Charles Marsh Fairchild
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Charles Marsh Fairchild
In brief… Charles Fairchild was the sixth of seven children
born unto Reverend John Fairchild and his wife Laura Porter (Bigelow)
Fairchild. Charles moved to
Charles married Jennie Cook in 1874 and their first child, Edna, was born in 1876. Edna was followed by Horace in 1881, who died before his first birthday. Daughter Oakalla was born in 1882, and finally Charles Willard Fairchild, commonly known as Willard, arrived in 1886. Charles worked as a clerk in Addison Fairchild’s drugstore starting in 1870. In 1872 he became a full partner and the store became known as the Fairchild Bros Drugstore. Charles remained a partner in “the Drug” until 1886 when he bought the North Star newspaper in Marinette. Charles served as the editor & proprietor of the North Star for a number of years, the specifics of which we are still researching. In October of 1896, Charles and family moved to
We have no records of any substance regarding the
Fairchild family in Toledo. The 1898 Toledo City Directory
lists Charles as the president & treasurer of the “Standard Tube and
Fork-side Co” and his residence at 2807 Fulton Somewhere between 1904 & 1905 the Fairchild family
moved to The 1905 Chicago City Directory lists Charles as a
manager at 54 The last mention of Charles in the Chicago City
Directory lists him as the president of Voigtmann & Co at 445 Erie.
Nephew Richard became the assistant editor of the Record-Herald
and, by 1913, Richard’s half-brother As for Charles and Jennie, they are presumed to
have resided at Jennie died in Charles died in Our research into the life of Charles Fairchild has shed some light on his interests and day-to-day pursuits. For example, we know that Charles was interested in music, at one time being a director of the state musical society in Wisconsin. He was a member of the Marinette Christian Temperance Union. Charles opened a reading room in Marinette and was a proponent of building a public library. He was also largely responsible for bringing electric light to Marinette. We are both fortunate and thankful to have been able to establish contact with descendants of Charles’ daughter Oakalla. Many of the photos posted here are courtesy of Charles’ great-granddaughter, Cyndi Seddig. Her interest in genealogy has provided us with some wonderful insights into the life of Charles Fairchild. Cyndi spoke with her aunt “Kollie” (Oakalla Fairchild Bellis’ daughter, born 1912(?) in Wausau) when she became interested in tracing her family tree. Kollie’s description of her grandfather is not particularly flattering, but rather shows a very human side of a man we consider to be a close friend. According to Kollie, Charles was, at one time, red-headed. Kollie remembers him as having a long, white beard that always had dried beef in it. Kollie recalls that Charles put salt on everything, sometimes as much as a shaker full. Charles was also reportedly crazy about women and used to sit in front of Jennie and write love letters to other women. Kollie also believed that Charles was “one of four or five brothers – the least successful of the brothers.” Do keep in mind that Kollie would have only known Charles as an old man and much of what she knows about Charles may have come from stories that her mom might have told. We are thankful that Kollie shared her memories of
Charles so that history can record something of his life in this world.
Although we are not in a position to dispute anything that Kollie
stated, we feel it is important to note that, of Charles’ siblings
(brothers in particular), Charles is possibly the least
historically-significant one of the bunch, with the possible exception
of Asa Fairchild. By “historically-significant” we mean to say that
Charles’ pursuit of public-service roles was not as notable as his
brothers. Of his brothers,
Of course, “success” means different things to different people. If being remembered after one is dead and gone is your measure of success, then Charles’ star is rising as his life is now remembered by the two of us and, perhaps now, by you as well. History records the following events pertaining
to the life of Charles M. Fairchild… *In statements below, “Boatman”
refers to the two volume set of books in which John Boatman compiled
numerous newspaper articles and details about Marinette’s early years.
The books are entitled And the River Flows On… On An excerpt from "The Big Fire of 1871" (referring to The Great Peshtigo Fire of October 8, 1871), by Josephine Ingalls Sawyer, as printed in Menominee Remembered, by the Mid-Peninsula Library Cooperative, Iron Mountain, Michigan, 1982. Josephine Sawyer lived through the fire and, as such, the following excerpt is a first-hand account of what she witnessed in Menominee, Michigan, during the height of the blaze.
"...Boat in Readiness The Marinette Drugstore, which had been operated since 1868 by Addison Miles Fairchild, became the Fairchild Brothers Drugstore in February of 1872, when Charles Fairchild became a full partner of his brother (Boatman, Vol. 1, page 226). Charles Fairchild had worked with his brother in the store since 1870. In March of 1873, the interior of the Marinette Drugstore experienced what could have been a disastrous fire. “The fire at the drugstore was caused by the fall of a lighted chandelier which contained four lamps filled with kerosene.” The lamps broke, the kerosene ignited, and the fire reached to the ceiling of the store. Charles was in the store at the time and smothered the flames. The newspaper reported that throughout the ordeal Charles displayed “‘coolness and presence of mind.’” (Boatman, Vol. I, p. 272) Charles married Sarah Jane Cook (“Jennie”) on Although he was not as involved in politics—local and statewide—as some of his siblings, Charles was elected town treasurer in 1879. We have not yet uncovered the information regarding how long he held this position or whether he was elected to other local positions.
"Approximately 50 couples attended a dance at the Opera House hall in the village of Marinette on New Year's Eve. Willim's Band from Green Bay furnished the music for the event. New Year's Day of 1881 was described as bright and pleasant, as it was observed that calling, or stopping for brief visits at open houses, was more common that year than it had been for several years. There were a total of 14 open houses, most of them on the Wisconsin side of the river. Several houses that were open on New Year's Day were 'beautifully trimmed.' Approximately 25 men 'made the rounds' on both sides of the river, while about 40 visited in Marinette only. Many of the men making the rounds gave out personal calling cards at each stop. One group, including C. M. Fairchild, H. O. Fairchild, T. A. Hay, J. W. P. Lombard, and Caleb Williams, had a card made which contained a photograph of the group and the words 'Happy New Year--1881.'" Charles Fairchild is pictured in the middle of the back row and his older brother Hiram Orlando is seated to the right. Jason was fortunate to find this photo at the Marinette County Historical Museum.
On In October of 1881, Charles and Jennie went to
Milwaukee & Chicago to procure holiday goods for
the Fairchild Bros. store (Marinette Eagle, Oct. 1, 1881). On
the 15th of that month, Charles and Jennie were at the Cole
residence in Oconto for the Cole wedding reception. In the October 22
edition of the paper there is a nice mention of the Fairchilds’ store
concerning the “…largest and most attractive stock of holiday goods
outside of
The Marinette paper makes mention of Charles being one of the directors of the state musical society (Marinette Eagle, Oct. 14, 1882). The November 17 edition of the paper announced the arrival of a 10-pound baby girl (daughter Oakalla). Charles was instrumental in bringing electricity to
Marinette. …. On On
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