History
In 1854, the Synod of the Free Presbyterian Church of the United States took control of about 5 acres (20,000 m2) of land in Iberia on which had been a ladies' seminary. It obtained a charter to found a college from the state legislature. Iberia College was founded in 1854 with the Rev. George Gordon serving as its first president. From its beginning, the college was open to all, regardless of race or gender.
After the American Civil War, control of the college was transferred to the United Presbyterian Presbytery of Mansfield. The name of the institution was changed to Ohio Central College. Eventually, the Mansfield Presbytery transferred the college to a group organized as an independent stock company. The college continued as a Christian, though not sectarian, institution.
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the college ended classes. The records and alumni of Ohio Central College were assumed by Muskingum College.
The campus buildings were used as a school for the blind until they burned in a fire. The only remaining structure of Ohio Central College is the Iberia Presbyterian Church, which served as the college chapel in the 1800s.
The old 19th-century college is not to be confused with a 20th-century institution of the same name.
Ohio Central Bible College was established at Iberia in 2009. It is an independent, nondenominational Bible college in the evangelical Christian tradition that was created for the people of Morrow County and the six county region. Ohio Central Bible College offers a one year program leading to a diploma in Bible studies. Classes are currently held in the Reverend George Gordon conference room of the Iberia Presbyterian Church.
Read more about this topic: Ohio Central College
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Racism is an ism to which everyone in the world today is exposed; for or against, we must take sides. And the history of the future will differ according to the decision which we make.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)
“In front of these sinister facts, the first lesson of history is the good of evil. Good is a good doctor, but Bad is sometimes a better.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I am ashamed to see what a shallow village tale our so-called History is. How many times must we say Rome, and Paris, and Constantinople! What does Rome know of rat and lizard? What are Olympiads and Consulates to these neighboring systems of being? Nay, what food or experience or succor have they for the Esquimaux seal-hunter, or the Kanaka in his canoe, for the fisherman, the stevedore, the porter?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)