Two Lindenwood Female College Items

St. Charles, Missouri: Lindenwood Female College, 1880. Very good. Two invitations - a commencement-exercises one and a graduating-exercises one, 1880 and 1882; single card stock sheets, printed in fancy fonts and elaborate ruling; minor wear and a few very small spots to verso; in very good or better condition.The driving force behind the founding of the Lindenwood Female College was Mary Easton Sibley (1800 - 1878), an educator and early pioneer. Born in Rome, New York, Mary moved to Missouri at the age of 5, as her father was appointed by President Jefferson to serve as Attorney General of the largest land jurisdiction in the United States. Marrying at 15, she moved with her husband to St. Charles, where she named their farm Linden Wood and started schooling a few local girls there in 1827. In 1832, the Lindenwood School for Girls was officially founded - the second-oldest higher-education institution west of the Mississippi River. By 1853 enrollment increased tremendously, promptying Mary and her husband to donate 120 acres of land, and Lindenwood Female College was incorporated (present day Lindenwood University).