Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, was the first college established by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. The Scioto Annual Conference purchased the property of Blendon Young Men's Seminary, a Methodist school which had closed several years before. Otterbein College opened on April 26, 1847, with Lewis Davis and Bishop William Hanby as co-founders. Today the school is a United Methodist-related four year college.
William Hanby (1808-1880) was born in Pennsylvania. As a young man he moved to Ohio, where he worked as a saddler and lived in the home of a devout United Brethren layman, Samuel Miller. Hanby was converted to the faith, married Miller's daughter Ann (1807-1879), and became a United Brethren preacher.
In 1837, Hanby became Publishing Agent for the denomination, then the editor of the church's newspaper, Religious Telescope. He used his position to advocate social reform causes, particularly abolitionism. His homes in Rushville and Westerville, Ohio were stations on the Underground Railroad.
Hanby was elected bishop in 1845, and two years later became trustee and financial agent for Otterbein College. After his term as bishop was completed in 1849, he returned to his editorial duties. However, when the denomination decided to move the office from Circleville to Dayton, Hanby decided to return to the pastorate and moved to Westerville near the college.
The Hanby family purchased their home in 1854. It was unfinished at that time; a previous owner had started construction in 1846, but abandoned the project. The family lived in the house until 1870, by which time all but one of the eight children was grown and gone.
Two of the children are especially well-known. Amanda Hanby Billheimer (1834-1926) was the first woman foreign missionary of the United Brethren Church. She sailed to Sierra Leone in 1862 with her husband, J. K. Billheimer. Amanda's commissioning service was held in the parlor of the Hanby House.
Amanda's brother, Benjamin Hanby (1833-1867), was a United Brethren pastor, but is better known as a composer. Among his familiar hymns and songs are "Darling Nelly Gray," "Who is He in Yonder Stall," and "Up on the Housetop."