Marvin College   In 1868, the Northwest Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Texas  met in Waxahachie to make plans for the establishment of a college in that city.  The institution was to be named  Marvin College,  for Enoch Mather Martin,  well known Methodist bishop and author.  Construction, begun in 1870, was completed the next year.. The two-storied brick building, 70 by 50 feet,  was built at a cost of $22,000.  At the front was a tower with a 13 foot projection constructed with Gothic style brick.   A huge bell, given to the school by the merchants of New York City, hung in the tower, its tone easily heard for miles around.  It was no longer used after the 1940s and is now housed in the Ellis County Museum.  On the first floor were six recitation rooms and  a 40-foot square study hall seating  300 students.  The chapel, which occupied the entire second floor, could seat 800 persons.  The building was deemed unsafe for use in 1919 and was demolished the next year. Another building, opened in late 1881, contained a laboratory and an observatory with an an equatorial  telescope. There was a campus newspaper and the school's music department  was said to be the finest in Texas.   Dr. John W. R. McKenzie, (who had founded the McKenzie Institute near Clarksville, Texas), was in charge from 1870 until 1872 when poor health forced his resignation. He was replaced by Rev. Jim Pugh, a minister from Mississippi . The school was incorporated in 1873 by Act of the Texas Legislature.  During its "heyday" there were some 250 - 300 students with courses from the lower grades through high school as well as some college studies . Classes were held from Monday morning until Friday night. Unfortunately, the high standards set in the beginning  were not maintained for a variety of reasons.  However, in 1878, under the leadership of Professors J. R. and W. H. Allen,  the next few years saw a revival of the school's earlier popularity. Marvin College's last year ended in June 1884 due to a combination of factors - some of which were loss of leadership and financial difficulties which seemed to escalate from year to year..  There was also growing support for the city of Waxahachie to take control of  public schools . When voters overwhelmingly approved this move in 1884, the owners of the college property sold it to the city. During its years of operation, Marvin College was an outstanding asset to the community and was a tribute to the Methodists of the Waxahachie District of the Northwest Conference who were responsible for its conception.   Many prominent individuals were associated with the College, including Dr. M. D. Franklin, J. Fred Cox, Gen. L. M. Lewis and George W. Armstrong. A Texas Historical Marker was placed at the site in 1977. [Source:  article in Waxahachie Daily Light, Oct. 12, 1939; The Handbook of Texas Online] [Note by County Coordinator (Barbara Knox):   My  maternal grandmother, Mary Persons, and her twin brother, James, lived on Rush Creek in Navarro County, Texas and attended Marvin College during its early years.  I have a letter written by Rev. Pugh to my great-grandmother, thanking her for their tuition and "hoping the young lady's eyes were better."]   Copyright © 2002-2016, Ellis County TXGenWeb. All Rights Reserved. This page was last modified: Thursday, 01-Jul-2021 13:30:29 MDT