Bethel College.—As early as 1882 a Mennonite seminary was established at Halstead, Harvey county. When the Kansas conference of the Mennonite church met in 1887 the city of Newton came forward with an offer of financial aid if the conference would undertake to establish a college at that place. The result was the organization by the conference of the Bethel College corporation, which was to have full charge of the establishment and control of the institution. Bethel College was opened to students on Sept. 20, 1893. The biennial report of the state superintendent of public instruction for 1893-94 gave the value of the property belonging to the college as $114,100, of which $45,000 was represented by buildings, and $68,000 as a permanent endowment. Since then the institution has kept pace with other schools of its character. Six departments are presented to students, viz: Collegiate, Academic, Music, Fine Arts, Elocution and Commercial. Probably no school in the state offers better opportunities for the study of the German language.