Centennial Institute, located at Warren, Brad- ley Co., Ark., under the patronage of the General Association of Southeastern Arkansas, was opened in 1875.

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Daily Baptist Encyclopedia Post by Jim Curran

Centennial Institute, located at Warren, Brad- ley Co., Ark., under the patronage of the General Association of Southeastern Arkansas, was opened in 1875. It is at present under the direction of Rev. W. E. Paxton, A.M., with three other teachers. A plan for the endowment of the school has been put on foot, and an agent is at work in this field. – It is located in the midst of the most fertile por- ‘tion of the State, on the line of the Mississippi, Ouachita and Red River Railroad. The spring term of 1880 closed with 100 matriculates. Central Female College is located at Clinton, Hinds Co., Miss. The want of suitable facilities in the State for the education of the daughters of Baptists was long felt. At length the venerable Dr. Phillips made a movement in this direction in the Central Baptist Association, which resulted in the establishment of this school. In 1856, Dr. Walter Hillman and his accomplished lady were called to this institution, and for twenty-four years under their management it has prospered, and her daughters are filling the highest social positions in the State. The spring term of 1880 closed with 104 students and 6 teachers. The buildings are the private property of Dr. Hillman and his wife. Central University, Pella, Iowa, was estab- lished by a Convention representing the Baptists of the State, which located the institution at Pella, Marion County, and named it Central University. They appointed a board of 30 trustees, divided into 3 classes of 10 each, and an executive com- mittee of 7. They determined to open the acad- emical department of the school at once, of which, on their appointment, E. H. Scarff, A.M., took charge and commenced the school. During the first two years it steadily advanced in numbers and in the grade of scholarship, and the board were encouraged in June, 1858, to open a regular collegiate course. They elected Rev. E. Gunn president. In the same year Mrs. D. C. A. Stod- dard was chosen principal of the ladies’ depart- ment. From 1857 to 1861, the prospects of the institution were very flattering, and classes were formed as high as the Junior class. The aggregate number of students for the year. 1861 was 377. At the opening of the war, in 1861, many of the students responded to the call for soldiers, and at the close of the summer term, 1862, there was not an able-bodied man of sufficient age to bear arms, in the college. Rev. E. Gunn resigned the presi- dency and Prof. Currier enlisted in the army. Of the 114 students who went to the war, 26 were commissioned officers, 17 non-commissioned officers, and 21 fell on the field. In 1865, Prof. Currier re- turned from the army to his place in the university. At the annual meeting in June, 1870, it was re- solved to raise $10,000 as the nucleus of endow- ment. The effort was successful. The board, in June, 1871, resolved to prosecute the work of en- dowment, and elected Rey. L. A. Dunn, D.D., of Fairfax, Vt., president. At the opening of the winter term he delivered his inaugural address and entered upon his labors, and he has earnestly pressed forward the work of the university. Among ‘those educated at the institution there are 7 educators, 7 doctors, 31 ministers, 42 lawyers, and hundreds of school teachers, and a large number of others in various walks of life. The university has a full college course; the Senior class numbers 7, the Junior 8, the Sophomore 12, the Freshman 19, the Sub-Freshman 36. It also has an acad- emical. department and a musical class, in all some 200 students. The president of the university is assisted in his work by a full corps of able instructors. From the Baptist Encyclopedia by William Cathcart