Mansfield Male and Female College

Dr. John Collier was born in May 1834 in South Carolina. He received his education from Wesleyan College in Alabama and from the Cumberland University of Tennessee. In 1854, Dr. Collier became a licensed Presbyterian minister. By 1855 Collier, with the help of a Professor Ewing and a Mrs. Rowe, opened a college for both males and females in the forks of the Brazos and Bosque Rivers. On August 26, 1858, Dr. Collier married Mary Ellen "Mollie" Fowler. With the onset of war in 1861, Collier joined L.S. Ross's brigade and served as a chaplain and scout east of the Mississippi River. Without its leader, the college at the Brazos was eventually abandoned. After the war, Collier came to his father-in-law's home where his wife resided while he was away at war. Once there, Dr. Collier dreamed of opening another college. By September 1865, the Oakland College opened in Grandview with Jim Poindexter, Levi Fowler and Dr. and Mrs. Collier as the teachers. As the school dismissed for Christmas in 1866, Dr. Collier announced the college would be relocating to Alvarado in January of 1867. At the time, Dr. Collier was preaching alternate Sundays at Mansfield and Alvarado. Many Mansfield residents, including Peter Davis and J.T. Stephens, offered Dr. Collier buildings, boarding facilities and a home for him and his family. As a result, Dr. Collier moved his college to Mansfield, instead of Alvarado, and renamed the college, Mansfield Male and Female College. The Mansfield Male and Female College remained open until 1887 when Dr. Collier purchased Marvin College in Waxahachie and renamed it Waxahachie College.
The Mansfield Male and Female College was the first real school in the town. Julian Feild donated the site for the college with the stipulation that the site only be used for educational purposes. The college was incorporated on May 2, 1871 by the Twelfth Legislature of the State of Texas and was empowered to confer degrees in arts and sciences. A two-story frame building at Fort Belknap was dismantled and rebuilt on the college site. (picture above). This building was used for classes, church services, and lodging.

The cornerstone for a second two-story building was laid on June 24, 1875. In 1877, Professor Collier built a two-story brick and frame house on the west side of the school grounds for his family. Five small rooms on the second floor served as dormitory rooms for the female teachers and students. The house still stands today as the eastern section of the Blessing Funeral Home. The first teachers of the college include Dr. Collier who taught languages and letters, Smith Ragsdale who was the professor of mathematics, N.A. Barbee who was the professor of instrumental music, and W.M. Watson who was the professor of penmanship and commercial studies. Mrs. M.E. Ragsdale was the principal of the female department and Miss I.E. Quarles was the principal of the primary department. The college had two adjunct professors, J.A. Embry and James Robertson.

The college closed in 1887 when Dr. Collier left for Waxahachie. The main building burned in 1889 and the college property was deeded by Collier to the Board of Trustees, subsequently, to A.J. Dukes. The site is now home to the Mansfield Independent School District Administrative offices.

After the closing of the college in 1887 and until 1901, private schools were conducted, coupled with the public school. There were only three months of free tuition. Those attending a longer term paid tuition. The 1887-1888 school term was directed by S.P. Render and D.C. Limbaugh. In the 1888-1889 term, a difference arose in the community, and the public school was conducted in the Church of Christ by Professor Sheppard while Professor Render taught a private school in the old college building. The old college building burned in the spring of 1889, and on October 29, 1889, the property was sold to E.D.L. Tims, C.F. Chrisman and J.H. Alexander as trustees of the Mansfield Male and Female College. In 1889-1890, Professor Lyles conducted classes in the brick building west of the college building. It is assumed this location was one of two small brick structures that were later torn down. On June 13, 1890, Dr. Collier's brick home and a fifty-three acre tract was deeded to A.J. Dukes. This transaction separated the site intended for school purposes from the land occupied by Dr. Collier's house. In September 1890, A.J. Dukes deeded the school property to J.H. Alexander, A.B. Pyles and W.G. Ralston, trustees of the Mansfield Public Free School and to their successors in office. A new two-story building was erected and school was conducted as a public school until 1901.