Wasatch Academy: The Story Continues

By Donna Glidewell

This book reads like a novel even though it is the true history of an independent boarding school in the heart of Mormon Utah. The school was founded by a Presbyterian minister, Duncan J. McMillan, in 1875. Dr. McMillan was personally responsible for eight private schools in Utah between 1875 and 1880. His work was continued by the Presbyterian Board of National Missions after 1875 until organized public education was authorized in the State of Utah in 1892.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781504980043

Donna Glidewell

The author has seventy years of experience with Wasatch Academy. First as a student, as Alumni Director, and as school historian and Museum Curator. She has had access to the archives of the School Museum for many years. She has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and is a member of the Professional Writers’ Alliance.

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© 2016 Donna Glidewell. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 02/17/2016

ISBN: 978-1-5049-8003-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-8005-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-8004-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016902580

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1 The Beginning

Chapter 2 Early Associations

Chapter 3 Marshall, Johns, McKirahan Years

Chapter 4 The Throndson Years

Chapter 5 The Golden Years

Chapter 6 Leaders of the Golden Years

Chapter 7 Student Memories

Chapter 8 The Gathering Storm

Chapter 9 The Transition

Chapter 10 The Loftin Years

Chapter 11 Early Second Century

Chapter 12 Campus Changes Through the Years

PREFACE

The History of Wasatch Academy is a story worth telling and the book is the fulfillment of a dream of many years.

I have included much more information in this copy than was in the original book and I hope that those who read It Endures Like the Wasatch Mountains find this story more complete and more interesting than the original effort. It is as much a story as a history.

I hope that my readers will forgive me for drifting into the first person memories and recollections that creep into this history. My association with Wasatch Academy for almost seventy years, makes the personal part of the story almost inevitable.

The wonder of a Presbyterian school located in the very center of Mormon Utah is a tribute to all who had a part in the development of this unique institution as well as those who are continuing to play a part in the future of the school. The transition of a Presbyterian boarding school to an independent private school with international associations is also a miracle.

We must hope that this school and its values will continue to have a positive effect on the state of the world for generations to come.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Wasatch Academy has been, perhaps, the best part of my life for many, many years. I owe much to the school both as a student and as the Historian and member of the Museum Staff.

Access to the archival files has provided all of the information that made this book and its predecessor possible. I thank Joseph Loftin and Luke Austin particularly for their encouragement and support.

Organization of the archives in the restored museum has speeded the process and provided additional information for the story.

There are so many people who deserve recognition for the writing of the book that the list would be almost as lengthy as the book itself. I will be forever grateful to all of them and for access to the amazing archival collection in Liberal Hall

CHAPTER 1

THE BEGINNING

In the beginning, there was a man, strong in Christian faith, a good speaker, talented writer and an excellent administrator. This man founded a school that exists and thrives today. His name was Duncan James McMillan, and this is the story of his early work.

Duncan McMillan came from Scottish heritage. His grandparents landed at Wilmington, North Carolina in 1773, seeking a better life in the New World. Most of Duncan's male ancestors were Presbyterian ministers, including his father, Reverend Edward McMillan. His mother was Mary Ann Brown, Edward's second wife. The couple married October 18, 1836. Their union produced ten children, Duncan being the fifth child. He was born June 2, 1846 in Gemini Fontes, Giles County, Tennessee. Four children were added to the family after Duncan's birth, but only one of the four survived infancy.

Mary Ann Brown McMillan came from a distinguished family. She was born March 25, 1812. Two of her siblings became governors of Tennessee. There were also several ministers and distinguished lawyers in the family. One nephew served as Chief Justice of Montana.

When civil war threatened, Edward McMillan moved his family from Tennessee to Carlinville, Illinois and stated from the pulpit: We don't fight to free the slaves, but we free the slaves to stop the fight. His proclamation reached the ears of President Abraham Lincoln who responded: This is the finest statement of the issue I have ever heard.

Edward McMillan joined the Union Army when the Civil War began, and served as Chaplain of the 32nd Illinois infantry from 1862 to 1864. Duncan, at age fifteen, joined his father as regimental orderly and drummer boy. Edward McMillan did not survive the war, dying from fever on August 27, 1864.

After his father's death, Duncan returned home to help and comfort his mother. Later, he recruited a squad of nine men and enlisted in Company K of the Seventh Illinois Mounted Infantry, remaining on active service through the remainder of the war. His battalion was detached from the regular line and placed in advance of the Fifteenth Corps, under the command of General John A. Logan. The battalion was on the skirmish line and in the saddle every day during Sherman's march from Atlanta to the sea.

After the war ended, Duncan returned to Carlinville determined to complete his education. He worked as salesperson, farmhand and teacher to earn tuition, graduating with a Bachelor of Systemic Theology degree from the first class of Blackburn College, Carlinville, Illinois in 1870. After graduation, he served as superintendent of Schools at Carlinville, remaining in that position for two years. Through the years, he added to his education, earning a Master of Arts from Blackburn College in 1873 and a Doctor of Divinity from Washington and Jefferson College in 1883.

Duncan McMillan continued the family tradition and was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1872. He accepted a pastorate at Walnut Grove Presbyterian Church near Carrollton, Illinois and assumed that his life was set on a secure and steady path, but fate intervened.

In 1872, McMillan rescued three young women from a burning building, a heroic act that sent his life on a new and adventurous path. Smoke inhalation from the fire caused bronchial damage that troubled him a great deal and interfered with preaching. Finally, he consulted a physician who advised him to change his lifestyle, use his voice less and move to a high dry climate. With regret, the young man resigned his pastorate in February 1874.

McMillan realized that his first task would be to regain his health, so he prepared to leave Carrollton and travel west looking for the prescribed high, dry climate recommended. We can be sure that he prayed often, asking God to show him what his future would be.

As McMillan prepared to leave the manse for the last time, a messenger arrived stating that George Beatty Burruss, the young son of a local church elder had died. After the funeral, McMillan joined the family for a meal. Mrs. Burruss produced a small boy's bank and said that she could not bring herself to open it because Georgie was the last one to close it. The family had no idea what the bank contained. When McMillan opened it, he discovered three dollars and eighty-seven cents, plus a few buttons and other trinkets that the child had placed there. Duncan took the money with him but had no idea how he might use it. The answer came after McMillan arrived in Utah. This first contribution to McMillan's work was part of his investment in Liberal Hall, the first home of Wasatch Academy. A small stained glass window in the First Presbyterian Church of Mount Pleasant, Utah commemorates the gift.

McMillan said his farewells and boarded a train that would take him to Salt Lake City. He met Rev. Sheldon Jackson in Denver. Jackson was a well-known developer of early Presbyterian churches in the western United States. The two men met on an outing in Idaho in 1874 and became close friends. It was quite natural for McMillan to consult Sheldon Jackson and ask advice about his future. Jackson urged McMillan to go to either Silver City, New Mexico or Bozeman, Montana, but McMillan rejected both locations. He felt that the weather in either location was extreme and would be detrimental to his health. Jackson then remarked that he had heard of some unhappiness among Mormons at Mount Pleasant, Utah, but he knew nothing for certain. He could not even tell McMillan the name of any person who might enlighten him.

Once again, McMillan boarded the train, arriving in Salt Lake City on February 23, 1875. He immediately contacted Rev. Josiah Welch, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Salt Lake City. Reverend Welch called and advised McMillan that he should not stay in a hotel, but would be welcomed at the home of Judge J. C. Royle who was sympathetic to the Protestant missionary cause in Utah. McMillan objected, but Welch picked up his suitcase and said, your bag will go whether you go or not. McMillan followed, reluctantly, and found the Royle home warm and congenial. In a letter to his mother, he described the family:

I accepted the invitation and found myself in the midst of as happy a family as it was ever my good fortune to see. Mr. Royle is a leading attorney at the bar of the Ter.(ritory) -- a man of earnest unostentatious piety -- truly one of nature's own noblemen -- friendly and frank -- a man with his heart not only in his hand but all outside him. His wife is an intelligent, well-bred lady.

He also described the accommodations:

My room was upstairs with a north and west window. I rose early every morning to watch the effect of the sun rise. It was grand and it was beautiful. First the peaks to the north and SW were tipped as if sieved with fine gold while the valley and the city were in darkness. Then the golden sunlight would creep slowly down the mountain sides until the valley and the city were illuminated and glorified. I could never tire of such sights.

On Monday, March 1, 1875, the Presbytery of Utah convened its first session. The group was authorized December 7, 1874 but had not yet held a meeting. Duncan McMillan attended the meeting as a corresponding member. Sheldon Jackson was present and he, along with the rest of the attendees suggested that McMillan settle in Ogden, a large town north of Salt Lake City with a growing railroad center and a fairly large non-Mormon population. They suggested that McMillan organize a church there. McMillan told the Presbytery that he could not go to Ogden because his voice was still impaired from damage done by the fire and preaching was impossible.

Duncan McMillan was not able to dismiss the Sanpete Valley and Mount Pleasant from his mind, even though the Presbytery group knew little about the area and even less about the dissident Mormons living there. The Presbytery even told him that the Danite (destroying angel) influence was so strong in Sanpete County that McMillan's life expectancy would be about one week. Nevertheless, McMillan persisted and prepared to leave Salt Lake City for the trip south.

The Presbytery agreed to make application to the Board of Home Missions for a commission that would authorize Duncan McMillan as missionary to Sanpete County, however the application could not be implemented until McMillan was released from his membership in the Presbytery of Illinois. There has been controversy about whether or not McMillan received a salary after he arrived in Salt Lake City. The letter he wrote to Mrs. H. F. Wall of Mount Pleasant many