Title: George Fairchild Collection
Dates: circa 1850s-1906
Collection Number: 00264
Quantity: 59 photographs
Abstract: Consists of portraits of George H. and Helen (Viets) Fairchild, Katherine Fairchild, Henry R. and Lottie (Viets) Porter, Hal (Hallie) Viets Porter, a group portrait of officers and wives at Fort Lincoln (DT), images of the George H. Fairchild residence (exterior and interior views) in Bismarck and the Porter residences in Bismarck and Washington, D.C., street scenes of Bismarck and Dakota Territory, and images of trains and railroad bridges. George H. Fairchild was an important pioneer of banking and insurance interests in early Bismarck. Dr. Henry R. Porter was a surgeon with Reno at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
Provenance: Barbara Wyman donated the George Hornell Fairchild Collection (MSS 10227) to the State Historical Society of North Dakota in September 1986. Thirty six photographs were removed from the collection, transferred to the photo archives, and assigned collection number 00264. In December 1981 Edgar P. Wyman donated nine images to the collection. Several photographs from the original donation were copied and returned to the donor. In November 2012, three photographs that were copied and returned were donated to the State Historical Society North Dakota by Bradford Wyman, in addition to fifteen photographs. The gift agreement for MSS 10227 also covers this collection.
Property Rights: The State Historical Society of North Dakota owns the property rights to this collection.
Copyrights: Copyrights to this collection remain with the donor, publisher, author, or author's heirs. Researchers should consult the 1976 Copyright Act, Public Law 94-553, Title 17, U.S. Code or an archivist at this repository if clarification of copyright requirements is needed.
Access: This collection is open under the rules and regulations of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
Citation: Researchers are requested to cite the collection title, collection number, and the State Historical Society of North Dakota in all footnote and bibliographic references.
Transfer: This collection was originally transferred from MSS 10227 the George Hornell Fairchild Collection.
Related Collections:
MSS 10227 George H. Fairlchild Papers
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
George H. Fairchild was an important pioneer of banking and insurance interests in early Bismarck. During the 1870s, when the railroad camp of Edwinton was renamed Bismarck, Ohio-born George H. Fairchild was present to add an important foundation to the future territorial and state capital. That foundation was banking. Along with another famous Bismarck resident, Dr. Henry Porter, Fairchild established the First National Bank branch in the small prairie village. His roots, however, go back to his hometown of Oberlin, Ohio.
Fairchild was born in Oberlin, Ohio in 1844. His father was president of Oberlin College during the second and third quarters of the 19th Century. It was at this time that Charles G. Finney, the famous fire and brimstone preacher of the Second Great Awakening and founder of Oberlin College, was at the zenith of his career. It was from Oberlin College that a good many abolitionist thinkers emerged. Under the influence of the Evangelical zeal of Finney, as well as the host of reformist ideas that burgeoned during the evangelist's tenure, the young Fairchild grew and developed his impressions of the world and his place in it. Upon reaching majority age, Fairchild relocated to Keokuk, Iowa where he entered the wholesale grocer business with his four uncles. The greatest challenge for Fairchild, however, was his relocation to Bismarck.
After spending a few months in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1874, Fairchild moved to Bismarck to take charge of a bank branch office located there. Besides the adventure such a move provided, Fairchild relocated because of the poor health of his wife, Helen. Mrs. Fairchild's health improved after living in the semi-arid plains environment, and allowed her to visit Ohio on numerous occasions. Although she did not accompany her husband to Bismarck in 1874, she did meet him there sometime after the news of the Custer debacle in 1876. Their first child, Katherine, was born in Bismarck at an unknown date. Besides the excitement generated when the Seventh Cavalry was destroyed, Bismarck offered opportunities and experiences of note.
George H. Fairchild arrived in Bismarck during the summer of 1874, and was immediately caught up in the excitement surrounding the discovery of gold in the Black Hills. Despite the fact that the Hills had been promised to the Sioux Indians in the Ft. Laramie treaty, miners, settlers, and soldiers soon were in open violation of the agreement. As a banker, Fairchild handled many gold nuggets and large amounts of gold dust brought back from the Black Hills. Like many Bismarckers at the time, Fairchild believed the gold finds would eventually lead to their town's growth into a "metropolis of the northwest." Of course, his hopes did not materialize. The ensuing Indian wars, along with the harsh weather and economic downturns, laid to rest any delusions about Bismarck's role as an urban oasis in the midst of the Great American Desert.
While Bismarck did enjoy modest growth through the 1870s and 1800s, Fairchild's involvement in the expansion became increasingly limited as his health began a slow decline. By the early 1890s, George Fairchild's physical condition deteriorated, forcing his retirement. He returned to Oberlin, Ohio in late 1893, and he died the following February of complications related to dropsy, a condition that results in the abnormal accumulation of liquids in the body.
George Hornell Fairchild's experiences in Dakota were of great importance to the eventual settling of the region in general and the city of Bismarck in particular. Along with other pioneers of Bismarck, he helped promote the village as a place with a future. In addition to his efforts to foster economic and civic growth for Bismarck, Fairchild experienced something of the untouched wilderness that still existed in the American West of the 1870s and 1880s. In 1883, George Fairchild and his father toured Yellowstone National Park on horseback. The trip provided the two with a breath-taking tour through the unsullied park. In many regards, the trip reflected Fairchild's personality and life: bold and innovative, subject to risk, yet rewarded with success.
Sources: The George Fairchild Papers case file (MSS 10227 and 00264), and the George Fairchild Papers (MSS 10227).
BOX / FOLDER INVENTORY
00264-00001 George H. Fairchild residence, Bismarck (N.D.) circa 1890
00264-00002 Street view, Bismarck (D.T.) 1873
00264-00003 Parlor, George H. Fairfield residence, Bismarck (N.D.) circa 1890
00264-00004 Dining room, George H. Fairchild residence, Bismarck (N.D.) circa 1890
00264-00005 Parlor in George H. Fairchild residence, Bismarck (N.D.) circa 1890
00264-00006 Katherine Fairchild's bedroom, Bismarck (N.D.) circa 1890
00264-00007 Katherine Fairchild in her bedroom, Bismarck (N.D.) circa 1890
00264-00008 Dr. Henry R. Porter circa 1875
00264-00009 Katherine Fairchild and Henry Viets Porter 06/1890
00264-00010 George H. Fairchild circa 1885
00264-00011 George Hornell Fairchild circa 1885
00264-00012 Dr. Henry R Porter circa 1868
00264-00013 Helen (Mrs. George) Fairchild circa 1880
00264-00014 Dr. Henry R. Porter's house, Washington (D.C.) circa 1894
00264-00015 Hallie V. Porter on horse back 1898
00264-00016 Northern Pacific train crossing the Missouri River on tracks laid on the ice, Bismarck (D.T.) 1879
00264-00017 Northern Pacific train in snow circa 1881
00264-00018 Hallie V.Porter 1900
00264-00019 Hallie V. Porter, two years old 1900
00264-00020 Lottie Viets Porter circa 1875
00264-00021 Lottie Viets Porter in wedding dress 09/1877
00264-00022 Henry V. Porter 1889
00264-00023 Henry V. Porter 1892
00264-00024 Hallie V. Porter circa 1896
00264-00025 Dr. Henry R. Porter circa 1885
00264-00026 Dr. Henry R. Porter circa 1880
00264-00027 Henry R. Porter 06/28/1898
00264-00028 Henry R. Porter family circa 1885
00264-00029 Officers and wives, Fort Abraham Lincoln (D.T.) 1875
00264-00030 Dr. Henry R. Porter residence, Bismarck (N.D.) 1910
00264-00031 Ward's Grove, Bismarck (N.D.) 1905
00264-00032 Main Avenue looking west from Sheridan House, Bismarck (D.T.) 1877
00264-00033 Main Avenue looking East, Bismarck (N.D)1893
00264-00034 Main Avenue from Northern Pacific Railroad Park, Bismarck (N.D.) 1906
00264-00035 Main Avenue looking east from 3rd Street, Bismarck (N.D.)1906
00264-00036 Dr. Henry R. Porter residence, Bismarck (D.T.) circa 1896
00264-00037 Probably Hal Porter on Mrs. Wahemaris’ horse, Bismarck (N.D.) ca. 1906
00264-00038 Hal (Hallie) V. Porter circa 1878
00264-00039 Hal (Hallie) Porter circa 1880
00264-00040 Hal (Hallie) Porter circa 1884
00264-00041 Hal (Hallie) V. Porter circa 1889
00264-00042 Hal (Hallie) Porter 1889-1890
00264-00043 Possibly Lottie Viets XX/XXXX
00264-00044 Lottie VietsXX/XXXX
00264-00045 Possibly Lottie Viets XX/XXXX
00264-00046 Possibly Helen Viets XX/XXXX
00264-00047 Possibly Helen Viets XX/XXXX
00264-00048 Katherine May Fairchild XX/XXXX
00264-00049 Henry Viets Portercirca 1878
00264-00050 Northern Pacific Railroad Bridge, Bismarck (D.T.) circa 1883
00264-00051 Henry R. Porter residence, Bismarck (N.D.) XX/XXXX
00264-00052 Construction of the new railroad bridge, Bismarck (D.T.) 1882
00264-00053 Northern Pacific Railroad Bridge, Bismarck (D.T.) circa 1882
00264-00054 Main Ave., Bismarck (D.T.) 1874
00264-00055 Main Ave. looking east, Bismarck (N.D.) 1906
00264-00056 Hotel Northwest, Bismarck (N.D.) 1906
00264-00057 Sioux Indians XX/XXXX
00264-00058 Tom Winston, Judge Bowen, Dr. Henry R. Porter, Jack Leisure, and John M. Carnahan, Telegraph operator circa 1875
00264-00059 Steamer Montana wrecked 1884
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