TABLE OF CONTENTS

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CHAP. 1 FOUNDING OF HUNTINGTON (THEN CENTRAL) COLLEGE

CHAP. 2 RELATIONSHIP TO HARTSVILLE COLLEGE

CHAP. 3 HUNTINGTON (THEN CENTRAL) COLLEGE--1897-1917

CHAP. 4 HUNTINGTON COLLEGE--1917-1941

CHAP. 5 HUNTINGTON COLLEGE--1941-1972

CHAP. 6 SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY

75 Years - Where Character and Culture Blend

by J. Ralph Pfister

HARTSVILLE COLLEGE
Main Building Erected, 1860-1865
Burned January 30, 1898

CHAPTER II

RELATIONSHIP TO HARTSVILLE COLLEGE

The relationship between Hartsville College, located at Hartsville, Indiana and Huntington (then Central) College has not always been understood. Following the twentieth general conference of 1889 which resulted in a division of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, the portion of the church adhering to the Constitution of 1841 was in control of Hartsville College. The Board of Trustees was composed of representatives of the various annual conferences which supported the school. This made the college independent of the General Board of Education, although the General Board did help support it financially to a limited extent.

A historical look reveals that colleges and their boards of trustees were functioning in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ more than twenty years before the General Conference took any action relative to a General Board of Education. Thus this independent relationship between the boards of trustees and the General Board of Education arose before the division in the church.

A portion of the report of the Rev. N.D. Wolfard, secretary of the General Board of Education to the 1893 General Conference stated, "The educational interest has failed in a measure for want of concentration. The church has endeavored to establish and operate a score of institutions, all poorly equipped, meagrely endowed and heavily encumbered with debt. Had the entire interest been in the hand of a general board, with sufficient executive power to control, a smaller number of institutions might have been securely established, well endowed, and made self-sustaining."

Hartsville College was chartered in 1850. It was located in Bartholomew County, Indiana 14 miles from the nearest railroad and three and one-half miles from an access road. This type of location was considered good practice in the 1850's. Young people away from home were not subjected to temptations of the city. Near the turn of the century a location with good transportation facilities was considered a necessity.

The Moravian Seminary for Young Women located at Hope, not far from Hartsville, operated from 1865 to 1881, and thereafter it functioned as a private normal school until the close of the century. This school provided competition for Hartsville, after the 1880's.

At times the financial situation of Hartsville was very precarious, particularly after the Civil War and during the economic depression in the early 1890's. However, there were many friends of the school who helped to support it. A gift of $10,000.00 by Mrs. Catherine Barger aided to keep the school alive during the unsettled days following the division of the church. Words from the history of Hartsville College by O.W. Pentzer point out the uncertainty surrounding the school.

"It was known soon after the division that a college was contemplated farther north; and wherever the location, it must have the advantage of being on railroads and in a community that would encourage the work. It was supposed that it would interfere with the patronage of Hartsville; and it might mean its suspension. But that was in the uncertainties; Hartsville College was here, it was a school, a school with a history, a school with friends, although some had turned away; it was the only school of this branch of the church short of the western coast. So while the prospects were not good, in fact were very discouraging, almost all felt that the ship must not be deserted. So friends continued to give to its support, and the doors were kept open. If given teachers could not long continue, others would come, even for a short period."

There was some attempt by the General Board of Education to bridge the gap between the Board of Trustees of Hartsville College and the General Board. On December 12, 1892 the executive committee of the Board of Trustees of Hartsville authorized Rev. Wolfard, who was a member of both boards, to write to the members of the Hartsville Board asking their approval to place that institution under direct control of the General Board.

Rev. W.H. Davis, president of Hartsville College from 1892 to 1895, was instructed by the Board of Trustees on May 13, 1893 to draft a memorial to the General Conference respecting the future management of Hartsville College. The General Conference met at Hudson, Indiana May 18-27, 1893.

This memorial came to the attention of the General Conference through a paper presented by Z. McNew and W.A. Oler, delegates from the White River Conference, and John Riley and J.M. Johnson, delegates from the Indiana Conference. These men were also members of the Hartsville College Board of Trustees.

The amended report which was adopted read:

"WHEREAS, There is a report in circulation to the effect that Hartsville College is to be removed in the near future; and,

"WHEREAS, This report is injurious to the present and future prosperity of this institution of learning; therefore,

"Resolved, That this General Conference has no authority to remove Hartsville College from Hartsville, Indiana; but that it is in full sympathy with all of the interests of the college, and bids it God speed."

Thus the General Conference and the General Board of Education had no direct control over Hartsville College, so the General Conference, according to an editorial in The Christian Conservator of August 26, 1896 written by Dr. Kiracofe, empowered the General Board of Education to locate an educational institution under their control, whenever in the judgment of the board, the circumstances would justify such action.

Bishop H. Floyd, who was president of Hartsville College for the 1895-1896 school year, was sent by the executive committee of the Board of Trustees to Huntington, Indiana on March 10, 1896 to meet with the General Board of Education to protest against the locating of a college at that place. This visit of Bishop Floyd coincided with the meeting of the General Board of Education and the Huntington Land Association to sign the contract to proceed with the college project at Huntington.

The Hartsville Board of Trustees in annual session June 15-18, 1896 passed a resolution that revealed some change of attitude toward the General Board of Education. "Resolved, that the Board of Trustees of Hartsville College hereby request the Board of Education to cooperate with us in giving us advice and assisting us in our work and in bringing prosperity to Hartsville College."

The last meeting of the Board of Trustees of Hartsville College was held in the college library at Hartsville, Indiana on June 15, 1897. This meeting followed the General Conference of 1897 and was just about three months prior to the opening of Huntington (then Central) College. At this session the Board of Trustees of Hartsville College turned over to the General Board of Education, which board was also the Board of Trustees of Huntington (Central) College, all books, records of proceedings, students' grades, etc. They recommended that the new college at Huntington should confer degrees on students of Hartsville College then in the senior class who should complete their respective courses, and continue the employment of the professors then in charge of Hartsville College. Making provision for their financial obligations, the board voted to suspend school for one year at Hartsville hoping that in some way an educational venture could be continued at that place, and adjourned sine die. A Board of Trustees and an executive committee meeting on July 10, 1897 agreed to correspond with the Rev. D.N. Howe in regard to the use of the college facilities for the starting of a Normal school.

Rather interestingly, the Daily Democrat in the March 11, 1896 issue, in reporting about the new college to be located in Huntington, quoted Bishop Wright as saying, "The name of the college will no doubt be called Hartsville College unless there is someone who will bid for the name." The bishop further stated that the college now situated at Hartsville, Bartholomew County, will be turned into an academy as a feeder to Huntington (Central) College.

The executive committee of the Hartsville Board of Trustees in meeting on November 22, 1897 released claim to a microscope which was to be taken to the college at Huntington, Indiana.

Bishop Floyd, although closely connected with Hartsville College as a student, financial agent, president, and a member of the Board of Trustees, actively participated in the cornerstone laying ceremony and in the official dedication of the institution at Huntington. He became a member of the General Board of Education and a trustee of Huntington (then Central) College after he was re-elected bishop in 1897.

About 3:30 Sunday morning, January 30, 1898 fire was discovered in the Hartsville College building. People all over town arrived, but since there was no fire fighting apparatus, nothing could be done but watch the progress of the flames. The Hartsville College historian wrote, "Within an hour, the work of years, the pride of many hearts who had flowered into manhood and womanhood within its walls, was a smoking ruin, and Hartsville College that had ceased to function the year before, was now dead, dead, dead. Yet, like all the forces of the universe, the good it did still stirs the waters and its influence will never die."

The bell of Hartsville College remained at Hartsville after fire destroyed the building. It was reported to have been seen at different places. The Central Literary Data, the college monthly student publication, reported that the bell was on display on the college campus, January 1917.

The fact that the Hartsville Board of Trustees turned over all books, records of proceedings and students' grades to the General Board of Education, which also served as the Board of Trustees of Huntington (Central) College, pointed in the direction of considering Huntington as the successor to Hartsville. The church and educational ties between the two institutions brought them together in purpose, vision and spiritual unity. Both students and faculty of Hartsville became associated with the college in Huntington.

Former Hartsville College students were enrolled as students in Huntington (then Central) College for the year of 1897-1898. Two faculty members of Hartsville College for the 1896-97 school year, Miss Mary Lena Barnes and the Rev. Alvin P. Barnaby, were members of the faculty when the Huntington institution opened its doors in the fall of 1897.

Other faculty members of Hartsville College of former years who served at Huntington (Central) College were: Dr. C.H. Kiracofe (Hartsville president 1879-1889) was the first president of the Huntington institution 1897-1902; Daniel R. Ellabarger (Hartsville mathematics teacher 1889-1891) was president of Huntington College 1919-1925; and Rev. C.E. Atkinson (principal of Hartsville preparatory department 1891-1892) was treasurer and business manager of Huntington College 1923-1925.

Other Hartsville faculty members who made a contribution to the church of the United Brethren in Christ after 1889 were Bishop Milton Wright, Bishop Halleck Floyd, Bishop Laurin B. Baldwin, Bishop O.G. Alwood, Rev. Rodney S. Bowman, Rev. N.D. Wolfard, Rev. W.H. Davis, Rev. Edward C. Clapp and Mrs. A.R. Kiracofe.

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