He negotiated to use the facilities after classes to teach a “select school” for those wishing education beyond that offered during the day.
As his reputation grew throughout the area, the number of select school students increased, and in 1870, Lehr felt sufficiently well established to approach the citizens of Ada for funds to purchase land for a campus and an academic building.
While all this was going on, Lehr managed to find time to commute back to home to complete the requirements for his PhD degree at Mount Union College, graduating 10 years behind the class with which he had entered.
[citation needed] During Ohio Northern University's early years, Lehr attempted to keep tuition as low as possible to enable as many people as possible to afford to enroll.
Due to differences with Belt, Lehr severed his ties with the university at the end of the 1902–03 academic year.