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desire to give to negro youth the same educational
advantages that came to their more favored members
of the white race. And if this school had done nothing
else, it amply justified its existence in that it gave a
liberal training to Moses Broyles, a negro who be-
came a real Moses to his negro Baptist brethren of
Indiana; he assisted in the organization of many of
their churches, and helped effectively in uplifting the
spiritual standard of the negro Baptist churches. But
the school had very little if any endowment, and it
was a hard task to make the income meet the expenses;
and so at length the enterprise was abandoned. The
buildings were used for a while by the Baptists of
section In an effort to maintain an Academy; the Rev.
Judson Smith, the Rev. J. S. Read, the Rev. W. Brand
and the Rev. A. W. Blinn tried, in turn, to draw suffi-
cient patronage from the Madison, Coffee Creek and
Sand Creek Associations to maintain the school; but
none of the efforts was a complete success, for the
public high schools were constantly elevating the
standard of their work, and tuition was free. But
as there were two good buildings, and there was
still some feeble hope of reviving the school, still an-
other effort was made, this time by Professors F. W.
Brown and W. H. McCoy. The same results followed
as before and the enterprise was abandoned. The
school property was finally sold to two townships of
the country for high school purposes. It is said that
one of the best teachers the school ever had was Solon
B. Campbell, of Vernon, a grandson of Elder John
Vawter; and that if his religious convictions had
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been as deep and serious as his power over students
was strong, he would have ranked as one of the great
educators of the State.
Orland Academy was founded in 1850.
"As a result of the untiring efforts of Captain
Samuel Barry, one of the pioneer settlers of Orland,
the Orland Academy, or Northwestern Indiana Liter-
ary Institute, came into existence. Captain Barry
was also active in the organization of the church in
1835; contributing largely of his means, time and
energy to those institutions. The early settlers of this
community, all of them Vermonters, belonged to a
class of people to whom the church and school stood
foremost; and side by side arose the stately edifice
of the school and the church. The custom in those
early days, in the absence of public schools for higher
education, was to establish a seminary in various sec-
tions, often under denomonitional control, and this
school at Orland was founded in like manner, being
originally under the control of the Northeastern
Baptist Association, although it received tine attention
and aid of progressive men of other denominations. It
began its career in 1850, and was a success from the
beginning. Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin
were represented with their brightest young men and
young women seeking a higher education. Professor
Samuel Harper, a graduate of the University of Michi-
gan, then a young man, was the first principal and
teacher; he was a successful manager as well as
teacher, and under his tuition scores of young men
and young women passed from the common schools
