President Grover Cleveland Succeeded by William Windom Role Politician | Name Charles Fairchild Preceded by Daniel Manning Resigned March 6, 1889 | |
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Alma mater Harvard College
Harvard Law School Died November 24, 1924, Cazenovia Previous office United States Secretary of the Treasury (1887–1889) Education Harvard Law School, Harvard College Similar People Grover Cleveland, Robert Rubin, Timothy Geithner | ||
Charles Stebbins Fairchild (April 30, 1842 – November 24, 1924) was a New York businessman and politician.
Biography
Born in Cazenovia, New York, to Sidney and Helen Fairchild, he graduated from Harvard College in 1863 and Harvard Law School in 1865. He was married to Helen Lincklaen in 1871. He practiced law with the firm of Hand, Hale, Swartz & Fairchild until 1874 when he became Deputy Attorney General of New York. Fairchild was elected Attorney General of New York in 1875, and was in office from 1876 to 1877. In January 1878, he was nominated to be Superintendent of Public Works by Gov. Lucius Robinson, but was rejected by the New York State Senate. He resumed the practice of law until 1885, when he was appointed Assistant U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. When Secretary Daniel Manning's health forced him to resign in 1887, Fairchild was appointed to succeed, and served in Grover Cleveland's administration from 1887 to 1889.
Fairchild was President of the New York Security and Trust Company from 1889 to 1904. He was on the board of the American Mechanical Cashier Company (a competitor of NCR) with investment banker Henry L. Horton and Judge Hiram Bond. He was President of the Atlanta and Charlotte Air Line Railroad and a director of the Erie and Pittsburgh Railroad.
Later in life, as a private citizen, he challenged the 19th Amendment before the Supreme Court in Fairchild v. Hughes, but he was held not to have proper standing to bring a suit.
He died in 1924 and was buried at the Evergreen Cemetery in Cazenovia, New York. At the time of his death, he was the last living member of the first Cleveland Administration.
He was a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Alpha chapter).