.jpg)
In previous postings, I have made reference to the Clinton Theological Seminary in Clinton, Henry County, Missouri. During the early part of the 20th century, the Seventh-day Adventist Church felt it necessary to provide Christian education to those recently immigrated to this county, in their native languages. One of the resulting institutions was a German seminary located in Clinton. It opened in 1910 on the campus of what had been the Baird College and later, Clinton College for Young Ladies . At first, it was named the Clinton German Seminary, but with the outbreak of WWI, the word German was dropped from the name. The seminary in Clinton closed its doors in 1925 and merged with the Swedish seminary at Broadview, Illinois.Our journey home from our Hughes-Ortner family research trip brought us through the town of Clinton, so we stopped in at the local public library for an hour or so to see what information we could find. We did find some interesting material including a two-volume set of books, Henry County Scrapbook, The Years Between the Wars. These volumes were newspaper clippings of the people and events of the early days of Henry County, Missouri. There I found a few items regarding the Clinton Seminary.
The reference librarian shared with me that he had just discovered the University of Missouri had digitized the Sanborn Maps (early fire insurance maps) of Missouri and they were online at: http://digital.library.umystem.edu/. We were able to find the maps of Clinton and the location of the Clinton Seminary (early maps showed Baird College).
.jpg)
Why is this seminary important to this family research? Because there were several of the Ortner family who attended school here or were on staff. While I have not been able to verify the information as yet, it is believed that Emma Ortner Hughes, one of the main subjects of this blog attended CTS. I do know that her sister, Ellen Ortner Curran, attended this school.
I am on a search for old school records, though they are most likely in German and therefore would be unreadable to me, but I am searching anyway. The buildings are no longer standing, though I was told the old laundry has been converted to some apartments.
The seminary is an important part of the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Hughes-Ortner family.
2 comments:
Have you checked the Center for Adventist Research at Andrews University for the Clinton Theological Seminary records? It sticks in my mind that somewhere/sometime I heard that the records were transferred to Broadview when Clinton merged with Broadview, and then later still they were transferred to Andrews (when Broadview was downgraded to an academy). If the records are not in the library, they may still be in the Registrar's Office at Andrews.
Also, there used to be a newsletter that was produced by the alumni from Clinton. I don't know if a complete file is at Loma Linda in their Heritage Room, but I think they have a number of issues. You might again also check Andrews. This was some informal publication issued by alumni--and lasted at least up tin the 1960s or 70s--until the alumni became too old to keep it circulating.
I hope, Barry, that your search proves profitable.
Jim Nix
Thanks, Jim for the tip. I have contacted the Center for Adventist Research, and yes, they have the records. There are some class records as well as the registrar's records. I now have a copy of the registrar's records for Emma Ortner.
Post a Comment