1870 March 30 Texas readmitted to United States.   1871   1872   1873   1874   1875   1876   1877 Austin College moved to Sherman Texas. Methodist Church buys Austin College Building, establishes short-lived Mitchell College for boys.   1878   1879 April 21 Governor Oran M. Roberts creates legislature to create an institution named after Sam Houston. Only Texas A&M and its associated Prairie View campus had been established earlier, in 1876, as state-supported institutions of higher learning, making SHSU the third-oldest university in Texas. The Normal received top students that were recommended on a quota basis from each Texas senatorial district. October 10 Sam Houston Normal Institute, the first teacher training school in the southwestern United States opens with one classroom building, four faculty members, and 110 students. Bernard Mallon begins tenure as president (October 10 to 21, 1879). Hildreth H. Smith begins tenure as president until 1881.