By the fall of 1868, the freedman of Jefferson County's Morristown district established a small grammar school, attracting students from the community and other areas of the state and the South.
Little is known about the early years of this school, though the building it housed was a modest church provided by the Presbyterians of Orange, New Jersey.
 Led by Mrs. Hanford, an Ithaca, New York native, the school was used to teach freedmen and free persons of color to spell, read, and learn arithmetic along with the obligatory learning of Christian values.
 A few blocks away was the Reagan High School for Boys, where a college preparatory course was taught by Rev. Wilson.
 Built as a meeting house in 1830 by a Baptist congregation, it had served as a slave mart, held secession discussions, and housed a hospital for Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War.

In November 1869, Mrs. Hanford was replaced by Almira H. Stearns, a Plainfield, Vermont native.
Stearns, who lost her husband and a son to the Civil War, moved to the area with her daughter, Anna, to do missionary work.
Relying upon their Christian faith and the assistance of supporters, the harshness of the Reconstruction era and local resistance toward the school were taken in stride as student growth and learning was on a steady pace, reaching a wide variety of age groups.
 In 1880, the Holston Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church voted to segregate the preachers, forming a separate conference for African Americans.

Discovering the lack of black preachers as a result, a handful of white men volunteered to join and assist.
 Among these volunteers was Rev. W.C. Graves, presiding elder of the Morristown District.
 Believing in a critical need for a school providing education for blacks beyond primary grades as well as preachers for black churches, Graves, along with the support of newly elected M.E. Church Bishop Henry W. Warren, decided the location held by Stearns and others was suitable.
 By 1881, Stearns and her pupils took possession of the church and school building, establishing Morristown Seminary.
 In October of the same year, Dr. Judson S. Hill, a 27-year-old pastor and missionary from Trenton, New Jersey, was asked by the bishop of the Holston Conference to turn the school into a full-fledged seminary and normal school to contribute teachers and ministers to East Tennessee's black communities.
 With the assistance of Nannie McGinley as part of the faculty, the path of the school was set into motion.
By the fall of 1868, the freedman of Jefferson County's Morristown district established a small grammar school, attracting students from the community and other areas of the state and the South. Little is known about the early years of this school, though the building it housed was a modest church provided by the Presbyterians of Orange, New Jersey.  Led by Mrs. Hanford, an Ithaca, New York native, the school was used to teach freedmen and free persons of color to spell, read, and learn arithmetic along with the obligatory learning of Christian values.  A few blocks away was the Reagan High School for Boys, where a college preparatory course was taught by Rev. Wilson.  Built as a meeting house in 1830 by a Baptist congregation, it had served as a slave mart, held secession discussions, and housed a hospital for Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War.
In November 1869, Mrs. Hanford was replaced by Almira H. Stearns, a Plainfield, Vermont native. Stearns, who lost her husband and a son to the Civil War, moved to the area with her daughter, Anna, to do missionary work. Relying upon their Christian faith and the assistance of supporters, the harshness of the Reconstruction era and local resistance toward the school were taken in stride as student growth and learning was on a steady pace, reaching a wide variety of age groups.  In 1880, the Holston Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church voted to segregate the preachers, forming a separate conference for African Americans.
Discovering the lack of black preachers as a result, a handful of white men volunteered to join and assist.  Among these volunteers was Rev. W.C. Graves, presiding elder of the Morristown District.  Believing in a critical need for a school providing education for blacks beyond primary grades as well as preachers for black churches, Graves, along with the support of newly elected M.E. Church Bishop Henry W. Warren, decided the location held by Stearns and others was suitable.  By 1881, Stearns and her pupils took possession of the church and school building, establishing Morristown Seminary.  In October of the same year, Dr. Judson S. Hill, a 27-year-old pastor and missionary from Trenton, New Jersey, was asked by the bishop of the Holston Conference to turn the school into a full-fledged seminary and normal school to contribute teachers and ministers to East Tennessee's black communities.  With the assistance of Nannie McGinley as part of the faculty, the path of the school was set into motion.
Morristown College