Fairfield Institute, a grade school and normal institute for blacks, was founded in 1869 during Reconstruction by the Northern Presbyterian Church, with the Reverend Willard Richardson as principal. In 1880, one hundred of its students were studying to be teachers and twenty others to enter the ministry. The school closed in 1888 to merge with Brainerd Institute in Chester. Kelly Miller, born in Fairfield County in 1863, attended Fairfield Institute from 1878 to 1880, won a scholarship to Howard University, and graduated in 1886. After graduate work at Johns Hopkins, he received his A.M. and L.L.D. degrees in 1901 and 1903 and for many years was a professor and dean at Howard. His writings on race problems were widely read and used in major universities.