CITY OF FAIRFIELD---THE ORIGINAL PLAT, WITH NUMEROUS ADDITIONS---GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT---SOME OF THE FIRST HOUSES AND OLD LANDMARKS---MERCHANTS AND MERCHANDISING---TAVERNS, MILLS AND FACTORIES---THE COURT HOUSE---CHURCHES, SCHOOLS AND NEWSPAPERS---FREEMASONRY AND OTHER BENEVOLENT ORDERS---INCORPORATION OF FAIRFIELD---TOWN BOARDS, ETC., ETC.
From the birth of the human race, the sons and daughters of men have shown a preference for each other's society, and developed a tendency to congregate together in numbers. At first this was more for protection than for social intercourse. But as people became more enlightened, and civilization advanced, the social inclination grew stronger, and as a result towns and cities were built, thus bringing multitudes together into a closer relationship. The social principle in man is strong. He may be proud, domineering, or all that is bad, but to confine him with Diogenes in a tub, or a Platonic lover in some brilliant sphere, were an intolerable punishment. Solitary confinement is, and ever must be, the keenest corrective trial. A man may rave about his independence, and desire a whole universe to himself, hollow to resound his massive tread, and mirrored to reflect his noble form; but therein he stifles the outgrowing inclinations of his own heart, and does not guess how sensibly he would feel the want of the commonest expressions of social life and social intercourse. Prometheus, chained on his crag, amid the eternal snows, and gnawed by the vulture; and Simon Stylites on his lonely column, are apt types of such a dreary life, and solitary, friendless creature. Individual isolation is unnatural and inhuman. The disposition to gather into towns and cities, on the other hand, is both natural and human.
The pioneers understood this, and both for protection and for social enjoyment and intercourse, and for humanity's sake, and perhaps for other reasons, they laid out towns and built up villages. Something of this character gave birth to Fairfield sixty-four years ago---a period when there was doubtless, not two hundred people in what now forms Wayne County. The fathers of the enterprise (of making a town) had an eye for the glorious and beautiful; neither were they utterly devoid of romance. They displayed their exquisite taste in the selection of a site for a town---a site that is not excelled by that of any town in the State---being a slight elevation in the middle of a broad, beautiful and level plain, and their romance cropped out when they called it "Fairfield." No fairer field could certainly be found in Southern Illinois than the plain surrounding Wayne County's beautiful capital.
Fairfield was laid out as a town in the year 1819, and is situated at the junction of the Springfield Division of the Ohio & Mississippi and the Louisville, Evansville & St. Louis Railroads, thirty miles east of Mount Vernon and fifty-three miles north of Shawneetown. The first sale of lots took place November 8, 1819. The plat was surveyed by John Johnston, County Surveyor, under the direction of George W. Farris, Thomas P. Fletcher and Alexander Clark, the then County Commissioners. The original plat was not recorded until September 4, 1825. The range of lots on the south of original plat is 112 ½ x 111 ½ feet; the range of lots on the north of plat 111 ½ x 92 feet, and the remainder of lots 111 ½ feet square; streets sixty feet wide and alleys eight feet wide---Water street is only forty feet wide. This was the original plat of Fairfield, and to the town as laid out emigration was invited. Where attention had been paid to details, it could not be expected that the matter of settlement had been overlooked, and hence many people flocked into the new town as soon as laid out and surveyed, and the place quickly became a scene of bustling activity.
It is an accepted tradition---a tradition borne out by local facts---that the first house in Fairfield was built by the Barnhills. They had entered the land from the Government, upon which the town was laid out, and had lived there for some time before, and thus may be termed the first settlers of the town, as well as the first of the township. This first house stood a little north of the present bank building, but on the opposite side of the street, near the marble factory. It has passed away with other landmarks of the pioneer days, and the spot now is only known by a few of the older citizens. The house was torn down by Mr. Womack, who built a residence upon the site which is still standing, but which has been considerably enlarged and improved, and is now owned by Mr. Smith. John Barnhill built the second residence in Fairfield, on the lot where Mr. Thomas L. Cooper's handsome brick residence now stands. It was of logs, and was built by Barnhill just after his marriage, which took place about the time of laying out the town.
The elder Barnhill, the patriarch of the Barnhill family, died in Gallatin County before any of the family moved to this section, as we have stated in a preceding chapter, and his widow came here with her children among the earliest settlers of the county. Hardin Barnhill was the eldest son, and John, mentioned above, was the second, while Audley was the third and youngest. The family at one time was a rather numerous and prominent one---prominent in business and local affairs, but of no particular pre-eminence. They were honest, industrious, honorable, faithful and accommodating---kings among their kind, fine types of their class, with instincts keenly whetted in their struggle for existence against the wild game, the ferocious beasts and the murderous savage. The Barnhills have now been dead for many years, with no lineal descendants surviving them nearer than the grandson of the Widow Barnhill---"Jeff" Barnhill, as he is called. Even he is growing old, and is becoming bent with age and infirmity. There is much in the history of the Barnhills that recalls a type of that day. They had been admirably trained, or had trained themselves, for their place in life, and in security and content had lived out their span, filling to fullness their measure of ambition.
The next residence in Fairfield was built where the new cemetery has recently been laid out. It was erected by a man whose name is now forgotten, but who was related in some way to the Barnhills. It was followed by a house put up by Samuel Leech, opposite Mr. Ed Bonham's residence. It was a log building and is still standing, but has been improved and modernized by receiving a coat of weather-boarding. Another of the early residences was built by Dr. Parks, and is also standing. It is nearly opposite Mrs. Johnson's boarding-house, and, like the one above described, has been weather-boarded, so as to give it a modern appearance. The next building erected as a dwelling-house was by some of the Barnhills, and stood upon the site, or very nearly so, of Mr. Thomas T. Bonham's house. At this residence was dug the first well Fairfield ever had. It was dug by the Barnhills, but was for general use of the people.
The settlement of the town of Fairfield was sui generis. Nature had prepared a site for the town unsurpassed in beauty, while the community, linked together by family and business relations, was like a colony fitted and furnished for a career already marked out. This was the influence under which the town began its existence, and started on its course of successful experiment. It is barely probable that, in order to secure a town by legal right, the commissioners spent no great amount of time in canvassing the claims of the different locations as a site for the future capital. The first and main object was to locate the county seat. The town now known as Jeffersonville was a formidable competitor for the seat of justice, and it stood those in hand, interested in Fairfield, to decide the question without delay, before the prize should slip from their grasp. This led, as we have said, to the site of Fairfield being chosen with but little discussion. The years succeeding the laying-out of the town were not characterized by a rapidity of growth and development, but, on the contrary, both growth and development were rather slow, but the more sure, perhaps, for being slow. The brilliant prospects of the town had attracted little attention from the ambitious and enterprising, and the puny village was moving on to fame and fortune at a slow pace. Like Longfellow’s squash vine, "it grew and it grew and it grew," slowly, however, and at the end of its first decade of existence, it had, probably, less than a hundred inhabitants.
Additions.---The plat of the town according to the original survey has already been given, and comprised its area for nearly twenty years before the increase of population demanded room, room! The want of room has been the cause of many of the bloodiest wars known to history. It has been the plea of every robber-chief from Nimrod down to the present day. Tamerlane, when he descended from his throne built of 70,000 human skulls, and marched his savage battalions to further slaughter, doubtless said, "I want room." Bajazet was another of kindred tastes, and "wanted room." Alexander, too, the "Macedonian Madman," when he wandered with his Greek to the plains of India, and fought a bloody battle there, no doubt did it for---"room." Thus it was in the olden time, and thus it is in the fast age of "Young America." We all want room---room to grow up, to expand, to spread out---in short to gather in everything in reach and sweep all before us. This prevailing trait of our American energy and enterprise led to an addition being made to the town of Fairfield in 1837, followed by a number of others of later years. Fiddeman made the first Addition after the original plat, which is dated July 19, 1837, and recorded May 19, 1838. Hugh Stewart made an addition June 1, 1840, which was surveyed by William L. Gash, County Surveyor. Felix Barnhill's Addition bears date July 16, 1841, and George L. Slocumb's December 4, 1851. Turney made two additions---one dated August 25, 1852, and the other February 14, 1853. Isaac C. Sailer made two additions dated as follows: December 30, 1872, and January 7, 1873; Rinard made three additions, dated November 22, 1870, January 3, 1874, and May 16, 1874. On the 3d of April, 1873, Hiram F. Sibley made an addition, and Rider Brothers April 30, 1874. The Railroad Addition was made September 22, 1871; Hayward's Addition September 6, 1881; G.J. George's, May 9, 1881, and Shaeffer's Addition made about 1882, but is still unrecorded. These additions, together with the original plat, comprise the present area of Fairfield. It covers ground enough for a place of 10,000 inhabitants, but its citizens have laid out their grounds, improved their lots and built their houses with an eye to the fact already mentioned---room. Fairfield ought to be a large town. It has every natural facility for becoming so---a lovely site, a healthy location, with two railroads crossing at right angles, and a wealthy community surrounding it. What more is needed? Energy, enterprise, go-ahead-ativeness, and live, wide-awake business zeal and management. The natural surroundings can not be improved; let but the people do as well as nature, and Fairfield will yet be a great city.
Stores.---Samuel Leech was the pioneer merchant of Fairfield. He opened out a stock of goods in a house erected for the purpose near his residence. His store was finally burned, but he continued in business several years longer, and then engaged in politics. He held all the county offices, and if there had been more offices he would doubtless have held them, too. He was also Postmaster. He was one of those characters who seem to appear just where and when they are most needed. His finger-marks are still to be seen, and tell to those who have succeeded him the story of his handiwork, and have inscribed his epitaph upon the hearts of the thousands who are reaping the fruits of his labors and his foresight. A man named McFadden was the next merchant to Leech. He was from Mt. Vernon, Ind., but did not remain here long. His store stood on the corner now occupied by Ball's shop. A man named Gold, from Shawneetown, was the next merchant. He sold goods in a house opposite David W. Barkley's, on the east side of the street. A residence now stands upon the lot, and is occupied by Mrs. Barger. But few now living are aware that a business house ever stood there. A man named Redd succeeded Gold in this house, continuing business in it for several years. The next effort in the mercantile line was a copartnership between Leech and Rigdon B. Slocumb. They remained in partnership for about five years, when Leech retired, and Slocumb carried on the business some years longer, but then embarked in politics. As a politician, his record will be found in another part of this volume.
Caleb Williams next entered the mercantile trade. He appeared upon the scene about 1829. Both his residence and business house are still standing, and constitute but one building. He lived in one end, and sold goods in the other end. It stands on the corner, just across the street from Joseph Ball's saddle and harness shop. It was of logs, but has been weather-boarded. C.I. Ridgeway was afterward associated with him as a partner, and together they built the house now occupied by Bonham as a store, and continued in it until 1844-45. They built the house one story only, and the present proprietors have added another story.
The building known as the "marble front," was for many years a landmark, and was well known over a large district of country. It was built by Wesley Staten, who manufactured hats, and used it both as store, warehouse and factory. Archibald Roberts, mentioned in the history of Barnhill Township, was for some time his partner in business. The house stood south of Bonham's store, and on the opposite side of the street. The trade of hatter was as common and as popular a trade then as that of blacksmith, as the merchants did not bring on hats in those days like they do now, but they were manufactured by the hatter the same as plows were manufactured by the blacksmith. The hatter bought all kinds of furs, and these he manufactured into hats at his leisure, or as his trade demanded. The back end of Staten's building was used for storing furs, and was without a floor other than the ground. In one corner of the room a well had been dug, which was quite deep and without curb or box. One day, when a number of customers were in the store, a small child wandered into the back room, and accidentally tumbled into the well. Staten, as luck would have it, saw it fall in, and without a moment's hesitation jumped in and rescued it, to the great joy of its nearly frantic mother.
This brings the record of the mercantile business down twenty years from the date of laying out the town. In 1839, Jacob Hall opened a stock of goods in Leech's old storehouse, north of Bonham's residence. Later on he built a storehouse on the lot where Mr. J. F. Smith's photograph gallery stands. He then sold goods for awhile on the south side of the square, with John Truesdale as a partner, and in swinging around the circle, he next had his store in the old corner house---now Ball's harness shop. Mr. Hall is one of the active business men of Fairfield. For forty-two years he has actively engaged in the town as a merchant and a banker, and energetic business man, with but one short interruption during the time. He is still a stirring, wide-awake, energetic worker. The elder Bonham was perhaps the next merchant to Hall. He commenced business about 1843-44, where the old Jackson House stood. From this stand he went to the corner brick (Ball's harness-shop), and thence to the present Bonham store. This brings the business, however, down to a late day, when it is not an easy task to keep trace of the new stores as opened. The town now embraces a list of merchants, who for courtesy, business energy, and genuine politeness, are not surpassed by any place in the country. They are, to a considerable extent, successful and prosperous, and command the confidence of the people.
The first bank ever in Fairfield, and the only bank of issue, was the Corn Exchange Bank, started in the spring of 1856. It was owned by W.S. Vandusen, and had a circulation of $750,000, secured by Illinois State Stock. It continued in existence until the commencement of the war, when it was closed up, as were all similar institutions, and in the final wind-up of its business it paid 95 cents on the dollar. Vandusen sold out his interest to a man named Osgood, of Joliet, and he to one Charles Keath, who also lived somewhere in the north part of the State. Keath was the owner of the bank when it was wound up and ceased business. Mr. Jacob Hall was cashier from the beginning to the final closing up of the institution. He, however, continued the exchange part of the business, buying and selling exchange, as banks do, until the organization of new banking facilities in the town.
The bank of Bonham & Co. was started some six or eight years ago, and comprised in the firm Messrs. Ed Bonham, Charles Beecher and William Sailer. They still carry on the banking business in all its branches, and have a neat and commodious bank building west of the public square. Forth, Robinson & Boggs, started a bank some years ago, but continued the business but a short time.
Mills and Factories.---The manufacturing industries of Fairfield are few, and mostly unimportant, being confined chiefly to mills. Hardin Barnhill built the first mill in the town in a very early day. It was a horse mill, and stood just across the street from Mr. Thomas Cooper's residence. Probably the next mill was built by Bonham & Tarles, and was a steam mill. It was both a grist and sawmill, and did well for the time. It finally burned. Ephraim Johnson built the next mill on the creek north of the bank, which was also a steam mill. It was bought by the owners of the Sucker Mills, after the erection of their mills in order to get it out of their way. Next came the Fairfield Mills. They were built by John Gaddis, about 1875-76, and were afterward burned. Then the present mills were built. After their completion, Gaddis sold, in the spring of 1883, to Benheimer, who has greatly improved them. He has put in all the modern machinery, including the roller process, and guarantees to make as good flour as is made by any mill in the country. The Sucker Mills precede the Fairfield Mills in point of time of building them. They were put up in 1867 at a cost of $20,000, by Rider Brothers & Rinard. They were started with four set of buhrs, three for wheat and one for corn. In 1870, the firm changed to Rider Sons & Rinard, and in 1873, Rider & Rinard retired, when the firm became Rider Brothers. They refitted the mills in 1882, putting in the roller process at an additional cost of $6,000, and increasing their capacity to 100 barrels per day. The mills are located near the O. & M. depot, and obtained the name of "Sucker Mills," in consequence of the original proprietors all being "Suckers."
The Fairfield Woolen Mills were projected originally by Thomas C. Stanley, and were on a very limited scale, but sufficient for the time in which they began work. The first mills stood on the site of the present building, and was a large frame. This building burned in the spring of 1871, incurring a heavy loss to the proprietor. The enterprise was then revived by a joint-stock company chartered the same year. The official board were James McCartney, President; W.J. Sailer, Secretary and Treasurer, and Thomas C. Stanley, Superintendent. They erected the present handsome brick building, and arranged for a more extensive business. The approximate cost of the establishment as it now stands is $40,000. The mills make a specialty of "Kentucky jeans," finding their market with jobbers throughout the Central and Northwestern States. They employ sixty-three regular hands running in the busy season sixty looms, technically known as a three-set mill. The corporation ceased to exist in 1882, and became the property of W.J. Sailer and A.H. Baker. For the year ending December 31, 1882, the approximate sales were $100,000; the pay-roll is about $20,000 per year.
The manufacture of castor oil was at one time an extensive business in Fairfield. Dr. William Turney first started into the manufacture of the oil in a small way, by what was known as the lever press. He was followed by James Torrence and McClerkins, and after them Thomas Cooper, Sr. They pressed by screw power driven by horses. Isaac Fitzgerrel was also in the business. At one time the cultivation of castor beans by the farmers was extensive, and was the largest crop produced by them. But as years passed the business drooped, and was finally discontinued entirely. This, so far as we can learn, comprises the history of Fairfield manufactories.
Samuel Leech was the first Postmaster of Fairfield. Then the office was small and insignificant, and Mr. Leech could very easily have carried the office and its emoluments, too as to that, in his breeches pocket, and then had vacant room left for his plug of tobacco. Mr. Tom Scott, the present Postmaster General, finds the manipulating of the mail-bags a far larger job then did Mr. Leech some half a century before him. Some idea of the growth of the country, and the changes that have been wrought in the passing years, may best be had by a comparison of the business of the post office then and now. It would be difficult to think of society at present without the post office. It is one of the most important and useful institutions to civilization that is given to us by the United States Government. The first Postmaster, Mr. Leech, did not, on an average, receive three letters a month in his post office. Mr. Scott receives in his over 5,000 per month. For years after the establishment of a post office, the reception of a newspaper through the mail was a most uncommon occurrence, but now great bags full of them are received daily. At one time the mails, carried on horseback, passed through the county weekly, when they were permitted by the streams to go through at all; now the mails are brought from the East and the West, and the North and the South by lightning railroad trains. This increase of mail matter shows to some extent the proper measure of the growth of population of the county, and the spread of intelligence and education.
The first blacksmith in Fairfield was a man named Graham, who kept a shop on the bank of the creek near where Mrs. Johnson's boarding house stands. Hugh Stewart had an early shop across the street from Graham's. Stewart came from Big Mound Township, and for years was a man of considerable prominence. He laid off an addition to the town, and did many other acts for its improvement and prosperity.
Taverns.---There was no regular tavern in the town for several years after it was laid out. Samuel Leech was the first individual who entertained the "wayfaring man," or in hotel parlance, "entertained man and beast," but he did not keep a regular tavern. It was let to Charles Wood to open the first public house. A house had been built for a tavern by Jackson, known as the "Jackson House," but Jackson failed, and Wood became the landlord of the Jackson House. Moses Turney kept the next tavern, but soon failed, broke up and went to Texas. Jacob Hall built a tavern at the O. & M. depot, which is also called the Jackson House, from the fact that he (Jackson) kept it for awhile. The Jackson House was finally burned. The hotels thus described were all the town had until the erection of Lang’ Hotel. This is a large, commodious, and even elegant hotel building.
Court House.---In the older counties and cities and towns of the world, there is some characteristic to be observed, some peculiarity that distinguish them, and render them noted among the nations and the people. In different places it is different objects of interest. Here it may be the style of architecture, there the grandeur of public works or buildings, in this place magnificent ruins, in that, manners, customs, etc., but there is always something in every country, or city, or community, to distinguish it from the rest of the world. Egypt, for instance, has been noted for a thousand years for its colossal pyramids; the lofty columns of Persepolis, the magnificent city of the plain, have moldered into dust, but as ruins remain to challenge our admiration; Jerusalem is famed wherever civilization has extended, for Solomon's Temple, of which the Queen of Sheba declared "half the glory had not been told." Coming down to a more modern epoch, London is famed for its St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, and Paris for the Tuilleries and its magnificent parks and gardens. In our own great country, New York has her Crystal Palace; Boston, Old Faneuil; Philadelphia, Independence Hall, and Fairfield---has her court house. This huge pile of brick and mortar (the Fairfield Court House), like the temple of Tadmor in the wilderness, may be seen from afar, and serve as a beacon light to guide the traveler and stranger on his way. It looms up above the surrounding buildings as the giant oak of the forest towers above the willow of the marsh, and is surmounted by a lofty cupola which pierces the clouds. This massive structure was erected so long ago that "the mind of man runneth to the contrary," and if "old age is honorable," as we are told that it is, then honors should be heaped upon it from every quarter. But to dispense with all jesting and light remarks, we doubt not the time is near at hand, when a new court house will be erected, upon the site of this dilapidated structure, that will be a credit to the great and wealthy county of Wayne. Though it may be that the present one is endeared to the people as a relic of the prehistoric period, yet, that is no reason why the old shell should stand as an eyesore among the improvements that are rising around it.
Fairfield has been visited more than once by the "fire fiend," but none of the fires have been of a very destructive character. Among them were the burning of Bonham & Tarles' Mills; the old Fairfield Woolen Mills; the Jackson House; the old frame schoolhouse; the O. & M. Depot, etc., etc. None of these fires entailed a very great loss, but usually the vacant spots thus made have been filled with much better buildings, as in the case of the woolen mills, the Jackson House and the schoolhouse. When we look at so many wooden towns, we are led to wonder that more of them are not burned than there are. A town springs up on the prairie, built almost wholly of pine lumber, and in a few years it becomes so dry that it burns very easily When one happens to take fire with a prairie wind blowing twenty miles an hour, it is usually doomed. Fairfield has escaped well, considering it has had so many opportunities to burn.
The press of Fairfield is no inconsiderable factor in the history of the town and county. There is no more faithful historian of a community than the local press; and be it ever so humble or unpretentious, it cannot fail in the course of years to furnish valuable information for future reference. A file of the local paper for a dozen or more years presents a fund of information, the value of which can hardly be estimated. An eminent divine has said, "the local paper is not only a business guide, but it is a pulpit of morals; it is a kind of public rostrum where the affairs of state are considered; it is a supervisor of streets and roads; it is a rewarder of merit; it is a social friend, a promoter of friendship and good will. Even the so-called small matters of a village are only small to those whose hearts are too full of personal pomposity." It is very important if some school boy or school girl reads a good essay, or speaks well a piece, or sings well a song, or stands well in the class room, that kind mention should be made publicly of such success, for more young minds are injured for want of cheering words than are made vain by an excess of such praise. In the local papers, the funeral bell tolls more solemnly than in the great city dailies. The rush and noise of the metropolis take away the joy from items about marriages, and detract from the solemnity of recorded deaths; but when the local paper notes a marriage between two favorites of society, all the readers see the happiness of the event; and equally when the columns of the home paper tell us that some great or humble person has gone from the world, we read with tears, for he was our neighbor and friend.
The newspapers of Fairfield---the Record and the Press---are written upon in a chapter on the county at large, and their history will not be repeated in this connection. The Press and Record are live, wide-awake papers, and the people of Fairfield and of Wayne County should feel proud of them and should support them liberally. The newspaper is the people's friend, and the people should look to its support.
Schools.---The first schools in Fairfield were taught in any building that might chance to be vacant and convenient for school purposes. The names of the first teachers are now forgotten. The first schoolhouse was built on the opposite side of the street form the new Methodist Episcopal Church. It was a large frame building, and served the purposes of education for a good many years, but was finally burned. The present brick schoolhouse was built in 1874, and cost originally about $10,000. Since its completion, improvements and additions have been made to it, running its cost up half as much more. The house is large, commodious and comfortable, and is well arranged for educational purposes. At present eight teachers are employed, as follows: I. M. Dickson (Principal), Mrs. E. S. Phelps, Miss Elizabeth Graham, Miss Hannah Bean, Miss Bessie Taylor, Miss Lulu Porterfield, Miss Mabel Hollister, Miss Ida Swan.
The church history will be found in another chapter, and only the briefest allusion will be made here. The Baptists put up the first church building in the town. It has been gone for at least twenty-five years, and few now remember that such a building ever stood in the town. The Presbyterians and the Cumberland Presbyterians were the first denominations to hold meetings, but the Baptists built the first church. The Cumberland Presbyterians built the next house of worship, and were followed by the Methodists. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church is still standing, but begins to show signs of age. A church was built near where Overbay's boarding house now stands, but it was never completed. The town now can boast of five as handsome church buildings---modern brick edifices---as may be found in any country town. There are five brick and one frame church buildings, and are owned respectively by the Presbyterians, Cumberland Presbyterians, Christian, Baptists, Methodists and Roman Catholics. For a more complete history of the Fairfield churches, see chapter on the church history of the county.
Freemasonry, the most ancient and honorable of all the secret orders and societies, has long existed in Fairfield. Its origin is a point upon which there is much curious speculation among men, and about which there is some contradiction and more conjecture among those noted for their knowledge of ancient history, that it originated so long ago, that no history tells of its beginning, is true. That Masons are to be found in almost every country, subjected to the white man's supremacy, is a point universally admitted. In tribes and countries, where letters and arts are extinct, and where commerce and modern improvement have as yet made no impression upon the national character, the grand features of Masonry are found to be correct. This remarkable coincidence is accounted for in various ways by different writers upon the subject. All who have carefully considered the origin of the order have been convinced that the germ from which it sprang was coeval with that wonderful command of Jehovah, "Let there be light." At the building of King Solomon's Temple, the order assumed something like a definite form. We learn from tradition and from Josephus that, at the erection of that superb model of architectural beauty, there were employed three grand masters, 3,300 masters or overseers of the work, 80,000 fellow-crafts, and 70,000 entered apprentices, who were all systematically arranged according to their grade and rank.
We have been told by a writer of intelligence and veracity, that, "after the completion of the Temple at Jerusalem, most of the Tyrians who had been employed by Solomon returned to their native county." From the same source we learn that many of the Jews who had been engaged upon the Temple migrated to Phoenicia, a country of which Tyre was then the principal city. For some cause, left unexplained by the historian, this Jewish colony was oppressed by its neighbors, and flew to their friends, the Tyrians, for relief. The latter furnished them with ships and provisions, and they (the Jews) took their departure for a foreign land, and finally settled in Spain. If as workmen at the Temple, they had been invested with secrets not known to others, there can be no doubt but that they preserved and carried them wherever they went. Another writer informs us that about 190 years after the Trojan war, which would be about fifteen years after the completion of the temple at Jerusalem, a colony of Jews from Palestine made a permanent settlement on the western coast of Africa. From these three distinctive points, we may follow the march and spread of Masonry throughout the world. In all the countries settled by emigration from these places, or connected with these people, either by alliance or commerce, Masonry is found, her signs the same, her mystic word the same in all. And that it has existed in some form ever since there is no shadow of doubt in the mind of the educated craftsman. At what precise date it became speculative and dropped the operative form is not definitely known. In the early part of the eighteenth century, the Grand Lodge of England was established, and from that day to this the history of Masonry is familiar to all reading members of the order.
Fairfield Lodge, No. 206, A., F. & A. M., was chartered October 7, 1856. Among its charter members were T.H. Lowrey, B. Baer, J. Watson, E. Brock, H. Weed and C.C. Kelley. The first officers were as follows: T. H. Lowrey, Master; J. Watson, Senior Warden; E. Brock, Junior warden; H. Weed, Treasurer; D. Turney, Secretary; B. Baer, Senior Deacon; C. Ridgeway, Junior Deacon, and B. Glessner, Tiler. The lodge has now seventy-five members, officered as followed: J.W. Tullis, Master; George C. Chittenden, Senior Warden; Z. West, Junior Warden; J. T. Fleming, Treasurer; J. L. Handley, Secretary; L. D. Bennett, Senior Deacon; J. H. Nicholls, Junior Deacon; and W. H. Rea, Tiler.
Fairfield Chapter, No. 179, R. A. M., was chartered October 30, 1879, with the following charter members: J. L. Handley, J. W. Tullis, L. D. Bennett, T. M. Rogers, H. V. Leech, R. D. Adams, J. T. Fleming, W. H. Robinson, N. E. Roberts, W. Bestow, G. C. Chittenden, J. Nevins, A. Rinard, R. P. Hanna, W. M. Murray, George Felix, R. Wheeler, F. Bestow, A. H. McClain, G. H. Hillard and John Gaddis. The first officers were J. L. Handley, H. P.; J. W. Tullis, K.; L. D. Bennett, S.; H. V. Leech, C. of H.; G. C. Chittenden, P. S.; N. E. Roberts, R.A.C.; G. H. Hillard, R. P. Hanna and R. D. Adams, Veilsmen; A. Rinard, Treasurer; J.T. Fleming, Secretary; and L. D. Shaeffer, Tiler. The chapter now has forty members, and is officered as follows: J. L. Handley, H. P.; R. D. Adams, K.; R E. Mabry, S.; L. D. Bennett, C. of H.; G. C. Chittenden, P. S.; J. W. Tullis, R. A. C.; C. L. Poindexter, J. R. Creighton and J. E. Wilson, Grand Masters of the Veils; J.T. Fleming, Treasurer; W. G. Carothers, Secretary; and J. C. Alexander, Tiler.
Fairfield Council, No. 64, Royal and Select Masters, was chartered October 21, 1883, with the following charter members: J. C. Alexander, D. W. Barkley, R. D. Adams, L. D. Bennett, J. R. Creighton, G. C. Chittenden, W. G. Carothers, J. T. Fleming, J. L. Handley, R. P. Hanna, J. Morris, R. E. Mabry, E. McClung, B. F. Meeks, W. M. Murray, C. L. Poindexter, N. E. Roberts, A. Rinard, J. D. Shaeffer, E. Steiner, T. W. Scott, J. W. Tullis, N. M. Powers and W. J. Elwell. The officers are J. L. Handley, T. I. G. M.; N. E. Roberts, D. I. G. M.; L. D. Bennett, P. of W.; J. T. Fleming, Recorder; C. L. Poindexter, Treasurer; G. C. Chittenden, C. of G.; E. Steiner, Sentinel, and the names of twenty-nine members are on the roll.
Local Branch, No. 137, Order of Iron Hall, was organized November 27, 1882, with charter members as follows: Jacob Radenbach, James C. Long, Jacob A. Miller, James A. Johnston, Charles C. Smith, Winfield Scott, Z.C. Woodworth, Zelma Bean, Jacob Puff, John Crouch, John J. Sloan, John D. Long, Ira D. Long, Z.B. West, Charles W. Sibley, James Abbott, E. P. Thompson, E. L. Carlton, John Tullis, Jr., J. W. Darling, James Emmons and Thomas Cottrill; with the following officers: Jacob Radenbach, C .J.; C. C. Smith, V. J.; J. B. West, A.; Z. C. Woodworth, C.; J .J. Sloan, P.; Z. Bean, A.; Ira D. Long, H.; John D. Long, N.; Jacob Puff, V.; and C. W. Sibley, M. E. The amount of sick benefits paid to members to December 20, 1883, is $960. It has certainly proven to be the poor man's friend, and bids fair to have a rapid growth.
Royal Templars of Temperance was chartered December 30, 1879, and started on its career with the following charter members: Males---W.H. Vandewater, G.M. Davis, J. Frank Smith, E. B, Hanna, R.W. McCall, C.W. Sibley, H. L. Wheat, George A. Steally and N. J. Odell. Females---Mrs. S. J. Steally, Mrs. L. J. Boggs, Mrs. E. B. Galbraith, Mrs. McClure, Mrs. Louisa Shaw, Mrs. N. J. Smith, Mrs. Edna Fogle, Mrs. M. M. Campbell and Mrs. J. A. Brown. The first officers were J. F. Smith, S. C.; Mrs. S. J. Steally, V. C.; H. L. Wheat, P. C.; Mrs. E. B. Galbraith, C.; W. H. Vandewater, R. S.; G. S. Steally, F. S.; G. M. Davis, T.; N. J. Odell, H.; Mrs. McClure, D. H.; Mrs. L. J. Boggs, G.; E. M. Hough, S. The membership is twenty males and sixteen females, with the following officers: J. Frank Smith, S. C.; Mrs. A. B. Haggard, V. C.; G. M. Davis, P. C.; D. M. Steally, C.; Mrs. N. Dickson, R. S.; George A. Steally, F. S.; E. J. Marlow, S.; N. J. Odell, H.; Mrs. L. J. Boggs, D. H.; Mrs. N. B. Smith, G.; Robert Moon, T.
Odd Fellowship at one time flourished in Fairfield, and the fraternity had an active working lodge. From some cause unusual with this zealous and praiseworthy order, the lodge has become lukewarm, and recently ceased to exist altogether. There is a strong talk of reviving it, and doubtless it soon will be revived, and set to work again with its old-time vigor.
Lodge No. 65, A. O. U. W., was organized March 30, 1879. The charter members were John Morris, Thomas W. Scott, W. G. Carothers, Edward E. Leonard, Joseph D. Leonard, Joseph D. Shaeffer, Francis A. Felton, Francis M. Woolard, John L. Handley, Robert E. Mallory, Alexander Richardson, Sumner Lindsay, Daniel C. Groves, George Newton, James A. Cox, Lewis H. Baker, Charles W. Sibley, Arthur J. Hutchins, John Gaddis, Ansel M. Lusley and Joseph L. Ball. The first officers were as follows: J. L. Handley, P. M. W.; T. W. Scott, M. W.; W. G. Carothers, F.; A. M. Lusley, O.; R. E. Mallory, G.; J. D. Shaeffer, R.; L. H. Baker, F.; E .E. Leonard, R.; J. A. Cox, J. W.; George Newton, O. W.; F. A. Felton C. W. Sibley and Alexander Richardson, Trustees. The institution has eighty members at present, and is officered as follows: William Lusley, P. M. W.; D. W. Barkley, M. W.; S. Forney, F.; N. M. Powell, O.; J. L. Handley, R.; C. T. Johnson, R.; S. Steiner, F.; W. L. Rea, G.; G. W. Johns, J. W.; R. P. Hanna, O. W.; William Foster, R. P.; Hanna and L. H. Baker, Trustees.
Village Organization.---The town of Fairfield was incorporated May 26, 1856, and at the first election the following Board of Trustees was chosen: Charles Wood, John D. Cope, Roley Jackson, Thomas T. Bonham and Jacob Baker. At the first meeting, the board organized for business by electing Thomas T. Bonham, President and John D. Cope, Clerk. By-laws and ordinances for the government of the town were drafted by Bobert Bell, Charles Beecher and Hall Wilson. Ephraim Johnson was appointed Treasurer; Hall Wilson, Collector; William Powless, Town Constable; and Robert Schell, Street Commissioner. The following, with a few exceptions, in which the records are defective and incomplete, is a list of the boards, from the incorporation of the village to the present:
Elected in June, 1857---Charles Wood, Jacob Hall, Sampson Wickersham, James Pendleton and John D. Cope.
Elected in June, 1858---John D. Cope, George W. Turney, James B. Ardery, Francis George and John Truesdale. William George was elected Police Magistrate and L. D. Bennett, Town Constable. It was at the first meeting of this board that the sale of liquor was prohibited in the town or within half a mile of the corporate limits. There is no record of an election of Trustees this year, but the minutes show the organization of a new board as follows: Roley Jackson, President; C. T. Lichtenberger, Clerk; and T. T. Bonham, J. P. Covington and H. H. Beecher; R. S. Barnhill, Town Constable.
For 1860, there is no record of an election, but on the 9th of July, a new board was organized as follows: H. H. Beecher, President; Forsythe Turney, Clerk; and T. T. Bonham, C. T. Litchtenberger and L. D. Bennett.
At the election held December 20, 1869,** Oliver P. Patterson, Thomas C. Stanley, Joseph L. Ball, Gilbert J. George and Jacob Hall were elected Trustees for the ensuing year. Jacob Hall was elected President; J. L. Ball, Treasurer; G. J. George, Clerk; and H. F. Sibley, Town Marshal.
At the election, December 19, 1870, for the ensuing year, the following board was elected; Jacob Hall, President; G. J. George, Clerk; J. L. Ball, Treasurer, and O. P. Patterson and Thomas C. Stanley. S. T. Nance was appointed Town Marshal.
At the election of December 18, 1871, the following board was elected to serve the ensuing year: J. C. Alexander, President; C. C. Boggs, Treasurer; and G. J. George and D. W. Barkley. S. T. Nance was appointed Town Marshal, and J. L. Ball, Street Commissioner.
At the election of December 16, 1872, for the ensuing year, James A. Creighton, A. B. Rider, J. L. Handley, O. P. Patterson and G. J. George were elected. George was elected President of the board; Creighton, Clerk; and Ed Wilson, Town Constable.
At the election of December 15, 1873, the following board was elected for the ensuing year: Oliver Holmes, R. D. Adams, N. J. Odell, A. H. Baker and J. V. Baugh. Holmes was elected President of the board; Baugh, Clerk; and Phil M. Crabb, Town Marshal.
At the December election in 1874 for the ensuing year, A. B. Rider, J. W. Tullis, J. A. Moffit, G. J. George and J. G. Crews. George was elected President of the board; Crews, Clerk; and P. M. Crabb, Town Marshal.
At the December election in 1875 for the ensuing year, J. L. Handley, A. B. Rider, John W. Tullis, Thomas A. Martin and John Morris were elected. Handley was made President; Morris, Clerk; Martin, Treasurer; and W. N. Dickey, Town Marshal.
At the election in December, 1876, for the succeeding year, John Morris, David W. Barkley, E. W. Pendleton and John Keen, Jr., were elected. Barkley was appointed President; Morris, Clerk; Keen, Treasurer; and P. M. Crabb, Marshal.
At the election in December, 1877, for the next year, L. J. Rider, G. M. Davis, John W. Tullis, C. C. Wickersham and J.P. Rider were elected the board. Tullis was appointed President of the board; Davis, Treasurer; Wickersham, Clerk; and Crabb, Marshal.
At the December election, 1878, for the next year, the following board was elected: S. M. Steally, J. D. Shaeffer, G. W. Johns, H. F. Sibley and N. J. Odell. Johns was elected President; Steally, Treasurer; Sibley, Clerk; and William Head, Marshal.
At the December election, 1879, for the next year, E. W. Pendleton, T. M. Rogers, O. P. Patterson, B. E. Johnson and John Morris were elected Trustees. Rogers was elected President; Morris, Clerk; Johnson, Treasurer; and P. M. Crabb, Marshal.
At the December election in 1880, for the ensuing year, the following board was elected: L. J. Rider, E. S. Black, J. L. Handley, C. W. Summers and Ed Bonham. The latter was appointed President; Handley, Clerk; Black, Treasurer; and William Rae, Town Marshal.
At the December election in 1881, for the ensuing year, William G. Carothers, Robert E. Mabry, B. E. Johnson, Dr. C. W. Sibley and James R. Norris were elected Trustees. Carothers was chosen President; Mabry, Clerk; Sibley, Treasurer; and R. B. Schell, Marshal.
At the election in December 1882, for the ensuing year, Thomas L. Cooper, John L. Handley, John Morris, E. Steiner and L. J. Rider were elected Trustees. Cooper was appointed President of the board; Handley, Clerk; Steiner, Treasurer; and R. B. Schell, Town Marshal.
At the December election in 1883 (the present year), for the next year, Thomas L. Cooper, E. W. Pendleton, John Morris, A. H. Baker and J. F. Fleming were elected the board. At our latest advices, however, the new board had not organized or elected their officers.
At item worth of note in the town organization of Fairfield is that at the election of Trustees in 1866 a temperance board was elected. The members were George Scott, Isaac Fitzgerrell, L. D. Bennett, Ed S. Slack and W. D. Barkley. This was a straight anti-whisky board, and, with the beginning of its administration, saloons were closed, and have never, to this day, been re-opened. For nearly eighteen years all whisky drinking in Fairfield has been done from private jugs or behind the door, as no licenses have been granted to saloons since the election of the first temperance board. This speaks well for the morals of the town and the temperance habits of its citizens.
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*By W. H. Perrit
**There is a break in the records from 1860 to 1869, and hence the boards for those years could not be obtained.
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