Rhodes College traces its origin as a degree-granting institution to the Masonic University of Tennessee, founded in 1848 in Clarksville, Tennessee, by the Grand Masonic Lodge of Tennessee. The institution became Montgomery Masonic College in 1850 and later was renamed Stewart College in honor of its president, William M. Stewart. Under Stewart's leadership in 1855, control of the college passed from the Masons to the Presbyterian Church. In 1875, the college added an undergraduate School of theology and became Southwestern Presbyterian University. The School of Theology operated until 1917.