Nacogdoches has always been an important social center. Even under Spanish rule it was noted for the culture of its inhabitants, and during the residence of the Governor of the State at this place in the unsettled period after the Louisiana purchase, there was a social life here that was not unworthy of a larger city. During the third and fourth decade of the Nineteenth Century social amenities prevailed even through the confusion of changing political scenes of that time. The Mexican officers at that time were, as a rule, gentlemen, and the American immigrants included many persons of high culture and attainments. After the revolution the social standing of the place grew even stronger. It was not merely in entertainments and enjoyments that Nacogdoches and San Augustine set the pace in East Texas; they became centers of learning as well. Schools flourished, and a refined taste in literary and scholastic affairs exhibited higher ideals of mental achievements. The University of Nacogdoches was established in 1845, and attracted many persons who were desirous of scholastic training. [Illustration: Old North Church Founded 1838. Standing four miles north Nacogdoches. See page 22.] When the shadow of war fell over the country in 1861, Nacogdoches at once took her place among those who were ready to offer their belongings and their lives upon the altar of their country. Her soldiers went to the front and did gallant service for the cause of the Confederacy. At home, the women and other non-combatants worked and prayed for the success and safety of their loved ones far away on the battlefield. But war brought ruin to the town; the schools were overwhelmed in the general desolation. Business enterprise was at an end, and the great stores gave place to little shops, which barely supplied the necessities of life. The soldiers came home and went back to their farms, but the old plantations had disappeared and the fields barely produced a living for their owners and workers. The town itself was reduced to the proportions of an insignificant village. The people bravely kept up the traditions of a more affluent existence, but it was a mournful struggle against untoward conditions.