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In 1840 a group of disenchanted Michigan
Methodists seceded from the Michigan Episcopal church and organized
themselves in a conference bearing the name Wesleyan Methodist
Connection. This led to the founding of the Leoni Theological Institute
in 1848 near Jackson, Michigan. Eventually, the school's name was
changed to Michigan Union College.
In 1857, the Reverend Asa Mahan became
pastor of the Plymouth Congregational church in Adrian. Hearing the
Michigan Union College was in financial trouble, Mahan worked to move
the school to Adrian. To keep local residents from discovering the
hegira, the school's library and its students were transported under the
cover of the night to Adrian where the name Adrian College was adopted.
By 1862, Adrian College had a student enrollment of 82 women and 133
men.
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