Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 04.djvu/51

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FAIKCUILD


FAIRCLOTH


Governor Randall and assigned to the 3d Wiscon- sin iut'autr3", Aug. 9, 18(51, and lieutenant-colonel, Aug. M, ISGl, joining the regiment in September after reoeiving leave of absence from iris post in the regular army. He took part in the move- ments leading to the second battle of Bull Run. In au engagement the 2d and Tth Wisconsin con- solidated were commanded by Lieutenant-Colo- nel Fairchild, Colonel O'Connor havmg fallen, mortally wounded. He was promoted colonel Sept. 8, 1862. with rank from Aug. 30, 1862. He stormed and carried Turner's Gap, Soutli Moun- tain, .Sept. 14, 1862, and pursued the enemy through Boonsborough to Antietam creek, where on the 17th. altliough sick, he was lifted to his horse and led his regiment in " the bloodiest day that America ever saw " and where the brigade in which the 2d Wisconsin fought gained the title "Iron Brigade of the West." He also partici- pated in the battle of Fredericksburg on Dec. 13, 1862. and his great skill there displaj-ed was men- tioned in the report of General Meredith. He commanded the expedition to Heathsville, Vn., in January, 1863. which secured valuable stores and important information besides destroying several blockade runners on the river. At Chan- cellorsville he rendered important service in de- feuding the pontoneers in the construction of the bridge over which the Federal troops carried the heights and during the battle he served on the staff of General Wadsworth. At Gettysburg he was severely wounded during the famous Pickett's charge; his arm was amputated and he was subsequently taken prisoner and paroled. He was commissioned brigadier-general of volun- teers Oct. 20, 1863, and was mustered out of the service. Xov. 2, 1863. He was secretary of state of Wisconsin. 1864-65; governor of Wisconsin, 1866-72; president of the Naoional soldiers' and sailors' convention, 1868; U.S. consul at Liver- pool. England, 1873-78; U.S. consul-general at Paris, France. 1878-80, and U.S. minister and en- voy plenipotentiary to Spain, 1880-81. Be re- signed his ministry in March, 1881. but remained at his post till relieved by Hannibal Hamlin in December. 1881. He was department comman- der. G.A.R., 1886; commander-in-chief of the or- ganization in 1887; commander of the Wisconsin commandeiy of the military order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, 1890-93 and com- mander-in-cliief, 1893-94. He was a member of the board of commissioners to negotiate a pur- chase of lands from the Indian nation; a member of the board of visitors of the Universitj' of Wis- consin and a promoter and officer of various state and national military homes and beneficent or- ganizations. He was married in April. 1864. to Frances Bull of Washington, D.C. He died in Madison, Wis., May 23, 1896.


FAIRCHILD, Salome Cutler, librarian, was

born in UaUuu, Mass., June 21, 1855; daughter of Artemas H. and Lydia (Wakefield) Cutler, and granddaughter of Jonas Cutler. She was gradu- ated from Mount Holyoke seminary in 1875. and was instructor in Latin in that institution. 1877- 79. She held various important positions iu the American library association from 1889. She was chairman of the committee in charge of the library exhibit at the World's Columbian exposi- tion in 1893, and chairman of the committee on the " American Library Association Catalog Sup- plement " from 1894. She was made the vice- director of the New York state library school, Albany, N. Y., in 1889. The degree of B.L.S. was conferred upon her by the University of the state of New York in 1891. She was married July 1, 1897, to the Rev. Edwin Milton Fairchild, lecturer for the educational church board. She is the author of Some Libraries, and Scientijic Study of Philauthrophy. and editor of the Calaloy of the A.L.A. IJhranj.

FAIRCLOTH, William Turner, jurist, was born iu Edgecombe county, N.C., Jan. 8, 1829. He was graduated at Wake Forest college in 1854; studied law under Chief Justice Pearson and was admitted to pi'actice Jan. 1, 1856. He settled in Goldsboro, N.C. , and the same j-ear was elected solicitor for Wayne county. In 1861 he enlisted as a private in the 2d N.C. regiment, was promoted quartennaster and was with the army of Northern Virginia 1862-65. taking part in all the battles of that army, and at the time of the surrender was captain of cavalry. In 1865 he was a member of the provisional state con- vention and represented Wayne county in the first session of the state legislature under the re- construction constitution. He was state solicitor, 1865-68; practised law in Goldsboro, 1868-76; served as a delegate to the state constitutional convention of 1875 and was appointed in 1876 by Governor Brogden to a seat on the bench of the supreme court of the state to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Justice Settle, and served two years. He was the Republican can- didate for lieutenant-governor of North Carolina in 1884 and for associate ju.stice of the .supreme court in 1888, and was defeated with his party in both elections. In 1894 he was chosen chief jus- tice of the supreme court of North Carolina for the term of eight years beginning June 1, 1895. He was at this time a trustee of the state univer- sity; of Wake Forest college; of the Baptist female university of Raleigh, and of the Baptist orphanage at Thomasville, and resigned all of these positions before taking his seat on the su- preme bench. He was married in 1867 to a daughter of Council Wooten of Lenoir county, N.C. He died in Goldsboro, N.C, Dec. 21, 1900.