On the cusp of the Texas Revolution, the need for a Methodist influence in the combative region was expressed in a letter written by 26-year-old Col. William B. Travis of the volunteer Texas Army. The letter, published in The New York Christian Advocate in 1835, called for establishing a Methodist presence in the region. Fearing the political consequences of founding a foreign mission before tensions in Texas were resolved, Methodist Church leaders refrained from sending missionary preachers to Texas until 1837, when it became a sovereign republic. At that time, three missionaries were dispatched to Texas, including Martin Ruter of Pennsylvania. Ruter's vision, upon arriving in Texas, was to create a Methodist institution of higher education in the region. Though Ruter died just six months after arriving, his ideals and efforts shaped the beginnings of higher education in Texas.

Despite the significant challenges of creating an educational institution in a war-torn region, Ruter's vision of a college came to fruition in 1840 with the founding of Rutersville College, six miles north of La Grange. Though Rutersville College struggled in its infancy, in 1844 it graduated the first six college graduates in the Republic of Texas.

Unfortunately, the college collapsed in 1856 amid financial problems, a scandal involving a local Methodist pastor, and debates over whether to institute a public or denominational university.