James Graham FAIR, Congress, NV (1831-1894)

FAIR, James Graham, a Senator from Nevada; born near Belfast, County Tyrone, Ireland, December 3, 1831; immigrated to the United States in 1843 with his parents, who settled in Illinois; trained in business; moved to California in 1849 and engaged in gold mining until 1860, when he moved to Virginia City, Nev.; in partnership with associates engaged in lucrative gold and silver mining; also engaged in the real estate business in San Francisco with interests in various manufactures on the Pacific coast; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1881, to March 3, 1887; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1886; resumed his business interests in San Francisco, Calif., where he died on December 28, 1894; interment in Laurel Hill Cemetery; reinterred in Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma, Calif.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Baur, John E. “The Senator’s Happy Thought: Senator James G. Fair and the Chiricahaua Apaches.” American West 10 (January 1973): 35-39, 62-63; Lewis, Oscar. Silver Kings: The Lives and Times of Mackay, Fair, Flood, and O’Brien. 1947. Reprint. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1986.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present