We feel that the time has arrived when the proper education of our children should be taken in hand by us as a people. Religious training is practically excluded from the District Schools. The perusal of books that we value as divine records is forbidden. Our children, if left to the training they receive in these schools, will grow up entirely ignorant of those principles of salvation for which the Latter-day Saints have made so many sacrifices. To permit this condition of things to exist among us would be criminal. The desire is universally expressed by all thinking people in the Church that we should have schools where the Bible, the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants can be used as text books, and where the principles of our religion may form a part of the teaching of the schools. To effect this it will be necessary that funds be collected. The Church will doubtless do its share; but it cannot cany the entire burden. The Saints must be appealed to. There are hundreds of liberal-minded people among us who will be willing to contribute to this worthy object when they find the subject is receiving proper attention, and that definite and permanent arrangements are being made to establish academies of this character. The brethren whom you select to form this Board would be men of character and integrity among the people, who will be able to use an influence in the collection of funds, so that academies may be established, good Faculties be employed, and education be made so cheap that it will be within the reach of the humblest in the land. After you have made a proper selection for this Board, the names of the brethren composing it should be presented regularly at your Stake Conference as other authorities are, so that the people can vote for them. As the Mormon Church underwent an assault aimed at plural marriage during the decade of the 1880s, it is important to note one counter attack by Wilford Woodruff. Within two years the Woodruff Manifesto would mark the beginning of the end for polygamy and about at the same time mark the active role of the Mormon Church in the formal education process. The intent of the Woodruff Administration as well as local ecclesiastical leaders was to educate the Mormon youth in both religious and secular learning. On September 10,1888, the Weber stake presidency organized a Stake Board of Education. President Lewis W. Shurtliff assisted by one of his counselors, Charles F. Middleton, directed the organization. The members of the stake presidency (Shurtliff, Middleton, and N.C. Flygare) were original members of the board along with Joseph Stanford, Louis F. Moench, Robert McQuarrie, Thomas J. Stevens, and David McKay. Shurtliff was elected president of the board with Joseph Stanford as secretary. Regular meetings of the board began to be held to expedite the establishment of an academy. During the Fall of 1888 the Board decided that the Second Ward meeting house which could be rented for 300 per year should house the new academy. The Second Ward building had been constructed of red brick on the southwest corner of Grant Avenue and 26th Street in 1854 with additions completed in 1873 and 1875, and a steeple added in 1891. The Board agreed to fence the yard, erect water closets and supply the necessary desks, maps, charts, skeleton and other appliances requisite for a good institution of learning. It was estimated that all yearly expenses for 150 to 175 students would be about 1700, independent of faculty salaries. In a circular sent to all members of the Weber Stake in 1888, the Board of Education explained in detail the need for an academy, its purposes and organization: We believe that all the branches of learning, all that pertains to nature, the physical laws of our being, the laws which govern the vegetable king-dom, formation and creation of the world we inhabit and a planetary system, in fact all that which is true embraced in science, in art, and in the profession should be communicated to our offspring through inspired writings and teachers. There is no sure means to secure success and obtain to the greatest proficiency and eminence eternal in its duration and character than an educational training under such hallowed conditions. It is our duty to surround our children with that influence which will inspire correct thought, pure and virtuous impressions and impulses. A religion which will not apply to the schoolroom and the tenets of which will not admit of the tests that educated and scientific minds can apply is not worthy of the consideration of man. The circular also indicated that Professor Louis F. Moench who was currently serving in Germany and Switzerland in the mission field was expected home and would be engaged as principal. Bishops were asked to canvass their wards for subscriptions to the academy. At this time the Weber Stake boundaries were contiguous with those of Weber County. Moench arrived in Ogden on December 10, 1888 and on December 19 accepted an appointment as principal at a salary of 125 a month. Professor Moench had been sent to Germany as a missionary in 1884, and before that since 1872 had both taught in and supervised the Ogden City and Weber County schools. Moench was a native of Germany born in 1846 and a convert to Mormonism in Salt Lake City in 1867. Moench had graduated with honors in 1864 from Bryant Stratton College in Chicago. From his arrival in the Utah territory in 1864 he became associated with a career in education first at the University of Deseret and later in Ogden. Late in 1888 but prior to the opening of the academy in 1889 the Weber Stake Board of Education published and circulated Rules for Students Governing Conduct in the Weber Stake Academy. RULES FOR STUDENTS GOVERNING CONDUCT IN THE WEBER STAKE ACADEMY1. Students are required to subject themselves to the regulations of the academy during the time of membership. 2. Students from a distance must confer with the principal as to their place of boarding, the place of amusement, the parties they attend, and of the associations they form outside the schoolroom with a view to their personal comfort and to avoid mixing up with and forming acquaintances among those not in good repute. 3. The above rule, as far as it relates to amusements, parties, and associations, will apply to all students, unless objected to by parents who must make their objections known to the principal. 4. Students must avoid late hours and when boarding in rooms by themselves, two or more, must appoint a senior who will be held responsible to report any conduct not compatible with good order and irreproachable conduct. 5. The use of tobacco in any form is prohibited in the schoolhouse or on the premises. 6. Profanity and obscenity is strictly forbidden and will be attended after an investigation by the Board with expulsion from the academy. 7. Students negligent in their studies will be duly reported to their parents or guardians. 8. Any difficulties or unpleasantness arising from any cause whatever, among pupils, must be reported without delay to the principal for wise and kindly adjustment. 9. It is recommended for health and mental power and for students to successfully pursue their various studies to keep The Word of Wisdom. 10. Students desiring to discontinue attendance must so report before withdrawing that a