According to Mark H. Dunnell, friends of education in Minnesota Territory expressed “hopeful rejoicing” when the foundation and cornerstone of Minnesota Central University (MCU) was laid. Citizens of Hastings as well as Baptists anticipated great things from the university. That joy was brief, however, because the Panic of 1857 hit in August. Dunnell described it this way:
“It was like a thunderstorm from a clear sky. The people of the Northwest were crushed. Those good Baptists who had subscribed were all in the wreck. The Central University not only felt the shock but felt its killing blow. It was the thing which ended the great enterprise. Only those who lived at that day can fully realize why this result was so absolutely true.”
Rev. Timothy Cressey made an unsuccessful trip back East the following year to raise money for the university. Dunnell said that Cressey “went forth with a few dollars of his own in his pocket, but came back with none of his own money left and not a dollar for the university.”
Not willing to let the university project fail, the Baptist church of Hastings, which was the third largest church in the territory, assumed financial responsibility for MCU. The church’s pastor, T.F. Thickstun, began teaching the first classes in April 1859.
According to Pettegrew, the school was called a “university,” but it was always intended to be an academy. He said, “It was not uncommon for high school students and academies to be known as “universities” in the nineteenth century.
During the early years, most of the school’s professors were ordained ministers. Consequently, there was a strong spiritual emphasis. Many students were converted, and many students attended as preparation for the ministry.
By 1867, the school again experienced financial difficulties. The Minnesota Baptist Convention, at its annual meeting that year passed the following resolution:
“Resolved, That this Convention join with the Baptist Church at Hastings in the sale of the University Building at that place upon condition that the Convention receive out of the proceeds of such sale the sum of $2,270.40, the amount paid by this body in liquidation of claims against, and as purchase money for, said property as follows, to assist in payment of notes….”
The Hastings school board bought the building for $6,000.
