Rev. Lucien Berry Elected University's Second President

July 17, 1849

July 17, 1849, Greencastle, Ind. — The Reverend Lucien W. Berry was today elected the second president of Indiana Asbury University by a vote of the institution's Board of Trustees.  He replaces Matthew Simpson, who resigned on July 18 of last year to become editor of the Western Christian Advocate in Cincinnati. Professor William C. Larrabee has been serving as acting president for the past year.

"A native of Vermont who had grown up in Ohio and attended Miami University, Berry had held influential pastorates in Knightstown and Indianapolis, where his congregations contained members of the political and economic elite of the state," notes DePauw: A Pictorial History. "Berry was a Whig at a time when most Indiana Methodists, including Simpson and Ames, were Democrats. He had been on the Asbury board of trustees since 1842 and was a close friend of Simpson."

DePauw Through the Years adds, "Born in Vermont in 1815, Berry had moved to Ohio as a boy. Licensed to preach at the age of seventeen, he served in various Ohio charges, and attended Miami University from 1835 to 1838.  He thereafter held pastorates in Knightstown and Indianapolis, and was made presiding elder for the Connersville district.  Since 1842 he had been either a visitor or a trustee of Asbury, and had become a friend of Simpson, particularly because of their common desire for an educated Methodist ministry."

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