Early, therefore, in the history of the denomination steps were taken toward providing for the education of its young people. The first school, known as Chili Seminary, was started in 1866. General Superintendent Roberts took the initiative in this enterprise, and for many years continued to father it. For some years he had known of a farm of nearly 145 acres at North Chili, New York, which he thought would make an ideal site for such a school as he had in mind to build. The place was but ten miles distant from the Court House in Rochester, New York, and yet was far enough removed from the city to be exempt from those peculiar sources of temptation which abound in the centers of population. Besides, at North Chili an excellent Free Methodist society had been formed, which was another advantage. On learning in the spring of 1866, that this farm, formerly belonging to a Mr. Rumsey, was for sale, he decided upon trying to procure it.

A mortgage of $10,000 had to be assumed, which Mr. Roberts continued to carry for nearly twenty years. Numerous other heavy burdens also had to be borne by him and his devoted wife during most of his lifetime burdens incident to the starting and maintenance of such an enterprise among a people numerically few and of scant means. Later Mr. Roberts purchased enough adjoining land to make the school farm 196 acres.

The school was first opened in Mr. Roberts's own house. Later it was transferred to the ballroom of the old tavern, which he had purchased on his removal to North Chili, and which, since the erection of the Seminary buildings, has been used as a general store. The one object in the purchase of this building appears to have been that of eliminating the only place within the township where intoxicating liquors could be obtained. The township has been almost uninterruptedly without license from that time until the present-a period of about fifty years.

The tavern building provided a home for the infant school until a suitable Seminary building could be erected and furnished. After a long and heroic struggle such a building was dedicated in November, 1869. A capacious addition was erected about nine years later. At the dedication of the original building Martin B. Anderson, D. D., LL. D., president of the University of Rochester, delivered the principal address, which was a great encouragement to the promoters and patrons of the school, and was very greatly appreciated. Turning to Mr. Roberts in the course of his remarks, he said, probably speaking from his own experience of struggle in the upbuilding of the University of Rochester, "You, sir, will find many who are willing to sacrifice you on the altar of Christian education." His prophecy was abundantly fulfilled.

In September, 1890, a fire broke out in the attic of this valuable building, supposed to have been due to the carelessness of steam-fitters, which reduced the entire structure to ruins. The new school year had just opened, and for a time it seemed probable that the students would be dispersed and the school entirely broken up. Most of the students were loth to return to their homes, however, and soon it was arranged to take the school exercises into the new Free Methodist Church building; and, by the opening of private homes, provision was made for the boarding of students from abroad, and so the school work went on with a minimum loss of time.

The seriousness of the situation was aggravated by the fact that the insurance which the trustees had been carrying on the school building had expired without renewal not long before the fire occurred. The Treasurer was on a long trip from home at the time, which probably accounted for this apparent neglect. Embarrassing and serious as the situation was, however, the trustees at once decided to rebuild, and in September, 1892, a four-story brick structure, known as Roberts Hall, and a spacious, commodious and beautiful Administration Building, constructed of large cobble-stone and Portland cement, were ready for occupancy, and that without involving the institution in embarrassing indebtedness. The latter fact was due to the general and generous responses of its friends to the appeals that were made for financial aid.

The erection of the Administration Building would have been impossible at the time had not Mr. Edward Cox, of Buffalo, New York, generously contributed $8,000 for the purpose. He made no such stipulations, but the trustees, recognizing the fitness of so doing, named this building the "Edward P. Cox Memorial Hall."

In 1884 the seminary received from the estate of the late Mr. A. M. Chesbrough, who had lived near Niagara Falls, a legacy of $30,000.00, with the provision that the farm on which the school was situated be purchased for the institution, and the balance be invested in good securities, the income from farm and investment perpetually to be used for the aid of indigent students in securing such education as the seminary could give them. In recognition and in honor of Mr. Chesbrough's generosity, and by an amendment of its Charter, the name of the school was then changed to that of "The A. M. Chesbrough Seminary."

An addition was later built to the spacious farmhouse, now included in the campus, and this building was also utilized for school purposes. The price paid for the farm was $22,500.00. The amount placed on investment out of the legacy was $7,500.00. The school buildings are probably worth $30,000.00. The farm, being so near the city of Rochester, and of the best of soil, provided with excellent buildings, orchards, etc., is highly valuable.

The Seminary was duly incorporated by the Legislature of the State of New York. By the provisions of its Charter it is subject to the State Board of Regents, which makes it a legal claimant for its due proportion of the educational fund of the State. The amount of annual appropriation is conditioned upon the number of days' attendance of Academic students during the year. Academic students are such as have passed the State examinations in preliminary subjects. State examinations are also held twice a year in all subjects, except some of those belonging to the Christian Workers' course, and State Certificates are issued accordingly to those who pass.

The Seminary has four courses of study-Classical, Academic, and Scientific, each covering four years, and Christian Workers', covering two years. The Board of Trustees have recently added two years of advanced work to the foregoing courses.

For well-nigh half a century this school has been of invaluable service to the Church. From within its halls have gone forth large numbers of consecrated young men and young women into all the various departments of Christian service. The other schools of the Church have reaped a benefit in the way of securing valuable members on their respective faculties from its alumni, while two of them were largely founded by men who took their Preparatory courses under its administration. The Seminary has seen its teachers and students to the number of perhaps nearly sixty enter the foreign missionary work. Louisa Ranf, whose tragic death in India after some years of loyal devotion to the work, the Church at large sincerely mourned, and Clara A. Leffingwell, who opened the Free Methodist work in China, after laboring seven years under the auspices of the China Inland Mission, and then was cut off by an untimely death when just beginning to realize the object of her desire and the answer to her prayers, were former students of the A. M. Chesbrough Seminary. Monoramabai, daughter of Pundita Ramabai, and several other young women from India, are among its alumni. Mortimer C. Clarke, for some time Director of the Church's Industrial School in Yeotmal, India; Effie L. Southworth, and Maud Edwards, of the same mission, and Lucy H. Tittemore, now laboring in China, are also graduates from this school. Of those who have entered the Christian ministry and other distinctive kinds of Christian work the number exceeds two hundred.

This Seminary, like all the other schools of the denomination, was started as a distinctively Christian institution. Its aim has ever been to put a thoroughly Christian mold upon every student, so far as possible. Its principals and other teachers have ever been selected with this end in view. While not sectarian, it is Christian, in the orthodox sense of that term. Moreover, the character of those who have gone forth as graduates from its various courses of study is such in general as to challenge comparison with that of an equal number from any other institution in the country.

The persons who have stood at the head of this institution during its history, and in an educational way have had to do with its making, are deserving of a passing notice.

The prospectus for the first term, which opened September 14, 1868, made the following announcement as to Faculty: "Rev. B. T. Roberts, A. M., Principal; Rev. John Glen, Associate Principal; Miss Delia Jeffres (later Catton), Preceptress; Mrs. Lucy Glen, Teacher; Jesse Murdock, Steward." Concerning Mr. Roberts's fitness for the principalship of the institution there could be no question. He had also in Miss Jeffres a very godly as well as a very competent Preceptress - one who left her impress for good on all who came under her instruction.

Of the next principal, Professor Wright, who served for a brief time, but little information is available. He appears to have been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church-a good and competent man. The next in order was the Rev. George W. Anderson, A. M., a man of brilliant parts, but possibly better adapted to some other calling than that of school principal. The next to occupy the position, though holding it but temporarily, was a woman-Miss F. F. Clement-whose pure and exalted character, whose self-denial and sacrifice in the interest of the institution, whose culture and refinement, and whose general influence upon the students for good, entitled her to the admiration and love of all. Then followed the administration of Clark Jones, A. M., the godliness of whose life, the strictness of whose discipline, and the thoroughness of whose instruction none will ever forget who attended the school under his principalship. Then for some time General Superintendent Roberts again assumed the principalship, a Miss Johnson and later Miss Susie E. Ullyette being respectively the principal teachers under him. He carried this burden for some time in addition to all his other duties, pending the preparation of some of the Church's young men in college for such positions. It would hardly be allowable to close this paragraph without mentioning the name of Miss Adella P. Carpenter, who has faithfully and heroically stood at her post of duty as teacher in this institution for more than thirty years. To her godly example and to her wisdom in counsel and discipline the school has owed much of its success under the various administrations.

In 1876 Benson Howard Roberts, son of Superintendent Roberts, and a former student of Oberlin College, but a graduate from Dartmouth, was called to the principalship, which position he held at that time for two years. He was then succeeded by Albert H. Stilwell, a young man of sterling qualities, who had just graduated from the University of Rochester. Professor Stilwell occupied the position for two years only, but has since been almost constantly employed, either as principal or professor, in some of the schools of the denomination. He is at present a professor in Seattle Seminary and College, which position he has held for a number of years.

Following Professor Stilwell's administration Benson Howard Roberts, A. M., and Mrs. Emma Sellew Roberts, A. M., his wife, became joint principals, which position they continued to fill with much ability for twenty-five years. During this period the Seminary won for itself an enviable reputation as a school for developing the loftiest ideals in its students, and for putting a fine finish on their characters.

In 1906 Professor Roberts and his wife relinquished their positions, and the trustees elected the Rev. David S. Warner, A. M., to the principalship. But the General Conference of 1907 elected him to the editorship of the Church's Sunday-school Literature, which finally terminated his relation as principal after he had occupied it but two years. The Rev. R. E. Raycraft, a graduate of Alma College, Michigan, was then called to fill the position, and for three years the school was under his administration. Upon Professor Raycraft's retirement the Rev. Charles W. Bacon, an alumnus of the Seminary in its earlier years, u-as called to the principalship, which position he held for some time with dignity and success, but finally resigned, when Harold A. Millican, A. B., was called to the position, which he still successfully fills.

A ten-acre tract of land, with two old college buildings upon it, located within the village of Spring Arbor, and valued at about $9,000.00, was purchased for the purpose. Necessary repairs were made, and in the summer of 1873 a short term of school was held, with Professor Clark Jones as principal. The dedicatory services were conducted by General Superintendent B. T. Roberts, September 2, 1873. The fall term opened under very encouraging prospects, with some sixty students (mostly boarders) enrolled.

The school was fairly prosperous from the start, and necessitated by its growth, a central, three-story brick building was erected a few years later, which, with its furniture and equipments, greatly added to the efficiency of the institution.

The administration of Professor Jones was succeeded by that of the Rev. Walter A. Sellew, A. M., now one of the Bishops of the Free Methodist Church; and those who succeeded him in the principalship were respectively the following named persons: Albert H. Stilwell, Charles P. Tiffany, David S. Warner, Burton Jones Vincent, Harold A. Millican, U. A. Stewart. Spring Arbor Seminary has been peculiarly fortunate in the selection of its principals. The foregoing list is one of which any religious denomination might justly be proud.

By the untiring efforts of the Rev. H. D. F. Gaffin, then financial agent of the institution, the erection of a new Administration Building was made possible in 1905; and on June 11 of that year the new building was dedicated, Bishop Burton R. Jones officiating. Mr. Jones had been for many years President of the Seminary Board of Trustees, and otherwise closely related to the school, serving for some time as one of its teachers in the earlier part of its history. The new Administration Hall added greatly to the facilities of the school for the accomplishment of its work, and following its erection the institution seemed to have taken a new lease of life.

The present valuation of the Seminary property, conservatively estimated, is $20,000.00. Besides this the institution also has an endowment fund approximating $15,000.00, a portion of which will not be available, however, until the death of the donors.

The Seminary is on the accredited list of the University of Michigan.

Hundreds of young people of both sexes, under the influences brought to bear upon them in this excellent school, have become experimental Christians, and have developed strong and vigorous Christian characters, with which to go forth wisely and successfully to meet and solve the problems of life, and so to prove a blessing to their generation. Among its alumni are many who have distinguished themselves as ministers, missionaries, teachers, physicians, lawyers, and in various other honorable callings. Such an institution is a valuable asset to the Church, and is worthy of ever increasing growth and prosperity.

One thing that militated against the success of the school during the period of its struggle and failure was a clause in its Charter which provided that every donor to the amount of twenty-five dollars should be a legal voter in the corporation.

During the year 1879 the Trustees made an offer of the property as a gift to the Free Methodist Church, on condition that the Church would open and conduct a school therein. Sub-committees from the Committees on Education appointed by the Illinois and Wisconsin Conferences met with the Board of Trustees of the Seminary, December 17, 1879, at which time they were requested by the Trustees to suggest such changes in the Charter as would render it satisfactory to the Free Methodist Church. They did this, and the suggested changes were adopted by the Trustees, and later were passed by the State Legislature as amendments to the Charter. The Act was published, March 12, 1880.

On April 7, 1880, the representatives of the Illinois and Wisconsin Conferences met with the Trustees at Evansville, at which time L. Whitney, D. M. Sinclair, W. Holden and C. Webber, of the Wisconsin Conference; Warren Tyler, J. G. Terrill, W. F. Manley, and E. A. Kimball, of the Illinois Conference; and B. T. Roberts, of the Genesee Conference, were elected to fill vacancies in the Board. The Board of Trustees as at that time constituted was composed of nine Free Methodists and four others, three of the old board retaining their seats, and L. T. Pullen, a citizen of Evansville, being elected to fill a vacancy. B. T. Roberts was made President, and I. M. Bennett Vice-President. These Trustees were elected to serve only to the following November, when the patronizing Conferences were to have the right to nominate such Trustees as they should see fit.

A building committee, composed of D. M. Sinclair, C. Webber, J. G. Terrill, E. A. Kimball, and I. M. Bennett, was at that time appointed, to have supervision of making the necessary repairs, and furnishing the students' rooms for occupation. L. Whitney, W. F. Manley, and J. G. Terrill were appointed Financial Agents, with specific instructions as to the outlay of whatever money should be raised before the next regular meeting of the Board. Before leaving the place the building committee had engaged workmen to make the necessary repairs.

The renovation of the building was completed during the summer, and on September 15, the first term of school opened, and the Church actually took possession of the building for school purposes. It was rededicated with appropriate ceremonies, the Rev. J. G. Terrill preaching the dedicatory sermon. J. Emory Coleman, son of G. W. Coleman (later, Bishop), and a graduate of the University of Rochester, was the first principal, Mrs. Lucy Sellew Coleman, his wife, was Preceptress, and Miss Belle Edic was their assistant. The school opened with but sixteen students. The next fall the enrollment was seventy-five. In the fall of 1885 the attendance had increased to 132, and the building, which contained both recitation rooms and dormitories for students, became inadequate for longer housing the entire school as formerly. Accordingly, in the spring of 1888, the erection of a new building was begun. This building was to be a brick three-story building, and was to provide a general assembly room, recitation rooms, laboratory, etc. It was completed in 1890, and then the original building was converted wholly into dormitories, dining-room and office.

In January, 1889, Mrs. Lucy Sellew Coleman, who had been a source of constant inspiration and a tower of strength, not only to her husband under his heavy burdens, but to all connected with the institution, sickened and died. This was indeed a heavy stroke both for Professor Coleman and for the school. Her capabilities and her deep religious experience admirably fitted her for the position she held in the Seminary. All who knew her loved her, and all sincerely mourned her apparently untimely departure. She died in the full triumphs of a living faith in Jesus.

Professor Coleman continued his relation as Principal of the Seminary, carrying very heavy burdens and devoting himself with great earnestness to the work. On August 19, 1890, he was married to Miss Mary L. Hopkins, who shared with him his devotion to the work of the institution both educationally and religiously, until, in 1894, he felt compelled because of broken health to have a change, and resigned.

The next year he took work in the Wisconsin Conference, of which he was a member, and was made District Elder, a position which he continued to fill with much efficiency for eight years. After this he served as pastor at Evansville one year. Then he moved to Texas, in hope of regaining his health, which was now very much broken. But his hope of regaining health was disappointed. He declined quite rapidly until, on June 12th, 1906, he reached the end of his earthly journey. He died as he had lived-a true Christian, a holy man, and, consequently, victorious over "the last enemy."

Chancellor N. Bertels, a student of the University of Rochester, and later of Leland Stanford, Jr., University, was elected to succeed Professor Coleman in 1894. He started in the work with a degree of courage and enthusiasm which promised much; but before the first year had passed the Board of Trustees found themselves so embarrassed by the heavy indebtedness incurred in the erection of the new building that they saw no other way out but to ask the entire faculty to resign. The faculty resigned as requested; but, inasmuch as there was a class expecting to be graduated, the faculty afterward offered to assume all the financial responsibility for the continuance of the school through the year, if the Board would allow them to continue. The Trustees consented to this proposition, and so the school was continued and the class graduated.

The following year the Rev. A.. L. Whitcomb, M. S., a graduate of Lawrence University, and his wife, were engaged to take charge of the Seminary. Mr. Whitcomb was an able scholar, an extraordinary preacher and platform speaker, a good economist, and an excellent disciplinarian; while his wife was a lady admirably adapted to the position to which she had been called. Their administration soon won the confidence and patronage of the people of Evansville and vicinity, and also commended the school to the Free Methodist people generally; and, as a result, the school during the next four years, under their management, was a decided success.

Upon the resignation of Professor Whitcomb, Professor and Mrs. A. H. Stilwell were secured and installed as Principal and Preceptress. Under Professor Stilwell, also a graduate from the University of Rochester, the school attendance reached a higher enrolment than it had ever had before. He served for three years, and was then succeeded by Professor Eldon Grant Burritt, a graduate of the same University. On his accession to the Principalship he found the institution was not on the accredited list at the State University, and began measures to secure such recognition. The courses of study had to be strengthened in order to this, and other changes in the way of lifting the literary standard of the institution had to be effected. Before the year was over, however, the school was placed on the accredited list of the University of Wisconsin. Professor Burritt continued as Principal until June, 1906.

Following his retirement Chester M. Sanford, A. B., a graduate of Cornell University, acceded to the position. But he found very undesirable conditions financially, by which he was much hindered in the work, and so continued but one year. Then the Rev. Lynn B. Webb, an alumnus of the institution and a member of the Wisconsin Conference, and his wife, Mrs. Grace Jenkyn Webb, conducted the affairs of the school as Principal and Preceptress for three years. They had for years been identified with the Seminary in one way or another, and had devoted their utmost endeavors to promoting its success. Their exertions told seriously on their strength. Mrs. Webb died, June 29.1914.

Next Miss Anna L. Burton, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, acted as Principal for two years, Professor A. L. Whitcomb acting as President during the second year of her Principalship.

Since that time Richard R. Blews, Ph.D. (Cornell University), has been President, and Professor Charles A. Stoll, A. M. (University of Wisconsin), Vice-President of the Institution, which added to its curriculum the freshman and sophomore years of college work and has taken the name Evansville Seminary and Junior College. The first year of college work was advertised in 1910, and the second year was added in 1912. Since the courses were extended to include the first two years of College work fourteen students have completed the Junior College courses. The total number graduated from the Preparatory department since the Seminary came into the hands of the Free Methodists is two hundred and sixteen. With the present administration the institution seems to have taken a new lease of life and prosperity.

The following are some of those who have helped the Seminary most largely since it became a Free Methodist institution: Bishop G. W. Coleman, who gave considerably over $1,000, William Kitely, Sharon, Wisconsin, $15,000, Mrs. William Holden, $3,000, and Mr. William Holden, $1,000, both of Port age, Wisconsin; Charles Franz, Fall River, Hiram Sweet, Marshall, W. A. Gillingham, Richland Center, and Mrs. Grace J. Webb, Evansville, all of Wisconsin, $1,000 each; Miss Martha Smith, of Marengo, Illinois, property valued at $1,000; and Mrs. P. D. Fay, of Belvidere, Illinois, $1,000. The following named persons gave $500 each: B. D. Fay, A. S. Baker, T. C. Richardson, Mrs. Cecelia Wygatt, Mrs. D. Bennett, Mrs. A. Eager, William Stephens, Mrs. William Gillingham and Mrs. Mary A. Backenstoe, of Emaus, Pennsylvania.

The present cash endowment of the institution is $13,500.

Arrangements have been made for the erection of a new building, which is to furnish three rooms for the School of Commercial Science, four large science rooms, and a completely equipped gymnasium. About $5,000 has been secured already toward the new enterprise.

Under the present administration over a thousand carefully selected volumes have been added to the library.

The total estimated value of the property is at present $55,000.

The records of this magnificent institution would be incomplete were the heroic efforts of the Rev. B. D. Fay, Financial Agent, to be omitted. Through his ceaseless efforts for a number of years past the financial condition of the institution has been so improved that it seems as if the period of "struggle for existence" were at an end. Thousands of dollars of indebtedness has been cancelled; the old Dormitory Building has been remodeled according to modern ideas, and a heating plant sufficient for both buildings installed, at a cost for both of $15,000; the endowment fund has been mostly secured; and provision has been largely made for a new gymnasium building.