Edmund Burke Fairfield (August 7, 1821 – November 7, 1904) was an American minister, educator and politician from the U.S. state of

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. He served as the 12th

lieutenant governor of Michigan The lieutenant governor of Michigan is the second-ranking official in U.S. state of Michigan, behind the governor. The current lieutenant governor by default is Garlin Gilchrist, a Democrat, who has held the office since January 1, 2019. Proce ...

and as the second Chancellor of the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

Early life

Fairfield was born in

Parkersburg Parkersburg is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's fourth-largest city and the largest city in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna metro ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, now

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

. He moved with his family to Troy, Ohio when he was a young boy. He received an early education at

Denison University Denison University is a private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. The college was first called the Granville Literary and ...

of Granville and in 1837 he attended

Marietta College Marietta College (MC) is a private liberal arts college in Marietta, Ohio. It offers more than 50 undergraduate majors across the arts, sciences, and engineering, as well as Physician Assistant, Psychology, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, an ...

Marietta Marietta may refer to: Places in the United States *Marietta, Jacksonville, Florida *Marietta, Georgia, the largest US city named Marietta *Marietta, Illinois *Marietta, Indiana *Marietta, Kansas *Marietta, Minnesota *Marietta, Mississippi *Mar ...

. He graduated from the congregationalist-affiliated

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

Oberlin Oberlin may refer to: ; Places in the United States * Oberlin Township, Decatur County, Kansas ** Oberlin, Kansas, a city in the township * Oberlin, Louisiana, a town * Oberlin, Ohio, a city * Oberlin, Licking County, Ohio, a ghost town * Oberlin, ...

in 1842. He then worked as a tutor at the college teaching Latin and Greek. He spent two years as a Christian minister in

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, and two in Boston as pastor of the Ruggles Street Baptist Church. Then, in 1848, he became President of the

Michigan Central College Hillsdale College is a Private university, private Conservatism in the United States, conservative Christian liberal arts college in Hillsdale, Michigan. It was founded in 1844 by Abolitionism, abolitionists known as Free Will Baptists. Its missio ...

, renamed

Hillsdale College Hillsdale College is a Private university, private Conservatism in the United States, conservative Christian liberal arts college in Hillsdale, Michigan. It was founded in 1844 by Abolitionism, abolitionists known as Free Will Baptists. Its missio ...

in 1853, and remained in this office until his resignation in 1869. In 1857, Fairfield received LL.D. degree from Madison University (now

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...

) in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Politics and further academics

Fairfield served as a Republican in the

Michigan Senate The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, ado ...

(14th district) from 1857-1859. He was elected to serve as the 12th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan from 1859 to 1861, and made a widely published speech on the "Prohibition of Slavery in the Territories". In 1863, Fairfield received a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

degree from the

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana University and, with ...

. The following year he received an

S.T.D. The Doctor of Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Doctor, abbreviated STD), also sometimes known as Professor of Sacred Theology (, abbreviated STP), is the final theological degree in the pontifical university system of the Roman Catholic C ...

degree from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. In the early 1870s, Dr. Fairfield was involved in public dispute based on a review he published in Mansfield, Ohio regarding the Henry Ward Beecher adultery scandal. The scandal broke in 1873, and in 1874, Fairfield published "Wickedness in High Places: A Review of the Beecher Case"

Robert Raikes Raymond The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...

, brother of Vassar professor

John Howard Raymond John Howard Raymond (March 7, 1814August 14, 1878) was a United States educator. He was the first president of the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, and, as president and professor, also lent his hand to organizing Vassar College in its ...

, 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" He received a number of honors in the academic world before being elected Chancellor of the

in 1876. The Board of Regents dismissed him in 1882, after a disagreement over religion and its place in education. Fairfield became the pastor of the Manistee congregational church from September 1882 to April 1889. In 1886, he was the Moderator of the Congregationalists' "General Association of Michigan" meeting held in Flint In July 1889, President Benjamin Harrison nominated Fairfield to be the

consul of the United States The United States has the second most diplomatic missions of any country in the world after Mainland China, including 166 of the 193 member countries of the United Nations, as well as observer state Vatican City and non-member countries Kosovo a ...

Lyons Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of th ...

in place of

Lawson V. Moore Lawson may refer to: Places Australia * Lawson, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Lawson, New South Wales, a town in the Blue Mountains Canada * Lawson, Saskatchewan * Lawson Island, Nunavut United States * Lawson, Arkansas * ...

. His son George D. Fairfield was vice-consul in Lyons at the same time. 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.

Retirement and death

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 his ''Letters on Baptism'' (1893). He died on November 7, 1904 in Oberlin, Ohio at the age of eighty-three in Oberlin, eleven years after its publication.

Family life

fairfield was the son of Micajah Fairfield and Hannah (Wynn) Fairfield. 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. Fairfield was descended from a Frenchman by the name of Beauchamp, at some point the name was anglicised to Fairfield.

References

External links

Biography of Edmund Burke Fairfield at the Fairfield Family site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairfield, Edmund Burke 1821 births 1904 deaths Republican Party Michigan state senators Baptist ministers from the United States American Congregationalist ministers Colgate University alumni Oberlin College alumni Lieutenant Governors of Michigan Hillsdale College people Marietta College alumni University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty Indiana University Bloomington alumni Denison University alumni People from Oberlin, Ohio Politicians from Parkersburg, West Virginia People from Manistee, Michigan Chancellors of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Baptists from Michigan Baptists from New York (state) 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American clergy