Legislator Details
Vital Records Information:
Marital Information:
married Lucia A. Jenison of Orangeville, NY, 1845, in Oberlin; children: Elihu, Lucia, Emma, Mary B., and 1 other
married Mary A. Baldwin of Ellington, NY, 1859 in New York; children: Lottie A., Edmund M, George D., Charles F., John W. and 2 others
married Mary A. Tibbitts of Manistee, in London, 1883.
Number of Children: 11
Background
Education:
attended Denison University [Granville, OH] & Marietta College;
graduated from Oberlin College, 1842;
graduate degree in theology from Oberlin Theological Seminary, 1845.
Biographical Sketch:
Son of Rev. Micaiah & Hannah (Wynn Neale) Fairfield. Spent his boyhood in Troy, OH. He learned the printer's trade at 12. He worked at this trade until 24. Upon graduation from seminary, he did a pasturate in Boston, MA around 1847. In 1849, he was president of the Free Baptist College in Spring Harbor, MI [later known as Hillsdale College, moved to Hillsdale in 1853]; he remain president until 1869. He briefly worked for the American Temperance Union in 1853, in New York. He left the Baptist tradition and became a First Congregationalist and was pastor of a church in Mansfield, OH. In 1875 he was appointed president of the normal school in Indiana, PA. In 1876, he was elected second chancellor of the University of Nebraska for 6 years. He resigned in 1882 and became pastor of the Congregational church in Manistee, MI until 1889. He then served as US Consul in Lyon, France for 4 years. Upon his return he settled briefly in Grand Rapids, MI before returning to Mansfield, OH Attained a nat'l reputation as an educator & lecturer garnering him several prominent positions around the country. He wrote several books. He retired in 1900, going to Oberlin, OH. He died there.
Notable Facts:
Committees: Distribution of Railroad Lands [chair]
President of Hillsdale College for 21 yrs. Elected Lt. Gov., 1858
As a fundamentalist, he was vigorously opposed to Darwinism.