of its investors from the East. Many professors and ministers associated with Marion College went bankrupt. The college was refinanced in 1842 in an effort to save it. Hervey H. Hayes, the principal of the preparatory school, became the owner of the upper and lower campus buildings and 1,350 acres of land, which was then purchased by the Masonic Grand Lodge of Missouri for $9,500 on September 12, 1842. Classes at the new Masonic College of Missouri began in May 1844. Notable faculty Ezra Stiles Ely resigned as pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Missouri to join the faculty as "professor of polemic theology" William S. Potts was a "professor of belles lettres and mental and moral philosophy" in addition to serving as college president James Gallaher, a noted author and preacher from Cincinnati, Ohio, was "professor of didactic theology and sacred eloquence" Charles W. Nassau taught Greek and Hebrew language courses John Thomson, a professor at University of Nashville, joined as the chair of natural philosophy, mathematics, and chemistry Hervey H. Hayes, principal of the manual labor institute at Zelienople, Pennsylvania, became principal of the preparatory school at Marion College Notable alumni Henry Watkins Allen went on to become the 17th Governor of Louisiana, a soldier in the Confederate States Army and the Texian Army, writer, sugar cane planter Thomas Hart Benton, nephew and namesake of Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton, attended the prep school and went on to become active in Iowa state politics and education Frederick T. Kemper later founded the school that became Kemper Military School in Boonville, Missouri Alfred William Lamb was later elected as a Missouri Congressman and curator at University of Missouri References Sources Parrish, William E. Westminster College: An Informal History, 1851-1999. 2000. Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1967. Work colleges Defunct private universities and colleges in Missouri Education in Marion County, Missouri