Page 126 - Cornelius Hedges Story
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113 The Cornelius Hedges Story
Samuel T. Hauser. The university was to have been located in
Helena on land already donated, and the trustees sought a $50,000
endowment in the East.374 Evidently, the institution died before it
even opened its doors.
On May 21, 1888, Judge Hedges met with Wilbur F. Sanders to
help in the planning of Montana Wesleyan University.375 And from
the tone of some of his journal entries, and his influential position
in the Montana Presbytery, it appears that he was a trustee of The
College of Montana at Deer Lodge in 1888 and 1889.376
Judge Cornelius Hedges was devoted to Montana education and
contributed much towards its advancement. Some might say, and
have, that his greatest contribution in this field was the origination of
the Teachers’ Institutes or perhaps his organization of many isolated
Schools into one territorial system. However, these are but integral
parts of a yet greater contribution. In his own unselfish, charitable
way, Cornelius Hedges kept the citizens of Montana constantly
aware of the need of good public schools and stimulated among
them a genuine interest and desire to build and maintain high quality
public schools.
Figure 27. Cornelius Hedges.
