Early days
Wittenberg College, a Lutheran denominational institution, can trace its beginnings to another educational institution, Wooster College.
Prior to 1820, there were few Lutherans in Ohio, but about that time they began coming in from the East—mostly from Pennsylvania. By 1840 there were enough of them to think about a school of their own.
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Wittenberg University began as a bold idea from a group of pastors who broke away from the German church to form the English Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Ohio. They believed that using English would help create a more inclusive environment in a rapidly growing American nation.
At first they considered joining with the Presbyterians at Wooster, and for a few years they did, there were few textbooks in those days, and they were not very good. Added to this, Wooster was out of “Lutheran” territory; there were far more Lutherans in southern Ohio. So many began planning to find a more suitable location, preferably in central or southern Ohio.
As soon as word got out about a group that was considering leaving Wooster and starting a new school, communities began bidding for it, offering money and land.
Springfield and Xenia offered the most: Springfield would give $4,667 in cash and a location that stretched for 18 acres (the present site of Wittenberg); Xenia offered $4,281 and five plots of ground.
The cornerstone for the college building was laid on Aug. 15, 1845, and the first commencement was held on Sept. 12, 1851.
Dr. Ezra Keller
In 1842, the synod unanimously voted to establish a new theological and literary institution designed to serve the educational and cultural needs of new immigrants and emerging communities — that school would become Wittenberg University.
Dr. Ezra Keller, the founder of the school, also became its first president.
The story of Keller’s short life is one of great faith and sacrifice. He was just 36 when he died, living less than four years after becoming a college president.
As a child, Keller lived with with Rev. Abraham Reck, a pastor who eventually sent him to Gettysburg College and encouraged him to think of the ministry. Keller’s father, who had no interest in religion, refused to help him.
In 1836, Keller began his long career as a missionary. He was sent to the West with a horse, a saddle, and books with which to work.
Prior to coming to Ohio, he taught school in Middletown, Md. Then, in 1837, the young missionary was assigned to start congregations in the West. He was 25 years old at the time.
Continuing to travel on horseback, Keller came to Springfield. After preaching at the Methodist Church, he met with several Lutherans, and they discussed starting a college in the area.
With the help of students who hauled 150 loads of stone from Buck Creek, the first building was started. In 1845, when Keller was 33, he was named president. On Nov. 3, 1845, the first class was opened in the basement of the First English Lutheran Church.
Keller brought to the school 12 students. Five were in the college, seven in the grammar school. Many of the students lived in the basement of the church.
In describing college life in the early days, Keller recorded receiving collections from distant Lutheran churches. One church sent 36 collections of clothing, including coats, pants and vests.
Keller often traveled seeking funds for the school.
“With so much traveling and preaching,” Keller wrote, “I have had little time for my regular duties. I have traveled 2,130 miles during the past year.”
Keller’s diary indicates that he was overworked. He spent much of his time seeking funds and was often discouraged.
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Despite frequent illnesses, many of them attributed to malaria, he traveled four times a week, frequently on foot, to help the church.
An entry in his diary for Feb. 11 and March 12, 1848, Keller indicates he felt his health was failing. “I am now 36 years old. I am at last retiring to rest after 4 a.m. light.” he wrote.
By December of that month his health had become very poor, and on Dec. 14 he was forced to stay in bed. Despite the efforts of several physicians, he died early on the morning of Dec. 29.
In a eulogy, Dr. J. H. Hoffman, the first graduate, said: “Mr. Keller is the immortal founder of Wittenberg College, the birth of the city that now mourns his death.” To a community that had just come to know and love him, both the city and the college were greatly shocked at his death.
Although Keller had spent just little more than four years in Ohio, he had fulfilled a promise made in writing to a friend when starting to plan the Wittenberg school: “I have at length concluded to go West. Dr. Morris, I will labor and toil for the West. I will live in the West, I will die, and from the West, I will ascend to glory!”
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