Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/338

 278 HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY public school are so arranged as to allow the pupils of each community to attend both schools. No instruction in the com- mon branches is attempted in these parochial schools, the work being confined to instruction in the teachings and language of the church by which they are maintained. The buildings of the various school districts are generally used also for the denomi- national schools, though in some cases there are buildings erected for that special purpose. In many places no teacher is employed by the congregations, but each community is allowed to provide the religious instruc- tion of its children in the way it thinks best. In such com- munities the public school is usually maintained during the fall and winter and a private school conducted during one or two months of the summer. Sometimes the same teacher will teach both schools. In practically all of the churches located in the cities and villages the religious instruction is given through the agency of Sunday schools. The work of these schools has been helped and stimulated in a splendid way by the Goodhue County Sunday School Association, which was organized in 1859. and which celebrated its semi-centennial in Red Wing last June. The three guests of honor at this celebration were Professor Jabez Brooks, the first president of the association, and M. B. Lewis and Louis Johnson, charter members and active workers in the association during its whole history. The comity lias been very fortunate in having within its boundaries several private and denominational schools for advanced education. The first one of these schools was Hamline University, under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church. This school commenced its work in 1854. with Rev. Jabez Brooks as principal, and continued during the next fifteen years, when it was removed to St. Paul. The Red AYing Col- legiate Institute was incorporated in 1870. with the following members of the first board of directors: L. F. Hubbard. 0. C. Webster, F. A. Cole, James Lawther, Peter Daniels and W. P. Hood. Two large buildings were erected on College Bluff at a cost of $17,000, the land being donated by Edward Murphy. The school was conducted for about three years. The property was later sold to the Hauges Norwegian Lutheran Synod and has since been used as a college and divinity school for young men. This institution gets its students from all over the Northwest, but many of the young men of the county have also made use of the excellent opportunities which are offered. The Villa Maria is a convent school for girls located near Frontenac. It is in charge of the Ursuline nuns and is doing much for the education of young girls. The Lutheran Ladies' Seminary began its work