Part of what has drawn many a student to Lindenwood in St. Charles, Missouri (including the producer of this program) is the rumors that Mrs. Mary Easton Sibley is still existing on campus in her spirit form.  This program explores that rumor.

 

In 1827, as the Sibley's settled in St. Charles, Mary started a small school in town; first teaching her sister, Louisa, and a few town girls from her home.  By 1831, a log cabin was built at Linden Wood, specifically to house twenty boarding students; as well as creates additional classroom space.  As finances became tight for the college in 1843, Mary traveled to the east to raise money. She succeeded in raising approximately $4,000; enough to keep the school in operation.  When the Sibley's were older and looking to retire, in 1853, they deeded the college to the Presbyterian Church.

After her husband George died in 1863, Mary sold her house and moved to St. Louis.  Between 1866 and 1869, Mary joined an organization created by a prominent St. Louis philanthropist James E. Yeatman. The organization, named The House of Bethany, was restricted to women who served the needy by providing food and medical care while promoting their Christian beliefs.  Once the House of Bethany closed in 1869 and Mary moved back to St. Charles, living in a house near the edge of the Lindenwood campus.  Near the end of her life, Mary became involved in the Second Adventist Movement which originally felt that Christ would return in 1844, but turned into an organized denomination when they were disappointed.  In 1873, Mary received a letter from a Japanese man named Isaac K. Yokoyama who requested that she send educators to Japan who could also spread Christianity.  At the age of 73, Mary took it upon herself to serve as a missionary/educator.  Mary left from New York City by boat to Panama, crossed the isthmus, and traveled to California, but before she left the United States she realized that the journey would be too hard on someone her age and returned to St. Charles. On June 20, 1878, Mary Sibley passed away at the age of 78.  She is buried with her family in a cemetery located at Lindenwood University.