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.