Liber College

Liber College was a short-lived school located in Liber, Indiana, just south of Portland. It was founded in 1853, funded by $20 shares, and opened that fall in a building constructed for the school.^[1] The first head of the college was I. N. Taylor, who had proposed creation of a school at the founding meeting and who was one of the donors of the land on which it was built.^[2] The name of the school was taken from the Latin.^[2] Both male and female students were taught, but at the collegiate and primary levels; in the 1860-'61 school year 156 students were enrolled.^[1] In 1864 the school moved to a new building, the old being perchased by the township for a primary school.^[2] A dispute over the enrollment of colored students led to the establishment of the nearby Farmer's Academy in 1854; it was taken over by the local Methodist conference in 1859 and was closed in 1865; two years later its building was sold to the township.^[1][2] Liber College itself closed in 1873 or 1880.^[2][1]