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

The college was founded by members of the Neil’s Creek Abolitionist Baptist Church, with much of the organizing done by the extended Hoyt-Whipple family. Lyman Hoyt was married to Aseneth Whipple Hoyt, the niece of William Whipple, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Aseneth’s sister, Lucy Whipple Nelson, was a strong abolitionist and encouraged Lyman and Aseneth to move to Lancaster, Indiana. Walter Hoyt and his brother Benajah soon followed. In the 1830s-1860s, Lancaster was the center of a burgeoning abolitionist community, largely centered around the Neil’s Creek Abolitionist Baptist Church. The Hoyts soon became involved in the Neil’s Creek Church. Lyman Hoyt became a well-known “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, and provided shelter and supplies to runaway slaves. The Hoyts helped to establish the Eleutherian College in 1848, following the advice of The Rev. Thomas Craven of Oxford, Ohio, an early advocate of an integrated educational system. In 1856 the college built a stone school house which still stands on a hill in Lancaster.

Some of the Eleutherian College's trustees were active in the Underground Railroad and made Lancaster an important stop for fugitive slaves traveling from Madison on the Ohio River to Indianapolis. 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.

The college and chapel building, constructed between 1854 and 1856, became a public school in 1888 and remained in use until 1938.

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.

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