Edmund Burke Fairfield | |
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| 12thLieutenant Governor of Michigan | |
| In office 1859–1861 | |
| Governor | Moses Wisner |
| Preceded by | George Coe |
| Succeeded by | James M. Birney |
| Member of theMichigan Senate from the14th district | |
| In office 1857–1859 | |
| Preceded by | William H. Brockway |
| Succeeded by | Ebenezer O. Grosvenor |
| 2ndChancellor of the University of Nebraska | |
| In office July 1, 1876 – June 30, 1882 | |
| Preceded by | Allen R. Benton |
| Succeeded by | James Irving Manatt |
| 2ndPresident of Hillsdale College | |
| In office 1848–1869 | |
| Preceded by | Daniel McBride Graham |
| Succeeded by | James Calder |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1821-08-07)August 7, 1821 Parkersburg,West Virginia |
| Died | November 7, 1904(1904-11-07) (aged 83) Oberlin,Ohio |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Lucia Ann Jennison Fairfield Mary A. Baldwin Fairfield Mary Allen Tibbitts Fairfield |
| Parent(s) | Micajah Fairfield Hannah (Wynn) Fairfield. |
| Alma mater | Denison University Marietta College Oberlin College Colgate University Indiana University. |
| Profession | Minister Educator Politician |
Edmund Burke Fairfield (August 7, 1821 – November 7, 1904) was an American minister, educator and politician from theU.S. state ofMichigan. He served as the 12thlieutenant governor of Michigan and as the second[1] Chancellor of theUniversity of Nebraska.
Fairfield was born inParkersburg,Virginia, nowWest Virginia.[2] He moved with his family toTroy, Ohio, when he was a young boy. He received an early education atDenison University ofGranville and in 1837 he attendedMarietta College ofMarietta. He graduated from thecongregationalist-affiliated[3]Oberlin College ofOberlin in 1842.[4] He then worked as a tutor at the college teaching Latin and Greek.
He spent two years as a Christian minister inNew Hampshire, and two in Boston as pastor of the Ruggles Street Baptist Church. Then, in 1848, he became President of theMichigan Central College, renamedHillsdale College in 1853, and remained in this office until his resignation in 1869.[5] In 1857, Fairfield receivedLL.D. degree from Madison University (nowColgate University) inNew York.
Fairfield served as aRepublican in theMichigan Senate (14th district) from 1857 to 1859.[6] He was elected to serve as the12th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan from 1859 to 1861,[7] and made a widely published speech on the "Prohibition of Slavery in the Territories".[8]
In 1863, Fairfield received aDoctor of Divinity degree from theIndiana University Bloomington.[9] The following year he received anS.T.D. degree fromDenison University ofOhio.[10]
In the early 1870s, Fairfield was involved in public dispute based on a review he published inMansfield, Ohio, regarding theHenry Ward Beecher adultery scandal. The scandal broke in 1873, and in 1874, Fairfield published "Wickedness in High Places: A Review of the Beecher Case"[11]Robert Raikes Raymond, brother of Vassar professorJohn Howard Raymond, published a scathing review to this pamphlet entitled: "The Case of the Rev. E.B. Fairfield, D.D., LL.D.: Being an Examination of his 'Review of the case of Henry Ward Beecher" together with his 'Reply' and a Rejoinder"[12]
He received a number of honors in the academic world before being elected Chancellor of theUniversity of Nebraska in 1876. The Board of Regents dismissed him in 1882, after a disagreement over religion and its place in education.[13]
Fairfield became the pastor of theManistee congregational church from September 1882[14] to April 1889.[15]
In 1886, he was the Moderator of the Congregationalists' "General Association of Michigan" meeting held in Flint[16][17]
In July 1889, PresidentBenjamin Harrison nominated Fairfield to be theconsul of the United States atLyons in place ofLawson V. Moore.[18] His sonGeorge D. Fairfield was vice-consul in Lyons at the same time.[19]
He returned from France in 1893 and lived in Grand Rapids, where he lived an intellectual life of writing and speaking until 1896. In 1896, he became a pastor again at his former church in Mansfield, Ohio, and then in 1900 he retired to Oberlin, where he died in November 1904.[20][21]
In the theological field, Fairfield, having been a Baptist early in his career and Congregationalist pastor later in life, became convinced that the doctrines of Baptists were without sufficient foundation for him to remain a minister in any Baptist denomination. He delineated his views in hisLetters on Baptism (1893).[22] He died on November 7, 1904, in Oberlin, Ohio, at the age of eighty-three in Oberlin, eleven years after its publication.[23]
Fairfield was the son of Micajah Fairfield and Hannah (Wynn) Fairfield.[24] He was married three times. He married his first wife, Lucia Ann Jennison, daughter of Dr. Charles Jennison and Betsy Mahan, on August 27, 1845. They had three children together. He married his second wife Mary A. Baldwin on August 22, 1859, and had seven children together. He married his third wife Mary Allen Tibbitts on June 16, 1883; they had no children together.[25]
Fairfield was descended from aFrenchman by the name of Beauchamp, at some point the name was anglicised to Fairfield.[26]
the university's first chancellor, Allen R. Benton, submitted his resignation, giving the regents a chance to choose the university's second chancellor... The regents' choice for the new chancellor was Edmund Fairfield
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Edmund B. Fairfield - 1882
Rev. Edmund B. FAIRFIELD entered upon his pastorate September 1, 1882. He resigned April, 1889 having begun the work of erecting the new church.
1886 -- Flint -- Rev. E.B. Fairfield
Mr. Fairfield graduated from Oberlin in 1888 and entered the consular service of the United States... and for nearly five years was vice consul at Lyons
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of Michigan 1859–1861 | Succeeded by |
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