Read
Scripts &
Listen to Audio
2004 Broadcasts
2005 Broadcasts
2006 Broadcasts
Bell
Gunness
MP3
Audio
Jefferson County’s “New England Settlement”
and Historic Eleutherian College, on this Moment of Indiana History.
One of the three major routes for slaves escaping north through Indiana
passed through Jefferson County, on the Ohio River. Passengers on the
Underground Railroad found a safe haven in Madison’s largely African-American
Georgetown district, and a bastion of abolitionist activity just ten miles
up the road, in the town of Lancaster. Known as “the New England
Settlement”, Lancaster had been established by a number of families
from Vermont and Maine who routinely violated state law to convey escaping
slaves to freedom. Although Indiana was not a slave-holding state, the
fugitive slave law and a constitutional amendment prohibiting black migration
into the state created a hostile environment for blacks and their allies
in the mid-nineteenth century. Jefferson County residents Robert Elliott,
John and Sarah Tibbets, and Lyman and Aseneth Hoyt became known as “conductors”
on the Underground Railroad. Their homes were recognized as “stations”
where fleeing slaves could take shelter and seek escort to the next point
along the way. The activists encountered a rabid opponent in the figure
of Robert Right Rea, local sheriff and slavecatcher, who would return
captured slaves across state lines to their owners for hefty recompense.
Lancaster abolitionist families banded together as the Neil’s Creek
Anti-Slavery Society in 1839, and the Anti-Slavery Baptist Church in 1846.
The group worked with other activists across the nation to put a Liberty
Party candidate on the presidential ballot in 1840 and 1844. On the local
level, Lancaster residents worked with Ohio preacher Thomas Craven to
found the Eleutherian Institute in 1848. Dedicated to the education of
all regardless of race or gender, the institute took its name from the
Greek word for freedom. By 1856, a large stone building with a belfry
had been constructed, and the first students were enrolled, 18 of whom
were African American. Measuring 65 feet by 42 feet, the structure was
to “furnish a commodious chapel, rooms for literary societies and
recitation rooms sufficient to accommodate 200 or 300 students.”
Within two years, Eleutherian College was able to offer primary education,
a college curriculum and instruction for teachers. By 1860, two hundred
students attended the integrated institution, including 50 blacks from
as far away as Louisiana and Mississippi.
The building functioned as a school until 1937, at which point it was
abandoned. Recently designated as historic landmarks, Eleutherian College
and the nearby Lyman Hoyt House play key roles in bringing the story of
the Underground Railroad in Indiana to light.
This Moment of Indiana History is a production of the Indiana Public Broadcasting
Stations in association with the Indiana Historical Society. More information
is available on-line at “moment of Indiana history.org.”
Writer: Yaël Ksander
This Moment of Indiana History is a production of the Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations in association with the Indiana Historical Society. More information is available at “Moment of Indiana history dot org."
For more information: