This week in Christian history: Wheaton College holds first classes; Oral Roberts dies

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, December 12, 2021

Wheaton College holds first classes – Dec. 14, 1853

The sign on the campus of Wheaton College display’s the Illinois evangelical institution’s motto. | Wikimedia Commons/Christoffer Lukas Müller

This week marks the anniversary of Wheaton College, an evangelical liberal arts college based in Illinois founded by Wesleyan Methodists, holding its first classes.

Originally known as the Illinois Institute, the academic institute had 140 students for its first year of operation and met in a stone building that was two stories tall and cost $10,000 to build.

“The first instructor and President was Rev. John Cross,” noted Wheaton on its website. “His work in establishing the Underground Railroad in the Midwest is cited in short entries in dozens of works.”

“The following year, after Cross left to help begin Amity College in Iowa, Rev. C. F. Winship took the helm for a year, after which he became a missionary to West Africa.”