Spartan Servant:
The Autobiographical Story of Elli Moore Townsend

by Diane Howard, Ph.D.
Copyright © 2008
 

Narrator:               

Elli Moore Townsend has had a long history of influence on students at UMHB from its earliest days to its present. Elli was bright, strong-willed, loyal to the college, and devoted to our Lord. She was one of the great educators of her generation. She came from Independence to Belton as Lady Principal of Baylor Female College. She worked with great dedication to raise money for both the female college in Belton and the male college in Waco. She also set in place the early work duty program (The Cottage Home System with its eleven little homes) and two cooperative dormitories. Further, she raised a quarter-million dollars in scholarship funds, which continue to be available to students today.

Seven years after Baylor Female College had opened in Belton, after separating in 1886 from Baylor Men's College in Independence, a very plain cottage was built back of the campus. This was the materialization of a dream of Elli Moore, graduate of the Class of 1879, who then was presiding teacher at Baylor Female College. This raw cottage stood in sharp contrast to the fine stone college building on campus. However, it was to be home to twelve poor students and a sign of a covenant Miss Elli had made with God.

            After almost 60 years of serving this school in the 1940’s, she might have told students the following story.

Elli:
(outspoken, assertive, sacrificial, devoted, intense)

It is a privilege to share the story of my connection with this college for many years. My lifelong dream has been to help this school and worthy, impoverished students. Early in my teaching career, I was besieged by girls who could not afford college, but who saw in education their only hope for advancement.

While in Philadelphia, I learned of Mary Lyon, a strong Christian woman, who in 1837 founded Mt. Holyoke College for women in Massachusetts. Students there were to work for the college a certain number of hours a day for their education.

Having been influenced by Mary, I established a series of modest cottages here, in which poor girls could live and work, in order to be able to attend the school. Mary Lyon’s and my early work study initiatives were bold. This was because in the 1890’s in New England and in older southern states a college education for girls was unusual. Mary Lyon had fought against the idea that women's minds were not capable of the same studies as men. She fought as well for the opportunity of the same examinations for her young female students as the young male students were given at Yale and Harvard. She was my role model.

At the turn of the century parents discouraged and refused their daughters from thinking of attending college. They were afraid that their daughters would be unattractive to men if they were educated. They even feared that a college education might render their daughters unfit as mothers and as wives. Girls of wealth were limited to pursue cultural and social accomplishments. It is a wonder that Baylor Female College, would develop before the Civil War in 1845 and would provide educational opportunities for poor girls at the turn of the century. By the grace of God, I have dedicated myself to this cause with ongoing faith, perseverance, and patience.

            I have always been determined of will, but never as physically robust. As Lady Principal, I drove myself into illness after illness. So, after twelve years of teaching, I resigned my teaching post to devote myself exclusively to the Cottage Home System. Having been refused permission to build a house for cooperative living on campus, I determined to go ahead and somehow build a cottage close to the campus. 

             A trustee who sympathized with me helped me to secure a house and lot that he owned near the college. I used my savings and arranged for carpenters to build a small cottage. Like an answer to prayer, three train carloads of lumber were sent to me from a sympathetic alumna. By September 1892 a simple little house with three small bedrooms, a kitchen, and a sitting room was available for twelve girls, four to a bedroom. Meager furnishings were used. Wooden boxes served as washstands and curtains on wires served as closets.

            Twelve female students first lived with me the cottage. Some were orphans, some were ministers' daughters, and all were very needy. Sometimes we were cold, hungry, and uncomfortable. However, we had a wonderful, friendly, and energetic family in our early Cottage Home.

We had some amazing adventures of faith. One Friday, a carpenter, who was yet to be fully paid for his work, insisted that he be paid his $150. He had earned the money and needed it for his own family. I told him to come back Monday, having no source for the money. On Monday, after a simple breakfast and prayers, I sent two girls for the mail. The carpenter arrived and I seated him, while I glanced at the mail. From the first envelope a check fell out for $150. I endorsed it and handed it to the carpenter.

             In 1899, I married Ernest Gale Townsend, who has shared my love for and devotion to our college students. Dr. Townsend has served as pastor of the First Baptist Church and as a president of this school. Now having been a served this college for almost 60 years and having shared my devotion to it with my husband, I look forward to our continuing to serve the school, even after we are both gone. I have started an alumnae association to promote ongoing Christian education. Dr. Townsend and I plan to leave our books to start a college library and funds to provide scholarships which will be available for years to come. We also intend to leave funds for girls and boys of color to receive educations. We are confident that our labors will have never been in vain, but that they will reap fruit for the glory of our Lord for eternity.