In 1866 Moses and Mary Jane Hubbard and their daughter Alla moved from Missouri to Collin County, where Hubbard was a successful doctor, farmer, and one of the largest landholders in the area. Concerned with the inadequacy of the local school, the Hubbards supplemented Alla's education at home and then sent her to Pritchett Institute in Glasgow, Missouri, where she earned a degree in literature in 1880. A talented writer, Alla Hubbard returned to Texas and married Dr. B.F. Spencer in 1884, but died five years later. In 1895 her parents founded Alla School in her memory. Formed from the consolidation of the nearby Emerson and McWhirter School Districts and completely financed by the Hubbards, it opened in 1896 with an initial enrollment of 108, nine grades, no scholastic age limit, no tuition, and an eight-month school term. At a time when there was little support for free public schools, the Hubbards instituted these uncommon features because they understood the benefits of a solid educational background. In 1958 Alla School merged with the Celina Independent School District, but funds from the Hubbard Estate continued to serve public education in the Celina schools.