Wesleyan College was founded in 1844 in San Augustine, Texas, after a theological dispute between local Presbyterians and Methodists. Thus, two institutions of higher learning, Wesleyan College and San Augustine University, sat side by side in the community. Eventually, the clash spread to the two local newspapers. One editor mudered his rival and fled to Mexico.

Wesleyan's first building was constructed using $20,000 raised by Reverend Francis Wilson. Unfortunately, the Methodist Church's East Texas Conference, which sponsored Wesleyan College, realized that the charter did not allow them control of the institution's property. By 1847, Wesleyan College and San Augustine University merged into the private University of Eastern Texas, under state control and a non-denominational governing board. Though its brief three-year existence was without significant success, Wesleyan College assumed a place in the lore of Texas and in the heritage of Southwestern University. The above drawing of the building that was constructed with Reverend Wilson's funds is the only known image of Wesleyan College.

Reverend Francis Wilson