Eleutherian College

Eleutherian College Classroom and Chapel Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Eleutherian College and Chapel Building
Location:	Lancaster, Indiana
Coordinates:	38°49′51″N 85°30′59″W
Architect:	Jonathan and Nathan Yost
Architectural style:	Greek Revival
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	93001410
Significant dates
Added to NRHP:	December 15, 1993
Designated NHL:	February 18, 1997

A U.S. National Historic Landmark, Eleutherian College, founded in 1848 as Eleutherian Institute, was the first college in Indiana to admit students without regard to race or sex. It is now a public museum.

Its name comes from the Greek word eleutheros which means "free". It is located in the unincorporated town of Lancaster in Jefferson County.

History

In the 1830s-1860s, Lancaster, IN was the center of a burgeoning abolitionist community, largely centered around the Neil’s Creek Anti-Slavery Society, founded by husband and wife James and Lucy Whipple Nelson, and Joshua Tibbets. The Society made Lancaster an important stop for fugitive slaves traveling from Madison on the Ohio River to Indianapolis. In about 1847 or 1849, the Neil’s Creek Abolitionist Baptist Church was founded by abolitionists and Underground Railroad conductors Abraham Walton, E. Webster, and husband and wife John H. and Sarah Nelson Tibbets (brother of Joshua Tibbets).

Thomas Craven, a traveling abolitionist Baptist preacher, came from Oxford, Ohio to preach at the church and told the congregation about his dream of starting a school of higher learning open to all, including white, black, male and female, regardless of economic or religious background. The congregation embraced the idea and the Eleutherian Institute was formed in 1848. Among Eleutherian College's trustees were Dr. Samuel Tibbets II (father of Joshua and John H. Tibbets) and Lyman Hoyt of the extended Hoyt-Whipple family, who was also a conductor in the Underground Railroad.

The college/church was located on current day Fewell Road, in a wooden one room structure. It started with two professors: Rev. John G. Craven, son of the founder, and Rev John Thompson, son-in-law of the founder. Many African American students came from the south to attend. Eleutherian was the first of its kind west of the Allegheny mountains. It was the first college in the state of Indiana to allow black students, and it was the first school that allowed the education of women and the education of men on equal levels. In 1856, the college had 18 African-American students, 10 of whom were born slaves. In 1860, two hundred students were enrolled, 50 of them African-American. This was at a time when the Indiana constitution prohibited African-American immigration into the state.

As the number of students increased another building was erected. This two story limestone structure was located near the current day building. It was designed and built by Jonathan Yost, Nathan Yost, and Leonidas Cushman, grandson of Dr. Samuel Tibbetts#, and was erected in approximately 1849 to 1850. It was definitely completed by the spring of 1850. A traveling Baptist minister from England, Rev. Edward Mathews, wrote about the building. He stated that a center large room was used as a classroom and church.

The school continued to grow and a third and final building was erected, with construction beginning in approximately 1853. This building stands today. The former building became a student dormitory. The first stewards of this dormitory were James and Lucy Nelson, who, along with Professor John G. Craven, would be arrested for breaking the Fugitive Slave Law, of 1850. There was no evidence and the three were released with the help of an abolitionist judge.

Among the surnames of families involved with the college and Lancaster-area Abolitionist activities: Hoyt, Tibbets/Tibbetts, Record, Craven, Nelson, Walton, and Hughes. The college had many presidents, trustees, and students. Unfortunately all records have been lost.

The Eleutherian College flourished until 1888, when the building was sold to Lancaster Township. It was used as a public grade school until 1938. It then closed it doors and sat abandoned until 1997, when it became a National Historic Landmark.

Eleutherian Connections to Iowa and John Brown

There are interesting connections between Eleutherian College, Iowa, and John Brown. Walter Hoyt later moved to Iowa City, purchasing Plum Grove from Robert Lucas, the former governor of Ohio and territorial governor of Iowa. Lucas was familiar with John Brown and his father as early as the War of 1812, when Owen and John Brown ran supplies to Lucas's troops. Walter Hoyt was close neighbor and associate of Samuel Kirkwood in Iowa. Kirkwood served as the governor of Iowa, and was famous for protecting Barclay Coppock, one of John Brown's fighters at Harper's Ferry. Brown and his father commonly stayed in the Cincinnati area among anti-slavery supporters, and Brown lived for a time near Iowa City at Springdale, Iowa.

Walter Hoyt's daughter was the well-known author Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd, who discussed a bit of her father's past in her novel, Our Little Old Lady, although this book does not include a discussion of the Eleutherian College.

Gallery

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  Old NPS picture of the school

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  Distant view

References

“Give Us This Day, The Story of a Family” by Beverly Rue Wellington pg. 15

External links

• Historic Eleutherian College
• Eleutherian College Historical Marker
• National Park Service: Aboard the Underground Railroad
• Photos of Eleutherian College and "Reminiscences of Slavery Times" by John Henry Tibbets