use its massive land gift as collateral to finance its initial academic and physical expansion. Its founders, according to an 1870 clergy meeting, aspired for the school to one day “fill a space in the South similar to what Princeton and Yale fill in the East.” So, they settled on the term “university,” even though the school did not have multiple colleges. Trinity aspired to one day have programs in engineering, science, medicine, and law, but remained pragmatic, focusing on undergraduate studies.
Trinity’s early curriculum was centered around four departments. The collegiate department embraced the traditional classical and scientific track, featuring courses in philosophy, mathematics, English, ancient languages, physical science, and natural science. The professional department included biblical instruction, civil engineering, and teacher certification. The Biblical program functioned as a supplement for preministerial students preparing for seminary and pastoral careers. The civil engineering course entitled students to a degree of Civil Engineer (C.E.) and included courses in geometry, railroad engineering, road alignment, mechanics of engineering, and map and topographic drawing. In the department of fine arts, students received training in oratory, music, painting, ornamental needlework, and penmanship. The university department offered postgraduate work at the master (arts, sciences, and philosophy) and doctoral (Sc.D.and Ph.D.) levels.
In the classroom, Trinity faculty conducted classes through rote learning, prescribed curricula, and strict discipline. These faculty also regulated virtually every aspect of student life outside the classroom. When one parent complained that his two children were kept so busy at Trinity that they did not have time to write home, professor S. M. Templeton responded with a lecture on parental detachment.
Gillespie (left) was the victim of pranks, while Templeton lectured parents on detachment.
Aside from violations of specific university rules, Trinity students of the 1890s reveled in retaliation through practical jokes, frequently directed at faculty and staff. An unidentified student placed a sheet of tin over the chimney of professor Gillespie's boardinghouse on a cold, snowy night, causing the fire the next morning to drive all the occupants out into the yard. When professor B. E. Looney arrived in Tehuacana with his bride, students had removed the slats from his bed and fastened cowbells to the springs. On one Halloween night, school officials had to summon the Mexia Fire Department to remove a donkey that appeared on top of the University building. On another occasion, pranksters tied the end of a long rope to the bell at the top of the building, extended the rope across a fence, and attached it to a heifer. Whenever the heifer moved, the bell rang in time with its steps.
Despite this heartwarming culture of personal growth, University leadership could not deny that Trinity University was, at the turn of the 20th century, perpetually clinging to a marginal existence on the Tehuacana campus. A prolonged drought in Texas and an extended national economic recession undermined efforts by Trustees and administrators to marshal adequate financial resources for the struggling institution. Additionally, school officials detected a growing sentiment among Cumberland Presbyterians that Trinity 's founders had erred in selecting a remote setting such as Tehuacana. Advocates of relocation proposed an accessible urban environment with the amenities of city life that would attract a more diverse student body.
As the University’s popularity and status grew, but enrollment and funding stagnated, Trinity eventually needed to find a setting with bigger opportunities.
Early Tigers faced the harsh Mexia wilderness, but seemed to enjoy nicer stretches of roads than I-35
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