BASTION OF FAITH IN MARBLE HILL (PART 1 OF 2)

Willa Dickinson graduated from Will Mayfield College in 1916. Her father was a teacher there. She lives in the El Nathan Home, which moved to the college campus in the 1950s.

One of the highest points of land in Marble Hill has been a bastion of faith, a pinnacle of spirituality, for over 100 years.

Will Mayfield College, a Baptist school, opened its doors there in January 1885 with 83 students. Thousands of students graduated from the college well versed in theology, Latin, history and music.

When the college closed in May 1934 many in the region lamented its loss. Hundreds of people, some from as far away as St. Louis, had served on the board of trustees that governed the operation of the college for nearly 50 years. The administration of the college was always under the guidance of devout Christian leaders.

The stately college buildings would sit empty for 20 years until another enterprise, also founded on faith and fostering Christian principles, would call the hill home.

El Nathan Home, which began in Buffalo, N.Y., in 1901, moved to the former college campus in 1954. El Nathan, which means "God's Gift," is there today, administering to the needs of the elderly.

Just as Will Mayfield College had been largely the dream of devout Christians Dr. and Mrs. William Mayfield of Smithville in northern Bollinger County, El Nathan Home was the dream of Abigail Luffe, who as a young Christian in England, began her life-long work of helping the needy.

Willa Dickinson, 96, lives at the home. She also graduated from the college in 1916.

"It was a wonderful experience," she recalled. "I remember when Professor Hendershot (1900-1907) was there. I was still in grade school at the time but my father taught at the college and he told me about him. He (Hendershot) was from the University of Michigan and he was a very fine scholar.

"He was very interested in getting the college started on a schedule of a cultural nature. He put in subjects that were in the big colleges like Latin."

Not only did Dickinson graduate from Will Mayfield College, so did a brother and two sisters.

The brother studied Latin for four years and found it indispensable when he entered medical school. A sister excelled in Latin there, continued her study of it at Cape Teachers College and earned a Ph.D. in the ancient language at the University of Missouri.

After graduation from Will Mayfield College, Dickinson attended Cape Teachers College where she earned a teaching diploma. She taught at area schools for several years then attended the University of Missouri.

At Will Mayfield College, her father, who was an ordained minister, taught the ancient histories of Rome and Greece.

"My father and others didn't make much money at the college," said Dickinson. "And the ruling there was that the college was never to go into debt for anything, and anything that was bought had to be paid for promptly."

The college served the region well for many years, but fell victim to bankruptcy during the Depression. Several of the buildings still stand proudly on the hilltop and are used by the El Nathan Home.