Early in 1856, the Methodist Episcopal Church purchased property for a college for African Americans at Tawawa Springs, near Xenia, Ohio. The original Wilberforce closed in 1862 and, in March 1863, Bishop Daniel A. Payne of the African Methodist Episcopal Church negotiated to transfer the institution and its property to the A.M.E. Church. Named in honor of the great British abolitionist, William Wilberforce, the College was newly incorporated on July 10, 1863, becoming the first African American controlled college in the United States. Under the early leadership of Bishop Payne and his family, the college became an important station on the Underground Railroad in the vicinity of Xenia, Ohio In 1887, the State of Ohio established a normal and industrial department at the College that evolved into its sister institution, Central State University. In 1891, Wilberforce also spawned another institution, Payne Theological Seminary.